Tonight I was able to go to the Arizona Diamondbacks game because of a friendship I made a few months ago and it was such a blast. We were blessed with enough favor to be able to sit up in a box and enjoy an incredible win for the Diamondbacks (currently the hottest team in baseball). There were nearly 20 people in our box, so it was fun to mingle and catch up with people from all over the Phoenix area. There were former players and their families with us, as well as a few other friends that are parts of ministries from all over the area. I loved to hear about a few of the things God was doing around here.
One of the people I talked with for a while was Tiffany. She’s in charge of group ticketing for the Diamondbacks and was really the main connection for getting us the seats we had. Just a few weeks ago, Tiffany and her boss invited several pastors from all over the area to come to a game and talk about how they could reach more families not just for the games, but more importantly for their Family Fun nights and big outreaches. There are several events each month that happen at the stadium that are targeted to reach families from all walks and also send them out with a positive message. They brought the pastors along because they wanted to know how to effectively reach their audience without neglecting their message.
During the season, Tiffany can put in nearly 50 or more hours a week at the ball park, just trying to figure out how to reach the community. I’m sure it was a little disappointing to only see about 23,000 people to come support the league leading Diamondbacks on a beautiful holiday, but the bigger question is, how can you get that many to come out to these outreaches and hear the word of God and enjoy the fellowship that comes with that? I’ve never been a big event type of guy, but it was fun to just sit down and hear about their ideas and some of the doors God was opening up for them. It sounds like such an incredible opportunity to reach the community, and maybe God will continue to bring favor for them.
Honestly, reaching out to young families and creating events for them has never been an idea on my head. As I sat and talked with Tiffany and the others about this, it was a cool opportunity to just thank God for the way He wires and equips His body. We aren’t all called to the same area or the same people group, but we all have the same calling. For Tiffany, it’s families. For Brian, a guy I’ve already written about, it’s the players. Another one of the ladies there has a strong calling to pray. And I’m sure the list could keep going if we thought through everyone. Some of us have a heart for the homeless, or the orphaned, or the affluent, or the educated, or anyone else. No one calling is greater than the other, just different. It’s when we ban together to reach them all that the exciting stories come.
