Christian Family Day
Hits a Grand Slam
By Don Remaly
It might have been hot, but that didn't stop the largest crowd ever (estimated at over 15,000) from attending the 13th Annual Christian Family Day at Busch Stadium (CFD) on July 26th. Fans from 14 states representing over 300 churches were treated to an exciting victory by the Cards over the Pittsburgh Pirates that included 13 runs on 19 hits, thus exceeding any Cardinal performance this year to date.
This year's
honorary CFD Chairman, Susie Bush, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to
start the game. When the ball game ended, with the temperature sweltering in
the low 90's, Christian contemporary recording artists Salvador began to fan the flames of an all out, pop driven, praise
and worship revival. Their tempo invited listeners to a praise party filled
with lively dance and singing with an overwhelming joy to celebrate their
salvation.
Intertwined within the musical intermissions, Christians and the Cardinal faithful were treated to special guest appearances by Cardinal players Eli Marrero, Woody Williams, Albert Pujols, Orlando Palmeiro, Jason Simontacchi and Lance Painter, as well as Cardinal first base coach Dave McKay and Wayne Hagin the new KMOX Cardinals announcer (all professing Christians) who were introduced by Dan Buck, this year's CFD Master of Ceremonies.
The crowd cheered when a young girl from Valley Park AWANAS asked Lance Painter what his favorite Bible verse was and another child asked Jason Simontacchi how he prepared for a game. Simontacchi responded “I look at the stats of the players and pray a lot.”
Powerful personal testimonies were given by Deidre Pujols, Mike Matheny along with Cal Eldred and his wife Christi, who gave the final invitation to accept Christ. Matheny and Eldred spoke boldly of how Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior, kept them firmly planted in their faith despite the fame, money and attention that goes along with being a professional athlete. With every head bowed and every eye closed, Cal Eldred’s invitation not only addressed those who had never accepted Christ as their personal Savior, but those who had strayed as well.
To the surprise and delight of all who attended the game, Jacob Bishop, one of the Marines who helped rescue Pfc. Jessica Lynch after she had been captured by the Iraqis, was introduced to the fans prior to the start of the game. Judy Boen, founder of CFD (who was also introduced prior to the game), was inspired to ask him to stay after the game for the CFD festivities and asked him if he wouldn’t mind saying a few words of encouragement. Bishop had never heard of Christian Family Day but was delighted to help out. When Dan Buck introduced him, the crowd went wild and gave him and his family a standing ovation. Then Buck asked him if he had Jesus in his life. Bishop responded ‘Definitely’ and went on to state “You can't go into battle without knowing that Jesus is there with you.”
One of more unique outreaches of during CFD, which continues beyond the day, is the handing out of what appears to be baseball trading cards. Dr. Christe Boen (Judy Boen's daughter and Player Coordinator for CFD) had the vision to start the program of distributing the cards that are actually player testimony cards. "This year we made 11 cards, one for each of the players that participated in our day." said Dr. Boen. "These cards look like baseball trading cards but on the back of the card is the player's testimony along with a prayer that can be prayed to ask Jesus into one's life. Over 55,000 cards were given out at the Gateway Mall, in the stands during the game and to the crowd that stayed after the game. We also printed three cards in Spanish this year for Eli Marrero, Orlando Palmeiro and Albert Pujols and worked hard to reach the Hispanic community," continued Boen.
This year some 3,700 underprivileged children (most of whom had never set foot inside a baseball stadium) from over 70 different organizations were the focus of a lot of love and attention prior to the game. At the Gateway Mall the kids were treated to puppet shows, entertained by clowns, got a tour of the Jesus race car, and listened to an awesome concert by contemporary Christian entertainer Caleb Krueger. Thanks to the generosity of CFD sponsors and contributors, (who contributed some $62,000 this year) every child and chaperone was provided with a Chick-Fil-A dinner, beverage and ticket to see the game. During the game every child received a hotdog and beverage courtesy of Cardinal Care.
The Christian Family Day committee certainly hit a grand slam this year by drawing the largest crowd ever to one of their events; brought the most underprivileged kids to a CFD in their history; raised the most amount of money ever in support of the event and, (although we won't know for sure until we get to heaven) hopefully brought the greatest number of kids and adults to Christ that they've ever witnessed to.
Plans are already underway for next year's CFD and sponsors are being sought. If you own a business and think you might be interested in being a sponsor of next year's event, call Jo Beaman at (636) 225-3950.