A teenage boy emerges from the water, and his friend pulls him into an embrace. Around them, arms shoot into the air. Cheers erupt from dozens of students gathered at the pool’s edge—but the noise fades into the background.
For Miles Pleasant, Beach Week 2024 marked a defining moment—an act of obedience that would continue to shape his faith long after summer ended.
Though Miles grew up attending Bellevue and accepted Christ as a child, the years following the COVID-19 pandemic left him feeling disconnected from church and the godly friendships he once had.
“I wasn’t really involved in ministry in middle school,” Miles said. “I was quiet, and I didn’t really talk to anybody.”
When Beach Week came around the summer before his sophomore year, Miles wasn’t even sure he wanted to go. The idea of spending a week with people he barely knew felt more intimidating than exciting.
“I was really shy,” Miles said. “My mom kept telling me, ‘Just go. You’ll have fun and meet new people.’”
So Miles finally agreed to go. As the week unfolded, he found himself surrounded by welcoming peers, meaningful conversations, and powerful worship. During a prayer response near the end of camp, he knew God was calling him to take the next step in his faith.
“I remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to get baptized,’” Miles said. “It’s the next point in my faith, and I haven’t made it yet.”
The next day, Miles stepped into the pool and publicly declared his faith in Christ. What surprised him most wasn’t the baptism itself—it was the response from the people around him.
“I came up out of the water, and people were screaming and so excited for me,” Miles said. “Some of those guys I had only met a day or two before, so I didn’t think they would be so excited for this.”
That celebration revealed something Miles didn’t realize he had been missing: a community of believers to walk alongside him.
Today, as Miles prepares for his senior year of high school, he credits those friendships and the discipleship opportunities that followed with helping him stay rooted in his faith.
“The people in my Discipleship Group are some of my closest friends,” Miles said. “They keep me accountable and help me stay on track.”
For high school students like Miles, Beach Week is more than a week in the Florida sun. It’s where a single moment of obedience can become the start of something far greater than they ever expected.
Learn more about how Bellevue is discipling the next generation at bellevue.org/next-gen!