A Fun Day Despite Being Nearby St. Louis!- Southwestern IL CC Follow Up

I've got better things to do than go to St. Louis.  

As an avid Chicago Cubs fan, I typically get my nose rubbed in it about how much better the St. Louis Cardinals have been over the years than the Cubs so driving to a town with a concentrated population of Cardinal fans isn't at the top of my list.  

But, in God's perfect sovereignty and perfect sense of humor, I found myself looking out the team van window and seeing the big arch as we made our trip to prison last Saturday.  

Hey, at least we got to go to prison rather than Busch Stadium!

Our team met up at the Morton McDonald's at 4 am on Saturday morning.  We were all a little sluggish that early in the morning but it was encouraging to hear several guys pray before we started our drive.  We stopped for breakfast and a quick bathroom stop about 20 minutes away from the prison.  

We arrived on time and made our way through security.  We went out to the yard and had a chance to get some throws in before the men came out to join us on the field.  We went over some ground rules and started our game.  

The first Southwestern team hadn't had much time to get out and play softball so we won the game rather convincingly.  

In between games, Joe Gibson shared his testimony with the men.  This was Joe's first time sharing his testimony and he did a really good job.  When Joe was done, I shared the Gospel with the men.  

We then had a few moments to circle up with the men and hand out some awards books to the umpires and we recognized a team MVP from their team.  Brent Gerber reminded the men of the Gospel and of their need to believe and repent.  

We then got to go back into the staff dining area and enjoy a really early lunch.  

After lunch we went back out to the field and played two more games against a different group of men.  

In between games, James Mast shared his testimony with the men and Brent Gerber shared the Gospel.  During this time, I had an opportunity to sit down with the three men who helped set up the field.  They sat off by themselves.  I talked with them for a bit and I shared what it meant to have a relationship with Jesus.  Please pray for these three guys.  

The games weren't really that competitive and we won both rather easily.  We spent the end of the day just letting them hit.  

We circled up with the men one more time before we left.  We acknowledged the team MVP and gave him an award book.  

Overall on the day, we handed out close 40 Gospels of John and saw 6 men make professions of faith.  

We departed the prison and made our way to Litchfield for some Chicago style deep dish pizza.  Unfortunately, the place was packed so we went a block over for some Mexican food.  

A few days later, we got a couple of really encouraging notes from the warden and the chaplain of the prison.  

The chaplain said:  

"Just wanted to let you know that the Saints Prison Ministry went fantastic today. The guys thoroughly enjoyed the day. There were no injuries. The Good News was shared. Thank you for supporting these volunteer services. Many of the men expressed their appreciation for being able to participate in the event. I am looking forward to hearing more good reports about decisions made and lives changed.

In case you are interested, the 1&2 house team scored just 2 runs against the Saints while the 3&4 house team scored 10! They are the clear winners of today’s games!"

And the warden said:

"Awesome SWICC! Let’s Go!  

Rev Cochran and Saints Ministries,

Thank you for spending your time, your hearts, and your energy with the individuals in custody through the game of softball. What may have seemed like a simple game became something much greater- it became an opportunity to inspire hope, build meaningful connections, and remind others that new beginnings are always possible. 

Thank you for being today’s light at our facility. Your ministry is making a lasting difference, and we are truly grateful for your partnership. "

Anytime we get a note like that, it is very encouraging.  

Please keep praying for the men there and pray for our team as we get ready to head to FCI Greenville next month!

The Key to Prison Ministry is to Not Lose the Keys!- Saints Visit Southwestern CC this Weekend!

Last week was filled with several blessing and praises as we traveled through Southern Illinois going to three different prisons in four days.  

I got several "atta boys" for taking care of getting equipment to the Crusade, making sure rental cars were picked up and dropped back off, and even a few high fives on some timely hitting during the games.  

Those things always feel good but there are also times that we just mess up.  

We were on our way to the prison on our last day of the trip.  I was in a rental car with the fancy key fobs that newer cars have.  I kept it in the middle console while I was driving.  

We had a tight window to get breakfast before we arrived at the prison so we got our food to go.  I ate my sausage biscuit and threw the McDonald’s wrapper in the middle console as we made good time down the road.  

We stopped at a gas station about 30 minutes away from the prison.  I shut the car off, grabbed my McDonald’s wrappers and threw them out in the trash before going into the gas station to use the bathroom.  

When I came back out, I could not find the keys.  I double traced my steps and was panicking now because of the tight schedule we were on.  I felt the pressure from my teammates as I tried to find the keys.  I kept on retracing my steps but after a couple of minutes, my roommate, Ernie Bergvall, reminded me that I threw some trash out before going in.  

I sprinted over to the trashcan and began going through the gas station trash.  

Sure enough, I found the keys in the trash.  

I managed to accidentally throw out the keys to the rental car.  I ran back inside to wash my hands but from that point on, I wasn’t the guy who took care of the equipment, or the guy who started the Illinois team, or the guy who was known for being a good teammate…I was the idiot who threw out the keys to the rental car!

My teammates gave me some good natured teasing about this but just like every Saints trip I have ever been on, I fell short of having a perfect Saints trip.  

I look back on that and laugh now but it is another reminder that no matter how hard I try, I am going to come up short in softball, electrical work, parenting, and apparently keeping track of keys.  I long for the time when I will get to be with the Lord forever in a perfect reality where I can worship Him in a reality that isn’t affected by my sin and my flaws.  

We got the opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel and how men can spend their eternity with Him this past week and we get that same opportunity again this weekend!

This weekend we are going to Southwestern IL CC in East St. Louis.  This will be our third trip there as a team.  

We are planning on having two speaking times and will hopefully see around 80 guys.  

During our morning session, we will play two games and share the Gospel in between.  Joe Gibson will share his testimony and I will share the Gospel.  During the afternoon session, we will play another two games.  James Mast will share his testimony, and Brent Gerber will share the Gospel.  

It is going to be an early morning and a hot afternoon of softball so please pray for us as we navigate the day on and off the field!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying this year.  It has been a blessing to continue to share the Gospel in Prison with the Saints Prison Ministry!

PRAISES

• During our last outing at Hill CC, we handed out 76 Gospels and saw 14 men make professions of faith during our time there.
• The Southern IL Crusade went well! We visited three prisons, handed out approximately 330 Gospels of John, and had 42 men indicate that they made a profession of faith.  (The update posts from that trip will come out soon!)
• Things are coming together for our upcoming trips to Southern IL, New Hampshire, and Angola, LA.
• Praise the Lord that the cancellations this year have been minimal!

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Pray that God continues to keep the doors open the rest of the year for us to minister
• Pray for all of the other teams going out this coming week.
• Pray for the hearts of the inmates we will see this summer. Pray that God draws their hearts to Himself.
• Pray that God provides more missionary athletes across the country for all of the opportunities to go in and share the Gospel!
• Pray for the hearts of our own missionary athletes and pray that we are bold in our prayer lives and bold sharing the Gospel this summer.
• Pray for the upcoming New Hampshire and Angola, Louisiana trips coming up over the next couple of months.
• My son, and Saints teammate, Joe, is having jaw surgery next month. Please pray for the surgery and his recovery.

Finishing Like Daniel- Middle America Crusade Day Four Update

I often say, "I hope the Cubs win today" or "I hope this restaurant has my favorite ice cream."

Hope is probably the appropriate word to use in both of those instances but it is a much more powerful word when paired up with the right circumstances. 

As we moved through Daniel 6 as a team in our devotions, our topic for the last night of the trip was:

"Godly Exiles Live and Die in Faith, Looking For the Coming Kingdom"

The exiles started to come back to Jerusalem but as far as we know, Daniel probably never made that journey.  Daniel's life did not work out according to his plan but he was faithful to the end.

Despite living and dying as an exile, Daniel's hope was in the Lord.  This was a good topic to discuss as a team as we know that we need to serve Him faithfully to the end just like Daniel did.  

During our devotion time as a team, we were reminded that God is sovereign and it is our job to be faithful and that our faith will be costly sometimes.  

We woke up early on Saturday because we had a long drive in front of us.  We left the hotel at 5:30 AM.  We grabbed some McDonald's breakfast before making the two and a half hour drive to Robinson.  

We made a brief bathroom stop before arriving in Robinson.  

There is a comical/stressful/embarrassing/blood pressure inducing story that I shared in an earlier blog post about this part of the trip involving a set of keys for the rental car.  

If you missed it or if you feel like you should read it again to feel better about how you handle your car keys, please click here!  

We arrived at the prison on time.  The LTS (Leisure Time Specialist Officer) and Volunteer Coordinator met us in the parking lot and let us know that the field was too wet for softball and that we would be in the gym all day.  

We opened up our day with the men there with a game of wiffleball.  We had fun running around the prison gym.  We lost the first game, unfortunately, but it was fun to see them celebrate a win.  

There were 14 guys in the gym, so the LTS let us use an adjacent classroom for our ministry time.  Matt Schimpf shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord, and Jon Schimpf shared the Gospel.  

Matt shared his story of how he and his wife battled cancer at the same time and how the Lord helped them through that.  Jon gave a very clear Gospel presentation to the men in the room.  

One of the men in the room was a young man who grew up in Peoria.  I had a chance to talk to him.  I'm not sure where exactly he is with the Lord so please pray for him. 

After our ministry time, the men went to their scheduled lunch period.  The staff brought some food to the gym and we enjoyed some team time together.  

After lunch, we played some games like bags, pickleball, and a little basketball.  This allowed us to have some good conversations with the men.  

After this we finished up the day with a few really fun games of dodgeball.  Prison dodgeball is always fun!

At the end of the day, we huddled up with the men we saw in the gym and prayed with them before going.  

Overall on the day at Robinson, we handed out 14 Gospels and had 2 men make professions of faith.  

We huddled up as a team in the parking lot and shared some praises about the day and the trip.  When we were done, Jon and I headed back home while the rest of the team headed to Indianapolis to catch a flight back East.  

I was able to make it home in time to call in for the team devotions.  Bruce Buri did a good job with the team devotions and it was a joy to walk through Daniel 6 together as a team.  

This was a fun trip and I appreciate all of the men who I got to serve with.  Overall on the trip we handed out over 300 Gospels of John and had 42 men make professions of faith!

A few days later, we got a note from the staff at FCI Marion. 

Our next big trip like this is next month as we travel to New Hampshire and then we travel again to Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola for our last big trip for the year.  

Our Illinois team still has four visits left as well.  

Thank you for praying for our team this summer!  This has been a very busy but very fruitful year for the ministry and I'm looking forward to finishing strong!

Collisions and Consequences- Middle America Crusade Day Three Update

The name "Pete Rose" tends to bring several different things to mind such as:  

• The Hit King
• Lifetime ban from baseball
• The Big Red Machine
• Former USP Marion Inmate

Pete was a complicated character who most certainly left an impact on the game of baseball.  

If you watch any news story or clip about Pete, there is always one highlight they show.  

In the 1970 All-Star game, Pete was rounding third and heading home.  Ray Fosse from the Oakland A’s was playing catcher.  Fosse was blocking the plate and Pete bowled over Fosse and scored the run.  

This is probably the most famous collision in baseball history.  

Rose went in hard, dislodged the ball from Fosse’s glove and Fosse laid injured on the ground. 

Fosse’s career was never the same after that, and Rose was often criticized for the play.  

There were consequences of Fosse blocking the plate and Rose colliding with him.  

Our devotions for this evening took us back to Daniel 6.  The topic for the evening was:  

“Godly Exiles Expect Consequence When Kingdoms Collide “

Daniel was faithfully serving King Darius and was now the second in charge in the kingdom.  Unfortunately, this didn’t sit well with the other officials.  They hated Daniel and they set him up.  

Daniel’s righteous life was colliding with the evil intentions of the officials.  They put a plan in motion to get Daniel killed by some hungry lions.  

Chances are as American Christians, we aren’t going to be fed to some lions for our beliefs but we will face consequences for being followers of Jesus.  During our team devotion time we talked about what this looks like for us as American Christians living in 2026 and how this should affect our lives and how we pray.  

Thanks to the “off day” and the convenience of having a hotel nearby the prison, I got lots of good sleep on this trip but I woke up a few times to the sound of crashing thunder outside.  We got lots and lots of rain overnight.  

We woke up and geared up for a day of softball with some backup plans in the event that we had to move indoors.  

We ate a quick hotel breakfast and loaded up all of our gear for the day into the vans.  We arrived at FCI Marion on time.  FCI Marion was formerly USP Marion which was one of the biggest “Supermax” prisons in the country.  John Gotti, Victor Bout, and the previously mentioned, Pete Rose all spent time there.  

Pete did six months on the camp side of the prison.  The story that was passed down was that Pete really didn’t play but he was the coach of one of the teams.  He would hit infield practice to the other men who played softball during the recreation time.  

We went to the camp side first.  Typically the camp side of a prison is lower security and has guys who are close to going home.  The field on the camp side had taken quite a bit of rain overnight so we had to “invert” the field and play most of the game in the outfield.  We played two games back to back and won both of them fairly easily.  After the games, we went into their gym and shared the Gospel.  Rob Brown from the Northeast team shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord and how the Lord used missions and some medical issues to use him for ministry.  Jim Jefferson shared the Gospel.  JJ always does a really good job preaching with clarity and passion. 

After our ministry time, we moved to the FCI side of the prison.  We got to enjoy a meal in the staff dining area before heading out to the yard.  This was a big prison yard and they were really excited to have an outside group come in.  I had several guys tell me that they had never seen anything like this during their time in prison and how special it was that guys took a day off to come see them.  

The crowd was wound up and were most certainly engaged in the game.  

The game was close but we pulled away after the first few innings and cruised to an easy victory.  

During the game, I had a few good conversations with some guys on the first base side.  

In between games, Butch Smith shared his testimony and Wayne Errig shared the Gospel.  One hiccup that we had to deal with was the sound system didn’t work but the crowd was respectful, gracious, and quiet.  They moved in closer so that they could hear the words that Butch and Wayne were saying.  

After the ministry time, we started the second game.  We came out of the gate strong and won the game easily.  

After the game, we met with the guys on the pitcher’s mound and handed out some award books to the umpires and team MVPs.  

Overall on the day at Marion, we handed out close to 200 Gospels of John and saw 25 men make professions of faith at the camp and the FCI.  

We left the prison and went back to our hotel to get cleaned up.  We went to a local Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  This was a fun meal and we got to share several stories from years gone by from the teams across the country.  

That evening we had our devotion time.  I really appreciate the time that Bruce Buri spent on the devotions and the time we spent together in Daniel 6.  

A few days after we got home, we received an encouraging note from the staff at FCI Marion:

” I just wanted to take a second to thank you both for the event on July 10th.  The men you sent did a phenomenal job like I have never seen before.  Hundreds of inmates turned out and for one afternoon FCI Marion did not feel like a prison.  In my 20 years, I have not experienced anything like that.  I try not to reflect on many things I've seen in prison because it keeps me up at night.  It is great to have something so positive that I can reflect on now.  I have attached the article and photos we submitted for our website.  Thanks again and god bless.   

And this was the communication shared in the prison:

On Friday, July 10, the Saints Prison Ministry softball team stepped onto the field at FCI Marion and SCP Marion. Facing off against our inmates in spirited games of softball, the visiting team brought much more than just athletic competition—they brought encouragement, hope, and ministry.  

Based out of Philadelphia, this dedicated team features players from across the country. While they all hold down regular jobs, they take the time to raise funds within their own communities to finance their travels to different correctional facilities nationwide.

The energy on the fields were matched by the enthusiasm in the stands, as inmates who weren't playing lined up to cheer on the teams. Many inmates were praying with the Saints players and reading scriptural literature that was available to all inmates. It was a day defined by high spirits, mutual respect, and positive connection. The inmates expressed deep appreciation for the visit and noted that they are hopeful of seeing more events like this in the future, leaving everyone involved with great memories of a game well played.

Faithfully Serving Wherever God has Placed Us- Middle America Crusade Day Two Update

Day one of the trip had everything you could have asked for in a Saints trip.  There were no travel hiccups, there was really good team chemistry off the bat, good softball, the ministry end of the day was executed to perfection, we had some good team meals, the devotions were solid, and to really make it an official perfect day, there was ice cream at the end of the day!  Our first day gameplan was pretty much drawn up on the whiteboard and executed perfectly!

Day two did not go the way we drew it up…

…However, we had an opportunity to do what we talked about during our devotion time the night before…

“Godly Exiles Serve Faithfully Wherever God has Placed Them”

The two prisons that we planned on visiting were cancelled because they had to go on lockdown.  We found that out right before we left for the trip so we knew that we would be facing a “free day”.  

We got a little extra sleep and had a decent breakfast.  A few of us ran across the road to the Krispy Kreme for a Hot and Fresh donut.  

The leadership on the team contacted a couple of Rescue Missions/Food Pantries in Marion to see if they needed any help for the day.  

We went to The Promise Mission in town.  We met the director of the mission and heard about all that they do to serve the homeless in their community.  

We helped by picking up some trash around the mission, doing some painting, assisting with some plumbing, and cleaning some rugs.  

Our team did a good job interacting with the folks at the mission and there were several guys who had good conversations.  I had a few opportunities to talk to some of the guys who stopped by there and did my best to try and bring the Gospel into those conversations.  

About halfway through the day, part of our team went over to the Lighthouse Shelter across town to help with some cleaning and organizing.  

It was humbling hanging out with some guys who were homeless and were in need on several different levels.  Please pray for these men and women. 

We left the missions and made our way back to the hotel.  We got cleaned up and went to a local BBQ place for dinner.  

After dinner, we went to a local bowling alley and did some bowling.  This was a blast as we made fun of each other’s scores and cheered for each other as we knocked down some strikes.  

When we got back to the hotel, we met for our team devotions.  

We were still in Daniel 6 and our topic for the evening was:

“Godly Exiles Stay Loyal to God Above All Earthly Powers”

In Daniel 6, the high officials and satraps didn’t like Daniel and tried to set him up to die in a pit of lions.  

Their plan was to have King Darius sign off on a law that no one could pray to any god or man except the king.  The king signed off on the law.  Daniel heard about this and was still faithful to Lord by praying to Him in front of an open window where everyone could see him.  The king doesn’t want to but he has Daniel put into the pit of lions.  Daniel is protected by the Lord and survives the lions.  The king then has the officials and satraps thrown into the pit and they of course become Old Testament cat food.  

We discussed the applications of this and discussed that it is convicting for our prayer lives since we probably don’t pray as often as Daniel.  We also talked about what it looks like to stand up for ourselves in a world that hates the Lord and to be bold to identify as believers in Jesus Christ in an unbelieving world.  

After our devotion time, we got to sleep to get ready for a full of day of time in one of the most historic Federal prisons in the country!

Chips and Queso and Prison and Ministry- Middle America Crusade Day One Update

Queso is the underdog of snack food.  It is often an afterthought but it is the clear undefeated heavyweight champion as an appetizer before a nice sit down meal.  

One of my favorite things about going on a Crusade is eating queso and chips at a Mexican restaurant.  

Some queso, chips, and a fountain soda is the perfect way to wrap up a day playing softball in the heat!

While the rest of the team is sharing funny stories from the day or from years gone by, I will drift off into my own world while sitting quietly and enjoying my chips and cheese!  

Besides queso and chips, another part of being on a Saints Crusade that I appreciate is spending time as a team studying God’s Word in our team devotions.  

Bruce Buri led our devotions and did a good job with some tough text from the book of Daniel.

The text we went through for the week was from Daniel 6, and the first point from the text was:

“Godly Exiles Serve Faithfully Wherever God has Placed Them”

Daniel was exiled from his home, but his life was a good example of how he continued to serve the Lord despite the hardship and heartbreak of being taken from Israel.  Daniel had an excellent spirit; he was faithful, he did his work without error, and he was a man of integrity.  

Bruce did a good job of going through the passage and then made some applications.  As Christians, we too are in a sense exiles here on Earth.  

We went through some good questions about how we keep our testimony out in the world- even if we aren’t a full time missionary or pastor.  Daniel glorified the Lord and served faithfully where he was, and we should too!  When I’m not busy going to prison, playing softball, and, yes, eating queso, I need to be faithful about serving the Lord and protecting my testimony at work and in my neighborhood.  

Our trip started early on Wednesday July 8th.  Most of the team got up and drove to the airport.  The three Midwesterners woke up and made the drive down to St. Louis.  We got to St. Louis and got some Chick fil A breakfast before picking up the team at the airport.  Once we acquired the team, we began the drive to Vandalia.  After a quick stop at a rest area, we made our way to the prison.  

Our Illinois team has been to Vandalia several times over the years.  The prison is one of the oldest in Illinois and the architecture reflects that.  

We didn’t have much time to work with so we got a couple or warm-up throws in and then started the game.  We played a short game and won the game pretty easily.  

During game 1, I had an opportunity to talk to some guys on some bleachers down the right field line.  There was a group of about three or four guys, and I was able to talk about the Lord with them.  The conversation went pretty well, and I was able to share the Gospel with these men.  Please pray for these guys.  

On a side note, one of my prayer requests for these trips is that God would open up some good conversations on the trip and this conversation with these men was an answer to prayer!

We won game 1 fairly easily.  After the game we had our sharing time.  Zach Brown from the Northeast team shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord.  His dad, and coach of this team, Wes Brown, shared the Gospel with the men.  Wes did a good job of integrating Zach’s testimony into a very clear Gospel message.  

After our sharing time, we hustled back to the bench and got one more short game in.  We won that game fairly easily as well.  After the game we made a big circle around the pitcher’s mound.  We handed out some awards for the umpires and the MVPs of the game.  Jim Jefferson from the Northeast team closed the session in prayer and challenged the men to consider where they were with Jesus and encouraged them to put their faith in Him.  

Overall at Vandalia, we handed out over 60 Gospels and saw 14 men make professions of faith.  

We left Vandalia, and, after making one quick stop at a local gas station, we made the long rainy drive to Marion, IL.  Once we got checked into our hotel and got cleaned up, we went out for a fun dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.  I’m not the biggest fan of Mexican food but it was nice to get my aforementioned queso, chips, and a fountain Dr. Pepper!

Once we left the Mexican restaurant, we went back to the hotel for our team devotions.

One other side note about our devotions is that we have some time for prayer requests after our Bible study time.  It is encouraging to hear about a praise from one of my teammates across the country and sometimes it is heartbreaking to hear about a prayer request that is putting strain on a teammate.  It was also good to pray for the churches that were represented on that trip.  It is cool to think how God has worked through all of the churches represented on the team and how that has helped mold all of us and prepare us to serve Him in prison!

After our devotion time, we got some ice cream from a local ice cream place before crashing out and going to bed.  

I'm thankful for the way God provided for day one of our Southern Illinois trip!

Familiar Fields, Baseball History, and a Crusade Close to Home!- Saints Head to Southern Illinois This Week!

The 2026 Saints Prison Ministry softball season is going by very quickly!

Our Illinois team is coming up on the halfway point of the season, and the ministry as a whole has had an opportunity to travel to several different places across the country!

This week we are traveling to Southern Illinois to visit five different prisons.

7/8-  Vandalia CC

7/9-  Shawnee CC, Vienna CC

7/10-  FCI Marion

7/11-  Robinson CC

Our Illinois softball team has been to Vandalia CC and Robinson CC.  This will be my first visit to Shawnee CC and Vienna CC.  I am looking forward to the trip to FCI Marion.  I have never been there before, but there is a connection between the prison and baseball history as Pete Rose served his time there!

Here are some ways you can pray for our team as we travel this week:

Traveling Mercies– Ironically, most of the team on the Illinois Crusade will be from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Besides PA and NJ, there will be guys traveling from Georgia, Wisconsin, and,

of course, Illinois. This is going to be a really good crew of men traveling on this trip. This trip will have the usual traveling mercy needs such as connecting flights, rental cars, and multiple airports.  They can also include things like flight delays, broken van issues, and big city traffic!  

Please pray for traveling mercies as some of our team will be flying while some of us make the drive.

Team Unity– This is a really special group of guys to travel with this weekend.  There are guys who have been with me since my first Saints journey in 2011 and lots of guys who have been with me throughout my Saints travels over the years.  Please pray that fellowship will be sweet and morale will be high as we serve together.  I’m excited that my friend from Wisconsin, Bruce Buri, will be leading our team devotions each evening so we will have time to study God’s Word together as a team.  

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.  The Texas teams we played last year were good so please pray that we play well and that we avoid the injury bug!

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. We are planning on having five different Gospel sharing times to the crowds in the prisons. Pray that we communicate clearly and that the Lord works in the prison yard.  

Families– There will be 16 Missionary Athletes leaving families 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.  

2026 has been a good year so far for sharing the Gospel in prison. I appreciate everyone who has been praying for our team this year! The summer is flying by but there are plenty of opportunities left to share the Gospel this summer!