For four weeks, Panama City Beach, Florida, was home thousands of spring break students from around the country. Many students come to part, hang out in bars, and enjoy the beach. MTV was there to film and broadcast the party to those that couldn’t make it.

Little did those students know that they would have an encounter with God. Campus Crusade for Christ students were also at PCB. These students spent a week at a time worshipping, praying and initiating conversations with the thousands of vacationing students partying on beaches and in bars. And lives were indeed changed!

Theresa, a sophomore at Illinois State University, described it this way:

“Big Break was a turning point in my life. Before I came, I was fearful of talking with people and initiating conversations, as well as sharing the gospel. I came to Big Break with few friends and a feeling of boredom in my life. As soon as I got there, the sense of community was so strong and friendships immediately formed. Even better, when I went out sharing on the beach, I confronted my fears and shared my faith with many people. I was surprised to discover that the emptiness I felt disappeared as I shared the gospel. God showed me that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I’m so glad I came to PCB because God filled me up again and gave me direction.”

By the Numbers (during 4 weeks):

Conversations Initiated: 16,675
Gospel Presentations: 7,302
People Accepting Christ: 1,003
Schools Sending Students: more than 200

Recently, a group of 70 students from the Cleveland area traveled to Florida to attend a Campus Crusade conference called Big Break. During four weeks in March, students from around the country traveled to Panama City Beach, Florida to grow in their relationships with Christ and receive training in evangelism. Students then headed out to the beach to share about Christ’s love with droves of college students who were spending their spring break partying.

It has been exciting to hear stories of how God used this conference to change lives! Over the four weeks, nearly 2,000 students attended the conference. These students initiated 16,675 conversations with their peers and saw 1,003 people begin personal relationships with Jesus Christ. Isn’t that amazing?

Lynn, Emily and Samantha are three of those people whose lives are changed for eternity. All three are sophomores at Baldwin-Wallace College, a part of the Cleveland Metro ministry. Unlike many of the people who accepted Christ as a result of Big Break, these girls traveled to Panama City Beach to attend the conference. While learning how to share the gospel with others, they realized their need to surrender their lives to Christ.

Each girl, like everyone else, has a unique story of her spiritual journey. Lynn longed to have the passion for God that she saw in others around her. After returning from Big Break, she was able to stand up at the Campus Crusade weekly meeting and proclaim to the group, “I just want everyone here to know that I love God with all my heart!” Emily wasn’t involved with Campus Crusade before Big Break, but some friends invited her to attend. Through the conference, Emily was convicted of her need for Christ and is excited to start learning more about her Savior. Samantha had many questions about the Gospel and talked with several friends about things she didn’t understand, including why Jesus is the only way to God. By the end of the week she was ready to accept Christ and did so after the last conference session.

Now that they’re back on campus, they have been meeting with some older girls at their school. Together they are studying a set of Campus Crusade lessons designed to ground new believers in important areas of Christianity. They are also participating in a new women’s group at Baldwin-Wallace, designed to be a place where women can meet and talk about real life issues.

(In the photo, Cleveland staff and students recreate Moses and Aaron parting the Red Sea for a photo contest, which they won.)