It Was Never Just a Trip to the Beach

For nearly three decades, Switzerland County kids have been boarding buses for BigStuf. What happens when they come home may be the bigger story.

If you saw Patrick Lanman’s recent Facebook post, it didn’t say much:

BigStuf 2027. June 14–18. Panama City Beach. Spread the word.

But behind that little announcement is nearly 30 years of Switzerland County history.

Pat has attended BigStuf for 26 years and, God willing, plans to make it 27 next summer.

And he’s heard the criticism before.

You’re just taking kids to the beach.

Except the beach was never really the point.

It started with a small group of kids

In the late 1990s, Jeni Scudder took the youth group from Switzerland Baptist Church to Florida for a retreat. When that retreat center later closed, she found another option: BigStuf, a Christian camp for middle- and high-school students.

Pat joined the following year.

Before long, he and Jeni made an important decision. They didn't want this experience to belong to just one church.

Small churches throughout Switzerland County and neighboring communities might not have enough students, leaders or resources to make a trip like this happen on their own.

So the invitation became bigger:

If a young person wanted to go, they wanted to find a way to take them.

That included kids who didn't attend church at all.

Their philosophy became simple:

“God puts on the buses who God wants on the buses.”

Pat estimates that more than 2,000 different young people have made the trip over the years. Today, some of those former students are parents sending their own teenagers.

BigStuf has become generational.

Then Pat told me a story I can't stop thinking about

Several years ago at BigStuf, students learned about communities in Kenya without access to safe drinking water.

They were told that roughly $2,000 could provide a well serving a village of about 2,500 people.

When the Switzerland County group met afterward, the kids wanted to do something.

Pat suggested that when they returned home, they could brainstorm ways to raise money.

The kids didn't want to wait.

He told them to pray about it. If they felt God leading them to help, they could leave some money on their room leader's bed before breakfast the next morning.

And they did.

Money they had brought for T-shirts.

Souvenirs.

Spending money.

Singles, fives, tens, twenties—and a bucket of change.

Pat counted it.

$2,250.

A group of Switzerland County kids had been given a glimpse of a need far beyond their little corner of Indiana, and their response was essentially:

We can do something about that.

And they did.

But they weren't finished

They came home and told other people.

They collected change.

They held a water-balloon fundraiser at the Swiss Wine Festival.

Their efforts even attracted television coverage in Cincinnati.

According to Pat, enough money was eventually raised to fund four additional wells, potentially providing clean water for thousands more people.

Think about that for a minute.

Something happened in Panama City Beach.

But the impact didn't stay there.

It came home on the bus.

That's the part of BigStuf we don't always see

Pat told me the camp has created relationships that have lasted long after everyone unpacked their suitcases.

Adult leaders don't simply chaperone. They share rooms with students, lead discussions and walk alongside them through some difficult conversations.

Some groups have continued meeting after returning home.

Leaders have remained connected with students through graduation, college, weddings and families of their own.

And those adult leaders have included teachers, school administrators, pastors, parents, community volunteers and even the county sheriff.

BigStuf also encourages young people to serve—to look beyond themselves, invest in their communities and recognize needs beyond the place they call home.

Maybe that's one reason Switzerland County has embraced this trip for so many years.

And about that beach...

There's something almost funny about the criticism that these kids are simply being taken to Florida for a beach vacation.

Pat says strong tides have kept their students from getting into the ocean during the past three years.

They keep going back anyway.

Because 1,500 young people worshipping together, conversations with trusted adults, friendships, questions about faith and five days away from ordinary distractions have become far more important than getting into the water.

As Pat put it, being surrounded by other young Christians gives some students the realization:

“Maybe I'm not weird for my faith.” 

It takes a community to get those buses moving

There is another part of this story people may not realize.

This isn't a free trip.

Pat says the cost in recent years has been about $550 per student, with many students and parents paying that themselves.

Then there are expenses that can't reasonably be added to each family's bill.

Two charter buses alone cost approximately $24,000.

That's where Switzerland County has stepped in.

The Vevay-Switzerland County Foundation has helped with transportation. Local organizations have contributed toward expenses. Students hold their BigStuf Cafe fundraiser and have sold candy bars to reduce their individual balances.

Former BigStuf students—now adults living around the country—sometimes quietly send money to help another kid go.

And Pat told me something that may say more about this community than anything else:

They have never left a student behind because that student couldn't afford to go. 

That's quite a statement after nearly three decades.

So yes, they're going to the beach.

Next June, Lord willing, another group of young people will climb aboard buses in Switzerland County and head toward Panama City Beach.

Some will probably be excited about Florida.

Some may be nervous.

Some will know exactly what they believe.

Others may not know what they believe at all.

And nobody can predict what will happen in each of their lives afterward.

Pat is careful about that. Not every student who has attended BigStuf has grown into an adult actively practicing his or her faith.

But seeds have been planted.

Relationships have been formed.

Young people have discovered that they can make a difference.

And some of the kids who once climbed onto those buses are now putting their own children on them.

Maybe that's why a man who has already made this trip 26 times is posting the dates for number 27 nine months early.

He knows what can happen when those buses leave Switzerland County.

It was never just a trip to the beach.

Were you one of those kids?

If BigStuf has been part of your story—as a student, parent or adult leader—I’d love to hear what you remember. What happened there that stayed with you? What did you bring home with you?

Share your story in the comments below. You just might help someone else understand why those buses keep leaving Switzerland County every summer. ❤️