In my last post I talked about 4 things that impact each trip.
Going Inside an Actual Prison
Sharing the Gospel
Competitive Softball
Cross Country Travel
One thing that probably could have been added to that list is the weather. More specifically, Florida weather in June. Just in case you ever wondered, it is really hot in Florida in June! Another thing is, it tends to rain quite a bit in Florida. We played in some rain and won our morning game. Jeremiah Haffner shared his testimony. Jeremiah shared his story of running with the wrong crowd and how Jesus saved him.
After Jeremiah shared his testimony, I had the opportunity to share the Gospel. I had just recently had an opportunity to preach during our worship service at my church (Calvary Baptist Bible Church in Peoria, IL). Anytime I get to fill the pulpit, I try and share a message from the book of John. The biggest reason I do this is because we hand out the book of John to every inmate we see. I preached through John 11:46-12:8. I was able to share the same passage during the Gospel presentation. In this passage is the account of Caiaphas, the Jewish leader and Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Caiaphas plots to kill Jesus because Jesus is in his way. Mary worships and honors Jesus by washing His feet with her hair and by using an entire bottle of a really expensive perfume to anoint Jesus’ feet. I contrasted both lives and challenged those in prison yard, what are you going to do with Jesus? Are you a Caiaphas or are you a Mary?
We left for the prison for our break and had lunch at a really fun family owned restaurant. Team meals are fun. There are a few different things that happen during team meals:
Guys will spend time on the phones checking up on work and social media
Guys are talking about their families and local churches
Or my favorite… guys are acting like 12 year olds and giggling about a classic movie scene or something funny that happened during the day’s game or from a game that happened years ago!
These times have nothing to do with the mission statement of the ministry but they sure are precious moments that I cherish because I sure don’t get to act like a 12 year old at work!
We returned for the afternoon session and we won 2 more games. Softball isn’t the most important thing we do but it has been fun to play well. Adam and Mark who are from West Virginia, shared their testimony and the Gospel. During that time I was further out in the yard handing out Gospels and talking with whomever I could. One of the guys that I had talked to said that he appreciated why we came in, and that he believed in God but that he didn’t feel like he could ever be a Christian or at least a Christian in public while in prison. I was still able to pray with him and share the Gospel with him. Please pray for this guy and that he comes to know Jesus.
When we got back to the hotel, we had pizza and wings before having our team devotions. We continued our team devotion topic “What is a Missionary Athlete?”. We discussed the mission of a MA and continued studying through the book of Acts. That has been a blessing, refreshing, and a reminder of why we are ministering to those in prison.
