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Published Thursday, November 26, 2009 in Sports

A divine pastime

By Chris Goltermann

The Times-Herald

When it comes to traveling to a foreign country, language can become an obvious barrier. It's an even bigger challenge when the task at hand is sharing one's beliefs.

Baseball, however, hopes to be the tool that will give a baseball team comprised of high school players from Coweta County a common bond with the youth of Cancun this summer as part of a new ministry formed between the 1st Baptist of Newnan Student Ministry and local entrepreneur Mike Winslett.

Winslett, who owns DTH Expeditors Inc., in College Park, along with Brian Morgan, First Baptist's Minister to Students, have established Baseball4Christ. Beginning next June, the ministry will begin its goal of sharing the Gospel through baseball when a group of a dozen local high school players travels to Cancun for a week of instructional camps and games.

After meeting with several top officials of the city of Cancun, including both the head of religious affairs and the director general of youth development during a previous mission trip in October, an agreement was arranged that will allow a local team of 16-19 year-old athletes representing Coweta's four high schools to travel to Cancun, both to instruct area youth before playing a series of games in Cancun's pro baseball stadium.

"It'll be the first junior baseball team to ever represent the United States in Cancun," said Morgan. "It's a big honor."

Through funding from Winslett at DTH Expeditors, and a few independent donors and sponsors, the group has raised enough funds to pay for players and coaches during an inaugural mission trip from June 20-26. Meanwhile, a uniform supplier has also signed on to provide uniforms and equipment for the team, which will wear the "USA" insignia in red, white and blue colors as part of the agreement.

"It's a universal game. It's played in Cancun year-round," said WInslett. "We were trying to come up with a way to reach people down there. We felt baseball would be a natural way to do that to try and create a common bond for our purpose."

In recent years through DTH Expeditors, Winslett has helped send several youth teams to Cooperstown Dreams Park for tournaments at the baseball hall of fame. This endeavor extends that goal once over to include fellowship and sharing the love of the game with children from another country.

"We're still going to do some of the Cooperstown things, but I wanted to reallocate some of those funds to something with an even greater purpose," said Winslett, who played the sport as a child and is an avid memorabilia collector. "Baseball has been part of my life for such a long time. It's been kind of like my hobby."

The goal, however, for Morgan and Winslett does not include manufacturing an all-star baseball team. Players will be selected through an application process that includes being nominated by both their respective varsity coach as well as obtaining a letter of recommendation from their pastor.

"We think with the amount of talent in this county that high school players here would have a lot to offer the children there," said WInslett. "It's an opportunity to share in their love of the game as well as their faith."

The applications will be collected before Jan. 1, 2010, at which time the team will be selected.

"We're not putting together an all star team," said Morgan. "We're not so much looking for the best players. We're looking for good kids, the Tim Tebow-type," referencing the University of Florida senior quarterback, who does mission work during the summer.

Morgan said Newnan head baseball coach Kenny Morris, a member of First Baptist, has agreed to coach the team and Northgate junior varsity coach Tim Lowery expects to join Morris as an assistant. Both Morgan and Winslett will also travel with the team as pastors and devotional leaders.

While in Mexico, the team will put on sports camps for area youth in the morning where they will also share the Gospel and give their testimonies.

In the evening, the team will be featured in at least four games against local lineups to be played in the home stadium of Cancun's Quintana Roo Tigers. The final night hopes be highlighted by a game between mixed squads in a showing of fellowship.

It was during an initial trip to Cancun that Morgan and Winslett got the idea for using baseball as a medium for missionary work. After meeting with Salvador Moreno Aguire, Cancun's Head of Religious Affairs, along with Alejandro Luna Lopez, the Director General of Youth Development for the city, the group got to talking about baseball. The Americans were then introduced to Mayor Greg Sanchez, who also agreed to support and promote the event through the city's sponsorship.

"They jumped right on board with it," said Morgan.

Future teams will also be supported through Winslett's company, based near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, as well as other sponsors who wish to support the ministry.

Currently, Baseball 4 Christ is collecting donations of used or new baseball gear that will be shipped to Cancun prior to the camps so as many athletes as possible can participate.

"We're not bringing it home, either. We want those kids to keep those things and bring them home," said Morgan. "A lot of them don't have anything, so a glove or a bat and a ball could make a huge impact in their lives. The response so far has been great."

Anyone wishing to donate new or used baseball equipment to Baseball4Christ may contact Brian Morgan at First Baptist Church, Newnan at 770-253-0797.