Trip #1 - Telford Unit

We were truly blessed with a great trip Sunday to the Telford Unit in New Boston, TX. We had a great group of 16 guys that made the trip. Not to mention it was the first trip ever for three of our guys. We left a little earlier than normal to be able to make it to the unit's Chapel service, and let me tell you it was well worth leaving Tyler at 5:15 am to be able to be a part such a special time of worship. All I can say is WOW! You could definitely feel the Holy Spirit at work as we worshiped with approximately 130 inmates. We were so blessed by the talented musicians, singers, and speakers that they had in their service. It is good to know that God is at work within these prison walls and using these men to create a bond of brothers in Christ that are sharing the Gospel to their fellow inmates.

It is always amazing at how unique each trip is and how different it is from the last. The Telford Unit does not have a recreation league established and it seemed that there were very few that had privileges to be able to come out and participate in the softball games. My prayer is that this trip will encourage the rest of the inmates (over 2,000 of them) to do what is necessary to be allowed to come out and participate the next time we come back. We had a great time with the inmates that were able to come out and play. We even split the teams up, for the last few games, and played 5 Sports Reach guys and 5 inmates to a team. Some of the inmates had very little experience playing, and it was neat to see our guys teach and coach them on how to play the game in such an encouraging way.

Any of you guys that went on the trip that would like to say a few words about your experience, please comment below by clicking on the "comment" tab, or if you would like to email it to me, I will post it for you.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.


Our team captain Josh Gentry with Chaplain Spencer

Thursday Night Meeting

Our meeting went well tonight. We had 13 guys show up to Spring Creek for a time of fellowship and prayer for our upcoming trip this Sunday to the Telford Unit in New Boston. We missed you guys that weren't able to make it and look forward to seeing you this Sunday.

We will meet Sunday morning at GABC at 7:45 am, and we will be leaving at 8:00 am and returning sometime around 6:00-7:00 pm. We will be meeting in the parking lot by the maintenance building (where they store the church vans), which is just north of the 110 Student Center basketball/volleyball courts.

Like Josh said tonight, please be in prayer for the prisoners, the guards, the warden, our safety (both traveling and while playing), and that the holy spirit would stir and prepare the hearts and ears to "The Message" we will be bringing. Also pray for the new members of our ministry, and for peace for the unknown of what they will encounter on their first trip. We all know what it was like on our first trip so let us keep this in mind and encourage these guys throughout the day Sunday.

See you Sunday!

Great Start to 2009!

2009 is off to a great start for Sports Reach. We had two successful weeks at our booth in the GABC foyer. Thanks, to all of the guys who worked one or both weeks. Thanks to Brandon Gooding for coordinating both weeks.

We also had a beautiful day at the ROC on Sunday. 14 guys showed up to scrimmage and practice including 3 new players, JD Weathers, Dustin Upton and Charlie Sizemore. Here are a few pics of the action. It is exciting to see new people get involved in the ministry and we welcome you!

Our first trip is this Sunday, March 29th to the Telford Unit in New Boston. This Thursday, March 26th at 6:30pm, we will meet at Spring Creek BBQ to go over some trip details and pray together. If you are signed up for this trip, please try to attend. This is an important time as we prepare to go. Even if you are not going on this trip, you can come pray with us.