GAME TIME : 4:05 p.m.

A near capacity crowd of 5,000 set a Mobile BayBear Sunday attendance record at the final Safe at Home event of the 2007 Season. Churches from across the area prepared by praying for and inviting people to attend this unique ministry/baseball outreach event. Anticipation for a special day grew as a huge group of people were in line long before the stadium gates opened. As people began to quickly fill Hank Aaron Stadium, police reported that cars were still lined up as far as you could see (see pictures in the photo gallery).

At the conclusion of the game…the stage and sound system was set up in record time (under 12 minutes) preparing the crowd for the post game event which was led off by the Praise Team from Mt. Hebron Baptist Church. Before Scott Dawson’s message, BayBear pitcher A.J. Shappy shared his testimony of the importance of having a true personal relationship for Christ and not just an outward appearance of being a good person. Scott’s message then shared that no matter what someone has done in their lifetime, choices and mistakes made, that God loves you and desires to have a personal relationship with you. 170 individuals spilled onto the field to talk to trained encouragers and to make public commitments to Christ. Already churches have been notified about decisions that were made so they can begin long term follow up with the individuals that were invited to attend by their church.

After Scott’s message the crowd then enjoyed a time of celebration with concerts by American Idol’s Mandisa and Building 429. Mandisa began dedicating the first song to the individuals who had just made the most important decision of their live.

Of the many stories from the evening, here are a few that give a feel for the spirit of the evening…

  • One stadium vendor asked a staff member to pray for him so that he would have a stronger boldness to share his faith in Christ daily even while going about day to day activities. Safe at Home had encouraged him to take a stronger stand for Christ.
  • In a mid-game concourse discussion, one staff member explained SAH to an individual who was there purely for the game and encouraged him to stay for the event – he was later noticed being talked to by an encourager on the field after Scott’s message and invitation.
  • There seemed to be a large number of younger boys and men making decisions and filling out the response cards. Baseball is a great ministry tool drawing young families.
  • With a large amount of physical labor need to make the day happen, four men were hired from a local day labor operation to help work the event. Two of them made decisions for Christ. Similar stories happened in four of the five events held this summer. These men came for a daily salary but left with eternal salvation. 

Listen to the Mobile radio spot!

Click here to view pictures from this event