OCBP 2026: Week Three, or What Eight Students Taught Me About Leadership & Following Jesus

When I arrived at Ocean City Beach Project (OCBP) for the final week, I was nervous. The students had already spent two weeks together. Inside jokes had formed, rhythms had been established, and community had already taken root. I wondered what it would be like to step into something that was already in motion. 

Then I pulled up to unload my bags. Instead of feeling like an outsider, I was met with excitement and students reaching for my bags, eager to help me move in. The students welcomed me as though we'd known each other for years. Within moments, my nerves began to disappear.

Over the next few days, I intentionally observed more than I spoke. I watched students begin each morning in Scripture. I noticed the quiet ways they served one another without being asked. I listened to their laughter around card games, their thoughtful questions during lessons, and the encouragement they naturally offered one another.

Somewhere in those first few days, God gently reminded me of something I hadn't expected.

I wasn't just there to teach them. He was using them to teach me.

Hospitality Was Everywhere

One of the themes we emphasized throughout OCBP was biblical hospitality. Each dinner was coupled with a hospitality lesson to help students reflect on what it means to welcome others like Jesus and consider how they could practice that hospitality when they returned to campus.

Students spent three weeks learning how to study Scripture, disciple others, cultivate prayer, share the Gospel, and build Christ-centered communities on their campuses. They wrestled with what it means to welcome others the way Jesus does.

But what struck me most was that they weren't simply learning about hospitality, they were living it.

They welcomed one another, welcomed me, and eagerly welcomed every guest who joined us throughout the week.

Pete Ware from PennWest California came to teach about the call of leadership. He treated everyone to ice cream and donuts and spent time with us at the beach.

John Myers, Josh's Campus Staff from Elizabethtown College, shared meals with us and invested in students through conversations about ministry and leadership.

Our partner church, First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City, welcomed students into spaces beyond Sunday worship. The pastor hosted lunch for the group and invited members of the congregation to continue opening their homes throughout the week.

Hospitality wasn't just something happening inside our beach house. It surrounded us. God seemed to place hospitable people in our path everywhere we went.

As students asked theological questions, discussed ministry challenges, and dreamed about what God might do on their campuses, I watched older believers patiently listen, encourage, and point them toward Christ.

Community That Changes People

Of course, there was plenty of fun!

They watched almost every sunrise together and filled the porch tables with seashells. The women shared açaí bowls, wrote thank-you cards, and attempted an escape room...that we never actually escaped. The men played mini golf (more than once) and navigated a mirror maze. 

To celebrate the end of the project, we shared a catered dinner, presented each student with books, printed photos, and Ocean City memorabilia, then headed to the arcade for one last evening of friendly competition and prizes.

One evening, the owners of our beach house invited us to kayak and canoe before sharing dinner and s’mores around a campfire.

Those moments mattered. They weren't distractions from discipleship– they were part of it.

Community isn't built only during Bible studies. Sometimes it's formed over board games, beach walks, shared meals, laughing together after getting hopelessly lost in an escape room, and competing to see who can score the most points in an arcade game.

Watching God Grow Leaders

The spiritual growth I witnessed during that final week was remarkable.

While studying 2 Peter 1:1–11, one student reflected, "I don't have to strive for grace and peace because, through my knowledge of Christ, they are abundantly given to me."

Another student, thinking about hospitality back on campus, admitted, "I don't invite people into my dorm because it's my safe space, but I think it's also because I'm nervous about letting them in emotionally. I want to welcome them like Jesus, so I need to change some things."

Those weren't answers given because they thought someone wanted to hear them, but honest reflections from students allowing the Gospel to reshape the way they live.

Two students intentionally built a relationship with one of our neighbors over the course of the project. They eventually shared the Gospel with him, invited him out for coffee, and prayed with him before the project ended.

Through the week, students facilitated Bible studies through the closing chapters of Amos, stretching their confidence as leaders and teachers of God's Word.

Their final assignment was to create a ministry plan for the coming semester. Over three days, they developed outreach strategies, considered how to reach students from different backgrounds, and presented practical plans they could implement when they returned home.

One student designed the framework for a Bible study aimed at maturing believers. Another created a list of local organizations where students could serve their communities together. They called their Campus Staff to begin brainstorming how these ideas could become reality on their campuses.

Watching them present wasn't just encouraging. It filled me with hope.

These weren't hypothetical ideas that they’d leave in Ocean City. They were practical steps that students were preparing to faithfully implement when they returned to their campuses. More importantly, students were beginning to understand their calling as leaders on the campuses where God has already placed them.

More Than Three Weeks at the Beach

From the outside, Ocean City Beach Project could easily look like three weeks at the beach with a little leadership training mixed in.

But that's never been the goal.

The goal is to remove students from the normal pace of life long enough to help them think deeply about following Jesus, investing in others, and leading with humility and courage when they return to campus.

As I left Ocean City, I wasn't simply thankful for a successful week. I was hopeful because I witnessed God’s handiwork in their lives.

Hopeful because I had watched students become more confident in sharing the Gospel. Hopeful because I had seen them ask difficult questions and seek biblical answers. Hopeful because I had watched friendships deepen into genuine Christian community.

Most of all, I was hopeful because I was reminded that God is already at work preparing the next generation of leaders for His Church.

I arrived thinking I was coming to teach. I left grateful for everything God had taught me through eight college students learning to follow Him more faithfully.

—Emily Blaker, Western PA Area Director