I’m pretty sure that the hardest thing about being from Danville, IL is having to live up to the legacy of Jerry Van Dyke. Jerry didn’t quite have the career that his older brother did but he has cemented his place as the most famous person born and raised in Danville, IL*. If you are from Danville, you have to wake up every morning and quickly come to the conclusion that whatever you do, you will never be as popular and famous as Jerry Van Dyke.
I realize that there is a generation that has no idea who Jerry Van Dyke is and I truly feel sorry for them. Jerry’s most famous role during his long career was his part as Luther Van Dam, the assistant coach of the fictional Minnesota State Screamin’ Eagles college football team. Jerry was nominated four times for a Primetime Emmy award. The lovable and sometimes befuddled Coach Van Dam was a fan favorite during the show’s eight year run.
Besides being the birthplace and hometown of Jerry Van Dyke, Danville is also known by some as being the location of the Illinois Saints second ever prison visit. We first visited in 2012 and have been back several times. Our 2012 visit might not get the fanfare that Mr. Van Dkye’s connection to Danville does, but it is a special part of our story as a team.
*This article really could have been about Hall of Fame baseball star Robin Yount or actor and older brother Dick Van Dyke but it went to Jerry on a technicality. Robin Yount was born in Danville but was raised in California. Dick Van Dyke was raised in Danville but was born in Missouri.
Danville is always a fun trip to make as a team. It isn’t quite as far as some of the other prisons. We travel through Champaign on the way home which means we have a fun team dinner somewhere, but, without a doubt, the most special thing is the warm reception we get every year from the administration and the men that we see in the yard each time we visit.
On the morning of the trip, we gathered together at the Morton McDonald’s and prayed for the day before taking off for Danville. After a quick breakfast stop, we arrived at the prison at 7:30 am. We were processed through and on the prison yard rather quickly.
We played our first game and it might have been the highest run scoring game that I have ever been a part of during my 11 years in the ministry. After slugging it out for several innings, we came away with a 46-33 victory. By the time the dust settled there were several men on both teams who were exhausted from all of the running!
In between games Ray Koonce shared his testimony. After Ray spoke, Josh Frederick shared the Gospel. Josh preached from John 8:31-36 and talked about what it means to be free from sin.
In between games, we ate lunch in the gym with some of the men. After lunch several of us were able to play bags, see the music and art rooms, and play a little bit of basketball with the men in the gym.
After our lunch break, we took the field for the second half of the day. We played 9 innings but we lost in the bottom of the 9th on a walk off home run.
During the middle of the game, we broke for our ministry time. Nick Sauder shared his testimony and Brent Gerber shared the Gospel.
After the game we circled up with the men and we were able to pray with them one last time before we left. Overall on the day we handed out around 80 Gospels and had 18 men indicate that they followed Jesus.
On our way home we stopped at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Champaign for dinner. It was fun having a team meal although there were several of us who had trouble walking with muscle pulls after a long day of playing softball!
When we got back to Central Illinois, we said goodbye and made plans for our final visit on 9/24. Unfortunately, the prison we had planned to visit on 9/24 had to cancel so our Illinois season is now over. I’ll share some final numbers from our season in a future email.
So while our Illinois season may be over, I am off one last time this year to visit Ohio for a 5 day trip where we will visit six different prisons.
Please keep our team in prayer as we will have guys traveling from Georgia, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and of course, Illinois. Here is our schedule for the week:
10/5- Lebanon CI
10/6- Richland CI
10/6- Mansfield CI
10/7- Marion CI
10/7- North Central CC
10/8- Allen-Oakwood CI
I will be sharing the Gospel at North Central CC on Friday. Please keep me in prayer as I preach!
Thank you again for all of your prayer and financial support all year! It has been fun to see how God has been at work in the prisons across the country in 2022!
