Our five day journey began on Wednesday, July 23, when we met at Gloucester County Community Church at
4:45 am. After our team prayer we embarked on a 13 hour, 640 mile van ride to Decatur, Indiana. According to
Guy Leone's calculations, to arrive on time we would have to average 58.6 miles an hour, and we did just that! 

Upon arriving at the Comfort Inn at 4 p.m., we had exactly 20 minutes to check in and head off to Chain O'
Lakes C.F. for a 6 p.m. doubleheader. The field was set back through the woods and it seemed like we walked
a mile to get there. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun fellowshipping and ministering to the
inmates. Having an opportunity to talk to the team and a few handfuls of spectators, we managed to see 20
men give their lives to Jesus Christ! It was an awesome start to our trip! We won the first game 29-17, but
because of time constraints, we only managed to get two innings in for the second game.

God brought us gorgeous weather again for day two as we visited Miami Correctional Facility. He also brought
us a good size crowd, of which 23 men made first time decisions for Jesus. It was such a blessing. We won the
first game 18-8 and scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two to pull out a 10-9 victory.
It was another great day! Since this was our only early night on the trip, most of the team decided to spend
it together and see a movie.

 

On day three we visited Indiana State Prison. This was a maximum security facility with a bit of a tough
crowd. The team that we played had not lost a game all year. We were able to change that by winning 12-7
and 15-3. We gained their respect and during our presentation 13 men gave their lives to Jesus Christ! It was
once again another blessed morning. We left there around noon to get some lunch and have our team devotions.
After being completely stuffed, we headed back to Indiana State Prison to play some more. This time
they got us! They hit a game tying grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning and won the game with a
walk off hit in the eighth. They were so excited. It was like they just won the World Series. It was a really neat
thing to witness.

 

Day four brought us to Pendleton Correctional Facility. We once again had an opportunity to witness to a large
population of inmates, and 27 men made first time decisions for Jesus Christ. We won the first game 11-5 and
the second game 11-2. We then left to get some much needed food. Our options weren't the best. (Pizza Hut or
Hardees... ugh!). The team voted Pizza Hut so off we went to fill ourselves (and I mean fill ourselves). We actually
had some left over so we blessed a few families sitting around us with the extra pizzas.

 

Our next stop was Correctional Industrial Facility. With our bellies full, we still managed to win both games
by scores of 18-8 and 14-4. As Pastor Bruce was sharing the gospel, the sound system went out. It was so
amazing to see God's sovereignty at work, as all of the inmates took the initiative to gather around Pastor
Bruce. As he continued to share without a microphone, 36 men made first time decisions for Christ!

 

On our fifth and final day, we checked out of our hotel and drove 8 1/2 hours to S.C.I. Fayette in Pennsylvania,
where because of a traffic jam and a faulty GPS, we arrived an hour and half late. That didn't stop God from
working as 17 men accepted Christ. We won 14-11 and had a special one-on-one time with the inmates as we
ministered to them in their gymnasium. Following our visit we continued on our journey home, driving another
seven hours and finally arriving back in New Jersey at 1:30 a.m.