Tom Gibson's Update Blog: It is Dangerous to go Alone…Take This!- Racine CI Follow Up and Centralia/Vandalia Preview

Dear Friends and Family,

The best video game of all time is Super Mario Bros 3. If you think it is anything else, you just need to repent…

Anyhow, in most video games there is always an unsung hero: the non playable character. This could be the guy who says the princess is in another castle. Another example are the referees in your favorite EA Sports game. Possibly the most famous NPC (that's what the kids call them nowadays!) is the guy who gives the sword to the hero in the Legend of Zelda...I'm glad he was always hanging out in that cave at the beginning of the game!

The non-playable characters always help with the details of the game but they don't really contribute anything to the game.

A few of us from the Illinois Saints Prison Ministry team were asked to help fill out the roster for last weekend's Brother Bob's trip to Racine CI. It would have been tempting to treat this trip as though we were the non playable characters on the team. We could have just focused on softball so that each team had enough players. But since this was more than just softball, we knew that we still needed to engage with the guys we saw and to be witnesses for Christ.

As corny as it sounds, there really shouldn't be any non playable characters when it comes to serving the Lord. Colossians 3:23-24 tells us:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

This passage isn’t just for pastors, Sunday School teachers, and your Aunt Mildred who has been singing faithfully in the church choir since Batman wore tights. This is addressed to all believers. There is no day off for believers, and we needed to be ready as we took the field in Racine!

We had a fun morning going to Racine CI with the Brother Bob's Outreach softball team. Since we brought in two teams, we were able to play two games at the same time.

We won all four games and had a lot of fun interacting with the men in the prison yard. I received my fair share of heckling for being a Cubs and Bears fan. My oldest son, Ryne, traveled with us and he did an exceptional job on and off the field.

Since we had the two teams, we could also have two different Gospel presentations on two different diamonds.

Bruce Buri shared the Gospel and his testimony on one of the fields.

Andy Van Riper shared his testimony on the field I was playing on. Andy shared his story about how he met Christ and how his faith in the Lord impacted him throughout several trials in his life. Tim, who is a regular with the team, gave a brief Gospel presentation and prayed with the men that we saw.

The heat advisory was a bummer but it was good to serve the Lord with our brothers from Wisconsin.

After the game we got to go to the local Chick-fil-A and enjoy lunch and some Bears-Packers smack talk together.

This weekend, Lord willing, we will visit Centralia CC, and Vandalia CC. We are planning on playing two games of 16” Chicago style softball at Centralia and then two regular softball games at Vandalia. Please pray for us as we play and share the Gospel. Nick Sauder and Chris Onken will be sharing their testimonies. Ray Koonce and I will be sharing the Gospel.

Thanks,

Gibby