The Biggest and the Best Ever CFD

Over 1,500 Decisions for Christ Made at Busch Stadium

By Jim Likens

“This was the biggest crowd ever!” That’s how Judy Boen, Founder and Chairman of Christian Family Day (CFD) and Jo Beaman, fund raiser and Director of Sponsorships both described the 2008 Christian Family Day at Busch Stadium event on July 19th.

Don Loughridge, group sales with the Cardinals, told MetroVoice, “When it comes to group sales, Christian Family Day is by far the largest group that comes to Busch Stadium.” He went on to say that while there wasn’t an official count of those who stayed after the game for the CFD program, “It was somewhere between 15 and 20,000. It was really quite a turnout.”

This was the 18th year for this special day where lovers of baseball and Jesus have a chance to celebrate.  Oh, by the way, the Cardinals won in spectacular fashion over the San Diego Padres in a 6-5 come from behind victory. The Cards were down by 5 after two innings but came back with four runs in the fifth and two runs in the sixth innings to win.

Now for the good stuff.

Boen related that a man asked one of the ushers, “I’m not a Christian but is it OK if I stick around and watch your show,” Boen told MetroVoice. “I was thrilled” stated Boen. “I dream of seeing Busch Stadium overflowing with people like that gentleman so they can hear the wonderful testimonies presented by the players and hopefully come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior,” she continued.

This year Pastor Charles Murray of First Baptist Church of Ellisville, threw out one of the first pitches before the start of the game – something he had dreamt of doing. In a letter to Boen, Pastor Murray had this to say, “Thanks for the invitation to throw out a first pitch. It was a thrill but not nearly as thrilling as seeing what God did as the invitation was given. God bless you in all your efforts.” What Pastor Murray was referring to was the fact that after the invitation was presented by youth evangelist Tony Nolan near the close of the event, some 1,500 to 1,700 people stood in the stands and made decisions for Christ...the largest number of decisions made for Jesus in the history of CFD. It was an awesome sight to behold!
When asked about ticket sales, Boen related that some 9,250 tickets were sold for this years’ event with 3,200 of those tickets being provided free to underprivileged children. The kids were also entertained at a park near the stadium and provided with Chick-Fil-A sandwiches prior to the game and given free hot dogs and drinks during the game by the Cardinal Care organization. Boen said the average group that came for CFD ordered 50 tickets and groups came from some 15 different states. “Actually,” Boen said, “we have better support and participation from churches outside the St. Louis area than the churches in St. Louis.” In this writer’s mind that’s really a sad statement. Boen also related that it cost over $80,000 to host the children at the park and the game.

Of special interest this year, volunteers distributed 1,000 Gideon Bibles to those who stood seeking the Lord which was a record for CFD. According to Boen they ran out of Bibles and could have used at least 700 more to hand out. Last year only 300 were passed out.

In addition to the Gideon Bibles that were distributed, volunteers also handed out over 100,000 CFD baseball cards featuring popular Cardinal players such as Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainright, Branden Looper, Dave McKay, Randy Flores, and Kyle McClellan, plus Adam Timmerman of the St. Louis Rams. On the front of the cards were the player’s pictures and on the back side were their testimonies of their faith in Jesus.

McGraw Milhaven of Radio Station KTRS emceed the program that featured Casting Crowns (a popular Christian music group), testimonies from a number of Cardinal players and two players from the Padres, inspirational speaker Tony Nolan, and Judy Boen’s favorite all-time player Wally Moon who shared his testimony.

Plans are already underway for next year’s CFD. According to Boen, the Cardinals will let her know in November or December what the date will be for next year’s event so you’ll want to visit CFD’s website (www.christianfamilyday.com) for announcements.

The MetroVoice encourages everyone to start planning now to attend next year’s CFD. We’d love to see Judy’s dream come true of overflowing Busch Stadium with people who need to hear the Gospel and accept Jesus into their lives.