As I write this, I'm currently on day 11 of having the song Kokomo by the Beach Boys stuck in my head. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the song, but it has been a rough past week or so.
I understand that there are much worse things than having a classic 80’s song stuck in your head but I can only sing about Aruba and Jamaica so many times before it becomes maddening!
While the song talks about the wonders of "getting away from it all", and they sure do sound appealing, it will have to wait because our Saints Prison Ministry season is underway again!
This past Saturday was our first visit of the 2024 season. I set several alarms for Saturday morning but I actually woke up on time to the first one at 3:15 AM. Normally we don’t get up that early, but our goal was to be on the front steps of the prison at 7:45 AM. We met in the Morton McDonald’s parking lot shortly after 4 AM. Our whole team showed up on time despite the crazy early hours of the morning. We prayed as a team before departing. This is something we have done since our team started in 2012 and it has been a blessing to my heart. We prayed for the inmates we would be seeing that day. We prayed for the speakers. We prayed for the families that we were leaving behind for the day. We also prayed for the other Saints teams that were also traveling which included the Georgia Lady Saints team, the North Georgia Saints, and the Pennsylvania team. It was a busy day for the ministry for sure!
We left Central Illinois and worked our way through the Southern half of the state. After a brief breakfast stop in Troy, IL, we made our way to the prison. Once we made it through security, we were led out to the softball field. The East St. Louis area received a lot of rain the day before so the recreation staff set up a field where we played in the grassy area of the outfield.
Right after we arrived the inmate team came out to the field as well. We shook some hands, went over some ground rules, and started our first game. We came out and scored 9 runs in the first inning…and then 10 the next inning…and then 10 the next inning! Before we broke for ministry time, we had a 30-1 lead!
We broke a little early for our ministry time. Brent Gerber shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord and Kyle Krall shared the Gospel. Kyle preached on John 3:16-18 and gave a really clear Gospel message.
After we went back to the game, we changed things up a little and let the inmate team bat the whole time. We had some good laughs and fellowship time.
At the conclusion of our yard time, we circled up with the men in the yard one more time and encouraged them to consider the Gospel message they heard earlier. After we prayed with the men, we went to the staff lunch room for lunch. We enjoyed some time as a team and it was nice to spend time talking and laughing together. After our lunch we had to wait for the inmate count to clear before we could return to the field. We spent a little time in the prison gym. Some of our guys spent more time talking while some of the guys played knockout (basketball).
After we returned to the yard, we got to play another game with another group of guys. Once again, we found ourselves up 30-4 before we broke for ministry time.
During our ministry time, Kurt Hand shared his testimony and I shared the gospel. I preached out of John chapter 4 and talked about the woman at the well. I talked about how despite the sin in her life, Jesus still loved her and saved her.
We finished out the day by letting the inmate team bat around.
We huddled up with them one more time and prayed with them before we left.
Since I am still recovering from my torn Achilles, I had a little more time to talk to some guys during the day.
I talked to one guy who was umpiring while I was coaching 3rd. I asked him about where he was at with the Lord. He let me know that he was trying harder to be a better person. I let him know that there weren't enough good things he could do to be a good enough person for God- it was only what Jesus did on a cross that could save him. I encouraged him to read the Gospel that we gave him.
I talked to another guy who really wasn’t interested in religion let alone what we were talking about. He was friendly about it, but it was still discouraging. I’ll just call his name “M”. Please pray for him and pray that God would send someone else after us to confront him with the gospel.
I did talk to several guys who were believers. I was talking with someone and he told me he was a believer. I challenged him on it a bit by asking him if he were to die today, why would God let him into heaven. He responded by saying that his only hope was what Jesus did on the cross. That was encouraging to hear. Please pray for the believers in the prison system. I am often discouraged that while there are chapels and chaplains, it isn’t a direct replacement for the church. Please pray that these guys can find churches to be a part of when they are released.
Overall on the day we handed out 52 Gospels and saw 9 men make professions of faith.
Our next trip is on June 8th as we travel to the Pittsfield Work Camp and Jacksonville Correctional Center. Please pray that God keeps the doors open for us to go!
