Hey, here is something that you don't know about me:
I once won a Madden video game tournament at a Walmart.
In the first round I beat another guy who was about my age, I knocked out a kid from Bradley University in the semi-finals, and then I absolutely destroyed the 11 year old who won his side of the bracket and had to face me in the championship game.
For one day I was the World Champion of the Allen Road Walmart Madden Tournament!
Another little known thing I don't share often is that I used to be a little bit of a runner. I wasn't a good runner but I had a few years where I ran consistently. I don't really enjoy running but it always felt good to know that I accomplished something hard. A few years ago there is one morning I ran 13.1 miles- a half marathon. Nothing was pleasant about that run. It was hard and it was incredibly boring running around the local grade school dozens of times until I got to 13.1 miles.
My favorite part of the run was knowing that I was finally on my last lap. I dug down a little deeper and tried my best to finish with my strongest run. When I finally looked down at my phone and saw that I made it to 13.1 miles I knew that was an incredible feeling. I was absolutely exhausted and every muscle hurt but that felt incredible to know that months of training paid off and I did everything I could to accomplish that half marathon.
We are coming up on our last Saints date of the year. Just like that big run, there is a big part of me that is looking forward to the rest after this last lap of the season, but it is so cool to look back and see how God worked this past year. In a lot of ways this has been one of my favorite seasons- if not my favorite season in the ministry. Our Illinois team was able to go to four new prisons that we have never been to, I was able to make a trip back to Texas to minister in some big Federal prisons with some incredible teammates, I was able to travel on a Crusade to the Southern part of Illinois to go to FCI Marion which is one of the most infamous prisons in the country, and our Illinois team got to return to FCI Greenville- the place where our Illinois team played their first game back in 2012. We also welcomed a few new faces to our team and saw God do some incredible things in the ministry this year.
Thank you for praying for our team so far this year. Please pray that we are able to finish strong and are faithful when we share the Gospel this weekend!
Philippians 1:3-6- I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
The original plan for this weekend was to go to Sheridan CC, but, unfortunately, they had to cancel. Our Director of Team Operations was able to quickly pivot and get us scheduled to visit Pittsfield Work Camp and Jacksonville CC. We have been there several times over the years, and it will be exciting to share the Gospel and play some softball there!
During the morning session at Pittsfield, Robert Cook will be sharing his testimony and Brent Gerber will be sharing the Gospel.
During the afternoon session at Jacksonville, I will be sharing my testimony and Kyle Krall will be sharing the Gospel.
Please keep our team in prayer as we travel, play softball, and share the Gospel throughout the entire day!
It has been a good season, and I'm looking forward to finishing strong!
PRAISES
- Last month we visited FCI Thomson. We went 2-1 on the field, handed out 346 Gospels of John and we saw 52 men make professions of faith.
- My son and Missionary Athlete, Joe Gibson had successful triple jaw surgery last month. He is recovering well and is making some strides towards eating solid food again!
- My wife, Kelly had a medical procedure this week and is recovering at home for a couple of weeks.
- We often bring up the prayer request that God works in the hearts of the men that we will see. God has answered that prayer request all year but it was cool how many good conversations we had with men who were eager to hear about the Gospel.
- We have had the opportunity to meet with some men who are interested in the ministry and who will be joining us later this year- this is an answer to prayer!
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Pray that God continues to keep the doors open for our last visit this weekend.
- Pray for all of the other teams going out over the last month of our season.
- Pray for the hearts of the inmates we will see the rest of 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 Angola, Louisiana trip coming up next week.
- Continue to pray for Joe’s recovery.
- Continue to pray for Kelly's recovery.
