College ministry Beach Reach South Padre Island, Texas

More than 100,000 students from around the country are expected to stream into South Padre Island this month. This week Aggies, Longhorns and others from around the state are joining the hordes from Indiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Nebraska on this sandy corner of Texas.

The beaches were filled with many students of Beach Reach, they are crammed four and five to a room. They stay up all night and hang out at the nightclubs.

On the other hand, the college ministry Beach Reach, which is sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention, is catching "fishes" and expect to have a good harvest.

Beach Reach is employing college students to minister to their peers sunning in the sand. The organization also works in Panama City, Fla., and is hoping to travel to Virginia Beach, Va., and the California coast in the near future.

"One of the things we're doing is providing safety and protection," said organizer Eric Herrstrom, who works as minister of college and missions at Lake Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington. "We're incredibly concerned about their well-being. And Christ developed a relationship with people by serving them."

There are more than 400 students representing 20 college ministries joining the thousands of partygoers on South Padre Island this month. Students provide free rides for spring breakers to and from their hotel rooms and gratis pancake breakfasts to cure the hangovers in the morning.

The ministry's students look much like everyone else on the beach. Many of them sport shaved heads, long sideburns or scraggly facial hair. They wear UT caps and A&M shirts.

In front of the Radisson Resort, on one of the rowdier stretches of the island, sits a towering mound of sand with an image of Jesus' face etched into the side. Students linger around the sculpture, brandishing their beer bongs and cans of Bud Light. Others look at it curiously, snapping pictures.

Sand artist Randy Hofman made the sculpture for Beach Reach, which uses it as a starting point for conversations about the Scriptures.

"Does it mean anything to you?" the young ministers ask the alcohol-swilling students. "People aren't always so receptive," said Texas A&M sophomore Connie Curtis, who was ministering at the sculpture. "But we're just glad to use our knowledge and our faith to help them out. We're not here to judge anyone."

On the sand, the Beach Reach students pass out pink cards touting their services. Some passers-by politely decline, but many are pleasantly surprised at the offer.

"I'll be out there in a heartbeat if there are free pancakes involved," Quad City University junior Adam Murray said as he was sunning next to his case of Keystone Light. "Will there be eggs and bacon also?"

"Stop by anytime," replied Beach Reach student and Texas A&M junior Quinn Lung. "I hope to see you there tonight."

Beach Reach takes its missionary role seriously; nearby in the surf, Pastor Bill Waddell administered a few baptisms.

After sunset, the group sets out in a procession of vans and SUVs painted with such names as Swollen Ostrich and El Burro.

Students man the phones at Island Baptist Church, dispatching the drivers to bars and clubs. Outside Louie's Backyard, one of the island's most popular clubs, they set up tables and offer breakfast to those stumbling out. The spring break scene is a bit of culture shock to some.

"It's been eye-opening. We've definitely seen a lot of people yelling, taking off their shirts, passing out beads," said Howard Payne University sophomore Melissa Keasler. "We're not usually surrounded by that, but again we're supposed to come out of our comfort zone. If we're in our own Christian bubble, how are we going to get the word out?"

The ministry's students generally work until 4 or 5 a.m. and then return to help with the 8 a.m. breakfast at Island Baptist Church. They receive no pay and must cover most of their own expenses. The pace has caused many to sport red rims under their eyes, but the Beach Reach students give similar reasons for being here.

"I think that this is what God wants me to do," Texas A&M senior Jenny Macias said. "We're here to show love to all these people, even if they don't love us back."

"That was wonderful. I've got to do more of these," Iowa State University junior Kristen Beyer said after taking a hit from a beer bong.