History
In 1961 Bobby Shows accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior on the beach at Gulf Shores, Mississippi. It was at that time it became very clear that God wanted to use his sports background and abilities to be the instrument to serve Him. He went back to Mississippi State University to become a starter for their basketball team. Over 40 years God provided him just that. He became a high school coach, served in four churches as recreational minister, refereed for 30 years, and led many teams overseas to do sports evangelism.
In 1993 he was called to become a consultant with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which included sports evangelism. In 1994 the first Missouri Sports Crusader camp team for formed. It began with 5 college young men serving in 9 different churches during that summer. That first attempt only reached 300 kids but the convention and Bobby saw possibilities and every since then the camps have grown in numbers and in decisions for Christ.
During the proceeding years opportunities have opened up to do sports ministries in a variety of ways, including overseas. The ministry grew so fast that in 2001 it was evident it was time for it to become a ministry of its on. Under the guidance of the Lord, Bobby developed a faith ministry and moved it to the basement of his home in Holts Summit, Mo. This meant that he would have to raise funds to support the ministry as well as his salary One year later, Union Hill Baptist Church in Holts Summit, Mo.offered to “adopt” the Crusaders and provided office space. Along with that joy, Tricia Alberts became the second staff member. As an associate, working part time in the office. Currently she is our Director of Operations and Camp Coordinator. She handles scheduling camps and recruiting summer staff, along with other administrative duties of the organization. In 2003 Becky Uffman felt the Lord leading her to join the staff as the Director of Camp Ministry. October 2004 saw Randy Curless, a former host for Crusaders, come on staff to head up the newly developing Illinois ministry. Currently he serves as the Executive Director. In February 2005 Chris Sisk, a former summer staff person, started the public relation and special projects part of the expanding ministry. Erin Allman was part of our summer staff in 2006. Soon after that she answered the call to become a full time member of the Sports Crusaders as our Special Projects Developer. After the retirement of Bobby Shows in 2008, Randy Curless was named the new Executive Director, Tricia Alberts was named the Director of Operations. In August of 2009 Sports Crusaders added two new staff members. Amy Knoll, Ministry Associate, and David Percival, Director of Church and Student Relations, answered the Lord’s calling to this ministry. Amy handles the office and financial duties. In February 2010 Randy Curless stepped down as Executive Director to go back to his former position with Sports Crusaders as the Program Coordinator. He remains the host of Sports Crusaders Live Radio Broadcast on Sunday evenings and serves as the Chaplain of the River City Rascals baseball team in St. Louis. In May 2010 we welcomed Cory Casey to the staff to develop the “at risk” and international ministries. In October 2010, SC names Tricia Alberts as the Executive Director of the organization.
All of these fine folks raise their own support and use their special sports skills to serve their Lord. Since it’s conception, the ministry has grown from one team to twelve teams, reaching thousands of children and young adults through camps in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Texas, California, Florida, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The Crusaders have also taken the message to several countries. There are now four sports (soccer, cheerleading, basketball, and volleyball) that the Crusaders work through.
It is more than just a camp ministry. It has become a training ministry, preparing individuals and churches to do sports evangelism from their neighborhoods to overseas. Conferences, seminars, retreats, sports revivals, and other things now make up part of the ministry. Where it is headed, only God knows. We want to be ready to move at His timing to whatever and wherever.