2025 Support Letter

Dear Friends and Family,




I am really excited to start my 14th season of playing softball and sharing the Gospel with the Saints Prison Ministry! Last year was one of the best and busiest years that I have ever been part of with the ministry, and I am looking forward to getting back on the field again this summer.

The Lord provided so much for our teams last year. Last year, the Saints Prison Ministry Illinois softball team visited 10 different prisons, handed out 897 Gospels of John, and saw 134 men make professions of faith. Since 2020, there have been some issues with prison staffing that have caused some cancellations, but our IL team went the entire 2024 season with no cancellations. One big personal praise was that I recovered from an Achilles tendon injury and was able to play most of the season on the field. I was also blessed to go on two other Crusades to Colorado and Arizona. Between those two trips our teams handed out 1,285 Gospels of John and we saw 97 men make professions of faith. My middle son, Joe, went with our team to Arizona and it was a blessing to see him serve the Lord in prison!

The 2024 season had so much packed into it that it will be hard to top that, however, the 2025 season is already shaping up to be really special! Our Illinois team is anticipating another full season. I am planning on going on at least one or two Crusades to Kentucky and possibly Florida. I am also planning on playing on the Federal team. The Federal team will travel the country over 4 long weekends to share the Gospel in Federal prisons across the country.

As a Saints missionary athlete, I need to establish a prayer team who will pray for me, our teams, and the inmates to whom we will be ministering. Our Illinois team goal for 2025 is $11,000. I also need to raise $3,000 to cover my travel, literature, and softball equipment as I travel to prisons with the Federal and Crusade teams.

There are two different ways you can donate this year. You can write a check made out to the Saints Prison Ministry and mail it to:

Saints Prison Ministry

P.O. Box 681

Moorestown, NJ 08057

Or, you can make a donation online by going to saintsprisonministry.org/donate and clicking on “Donate Now.” Under Donation Categories check “MA Support.” Click on the fund drop down menu and select “MA Support- Illinois Softball-Tom Gibson.”

Thank you again for your support. To see more pictures, updates from our visits this summer, and stories from past prison visits, please visit my blog: gibsonupdateblog.blogspot.com




In Christ,




Tom Gibson

Inside the Mind of Gibby- Important Inventors and Indigestion

A lot of you out there think that it just takes a few guys with some softball bats, gloves - and perhaps one super witty and talented writer - to pull off a ministry like this, but there are many unsung heroes. The current volunteers and staff who labor behind the scenes to get us into prison to minister really deserve an article to recognize their contributions…but this isn’t it. They are going to have to wait because they were preceded by the truly unsung heroes we must acknowledge! 

William Carey- Carey spent 40 years as a missionary in India. Carey faced opposition to going to India, but he is now called the Father of Modern Missions and has inspired others to go to mission fields across the world. Without him, our visits to prison might look completely different! 

Harry Caray- This Caray spent 15 years as a play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Cubs – an equally challenging task. Harry faced quite a bit of opposition anytime he tried pronouncing really hard names like Grudzielanek, Villanueva, and Isringhausen. Harry’s contributions to the Saints have come in the form of some terrible renditions of “Take me out to the Ballgame” over our PA systems. 

Teressa Bellissimo- Bellissimo invented the Buffalo Wing. Her wonderful deep-fried and deliciously seasoned contribution to the ministry has been critical when it comes to feeding hungry missionary-athletes for the past 38 years. 

Dr. William Goodbody- Just in case you didn’t know, there are often side effects from eating buffalo wings for five straight days, but this good doctor was the inventor of an equally important part of our missionary-athlete’s success - Pepto Bismol! 

George Hancock- Hancock invented the game of slow pitch softball when he attempted to start a pickup game of baseball. He didn’t have a baseball and instead, had to use a tied-up boxing glove that was thrown underhand. If he hadn’t invented the game, we would have dozens of missionary-athletes with torn rotator cuffs and concussion issues! 

Stewart Adams and John Nicholson - These guys invented Ibuprofen. Enough said. 

Mark Zuckerberg- Posting the highlights of a Saints day on Facebook is an effective way to keep our prayer teams updated about our teams’ events. Of course, it also allows for our MAs to continue fights and arguments about politics, sports, and food for years following the actual trips. 

Dusty Baker- Google it if you don’t believe me, but baseball lifer Dusty Baker invented the high five in 1976. If Dusty didn’t invent the high five, we would have to celebrate our home runs with weird, awkward hugs. Nobody wants to see that! 

Edwin Pridham and Peter Jensen- These fine gentlemen invented what we now know as the PA system. It would have helped the ministry even more if they also invented a filter in the PA for those times we trip over our tongues…but I guess we have to figure that out ourselves! 

Sir Godsworthy Gurney- This knighted Englishman came up with the concept of the modern passenger bus. He would be thrilled to know that his invention has a tremendous success rate when used for Saints events… …outside of Illinois anyway! 

There will be some awards to be handed out, a few attaboys shared, and many people acknowledged for their contributions to Saints Prison Ministry this year. But now you know who the real heroes are!