TCS Student Athletes Selected as part of “Baseball 4 Christ “

By Samantha DePriest

The mission of Trinity Christian School is to “prepare today’s student to impact tomorrow's world: by educating minds for cultural engagement, equipping hearts for character development, and empowering hands for compassionate service.” Our hope for each student is that they lean in and listen to God’s calling on their lives and seek to be a blessing to others around in them using the gifts and talents that He has given them. This coming June, we are excited to share that two of our high school students will be going on mission with local ministry “Baseball 4 Christ” to serve and spread the Gospel in a village in Mexico.

The mission of Baseball 4 Christ “To spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to impact and foster the players and those they serve into action while growing the Kingdom of God. The ministry consists of using the game of baseball to share the message of hope and faith while spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As part of the ministry, the Baseball 4 Christ teams play against community baseball teams, conduct instructional clinics for children of all ages, and work with local churches, public and private schools, and the government of Mexico while serving on mission. The team shares the Gospel and personal testimony throughout their journey while on a mission in Mexico and back home in the United States. Baseball 4 Christ’s Ministry is not just about playing baseball; it’s a journey of faith, service, and transformative impact” as mentioned on the Baseball 4 Christ website.

RYAN MELTON

Ryan Melton, a junior at TCS and plays catcher on our Varsity Baseball team, has been selected as one of the 2024 Baseball 4 Christ (B4C) Mission Team Captains. Ryan has been a Varsity player since his freshman season. He is a defensive specialist behind the plate and was recently chosen as Athlete of the Week.

Ryan learned about baseball for Christ through his friend Cole Gilmore at Newnan High School. He shares, “I hope to grow in my faith by strengthening my relationship with God. I will hopefully realize how much God has blessed me with talent and possessions. In service I hope to learn new things from a different perspective. Working on houses and such will be a new experience than the service I tend to do locally.”

When asked what he would say to inspire students learning about this opportunity to step outside of their extracurricular activities and seek out mission minded activities, he shared “I would say to keep an open mind to opportunities that arise and take them. You never know when another chance will come to participate in mission work. God opens opportunities for a reason not only for those you serve, but for us to grow as well. I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to be part of such an amazing trip. I can’t wait to go and just grow spiritually with people who have a passion for Christ and baseball.”

Mrs. Erin Melton, Erin’s Mom, shares “It's hard to express in words how proud we are of Ryan to be chosen as one of the members of the Baseball4Christ mission team. His decision to participate in this mission trip reflects his desire to live out his faith and be the light of Christ to others. Ryan and his teammates will spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know this trip will be transformational for him. We are thankful for this opportunity for Ryan and cannot wait to see the Lord work through him and the entire Baseball4Christ team!  To be able to pair two of his life passions, the Lord and baseball, into a mission trip to Mexico is an opportunity of a lifetime.”

LOGAN MOSS

Logan Moss, a junior multi position player at TCS, was also selected as one of the 2024 Baseball 4 Christ. He has been a Varsity player since his freshman season and is quite versatile as he plays multiple positions. Logan is also a former Little League World Series player and is well known in the area.

Logan shared, “I learned about the Baseball 4 Christ organization and trip through a connection in FCA. Every year our football team goes to a FCA camp and it was there that I met Coach Morgan. Coach Morgan works alongside Coach Winslett to make this amazing trip possible. During this highschool baseball season, I was able to reconnect with Coach Morgan and he told me about the Baseball 4 Christ organization, and how they are starting missions trips again this year!”  

He went on to share, “I hope to grow spiritually by becoming bold and unashamed to preach the Gospel wherever I am at. I believe going into a foreign country to bring the Good News to those people is a great opportunity to grow in that. Not only do I want to grow in my faith, but I also want to have a huge impact on the kids and adults of Mexico. Through our service, I hope to be a light to the people and bring the message of Jesus Christ to them. These people, especially the kids, don’t live the same kind of lives we are blessed to live, so I want to love these kids deeply in the short time we have there.”

“I truly believe mission minded activities have big impacts on the people you serve, but they have an even bigger impact on those that are serving. I have been blessed to serve through a passion of mine, which is baseball, but there are so many other opportunities to get involved in serving others. I think that students and parents should have open hearts to being the hands and feet of Jesus through serving others. "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:13.

Logan’s Mom, Mrs. Lindsey Moss, shares “We hope that through this experience with Baseball4Christ that Logan and all the boys will encounter God in an authentic way that will grow their faith. We are so excited and expect God to use them to do big things! We are praying for them to be a light to everyone they encounter. We are also praying for the organizers, coaches, players, the kids in Mexico, and for the other baseball teams. I have heard that through this program lives have been changed and we are hoping that this has a life long impact for Logan and for everyone involved! It is such a blessing for him to be able to go!“

PASTOR JOEL SMELLEY

Pastor Joel Smelley, Trinity Christian School Dad and Senior Pastor at Heatherwood Baptist Church, will be also be a part of the B4C Leadership team in 2024, serving at the Mission Team Pastor. He is a graduate of Jacksonville State University, Southeast Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Joel and his wife Kim have three daughters, Lilly Kate, Gracie, and Avery. Pastor Smelley has a strong desire to invbest in and train the next generation of pastors and church leaders. He shares, “I consider it an honor to be invited to serve alongside Mike, Brian, coaches, mentors and players to make the name of Christ known in Mexico.”

Pastor Joel shares, “Mike and Cindy Winslett joined our church, Heatherwood Baptist Church, within the last couple of years. It was early on in the membership process that Mike and I had conversation about a ministry that He and Brian Morgan began some time ago. At the time, he informed me that Covid prevented them from getting back on the mission field like they wanted, but that they were actively praying and preparing for a future trip.” 

When asked how he hopes to grow and impact others through this experience, he shared, “You know, from early on in my spiritual walk, the Lord has convicted my heart about missions. It is my belief that missions isn’t just what one does “over there,” but what a person does “right here,” wherever he or she is at the time. Another conviction God has laid upon my heart is the relentless, continuous pursuit of discipleship toward men of all ages. Obviously, this can be most evidently seen within the context of the local church God allows me to lead. However, upon hearing the passion that Mike and Brian have toward investing in young men for God’s glory, my interest went from piqued to, “How can I be involved?” 

Pastor Smelley goes on to share, “My hope is that the Lord would give me an opportunity to spiritual invest in not only the baseball players who participate in this trip, but also the coaches and mentors. As I understand it, the hope isn’t just that these players and coaches will have a spiritual experience laboring alongside churches and other baseball players and coaches, but that God would grip their hearts and transform their priorities, their goals in life, and their involvement back into the community of Newnan and Coweta County. I pray that God would allow me to build lasting relationships with these men and help challenge them spiritually on the mission field in such a way that they would treasure Christ above all else.”

When asked what he would say to inspire students and parents reading out this opportunity to step outside of their extracurricular activities and seek out mission minded activities, he shared, “There are a couple of things that come to mind. First, I would encourage students and parents to put their “yes” on the table, displaying a willingness to give God control of their “free time.” I tell my church frequently, “Serving God’s Kingdom is time you will not look back on with regret.” It will never be time wasted. Second, my challenge would be to schedule time as family each year to engage in missions; whether local, domestic, or even international. Those will be memories that you will always look back on with fondness. It will also display a heart and willingness to obey God’s call to “make disciples of all nations,” as our Savior commanded. Last, don't wait! I’m certain that in one’s own church, there is likely some degree of missions strategy. If not, begin one for your family - start with ministries within our own county.”