Charlotte CI Follow Up

 Ah yes, the last day of the trip.  Plenty of mixed emotions but for most of us, this also marked the last day of the 2021 season.  Going through the pandemic years have been interesting to say the least.  Having a year off was disappointing but ending up being a huge blessing on so many levels.  I was very thankful to have a year off and the free time to spend more time at home.  When I got the surprise call of getting to go to Florida in April, it was a thrill.  It was great to have a year with several prison visits.  Of course, having 3 trips to Florida, 1 to Ohio, 1 to Wisconsin, and 0 to Illinois made it quite the unconventional season!

I very much took it for granted that we would have plenty of opportunities to share the Gospel in Illinois and across the country in 2020 and that very much turned out not to be the case.  One of the things that was important to me this year was trying to enjoy the ministry and not take it for granted.  I made sure to make intentional time with teammates that I don’t see very often.  I also made sure to be bold in conversations with the inmates that we see.  With today marking the last day of my 2021 season, I’m very thankful for the opportunities that God provided this year!

We arrived at Charlotte CI.  As I have stated in several other blog posts, the last day of a trip is rough physically and mentally.  Everybody is hurt and probably somewhat injured.  The days have run together and nobody is as rested as they probably should be.  And by this point, everyone misses their family and already has some responsibilities waiting for them when they get home.  However, the group that we saw at Charlotte CI was fresh and excited that we were there!

We played two softball games.  The games weren’t super competitive but they were fun.  The wardens came out and watched the games with us.  They were very friendly and thanked us for coming in.  During the speaking time, I got to distribute some literature to yard and have a couple of conversations.  

We were invited to stay for lunch.  This was cool because our entire team was able to eat lunch and have some good conversations with the inmates.  I sat at a table with Jon Isbell and Wayne Errig.  We got to talk to a younger guy who became a believer while in prison.   It was nice to talk to this guy but to also watch Jon and Wayne engage in conversation with him.  

After lunch, we played two more games.  Bruce Buri shared the Gospel in between games.  Bruce shared the same story that he shared in Wisconsin earlier in the month about losing his wife to cancer.  This is such a powerful story but it is even more powerful because it is tied to the Gospel!  Jesus took the punishment that we deserved and we know that we can have eternal life because of what He did.  We can mourn the death of loved ones but we can rejoice through that mourning and know that our loved ones who put their faith in the Lord are rejoicing with Him now.  

Overall on the day we handed out 200 Gospels and saw 8 men make professions of faith.  

Overall on the trip, we handed out 920 Gospels and saw 56 men profess to have made Jesus the Lord of their life.  

Like I mentioned earlier, nothing about this season was normal but we can praise Him for providing it.  Please pray for the 56 men who made decisions and please pray that God would continue to open doors in 2022! 

DeSoto Annex Follow Up

 My kids were 9, 6, and 4 when I made my first trip to Ohio in 2011.  Now they are 19, 16, and 14. Those 10 years are some of the most significant years that our family will ever go through. I'm not 100 percent sure of how they will remember "Dad's Saints Years" but there are certain things I hope they take away from it. I hope they don't see me as just doing something good but rather as obedience to the Lord. I hope they see this not as a way of helping the inmates feel better for a day but rather God's command to take the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. I hope they don't look at the challenges and discouragements that sometimes come from being in the Saints Prison Ministry and decide that serving the Lord is too much trouble and stress. I hope they see it as worth it and know that God is in control and they can find joy in that as they faces trials of various kinds. I hope they see the Lord as more beautiful and awesome because of my time serving the Lord behind bars the last 10 years and beyond. 

Today we went to the DeSoto CI Annex.  We have been to the main unit several times over the years but this was at least my first time going to the Annex.  We played our first game and lost a tough 9 inning game.  During the game I did have a good conversation with a Latin gentlemen who said he was a believer.  We discussed why it was hard to be a believer in prison but that God is still good and that He is worthy of our worship and praise no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.  

During the ministry time, I handed out some Gospels of John and some tracts. I ran into one man who didn’t like that we were handing out literature.  He wasn’t upset because of what we were handing out but rather he was upset that inmates have other needs like socks and clothes.  I understood where he was coming from and I really didn’t engage him in the debate as there were other guys that needed to receive literature.  He said that guys will take the literature we give out as a sign of respect but they will discard it later on.  I tried to understand his concern and it did provoke some thoughts about what we could be doing better, but, I wish he understood the Gospel and that the biggest problem in the hearts of every man inside and outside the prison is that they stand in the judgment of Holy God and that the only hope of being reconciled with Him is to repent and put their faith in His Son.  

After lunch, we returned to the field we actually shared the Gospel first.  Saints veteran John Chisholm shared the Gospel message with the men.  We then got to play and won a 17-9 ballgame.  

During the second half of the day, we had three men indicate that they committed their lives to the Lord.  

After we left Desoto, we returned to the hotel, had devotions, and enjoyed some pizza and wings as a team.  Tomorrow we finish up the trip at Charlotte CI!

South Florida Reception Center Follow Up

 Rain does some funny things to affect baseball games.  Most of the time it is a bad thing to see the umpire call the ground crew out to cover the field.  In the case of the 2016 Chicago Cubs, the rain delay happened at the perfect moment and the Cubs came out of the rain delay and won the World Series!  

When we woke up Saturday morning, we knew we would be facing a rain delay of some sort.  It had poured the night before.  We figured that wiffleball could be a possibility.  When we arrived at the prison, we eventually made our way out to the prison softball field which was as expected, underwater!  

Fortunately, this story did not end with wiffleball or even worse, a cancellation.  The yard was big enough that there was a big enough grassy area for us to play.  We lost the first game 9-8.  The inmate team got a walkoff hit in the last inning.   

During the game, I met another Chicago Cubs fan in the yard.  He tried to test me if I was really a Cubs fan and wanted to see if I knew the words to “Hey Hey Holy Mackerel (The Cubs are on their Way)”.  In one of the most fun things I have ever done in prison ministry, I sang the entire song with my fellow Cubs fan.  This man said that he knew the Lord we both shared our concern for the inner city of Chicago and Peoria.  

After the frist game, we started our ministry time.  My Illinois teammate, Nick Sauder shared his testimony of how he met the Lord.  I had the opportunity to share the Gospel.  I preached from John 11:46-12:8..  This is the same message that I got to share in [Name of Florida Prison].  This is the passage about the 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?  Are you someone who views Jesus as in your way or are you all in on putting your faith in Jesus?  

After the sharing time, we played another game and won a lopsided game.  

During our trip to the South Florida Reception Center, we handed out close to 100 Gospels of John and saw 8 men indicate that they put their faith in Jesus Christ.  

We then loaded back on the bus and headed to Everglades CI.  

Playing in two facilities in the same day isn’t necessarily hard, but it does mess you physically and mentally.  Physically, you just left everything on the field in prison #1 but the expectation of prison #2 is that you are fresh and ready to leave everything on the field again.  It is also challenging mentally to try and manage the fatigue and provide the same level of engagement for another audience.  As much of a joy as it is to share the Gospel and talk to people about the Lord, it can be mentally fatiguing but God has us there for a reason and we know it’s our job to be faithful in serving Him!

Unfortunately, we had trouble scoring runs and took a tough 16-4 loss.  During the sharing time, some of my teammates and I got to visit the other side of the prison yard and meet some guys and hand out some literature.  After we handed out literature, I got to sit in and play some drums with the band who was practicing next to the yard!  Getting a chance to sit in and play with the prison band is always one of my favorite things to do that has nothing to do with the ministry mission statement!

During the 2nd game, it began to rain pretty hard.  We were actually able to stay out in the yard and finish a game of “one pitch” until they called yard.  Several guys got really dirty but we had a lot of fun!

Overall during our time at Everglades CI we had 12 men indicate that they made a decision to follow the Lord!

After our trip to Everglades CI we got cleaned up and enjoyed a nice team meal in Miami.  

Despite the rain, the Lord was good to us today!  Tomorrow we head to the DeSoto Annex!

Okeechobee CI Follow Up

 Day 2 of a trip is probably the best day of a Saints Crusade.  Everyone has had a decent night of rest, everyone has a good idea of their role on the team, and everyone has had a chance to swing a bat and field a softball or two.  

We arrived on time at Okeechobee CI and were taken to the softball field.  We got to the field a little early and had the field to ourselves for about 30 minutes.  I did the best I could to think of something to fill the time so I organized a quick team game of “Who had the best high school mascot?”  The contestants were mascots such as the Marauders, the Eagles, the Rams, the Cheese-Makers, the Rockets, and the Panthers.  The championship game came down to the Warriors and the Crusaders with the Warriors winning the thrown-together tournament championship!

Shortly after that, we played and lost our first game.  During our game we lost our third baseman David “Cogs” Cogliano to a back injury, so I got to get a couple of innings in at third base.    During the speaking time, Butch Smith shared his testimony and Wayne Errig shared the Gospel.  During that time, some of us went over to the other side of the yard and handed out literature.  We had a few good conversations with the guys we saw.  There was one younger guy who was struggling with life in prison and was not sure where he stood with God.  I talked with him and shared the Gospel with him.  Some of these conversations are hard because guys know that they need hope but it is tough to see that hope through the trials of everyday prison life.  Pray that God continues to draw this young man closer to Him.  

In addition to losing Cogs to injury, our PA system was injured during our speaking time and quit working!

After our ministry time, we stopped for lunch.  Today’s lunch was at the staff canteen.  As we enjoyed our canteen lunch,  our ministry director took Cogs back to the hotel to ice his back as well as purchase a new sound system.  

As we huddled back up to go back to our field, my good friend and Saints veteran, Rodney Stewart reminded the team that we were a veteran group and then told them that I would be coaching the team that afternoon. I coach our Illinois team back home but I wasn't expecting to coach on a trip like this. Rodney and I got together and we figured out some lineups for the afternoon. We won the first game!  During our ministry time, some of us went over to the other side of the yard to get literature to some guys who hadn't gotten literature yet. A couple of us had conversations with a guy who was a Jehovah's Witness. This guy was interesting because there was a lot that he agreed with us on but he was still hostile to the Gospel.  Over the years I have been involved in some of those conversations.  It is comforting to know that it is my job to share the message and not to save them myself.  Pray for boldness that we would be faithful in sharing despite getting some pushback.  

We played and won our 2nd game.  We then circled up with the inmates and prayed for them and left.  This is usually the part where we get on the bus and go get some food.  However, Frank and Cogs were gone and had our keys to the bus!

We waited outside for Frank. During that time we discussed how the day went.  There were several of our guys who didn’t hear Joey Foster and Butch Smith share their testimonies, and, since we had a few extra minutes, they took a few minutes to share them with just our team.  Both of these guys have really cool stories of how God got a hold of their lives.  Joey shared about finding the Lord during a dark time of his life.  Butch isn’t big on public speaking and will use a pre-written set of notes to read off of when he shares his testimony.  He really wasn’t up for the task of reading it twice in one day, so I read his testimony to the team.  Most everyone on the team knew his story but it was good to be reminded of how God used things in Butch’s past like his mom and dad, the military, marriage, softball, and being a great-grand parent to draw Butch closer to Him.  

Instead of going back to the hotel after our visit, we made a trip to the actual Lake Okeechobee. We took an air boat ride around the lake, enjoyed exploring the swamp areas, and saw a few alligators.  This was a fun team activity after a busy day!  

We then got some dinner at a local restaurant.  It was nice to get a good meal and hang out with brothers in the Lord from different parts of the country. 

I'm Going to Florida How Many Times in 2021?!?- Moore Haven CF Follow Up

 Back in January, I had plans to visit Florida...ONCE.  My family and I flew to Orlando and visited Walt Disney World and enjoyed the recently added “Galaxy’s Edge” (Star Wars Land).  We had fun as a family seeing all of the Star Wars attractions and we also enjoyed the warm January Florida weather before returning to the cold Midwest.  At that point, it sure looked like there wouldn’t be any prison visits for at least several months and that “The Star Wars Trip” would be the only time that any of us might travel out of state this year.  Much to my surprise, the Saints had an opportunity to visit Florida in April followed by another Florida prison trip in June that I was able to attend!  There was a July Saints trip that I didn’t make it on but when the schedule opened up for an October Crusade, I seized the opportunity marking my 4th trip to Florida in 2021!

The Illinois part of the team arrived a day early and we were able to enjoy an evening visiting Fort Myers beach.  The next day we met up with the rest of our teammates.  We had guys flying in from all of the usual Saints spots around the country plus a couple of teammates from Brother Bob’s Outreach in Wisconsin.  

Our first visit on the trip was to Moore’s Haven Correctional Facility.  The team as well as the staff were excited that we were there.  The opposing team actually had a name.  They were the “Moore’s Haven Moonpies”.  This added to the fun of the day.  The staff made a big deal out of our arrival and they actually had signs made up saying “Go Moonpies!”.  

We had a little trouble scoring runs in the first game and lost the first game on a walk-off hit.  Scoring runs was actually something we struggled to do on the entire trip.  

During the preaching times, My teammate Bruce and I had an interesting conversation with two guys down the right field line near the basketball court.  I’m not 100% sure where these guys stood with the Lord but we shared and talked about the Gospel with them.  

We came back and won the 2nd game of the day.  This was one of the “happier” prisons we have ever been to.  Out of all of the prisons I have been to over the years, this was probably the most engaged staff I have ever been around.  The staff did a good job encouraging the men and facilitating the day so that we could play ball and share the Gospel.  

Overall on the day we handed out 220 Gospels and had 14 men respond to the Gospel by saying that they made a decision to follow Jesus.  

Tomorrow, we head to Okeechobee CI.  Please keep our team in prayer!

Getting to be a Cheesehead for a Day!- Brother Bob's Outreach- Racine CI Follow Up

I have a good friend named Bruce Buri and he leads a prison ministry softball team called Brother Bob’s Outreach. His ministry is very similar to what we do with the Saints Prison Ministry.  He is a Green Bay Packers fan and I am a Chicago Bears fan.  While we are mortal enemies for 17 weeks during the NFL season, Bruce is one of my best friends in the ministry.  We have had the privilege of helping Bruce a couple of times when he is short on softball players.  

The four of us, Brent Gerber, Ray Koonce, Jon Isbell, and I, made the trip up north.  After missing a couple of seasons due to COVID, it was great to hit the road and spend some time as teammates.  

That next morning we were up early, met most of the team at one of the local churches in the Milwaukee area, and traveled together to Racine CI.  

We played and won the first game.  In between games, Bruce Buri shared a brief message with the inmate team on the pitcher’s mound.  Bruce had lost his wife to cancer earlier in the year.  Bruce shared about how the loss affected him and then shared about how, despite the sorrow, he was at peace because of his wife’s relationship with the Lord.  Bruce shared from God’s Word how the men on the yard could also have that same peace and have the same relationship with the Lord.  In all of my years of participating in prison ministry, this is one of the most powerful Gospel sharing times I have ever been a part of.  I really appreciate and admire Bruce for his willingness to continue to serve the Lord in the Wisconsin prisons.

We played and won the second game.  After the 2nd game, Paul, who pastors a nearby church in Wisconsin shared the Gospel.  

In between games we ate at a local truck stop and enjoyed some burgers and fries.  It was fun to hang out with the Wisconsin team.  Unfortunately, both the Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers were playing so much better than the Cubs and Bears that we didn’t have much ammunition for the usual regional sports smack talk that happens on these trips!

We returned to the prison and played another two games.  We lost a close game three and lost a rough game four.  Bruce was able to share the Gospel again and Ray Koonce was able to share the Gospel at end the day.  

As I stated earlier, it was a blessing to be back on the field with some of my Illinois teammates.  For me, it was good to be on the prison yards again while the Gospel was going out.  After a couple of years away, it is a reminder not to take these trips for granted!

Inside the Mind of Gibby- I Think the Bears are Winning the Super Bowl

 It’s hard not to be excited about Chicago sports nowadays. The Cubs have won 7 games in a row and are the hottest team in baseball as of this writing. The Bears have a new rookie quarterback and are opening up their season with a prime time Sunday night game. But, in reality, the Cubs are 20 games out of first place, and the Bears will no doubt still be the Bears and will be underwhelming once again. Yes, I know the White Sox are in first place and will no doubt make a deep playoff run, but most major media outlets, including this column, still don’t care about the Sox.

As a Chicago sports fan, there is always excitement… followed by expectations… followed by inevitable disappointment. It is easy to get excited about being a Missionary-Athlete, but sometimes you need to leave some of your expectations at home.

Misplaced Expectation #147 – “We beat the prison team last year; we’ll just roll over them again this year.” Ha! Year after year, visit after visit, Crusade after Crusade, missionary athletes fall for this one over and over again! You may have played well on the field or court the last time you played this prison team but that doesn’t mean anything because the prison team has been training Rocky IV style all year long. You will be stopping for dinner tonight, but it is likely only humble pie is on the menu!

Misplaced Expectation #263 – “The guy with several kids, an overloaded work schedule, and who serves on several different church committees might join our roster this year!” This isn’t a misplaced expectation as much as it is straight up delusional! We all know the guy that would be perfect for this ministry if he just wasn’t so busy. Your only option is to move on or just kidnap him.

Misplaced Expectation #679 – “Don’t worry, the connecting flight has us landing in plenty of time to catch our next flight!” Yes, I know. I have used this quarterly article to complain to the masses about Saints travel for years, but anyone who has flown to a Crusade has experienced the pit in your stomach that only a cancelled flight can cause. If you are planning on being in Orlando at 3 pm always be ready to enjoy sight-seeing in Houston instead! If you are traveling by bus or van, be prepared to spend time in places like Discount Tire, Pep Boys, Auto Zone, AAMCO Transmissions… or a corn field in the middle of nowhere Indiana!

Misplaced Expectation #972- “Surely COVID won’t cancel two seasons in a row, right?”

It has been good to have the ministry finally get some games in this summer in Georgia, Ohio, and Florida, but, for those of us in Illinois and the Northeast, it has been tough not to have any local visits. Someday we will have some normal prison visits again but it is discouraging when Disney+ has had more seasons of the Mandalorian than we have had ministry seasons the last two years.

So, Sunday night I will be on the couch with a plate of chicken wings totally convinced that the Bears will win the Super Bowl and that Cubs will make up a 20-game deficit with 23 games left to play, but that of course will be a misplaced expectation. My only hope in avoiding this will be to misplace the TV remote!

**Editor’s Note: The Cubs didn’t close the gap and finished out of the playoffs yet again. Despite a good effort, the Bears lost their opener that Sunday night. It is our fervent prayer that Gibby still hasn’t found the remote!