Zombie Brains, Hawaiian BBQ, and the Last Day of the Season- Arizona Crusade Day 4 & 5 Update

Typically my threshold for Crusades is three days.  After three days I am physically beat up and the strain of travel, teammates, softball, weather, prison, and social overload has resulted in so much brain fog that I am basically a zombie.  This trip only included three days of softball but the zombie state was there nonetheless!  When the brain fog strikes, it is good to have teammates there to pick you up.

The last day of the Crusade was the last day of the 2024 season for me and while I love the ministry, it was nice to look forward to some rest.  I wrapped up the season spending parts of 6 of the last 9 weeks ministering in prison.  It was a blessing but I was most certainly running on fumes mentally and physically as we crossed the finish line.  As I write this, I am reminded that most of the time that we minister- either in prison or at our churches or at our workplaces, it is usually not convenient for us.  God still wants us to be faithful even when we're tired.  By my own admission, I did a so-so job of that as the trip wound down but it was a blessing to serve Him on the last day of the trip!

We woke up and enjoyed another hotel breakfast and headed for FPC Tucson.  We have played a few games on this field over the years and it is a fun field to play on.  We came out and lost the first game to a very excited team.  In between games Danny Jorgensen, who goes by Buck shared his testimony.  Buck grew up in Wisconsin but moved to Minnesota.  Buck had a good story about how God saved him from several things in his past and it was awesome to hear how he came to know the Lord.  

After Buck shared his testimony, Frank Zeidler shared the Gospel.  It was tremendously hot outside but the Gospel still went out to the crowd at the field.  

We played two more games afterwards and bounced back with two victories in a couple of competitive games.  

Overall on the day, we were able to distribute 80 Gospels and we had 4 men make professions of faith.  

After the games, we prayed with the men one last time and packed up our gear for the ride back to Phoenix.  We left the prison and stopped one more time for snacks and anything that provided any sort of hydration!

We made it to our hotel in Phoenix and got cleaned up before going to a local Hawaiian BBQ place.  After we had dinner, we stopped at a local Dairy Queen for ice cream.  Our team celebrated Joe’s “birthday” by having the entire store and staff sing to him.  Of course, it wasn’t really his birthday and the confused/embarrassed look on his face was priceless!

After we finished up our time at Dairy Queen, we went back to our hotel and had our team devotion time.  Our devotion was about looking forward to Jesus’ second coming while going through trials.  

1 Peter 5:10- 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There are four verbs that Peter uses in this verse to explain what that looks like:

1. Restore

2. Confirm

3. Strengthen

4. Establish

In summary, all loss will soon be made right, and that for eternity.  

These four verbs remind believers that God will eventually restore whatever they have lost for the sake of Christ.  Though suffering will come first, it will be followed by eternal glory.  The God who effectually called believers by His grace will fortify them with His strength, so that they are able to endure to the end.

After our devotion time, several of us prayed and praised God for how He provided for our trip and for the 2024 season. 

A few of us hit the hotel hot tub before calling it a night. 

The next morning we left the hotel in shifts to go to the airport. The Illinois part of the group plus Bruce Buri walked across the street to a local Del Taco restaurant for breakfast. After our Mexican breakfast, we made our way to the airport.  

The flight between Arizona and Illinois is a long one. I had some time to decompress and enjoy a couple of books and some Bible reading before landing in Peoria. 

Overall on our trip we handed out 397 Gospels of John and saw 44 men make professions of faith. 

Thank you again to everyone who gave and prayed for this trip. It was awesome to share the Gospel in so many places. It was great to minister alongside my son and for him to see what it looks like for men to take a week to share the Gospel. 

Please pray for the 44 men who made decisions and please pray for our 2025 season!

Beat the Heat!- Arizona Crusade Day 3 Update

Whenever I’m not serving with the Saints, you can usually find me at the local foundry/machine shop  in Pekin, IL.  I work as a maintenance technician and I handle quite a bit of the electrical maintenance, troubleshooting, installation, and repair.  We recently went through arc flash training.  Arc flash is an electrical reaction when two phases of electricity are shorted together or when a phase is shorted to ground.  Our training included several videos of actual arc flashes.  Unfortunately, several of the videos included actual people experiencing a lethal arc flash.  The videos were gruesome but they accomplished their mission as our department has a healthier respect for arc flash potential than we did before.  One thing that my mind kept going back to while watching those videos is that several of the men in the videos didn’t know that was their last day on earth.  All of them walked into an electrical control room assuming that they had more time.  They may have heard the Gospel but they thought that they had more time to respond.  They may have been waiting to fix parts of their lives before believing and repenting.  None of us are promised tomorrow.  Whether it is a catastrophic electrical arc flash, a car accident, or some other unforeseen circumstance, our lives could be over and we could be standing in front of our Lord.  

I was recently able to share that while doing a closing circle in Robinson CC on our last Illinois visit.  It is something that I have also been preaching to myself recently and I have challenged myself to be more bold with sharing the Gospel in our prison yards and in the other parts of my life.  

Our season is wrapped up but please continue to pray for boldness for me and for the rest of our Saints ministry as we share the Gospel next season in prison.  

We woke up on 10/4 and enjoyed a nice hotel breakfast.  We made the short drive to FCI Tucson.  I have had the opportunity to go to FCI Tucson a couple of times over the years.  The administration does a good job of taking care of us and the crowd is always engaged with the game.  We won a very competitive first game in front of an engaged crowd.  

In between games, David Cogliano shared his testimony.  “Cogs” is one of my best friends in the ministry and it has been cool to have shared so many cool moments over the years with him while serving in the ministry.  Cogs shared about how he became a believer and how God worked in his heart over the years.  After Cogs shared his testimony, JJ shared the Gospel.  JJ did another great job of clearly explaining how men needed to repent and believe in Jesus as their Lord  

After the ministry time, we broke for lunch.  We ate in the staff chow hall and had some fish patties and rice which were pretty good.  We enjoyed our air conditioned time and had some good teammate conversations.  

We made our way back onto the field for the 2nd half of the day.  We came out a little flat and ending up tying the game before breaking for ministry time.  During our ministry time, Bruce Buri shared his testimony.  Bruce shared how he came to know the Lord and how the Lord worked in his life after the death of his wife.  His story is sad but is full of hope because his wife knew the Lord.  

After Bruce shared his testimony, Frank Zeidler shared the Gospel.  Frank works full-time as the Executive Director of the ministry and played an incredible role in getting several Saitns teams in the ministry off of the ground.  He led the way for us starting our Illinois team in 2012 and is a great friend and mentor.  While Frank was preaching, the sound system cut out several times.  Despite the technical difficulty, the crowd was engaged with Frank and he did an excellent job of preaching to the men about their need for a Savior.  

We played one more game after our ministry time.  You can blame the heat but we just didn’t play that well and got beat.  We circled up with the men and prayed with them before we left.  

Overall on the day, we gave out 174 Gospels of John and saw 19 men make professions of faith.  

We made a quick stop at a local gas station before heading back to our hotel.  We got cleaned up and went to a local BBQ place in Tucson.  We had a fun time telling stories and enjoying some good food.  Afterwards we went to a local Culvers for some ice cream before heading back to our hotel for devotions.  

This was our third night of going through 1 Peter and we talked about what it looks like to trust in the Lord while going through trials.  In 1 Peter 1:3-7, we see that we go through trials and that God uses those trials to test and refine us.  We also see that we are supposed to respond to these trials by rejoicing, praising and honoring the Lord.  

1 Peter 1:3-7-  3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Once again, we hit the beds tired and exhausted but it was a blessing to serve the Lord in FCI Tucson!

Gunfights, Drumsets, and Dugouts- Arizona Crusade Day 1 & 2 Update

One of my teammates said I jumped a foot off of the ground when it happened.  By the time the ball landed softly in left field in the federal prison in Safford, AZ, Joe was standing on first with his first Saints hit.  Sharing that moment with him was a thrill and I will always cherish that moment on a prison softball field in Safford, Arizona.  It’s hard to top that moment.  On top of being Joe’s dad and teammate, I’m glad that we share a bond in the Lord and that we are brothers in Christ before anything else.  It was such a blessing to take Gospel to the inmates in Arizona with my son!

We began the trip with the three Illinois members of the trip meeting up at the Peoria, IL airport.  Jon Isbell from our Illinois team met us there and we flew to Chicago and then to Phoenix.  We arrived in Phoenix and met up with our teammates.  We spent a little time together as the rest of our team arrived from eight different states: (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Georgia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois).  I’m not sure if I have ever been on a trip that had that many states represented but it was fun to have that many guys coming from several different directions!

Once everyone arrived, it was lunchtime so we stopped at a local Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Most of us only see each other on these trips so it was fun to have a few minutes to reconnect with everyone.    Once we got done with lunch, we started the drive to Tombstone where we would spend the evening.  During our ride down we played some games like who is the best 80’s rock star or which cut of meat is best.  Once we arrived in Tombstone, we spent a little bit of time touring the town.  Tombstone is famous for the wild west stories of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.  We saw a brief re-enactment show at the Oriental Theater telling the story of Doc Holliday.  We toured the town and had dinner that night before going back to the hotel.  

I was in charge of devotions on the trip and we went through 1 Peter.  We discussed how Peter’s audience was facing persecution and trials but despite those trial, Peter told his audience to remember four things:

• To live without losing hope
• To live without becoming bitter
• To live while trusting in their Lord
• To live while looking forward for His second coming

We spent some time discussing what personal suffering looked like for us as men but then we looked at 1 Peter 1:3-5:

1 Peter 1:3-5-  3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  

We can look at a passage like this and take comfort that we can have hope that God caused us to be born again and that we have a future that is imperishable in heaven and in the new kingdom.  We do know that we are going to suffer at times but we can take comfort in knowing that this life isn’t all there is.  

We spent some time discussing what this hope looks like when we share it in prison and how it affects our lives in our local churches.  

We were all worn out from the travel and the time zone changes and went to bed after our devotion time.  

The next morning, we woke up and made the drive to FCI Safford. We made it through security and were led by the staff to the softball field. When we arrived, it was warm but not too hot yet.  We saw a pretty decent crowd at the softball field.  Despite not having grass, the field was really nice and had actual below ground dugouts. There was a nice set of concrete bleachers behind home plate.  This was my son Joe’s first game in a Saints uniform.  He came in to pinch run early in the game and scored a run.  He tripped on something about 10 feet from home and scored after falling down.  It didn’t go according to the script but it worked and we will always remember that!  We won the first game and went into ministry mode.  

Mark Napier from the West Virginia team shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord.  He talked about how the Lord used a church to minister to him and his family in his childhood years.  The West Virginia team started a few years ago and Mark has been with them since their beginning.  After Mark shared his testimony, Jimmy Cochran shared the Gospel.  Jimmy works for the ministry full-time and we have been on several trips together.  Jimmy shared a clear message with the men.  

Joe sat with me during the ministry time and we collected response cards together.  We had a few good conversations with some men in the stands.  

After we concluded our ministry time, we broke for lunch.  On our way to eat some lunch we passed by the art room and saw some of the artwork that they were working on.  We also passed the band room and I got to play a drumset for a few minutes.  

The staff brought us to a classroom where we had some air-conditioning time.  They brought in some Domino’s Pizza for lunch.  

After lunch we came up with a plan to have a couple of guys go over to the pickleball court to play pickleball and share the Gospel with the men in that part of the yard.  The rest of us returned to the softball field to play a second team.  This was a shortened game but we won.  Joe started the game and picked up a hit in his first at-bat.  The next game was against the first team we played as they wanted a rematch.  Unfortunately, we didn’t play as well and took a tough loss.  There are several excuses we wanted to use for not playing well but everyone was ready to blame the pizza!

In order to get out of the sun, we moved to a pavilion area nearby the softball field for our ministry and closing time.  Erik Meyer from New Jersey shared his testimony with the men.  This is Erik’s first season with the Saints and has done a good job with fitting into the ministry and is a good teammate.  

After Erik shared his testimony, Jim Jefferson shared the Gospel.  JJ was on my first Saints Crusade back in 2011 and I have appreciated his friendship and sense of humor over the years.  He does a good job sharing the Gospel and it was good to hear him preach to the men at Safford.  

Overall on the day at FCI Safford, we handed out 143 Gospels and saw 21 men make professions of faith.  

After we left Safford, we made a quick gas station stop to buy anything that would help rehydrate us and made the drive up to Tucson.  

We got cleaned up at the hotel and had a dinner at a local chicken wing restaurant which was incredible!

We went back to the hotel and did our next night of devotions.  We talked about how 1 Peter discourages us from becoming bitter.  We used several illustrations of sports moments that made us bitter as fans.  We then took a look at a couple of verses like 1 Peter 2:1 and 2 Peter 3:8-16 that tell us to put away malice and to turn away from evil.  We also took a look at the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:16-24 and how we need to show things like patience and kindness and how we need to show that when we are going through trials.  

All of us hit the bed early to get some rest after a busy first two days!

Robinson Wrap Up and Arizona Kickoff!

Wrapping up a season is always bittersweet.  On one hand, it is nice to look forward to some free weekends and some family time.  On the other hand, it is tough because we won’t get to do this as a team again until sometime next May.  Of course, that bittersweetness will have to wait because of the Crusade that starts tomorrow but first things first…

Last Saturday we met at the Morton McDonald’s a little before 5 am.  The trip to Robinson is our longest drive of the year, so we always have to leave early in order to get there.  

Once we prayed we started our journey towards Robinson.  In order to get some extra sleep, we made the decision to skip breakfast and just eat some donuts, granola bars, beef jerky, and bananas on the way.  

We were watching the forecast all week and noticed that there would be quite a bit of rain in the Robinson area.  Sure enough when we arrived, they told us that we would be playing wiffle ball in the prison gym.  We brought in our wiffle ball set and prepared for a full day of wiffle ball.  The Leisure Time Specialist (Recreation Director) let us know that we would be spending the day with 10 men.  It’s not unusual for us to just see the team and sometimes it feels like a bummer.  However, when we see smaller crowds like this, we have more time to visit one on one and learn their names.  

We played our first game of wiffle ball and won.  In between games, James Mast shared his testimony.  James just wrapped up his rookie season.  He reached out to the ministry over the winter and inquired about joining.  A few of us loaded up and drove across the state to meet with him. A few months later, he was on the team.  

After James shared his testimony, Kris Mettelmann shared the Gospel.  Kris has been on our team for the past couple of years and has done a really good job of sharing the Gospel behind the microphone and one on one with the men we see.  

After our ministry time, we didn’t have enough time to start another game but we had time for a few one on one conversations and one quick pick up basketball game.  

We had a really quick break for lunch.  We ate in the staff break room and enjoyed some chicken wraps and apple crisp.  We also enjoyed watching about 10 minutes of Jurassic Park 3 which was playing on the break room TV.  

We went back to the gym and played another wiffle ball game.  They wanted to switch and be the visiting team so we got to be the home team.  We went into the last inning down 2 runs.  We tied the game on a home run by James Mast and then we won the game on a home run by Ray Koonce.  

After the game was over Ray Koonce shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord.  Ray has been with the team for 11 years now and has been an instrumental part of our team.  Josh Frederick shared the Gospel.  Josh does a good job sharing the Gospel and relating to the men we see.  

After we got done with our ministry time, we played a few games of dodge ball.  Prison dodge ball is a lot of fun and we got to run around a lot and do quite a bit of laughing.  

Overall on the day we handed out 12 Gospels of John and saw 1 guy make a profession of faith.  

After we prayed and shook hands with the guys we saw, we packed up and made our way home.  We stopped and had a good team meal in Champaign.  

Overall on our season, we went 16-4 on the field, we handed out 897 Gospels of John, and we saw 134 men make professions of faith in the Lord.  

Like I mentioned in the beginning, normally I would reminisce about our season but we have one more big trip before we can pack away our gear!

Tomorrow, 13 missionary athletes from across the country are flying into Arizona for a five day Crusade!

Wednesday morning I am flying to Arizona for a Saints Prison Ministry Crusade.  This is my 24th Crusade. This will be my third time visiting Arizona on a Saints Crusade and I am looking forward to sharing the Gospel!  I am looking forward to getting back on the field this week with some good teammates!

Here are a few very specific prayer requests for our team:

Traveling Mercies– There are 13 men going on this trip from all over the place! We have guys traveling from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and of course Peoria, IL!  We will spend quite a bit of time in the Tucson area but keep us in prayer as we travel this week.  

Team Unity– This is going to be a fun group to be around this week!  Please pray that fellowship will be sweet and morale will be high as we serve together.  Most of the team is made up of Saints who have been around for a while.  With that said, this is also the first Saints trip for my son Joe. I’m looking forward to Joe seeing the ministry firsthand this week!

Team Performance– The results of the games aren’t important but it is critical that we play well and that we earn the respect of the inmates. If we play well and earn their respect, they will be more likely to stick around and listen to us share the Gospel.  With the exception of Joe, this is an older group so there is a possibility that we are going to be a little beat up on this trip. 

It is also supposed to be incredibly hot this week so please keep our team in prayer as we battle it out!

Speakers– Pray for the Missionary Athletes who will be sharing their testimonies of how they met Jesus and for the Missionary Athletes who will be sharing the Gospel. I will be sharing the team devotions each evening from 1 Peter.  

Families– Several of the 13 Missionary Athletes are leaving a family at home so they can minister. Please pray for all of the wives and moms who have to brave work and kids by themselves. I’m very thankful for the support that I have from home on these trips!

Inmates– Most importantly, pray for the men that we will encounter as they are the purpose of this trip. Pray that they hear the Gospel and will see a need in their lives to follow Jesus!  Pray that God works in their hearts and that God draws them to Himself.  

I will be updating my Facebook page throughout the week.  

Thank you in advance for the prayer support and for all of the encouragement many of you have been over the last several years! I’m looking forward to sharing the stories from this week!