Second Baptist Church of Houston visits Coast beaches

Five years going strong and this year is no exception, more than one thousand seventh and eighth graders have made the journey to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for the annual Beach Retreat headed up by Second Baptist Church in Houston.

Toes in the water, digging in the sand, 1,400 junior high students waved goodbye to their hometown in Houston, Texas to spend the week on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Beach retreat Coordinator Eric Hystad said, “We are a church in Houston, Texas. We come here each summer. We do a lot of different things, everything from worship in the evenings to being out here all afternoon. We have a team of people all through the year that meet and plan and then make it happen when they get here.”

The days start with silent time on the beach then they move indoors for activities at the Coast Coliseum Convention Center later in the morning. After lunch, these seventh and eighth graders break loose on the beach for groups headed up by counselors.

Morgan Whiting is one of those counselors. She’s 21-years-old, but has already walked the path most of these young people are facing and she hopes to share her experience to help them along the way. “I’ve walked that stage of life a few years ago so I’m able to kind of understand what that’s like and feel what that’s like to follow Jesus in a world where it’s kind of hard for them to be around other people that love God, love other people, I think that that’s really cool for them just to be able to be here and learn from their friends, learn from their leaders.”

The goal of the beach retreat is to teach kids teamwork and building relationships. “We want our students to have a relationship with God that in many ways change their life, but also relationships, healthy, strong, good friendship relationships with other kids and with other adults,” said Hystad.

The end game is for leaders from Second Baptist Church of Houston hope these young people will take a step in the right direction in all areas of life and walk away with life-long lessons.