Cade Keller had just lost the biggest game of his young baseball life. Tears streaming down his face, the 11-year-old shortstop shared his faith in Christ with the team that had just beaten his team in the Cal Ripken Baseball national championship.
No one had expected his Equip Ministries team to be in the championship game. Losing was tough, but the team hadn’t come all the way from Boone, N.C., to Florida to simply play a baseball game.
“He knew it was the most important thing,” said Eric Henderson, the pastor of recreation ministry at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Boone and founder of Equip Ministries. “For an 11-year-old to realize that was amazing. I mean, we have kids doing what adults won’t do. That’s why God has blessed this ministry.”
And bless it, God has. Stories like that have become commonplace since Henderson started Equip Ministries 15 years ago as a ministry of Mount Vernon. Equip Ministries uses youth sports leagues, currently baseball and football, to teach athletic skills and to disciple children and families.
Henderson began the ministry after a period of searching in his own life. Although he had grown up in church and come to faith in Christ as a child, sports – and particularly baseball – remained a priority even into adulthood. He played in travel softball leagues throughout the East Coast, which dominated his free time.
God had begun to get his attention – and his wife’s – through a series of particularly tough pregnancies. He stopped playing travel softball so he could focus on his young family. His business as a car detailer was thriving and the Hendersons were involved in ministry at their church.
But, Henderson says, God kept calling him to something more.
“I didn’t know what ‘more’ meant,” Henderson said. “I think a lot of people are like that. They struggle with what it means to really sell out [for Christ] and to just take the leap. I had witnessed my middle sister get married and go to be a missionary. I saw her sell everything she had and take that leap of faith. I realized I had never sold out. I knew from a young age that God had a call on my life, but I had never known what it was or how to express it.”
But Henderson had very few examples of how he could serve God other than becoming a pastor or a missionary.
That all changed in the middle of one night when God gave Henderson the vision for Equip Ministries. A few years earlier, as he visited family in South Florida, Henderson had been introduced to Danny Berry Baseball, a large baseball school at a Jewish Community Center. Building on the idea of the baseball school, Henderson believed God was calling him to start a baseball ministry where he could share Christ and disciple kids and families using baseball.
Henderson still needed a place to host the ministry. So he prayed, asking God to provide a location and partners to help support and run the ministry. By the summer of 2006, God had worked out many of the details. His church, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, provided the location for a baseball diamond. One church member offered his services to help with the grading and dirt work needed to create the baseball diamond. Although there wasn’t room in the budget that year for the new ministry, several partners provided support for the new endeavor.
The church broke ground on the new field at Easter. By that summer, they were playing baseball, hosting a machine-pitch league for 52 kids.
The ministry grew from there. In time, Equip became a sanctioned Cal Ripken Baseball league. Kids from all over the community played – regardless of whether they attended Mount Vernon Church or not. Early on, they had to limit the number of kids in the league because they lacked the field space. Now they have four fields at the church and were recently given the opportunity to take over two local Optimist International fields in town.
Most years, 250 kids will play baseball through Equip. Another 200 kids take part in the football program. Between coaches, assistants and other volunteers, 75 to 80 adults participate.
For Henderson, the most important part is that the ministry has stayed true to the gospel.
“It was always about the gospel,” Henderson said. “We’re going to share the gospel and be open about our faith.”
That means teams pray and do devotions after every game.
“We gather around home plate and invite the other team in [for the prayer time],” Henderson said. “Those are just special moments. The testimonies from our coaches will just blow your mind.”
Equip has learned to incorporate baseball with evangelistic tools. For example, Gloves4God is a five-color baseball glove that connects each finger with a part of the gospel message. Developed out of the ministry of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga., the gloves help baseball players simply communicate the gospel.
“It’s one of our number one tools for sharing the gospel because it catches the eye,” Henderson said. “I’ve had kids playing shortstop when an umpire notices the weird-looking glove and asks the kid to tell him about it. So then you have a kid sharing the gospel with an umpire. We’ve had to hold up games for that.”
Most of the kids involved in the ministry aren’t from the church. Equip provides more than simply an opportunity to hear the gospel. It also connects kids to adult role models.
For example, Andrew Freeman, now a college sophomore, played eight years in the Equip program.
“I learned a lot about the skills and the sport and how it’s played,” Freeman said. “I had great coaches. All of them knew what they were talking about. But looking back, they taught me about more than just sports. I think it was more impactful for me to see what a godly man acts like, not only towards us as kids, but their wives and their family.”
Henderson urges lay people to think beyond preaching and singing in the choir and search out ways they can use their skills – and passions – in ministry.
Henderson is certainly glad he found his fit.
“God says there’s a hole that only He can fill,” Henderson said. “Athletics gives me the opportunity to rub shoulders with those rough guys who would never walk into the church. They don’t care about church, but they love sports. That’s just the facts. And that’s what lights my fire. It’s what gets me out of bed every day.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Tobin Perry is a freelance writer with more than 20 years of writing experience with Southern Baptist organizations. He can be reached at TobinPerry.com. Eric Henderson is pastor of recreation ministry at Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Boone, N.C. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. For more information visit facebook.com/equipsportsministry.)
