Loving and Ministering to the World at the Seaside

By Sharon Mager

The air crackles with excitement at Ocean City Baptist Church (OCBC) as members and volunteers prepare to welcome 300-plus international students who show up for hot, homemade meals every Monday night during the summer. This is the second Monday in June, and downstairs in the church fellowship hall, Fenwick Island Baptist Church (FIBC) members, a large group of mostly seniors, bustle about setting out food. They’ve made an all-American meal — fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and two tables full of homemade desserts including cakes, cookies and pies. The air conditioning isn‘t working, so the workers take lots of water breaks and stop to wipe their foreheads, but the heat is not dampening their spirits.

Each Monday, O.C.B.C. opens their doors to hundreds of international students.

Upstairs, a group of volunteers, including youth and summer interns from Mississippi, are making sure health kits, which they give as gifts to the students, are ready to hand out, and they’re prepping for registration. While they’re working, ladies from Landover Hills Baptist Church pop in with more health kits—actually, in the nick of time because the church is running low. It’s a God-thing. Meanwhile, the smell of food starts to waft up from downstairs.

Outside, greeters chat with the students as they head inside for registration and hustle down the steps to the humble fellowship area, set with tables, each with a flag from a different country as a centerpiece. The weekly servers hand out food and chat with the students. The young adults enter throughout the evening, and as groups leave, others come to take their spots.

After clean-up, Beth Fillis, the wife of Mike Fillis, pastor of FIBC, said she was surprised at how many students showed up, but then again, she’s seen some big numbers. “One year, we served 450.”

Ladies from Landover Baptist Church (in blue) brought health kits to OCBC and took time to pose for a photo with some of the staff, interns and volunteers preparing for a Monday night dinner.

FIBC is one of the many Eastern Baptist Association churches that prepare and serve dinners on a weekly rotational basis. The hundreds of students at the dinners represent a fraction of the 3600 internationals in Ocean City on J-1 Cultural Visas. These young people pour into the resort town to help local businesses serve the whopping 8 million annual visitors, the majority of them in the summertime, who flock to the city’s sandy shores. In addition to meals and health kits, the church also gives away free refurbished bicycles at the first Monday dinners each year, and that’s a big hit.

Ministering to international students at Ocean City started decades ago when Terry and Lynn Davis, who started OCBC in the late 1970s, recognized the amazing opportunity to share the love of God with these students. Sean, the son of Terry and Lynn, who now pastors OCBC, grew up helping his parents and siblings with the ministry. Lynn, who actually served as a resort missionary with the North American Mission Board, took the lead. Sean says, “When we were little, we did beach patrol — giving drinks to lifeguards and inviting them to a free dinner and Bible study.” When guests stopped coming after a while, we focused on the international students while keeping it open for lifeguards and first responders. The response they received was strong.

Sean is excited that his wife, Anna, and their children — Charlotte, 15; Gwyneth, 13; and Josephine,11 — are now ministering alongside him. Terry and Lynn continue to help, now serving Monday night dinners with High Tide Church, Delaware, where Terry serves as an elder.

Krista Ponder gives a health kit to an international student.

The dinners, overseen by Deacon Jason Hilbert, serve as a critical entry point for many students. It’s where students get connected and learn about the many other events offered throughout the week.

On Wednesdays, OCBC hosts free surf lessons for all. Salty Selt, a longtime OCBC member, owns Endless Summer Surf Shop and generously provides boards and surf teachers. Just before lessons, all bow their heads, some kneeling to pray. Sean says 75% of those attending the surf lessons are the J1 students. It’s a time to relax, laugh and have some fun, says Sean. “I just go out and be in the water with them and talk to the guys out there. Sometimes, I sit on shore and meet them.”

The coffee shop/game night is a smaller gathering and a great time for more one-on-one discussions. “About 35 students show up to play cards and board games,” says Sean. “It’s a time to get to know them better in a relaxed setting and ask them what they know and how they feel about Jesus.” Many are open and want to talk and ask questions. The church also has conversational English sessions on Thursdays using a Christian curriculum. Summer interns from Mississippi are taught to use these opportunities to engage students, and they’re doing well. Sean says he enjoys seeing the interns learn to share their faith confidently. “They start to step out of their comfort zone. That’s fun to see,” he says.

Pastor Sean Davis says 75% of those who attend the weekly surf lessons are international students.

Tim and Krista Ponder began directing the International student ministry last year in partnership with the church as they served as summer staff. They met while serving with OCBC in 2017. Born in Ukraine, Tim was adopted by a family in Mississippi and served as a summer intern at OCBC. Krista, from Hungary, was volunteering with another Christian group and attending the church.

Tim says happily, “We connected as friends. We had a shared love for the gospel and as we saw each other serving students, the attraction grew and we fell in love.” Tim and Krista both felt called to missions even before they were married. They now work full-time as videographers/photographers telling the stories of Christians and missionaries all over the world with Truth Planters in Budapest, Hungary through most of the year and spend their summers serving with OCBC.

The energetic couple connects with students in many relaxed, organic ways. “We organize and invite students to a pool party at a church member’s house, and we get some students to come to church and cook their cuisine for us and the interns, and we fellowship. Food is one of the biggest ways to connect with anyone,” shares Tim. “We also have bonfires at Assateague Island with s’mores, and different interns share testimonies about how they became believers, which leads to questions. And we invite students to Sunday services. Many come because they are curious to see what a church looks like in the States.” This year, many of the international students enjoyed fireworks on the beach with Tim, Krista, the interns, and church members.

Tim says, “I’m so amazed at how the world comes here to Ocean City and we get to share the love of Christ with all of these students. We all have the calling to make disciples of all nations and here, the world comes to you, basically to our own backyard. Our goal is to minister to students, love them, and see what God does with the seeds we plant.”

Tim Ponder talks with international students outside of OCBC.

Though the real impact will not be realized until eternity, the church has seen some of the fruit of their labors. Each year, students make confessions of faith, and some are baptized. Others grow in their faith and seek baptisms or make other spiritual commitments. One young man made a profession of faith about a decade ago, went home to Kazakhstan, connected with a church, and began doing ministry and is involved in ministry to this day. Another was strengthened in his faith and became a pastor in England. There are many more examples of lives changed by this ministry. 

“This is Baptist cooperation at its best,” Sean says, pointing to all of the Eastern Baptist Association churches preparing and serving meals, BCM/D churches making and delivering health kits, interns from Mississippi Baptist Convention serving and sharing the Gospel, and many other churches who have partnered in some way.

If you are interested in helping with this ministry, email [email protected]. 

Photos by Tim&KristaFilms