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!
