Though we saw the storm strike, our Wiffle Ball Tournament did not strike out, it was a home run! Praise the Lord!

Due to technical difficulties, we are reposting this blog so the photo links work correctly.





For more Wiffle Ball Tournament Photos. Click Here.


Our Summer Jam Tour (SJT12) Wiffle Ball Tournament and Family Picnic started with a few weather challenges. Our first huddle was the heat index pushing 100 degrees. Then the skies opened up as a thunder storm rolled through Colonial Park North right before 6:00 p.m., sending most folks scrambling to the picnic shelter while others ran to their cars! This park was not only ideal for the games, it provided shelter from the storm as well as tables for our family picnic!

Once the storm passed, we praise the Lord, as He reminded us again of His faithfulness by blessing us with a faint rainbow in the eastern sky! Those who braved the weather then began the process of wiffle ball team selection and the games were soon under way! Denise Wilson along with Joe led our tournament games!

We had 4 total teams playing 2 games each. The winning team was determined by the overall greatest number of runs. Awesome prizes were awarded for the 1st and 2nd place teams. Each player on the 1st place team was awarded 2 tickets to the Dayton Dragon’s for their baseball games. Each player on the 2nd place team was awarded a Dayton Dragon’s baseball cap!

Most importantly, when I shared the gospel using the Evange-Cube that evening [before prizes were awarded] God moved and blessed with one teenage boy who gave his life to Christ! He was invited to the tourney by one of our UBC youth too! So inviting others is really working and God blessed!

In addition, this year we have added registration and prize drawings for all community visitors at SJT12. What a welcome surprise to our visitors whose names were drawn for Dayton Dragon tickets or baseball caps! We had our largest community attendance this year for this tournament.

Also, to encourage our UBC teens to invite their friends this year, Rusty and Jill also have a drawing for a $25 I-Tunes card entering all teens who have registered a friend they invited to our SJT12 ministry events. This drawing is offered for each SJT event this summer!

Thanks again to Denise & Joe Wilson for leading our Wiffle Ball Tournament. They did a great job! Thanks also to Sherlene for adding baked beans & chips to our menu to make this a great picnic along with the hot dogs. All of this served on a plate while folks were seated at the picnic tables.

Thanks to everyone who helped and participated in our SJT12 Wiffle Ball Tournament! Huge thanks to Rusty and Jill Young who lead this ministry!

We invite you and your friends [and your pet dogs] to our SJT12 Dog Show this week, Wednesday August 1st. Awesome prizes will be awarded to best dog costume, best tricks, funniest looking, etc. We also encourage our UBC youth to bring friends and be prepared to share the gospel through connecting with Soularium in which they have been trained earlier this year. We praise the Lord for the harvest!

Using Our Talents for God’s Glory…Summer Jam Tour 2012 Talent Showcase



Greer South Carolina mission team performing Arise My Love.

To see more photos from this and other Local Missions events, click here.

What an awesome collaborative partnership for God’s glory! Our Summer Jam Tour 2012 [SJT12]…Talent Showcase was a partnership between UBC’s youth praise team and the Greer First Baptist mission team from SC, singing, playing musical instruments, and acting out live dramas on Wednesday, June 20th at Lebanon Jr. High School. This venue was conducted outside on a beautiful but hot evening!

The mission team from Greer, SC was led by Robbie Gravely, with 50+ youth who shared their talents to give God glory and impact our community for Christ. Folks were seated on the lawn and in chairs enjoying the SJT12 talent showcase. Our UBC Youth Praise Band, which made a huge contribution of talent and time, was led by Mike Copenhaver. Our guests also enjoyed free, popcorn, popsicles, and hot dogs!

One of our community visitors that evening was a former US Olympic gold champion softball player! And how did we find this out? When a few of our UBC youth [Ella & Hazel] shared “Soularium” [connecting with others to share the gospel message] with her….she shared her story too!

To close out the evening together, the SC drama team performed “Arise My Love” as a crescendo of dramatic proportion for the evening. Then, the SC youth pastor, Ryan Holtzclaw, shared a clear and compelling message of the Gospel.

Our Summer Jam Tour 2012 [SJT12] leaders are Jill & Rusty Young and they continue to recruit for participants as well as laborers as we impact our community for Christ! Our next SJT12 ministry event is our Wiffleball Tournament and Family Picnic scheduled for Wednesday, July 25th. This will be held at Colonial Park North [off Monroe Rd.] and it begins at 6 PM!

For more SJT12 details and registration information please use our link: www.urbancrest.org/summer-jam-tour or call Jill Young @ 513.383.5893.

Please continue to pray for God to yield a harvest of new believers as we faithfully impact our community for Christ and share the gospel. See you soon at our next SJT12 ministry event!