Evangelists battle on the beaches to save the souls of Spring Break party animals
Pastor Dale Morgan
Evangelists battle on the beaches to save the souls of Spring Break
party animals*
Philip Sherwell in Panama City, Florida, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:21am GMT 25/03/2007
# In pictures: Party central, Panama City
In the brash Florida beach resort of Panama City, the peculiarly
American institution of spring break is in full swing for tens of
thousands of students who have descended on the Floridian white sands
and nightspots for a week of revelry.
Campus Crusader Katie Brobeck speaks to Andrew Iszard
Katie Brobeck talks to fellow college student Andrew Iszard about Christ
The March college recess has become synonymous with drunken and sexual
excess as many students opt to spend the break carousing in Florida or
Mexico, rather than catching up on their academic work.
But amid this bacchanalia-on-sea, some young people are on a very
different mission. In Panama City, 300 members of the
inter-denominational Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) are trying to
persuade their partying peers to see the error of their ways and turn to
Jesus.
Their morning sessions begin with Christian rock music, followed by
Bible studies and discussions about such thorny issues as dating and
intimacy. Then, after lunch, they venture along a beach packed with
bodies rapidly turning lobster-red and growing piles of empty beer cans
to spread their message.
A fearless few, self-styled "commando crews", took the challenge right
into the lions' den after dark last week. As rap music blasted from
inside Club La Vela - the largest nightclub in the US - Nicole Longstaff
and Becky Woodard, both 20 and friends from the University of Wisconsin,
and Tony Wimperis, also 20, from Connecticut, made their move.
Their target was John Houston Whiddon, a young man loosely propped up on
the bonnet of a vehicle in the car park. Deploying the same modus
operandi they use on the beach, they began by asking if he was
interested in taking a survey about his beliefs. "Sure," he answered.
"My friends are inside but I've had enough of the place."
After running through some questions about how he lived his life and
what he hoped for from it, they brought out the group's Knowing God
Personally booklet.
"I play football and I just don't seem to have time for church," Mr
Whiddon, 21, said afterwards. "I want to get back into it when I have a
family. Those guys certainly know their stuff. It's given me some things
to think about it."
The three evangelicals also thought the conversation had gone well. "We
cannot change people, but we can plant the seeds," said Mr Wimperis.
Fellow "commando crews" staged similar sorties in what appeared to be
enemy territory, but most headed back to base with positive stories of
"spiritual conversations".
In their T-shirts and shorts, the Crusaders, who call their week of
Christian study and missionary work the "Big Break", blend in with the
crowd, although the clutched Bibles are a giveaway that they are not
here for the debauchery in a resort that is raucous by day and riotous
by night.
The CCC has grown into one of the world's largest evangelical movements
since its formation, at the University of California, in 1951.
"When you say 'spring break', an image of sun, sand, surf and sex leaps
into the minds of most Americans," said Tony Arnold, the organisation's
communications director. "But students from the CCC have added a
different word to the mix - Jesus.
"The free and friendly atmosphere of spring break provides a unique
setting where we are able to engage students, who might never stop to
listen back on their home campus, about life-changing spiritual issues."
Katie Brobeck, 19, from Ohio, admits that she was "a party chick" until
recently. "I was drinking heavily, had a serious eating disorder and I
wasn't happy," she said. "Nothing worked until I opened my life to God
to help me."
Clutching her sunscreen, she headed on to the beach with fellow crusader
David White, a pastor's son. Amid the rowdy scenes near the stage for
Spring Break Idol - sponsored by a leading condom company - she
encountered Andrew Iszard, a student from North Carolina. After her
initial preamble, Mr Iszard disclosed that he did not believe in God.
Miss Brobeck briefly looked deterred, but he urged her to carry on
questioning him. "Don't go, ask me more - you're cute," he pleaded in
true spring break style, then offered to buy her a beer.
Her Crusade chaperone, Mr White, smiled. "We don't drink," he said, "but
sometimes the alcohol they consume makes it easier for us to do God's
work."