The trip was 364 miles round trip and there were lots of two-lane country roads…so many two-lane country roads!
We passed by small town after small town as we traveled.
We weren’t technically lost while driving, but there was winding backroad, after winding backroad. As I was driving, the impending doom of possibly being lost and having to tell the team that neither I nor the Google maps knew how to drive in incredibly rural Eastern Illinois!
Fortunately, after navigating a few gravel roads, countless corn fields, one Dollar General nowhere near civilization, and a one-lane bridge, we made it to the prison and on time!
Most of us started the day around 3:30 AM and made our way to the Morton McDonald’s. Our very sleepy Saints team gathered around and prayed for the day before taking off for Robinson. Praying before our visits is important. It is always encouraging to hear our Missionary Athletes pray for the Lord to work in the hearts of the men we will see and to appeal for mercy and wisdom for our team as we share the Gospel.
We started the long drive to Robinson. Once again, this was a really, really long drive!
After a couple of quick stops, we made it to the prison on time. We made it through the security and quickly made it across the compound and onto the field.
There were 18 guys out on the prison yard and we got to spend the entire day with them.
We played one game in the morning and pulled out a win. Usually I don’t gush over our softball results too much but we caught one of their fastest guys in a rundown. Usually it should take 1-2 throws to tag a runner out, but this guy was fast! After a few throws, our right center fielder, Hunter Stewart, alertly ran all the way in from the outfield, and was the fielder that took the final throw of the play, successfully tagging the runner out!
In between games, we had our time to share the Gospel. Brent Gerber shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord. I appreciate Brent’s testimony and his dedication to the team since we started in 2012.
After Brent shared his testimony, Kyle Krall shared the Gospel. Kyle shared a really good message from John 3:16.
After our ministry time, we had a few moments to pray with some of the guys. I prayed with a guy who would be going home soon. This guy made a profession of faith but the Lord is the only one who knows where he is at. Please pray for him as he heads home and hopefully gets plugged into a good church.
I talked to another guy who was also getting out soon. He made a profession of faith as well. Please pray that God gets him into the temporary facility he needs while he gets acclimated to living outside the prison again. Also pray that God gives him a church family to help him grow as well.
After the completion of our ministry time, we headed in for lunch. We ate in the staff dining hall. It was fun sitting together as a team and sharing stories of Saints trips in years gone by. We talked about our first trip to FCI Greenville, we talked about famous people we have met at the airport while traveling to and from Saints Crusades. We talked about the tough competition that we have faced over the years from Kentucky prisons and the joy/dread for some of us to go back in August.
After lunch we walked back out to the prison softball field. The resident softball players were heckling us about not being able to play after eating a meal and they actually got out to an early lead, but we came storming back and won fairly easily!
After the game Jon Isbell shared his testimony. Jon has been on our team for several years and is also a teammate on our Federal Team.
I followed up by sharing the Gospel with the men from John 12. Since it was the same group, I slightly modified it to make it shorter but I was glad they got to hear the Gospel again.
We then played one more game and mixed the teams up for a quick 3 inning one pitch game which was fun and gave us a different angle on the camaraderie.
After that game, we huddled up on the pitcher’s mound and handed out some MVP awards. We had one last moment to remind them about the Gospel and truth that was shared with them. After that, we prayed with them before departing for the long drive home.
After we prayed with the men, I had one younger guy approach me and tell me about the struggle he was having with his faith and the sad upbringing he had coming up in the foster system and the hypocrisy he saw from people who claimed to be Christian. This is always a tough thing to answer. I told him that people are always going to fail him, but the God of the Bible is perfect and wants to have a relationship with him. I told him that this world is tainted by sin, but the Lord is perfect and holy and made a way to save him. Please pray for this young man. I’m not sure I said all of the right things but I encouraged him to dig into His Word and to write the ministry with any other further questions he might have.
Overall on the day we handed out 18 Gospels of John and five men made professions of faith.
We then got back in the van and started our trip back towards Champaign. For some reason the trip home seemed extra long and the roads seemed extra windy, but, eventually, we got back on I-74 and made our way to the Champaign Buffalo Wild Wings for some chicken wings, some good conversations, some good brotherly harassment, and some talk about what could have been with the 2008 Chicago Cubs and what could be with the 2025 Chicago Bears!
Thank you again for taking the time to pray for our team this season. It feels like we just got started but we are heading towards the “All-Star-Break” point of the season on 7/19. After that visit we are down to our final three Illinois prison games of 2025.
Our Federal team heads out again on 7/25.
I mentioned this earlier, but we are heading to Kentucky for a 5 day trip in August! Please pray for the men we will see and please pray for the group that is heading out there.
Thank you again for your support, encouragement, and prayers!
