TOUCHING BASE

ESPN producer/director Scott Henry decided to take his years of professional accomplishments, gifts and talents, and produce a fascinating movie about Saints Prison Ministry, a group of men from all walks of life who spend their free time playing sports in prisons so they can witness and disciple the prisoners. TOUCHING BASE is that movie.

Many years ago, Dale Gladding from Morristown, N.J. was inspired to do this sports ministry. He gathered a group of people, including architects, business leaders, church workers, and others, to form a baseball team and then a basketball team to spend days on the road witnessing inside prisons.

Over the years, they have had a tremendous success rate in bringing prisoners to Christ, discipling them and helping them return to productive life in society. On the field, they play hard and have fun, thus gaining the respect of the prisoners. Off the field, they tell them their personal testimonies and the full Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some of the men are there because they would have been behind bars but for God’s grace. Some of the men came to Christ through extreme circumstances, such as an architect whose oldest child became severely retarded when given an inoculation as a baby.

The Saints Prison Ministry is the largest athletic prison ministry in the United States. More than 150 volunteers participate on the teams that minister to the prison inmates. Their efforts include several extended “crusades” and about 20 day trips within a five-state radius of New Jersey.

“It’s not about a softball game,” Dale says. “It’s about a relationship, with us, and ultimately between them and God.”

TOUCHING BASE is constructed in a very powerful manner. There are many points for anyone with a heart to empathize and even cry. The movie does not whitewash the problems the teams or the prisoners face. It is recommended viewing for everyone and anyone who wants to understand how to be a witness for Jesus Christ through faith and action.