Athletes and Coaches Complete Mission to Baltimore

While this is kind of sterile, this is article summarizes our recent Mission Trip to Baltimore. This should appear in the Green County Herald next week.

A Mission Team consisting of 15 athletes and coaches traveled from Greene County to Baltimore, MD to conduct Baseball Clinics and, more importantly, share their faith. As a result, the men worked with over 120 children. The Mission Team, which was sponsored by George/Greene Baptist Association, The Mississippi Baptist Convention, and First Baptist Leakesville, left on Monday, July 23 and returned Thursday evening, July 26.

The baseball clinics were offered in response to an invitation by Rev. Lyn O’Berry, Interim Pastor of The Church on Warren Avenue at Federal Hill which is located near the inner harbor in Baltimore. The church has a 150 year history and has been pastored by some of the greatest leaders in Southern Baptist history. O’Berry describes the current state of the congregation as “a small church in transition, rediscovering and redefining itself and its mission to reach the new
emerging community around it.”

In an effort to reach the community, team members offered baseball instruction to children at the South Baltimore Recreation Center and at a park in the Sharp-Leadenhall Community, which is in the “shadow” of the Baltimore Raven’s NFL Stadium. Also, the team worked with the Gethsemane Baptist Bible Church and Catonsville Baptist Church in providing two separate camps. At each camp, Mike Chatham shared an inspirational message, stressing the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The trip was planned and led by Philip Price, Pastor of FBC Leakesville, with the assistance of Jimmy Holcomb, Association Director of Mission for the George/Greene Baptist Association. The Baseball Clinics were directed by Scott Bray, former Baseball Coach at Greene County High School. Other team members were: Chase Brewer, Tommy Brewer (Head Baseball Coach Greene County H.S.), David Chatham, Mike Chatham, Nick Chatham, Brett Davis, Tim Davis, Richard Dickson, Ricky Dickson, Jamie Ham, Wayne Larker (Head Coach Faulkner State Community College), J. R. Snyder, and John “Boo” White.

In reflecting on the trip, Pastor Price shared, “The team assembled worked as one unit. On a trip such as this, many “unknowns” are encountered. The guys were flexible and remained focused on demonstrating compassion to the children.” Continuing he stated, “Greene and George Counties can be assured they were represented well.”