Their tee-shirts were not the ones one might expect to see at the recent CollegeWorld
Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
But then, they were not there just for the games, which Louisiana State University
eventually won.
Their tee-shirts were not the ones one might expect to see at the recent CollegeWorld
Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
But then, they were not there just for the games, which Louisiana State University
eventually won.
Wearing brightly colored tee-shirts with “For Me to Live is Christ”
on one side and “Christ First and Then There is Baseball” across the
back, Brady Miller and Chad Robertson stood in the shadows of Rosenblatt Stadium
during the College World Series handing out Christian sports magazines and free
bottled water.
The two Baton Rouge teenagers asked a man heading to the game if he wanted
a free gift. “I did not come here to get Jesus,” the man muttered.
“I came here for baseball and beer, thats all.”
He may not have wanted to hear about Jesus, but he was forced to think about
Jesus, says Kipp Smith, youth minister at Zoar Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.
Smith and his group of 30 students and 12 adults were part of a much larger
group known as Ninth Inning Ministry, an evangelical ministry for community
involvement during the College World Series. The effort was supported by the
Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, Kansas-Nebraska Baptists and
local Baptists.
More than 200 volunteers participated in the effort in its rookie year, says
Jay Dess, the local minister who launched the ministry. “It was a wonderfully
exciting year for this ministry,” Dess says.
As thousands of baseball fans descended on Omaha, Christian volunteers from
numerous denominations scattered across the city to conduct baseball clinics,
hold block parties and banquets with collegiate players and coaches, engage
in street evangelism and pass out the free water and magazines.
When the week was over, 215 people had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior
and 19 others had made decisions to rededicate their saved lives to Gods
service.
The volunteers handed out over 23,000 bottles of water, 15,000 copies of Sports
Spectrum magazines, 12,000 life-changing tracts, 1,200 Bibles with yearly reading
guides, 200 autographed baseballs by Christian players, 500 Mickey Mantles
“Final Inning” CD ROMS and 10,000 brochures on Ninth Inning Ministry.
The bright red, white and blue bottles of ice water had a simple label with
a simple message on it. On one side were four steps to salvation – admit,
repent, believe and receive, with the Scripture passage from Revelation 3:20
listed. On the other side was John 4:13-14 and the words of Jesus about the
living water he gives.
“I saw a lot of people surprised and skeptical about what we did, but
I know people read what was on the bottles,” Dess says. “We have to
trust God with the results.
As a result of giving the water away, three people accepted Christ on the street
and numerous fans were spotted watching the games with a Ninth Inning Ministry
water bottle in their hand.
For Ashley Gautreaux, 18, handing out bottled water on the streets near the
stadium provided the opportunity to get out of her comfort zone. “This
lets us see it is not that hard to share the gospel and proves there are a lot
of ways to share the gospel and it is not always just door to door evangelism,”
says Gautreaux, a recent high school graduate and member at Zoar church.
Indeed, ministry opportunities abounded in the weeklong emphases as kids from
around the city heard testimonies from collegiate coaches and players, former
professional players and others.
More than 1,150 people participated in the clinics. Dess says instruction by
five Christian ex-major league ballplayers was great both for baseball and a
life with Jesus. Participants were sent letters of encouragement and their names
were added to the mailing list of area churches.
The ministry ran one gospel message spot on each live ESPN and ESPN2 game and
100 spots on three other networks. “Our passion is for people to come to
know Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives, and for us that know him to simply
serve others in love,” Dess says. “It has been a great rookie year
because God allowed us to use the tool of baseball to share the message of Christ.”
Dess and other volunteers say they hope to see the ministry grow and repeat
the effort at other national collegiate events.