Inside the Mind of Gibby- How to go from Locked Out to Locked In

Now that the Major League lockout is over, I’m glad I can get back to preparing to watch my beloved Chicago Cubs rise from the ashes of being a sub .500 team in 2021 to being a slightly better sub .500 team in 2022. I’m part of the Illinois softball team, and we are in a little bit of a lockout ourselves as we are still waiting for some of the COVID restrictions on volunteers to lift. After watching MLB struggle to reach a deal, I began to wonder what it would look like if they had simply called the Saints Prison Ministry to fix their labor dispute. 

Look, I’ve got to be upfront. We are a non-profit ministry…literally, non-profit in the truest sense of the word… so our ideas for how to help a multi-billion-dollar industry settle a labor dispute are going to be a little outside of the box. Since I have some spare time, here is how I would have solved the labor issues and gotten the season started sooner!

Idea #1- Schedule 4 Games a Day

Here me out on this one. Our teams will often play 4 games in one day on a prison visit. This allows us to see multiple groups of inmates and share the Gospel more than once. Just think of how well this would work out for the Big Leaguers! You play 4 games a day, and the 162-game season is over by the second week in May! The World Series would be played Memorial Day weekend and BOOM! You’re back to the offseason!

Idea #2- Help Players Write Support Letters

Are you an MLB owner who is having trouble filling your 40,000-seat taxpayer-funded stadium? Are you trying hard to find a TV deal that offers maximum exposure to the team while providing a good revenue stream? Here is the answer to all of your problems. Have your players write support letters! Our missionary-athletes write support letters every year to help pay for ministry and travel expenses. If it works for us, it will surely work for them!

Idea #3- No more 5a.m. Bus Times, Gas Station Food, or Layovers in Airports 800 miles away from Home

These are actually demands from our last Missionary-Athlete contract negotiation. I’m not sure how it made it onto this list. Whoopsies!

Idea #4- Hugh Dwyer will oversee the postgame spread…for all 30 MLB Teams

If this sounds like an outlandish, crazy, unreasonable request, you have obviously never met NJ softball coach Hugh Dwyer!

Idea #5- Send the Northeast Teams into the Room to just get a Deal Done

I’m from Illinois. Outside of terrible politics, we are mostly known for being polite and for being the birthplace of Betty White. In order to get this deal done, you need guys who aren’t afraid to speak their mind and not worry about hurting anyone’s feelings. 100% of the MAs from the Northeast meet this qualification! If we had sent those guys into the room, they would have come out with the deal done – and they could have talked the owners into buying Illinois a new bus!

Look, I refreshed my Twitter feed 287,755 times in March alone looking to see if a deal had been done. Next time they hopefully reach out to us for some help because baseball talk is important for the long Saints bus rides and layovers in airports 800 miles away from home…

May 2022 Update

 Friends and Family,

I’m not sure how good Seiya Suzuki will be during his time with the Chicago Cubs.  The Cubs signed Suzuki from the Japanese league earlier this spring and he has endeared himself to Cubs fans with some timely hits, big home runs, and some witty quotes said in broken English.  He got off to a really good start but as of this writing he has cooled off a little.  The uncertainty of Suzuki’s career is going to be fun to watch.  The certainty of another sub .500 Cubs season, probably not so much!

Our team is looking forward to our first Illinois prison visit in over two years.  Actually, 987 days to be exact!  While we are excited, there are always few uncertainties.  What if there are more COVID restrictions?  What if there are staffing issues that force us to re-schedule.  What if there is a new Thanos variant that causes more lockdowns and cancellations?  

Amidst the uncertainties, here are a few things that are certain:

• Jesus is on His throne interceding on our behalf

• He wants unbelievers to hear the Gospel and wants people to go share it with them

• We have invitations from Illinois prisons

Lord willing, on June 11th, we are visiting Robinson Correctional Center in Robinson, IL.  This is actually the last prison we visited in 2019 before everything shut down in 2020.  I will have some more specific prayer requests for this trip as we get closer but in the meantime, please pray that God keeps this door open.  Please pray that there aren’t any further COVID complications or staffing issues that would prevent us from going.  

Illinois Team Update

Over the last few months we have been meeting with prospective new Missionary Athletes.  This has been a blessing as we have lost a few guys during the last couple of years.  We have also been meeting together every three weeks to go through the book “What is the Gospel” by Greg Gilbert.  This has been a fun and encouraging iron sharpening iron time for all of us!

Crusades Update

We have four Crusades planned this summer.  I am planning on going on at least two of them.  Our first Crusade is to Indiana next month.  I am also planning on going to Wisconsin in October as well.  Please pray that God provides the resources and manpower for these trips.  

Support Update

We are currently at 43% of our $6,250 support goal for the 2022 season.  It has been encouraging to receive some encouraging notes letting me know that the team and I are being prayed for.  If you didn’t receive my support letter or would like to know more about supporting the ministry, you can read it here.  

Family Update

The Gibson family is close to being done with the school year!  Joe and Calvin are finishing up their Junior and Freshman years at Limestone.  This year was a fun year filled with football, marching band, scholastic bowl, and robotics.  Ryne is finishing up his semester at Illinois Central College and is pursuing an Associates in Industrial Electrical Technology.  Kelly and I have been working with the Youth Group at our church.  We are currently going through the book of Daniel.  I have had opportunities to fill the pulpit at our church and a couple of times at my brother in law’s church in Mason City over the last couple of years.  Joe and I are playing in a church softball league over in Pekin.  It has been a unique blessing to play softball with one of my kids!

Praises

• Opportunities to go and minister in Illinois prisons

• New Missionary Athletes

• Opportunities outside of prison to fellowship as a team

• Opportunities to serve at our local church

Prayer Requests

• The Robinson visit on 6/11- pray that God is working on the men who will hear the Gospel. Pray that some respond to it

• Pray that COVID restrictions continue to relax and that staffing will not be an issue for our visits

• Pray that God brings more Missionary Athletes not only to our team but to other teams across the country

• My Achilles tendon/plantar fasciitis-  This has been a nagging injury that has been bugging me the last few years and it flared up again this spring.  As of this writing it has cleared up quite a bit.  When this flares up, it makes it quite painful to play softball!

I am looking forward to our prison visits over the next couple of months.  I will keep everyone updated as we go!  I have closed down my old blog at www.tomgibson.me and have moved to https://gibsonupdateblog.blogspot.com/ 

Thank you for praying!

Tom Gibson