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While Mexico or Havana beaches may be calling out to thousands of high school and college spring breakers, many are choosing to heed the call of God during their week off.
Hundreds of students on spring break this week are hitting the Gulf Coast to help families still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Ike. Others are also heading to the Midwest where flooding has destroyed hundreds of homes.
"This week is different because these students have a choice," said Torey Kittleson, a Disaster Response Services staffer for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, according to CRC Communications. "They’re free for a week of vacation – and they choose to help people in need rather than go to the beach and lie out in the sun."
Teens from Christian Reformed Church congregations will be cleaning up, removing debris and helping rebuild homes.
"When our volunteers go on a service trip, they come back different," Kittleson said, as reported by the denomination's publication. "They go to help others, but they realize that the people they are helping have just as big an impact on them."
CRC is one of many Christian churches and organizations leading spring break service projects and outreaches.
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Campus Crusade for Christ, one of the largest Christian college ministries in the country, recently led over 2,600 students to Panama City Beach in Florida for their largest outreach called Big Break.
All throughout March, CCC students engaged in Bible studies and worship in the mornings, hit the sand to share the Gospel in the afternoons, and gathered back in the evenings to reflect on their experience. Many also participated in late night evangelistic efforts near beach hotspots, said Tony Arnold, a spokesman for CCC.
The students shared the Good News with at least 13,105 people using an updated version of the Four Spiritual Laws or 7-minute evangelistic films downloaded into their i-Phones, and saw 1,288 indicate decisions for Christ on the beach.
Arnold highlighted one of his favorite testimonies from the Big Break outreach: "Three CRU guys walked up to a group of four students on the beach. They discovered that one was Muslim, one was Jewish and the other two were nominal Christians. After our guys explained how the others could have a personal relationship with God through Jesus, three of the students, including the Muslim, bowed their heads and prayed to receive Christ right there on the beach!"
Weeklong outreaches with Campus Crusade for Christ students were also held in other major cities across the country and around the world.
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