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!
