Gulf Coast Getaway 2026
For over 30 years, campus ministries from all over the US have gathered on the coast of Florida for worship and encouragement. 2026 marked its final gathering. Andy Johnson represented Mission Alive in order to educate and inform interested college students about what Mission Alive does: equip leaders to develop innovative communities of faith focused on transforming marginalized communities. While many colleges and universities have thriving campus ministries, many more do not have the supportive community students need at a crucial time in their lives. Mission Alive has identified several of these institutions among its 100 Marginalized Communities.
Reflections from Andy–
This event really matters to those who attend. I spoke with students from two different campus ministries who drove more than 10 hours each way for the weekend. When I asked why they keep coming, why they give up their first three-day weekend of the year to drive across the country, they told me that it is a place where community is about them. The worship, the keynote speakers, the breakouts, even the Sunday morning communion are all oriented around people like them. When pressed, most acknowledged their churches, while loving and kind, simply can’t scratch that itch the same way.
On one level, I was a guy manning a table with a Mission Alive banner. I was there to hand out reading material and recruit for internship opportunities under existing Mission Alive Innovative Faith Community leaders. I talked up Discipleship Cohorts aimed at students where small groups gather online weekly before sending each other out to be Jesus in their dorms, classes, and ministries.
On another level, I was there to listen, to understand how students think about church and life, about the places where the people of Jesus could do more, be better, and live more in step with the nudges from the Spirit. With the help of the promise of the chance to win an Amazon gift card (let it be known that Mission Alive is not above bribery), students filled out a survey with their thoughts on church and faith. We’ll add this to other data we’ve gathered to learn how to best reach this often overlooked community with the love of God in ways that are meaningful to them.