Sam & Kristen Marsonek
Sam and Kristen are from Tampa, Florida. They moved up with their three daughters in August of 2016 (Mckenna, Kate and Avery). Since arriving in Jena, Alabama the Lord has blessed them with their 4th daughter, Samantha. They both received the call to come into full time ministry while Sam was running an automotive shop in Tampa and Kristen was practicing medicine as a family physician. The struggle of balancing work and raising a family in a way that would honor and glorify the Lord became very difficult. The burden to show their kids a life of faith seemed fleeting and with Sams desire to be involved in ministry through the game of baseball full time, the Lord began to pull at their hearts. Not long after, an opportunity to move to Baseball Country came up, and after much prayer and seeking they had a peace about the move and agreed to go all in. Psalm 37:4 says to “Delight yourselves in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” The closer Sam & Kristen drew to Him, the more He shifted their desires to line up with His. There was only one issue, whether pride or conviction came into play, they both felt He had to make a way financially to pack up everything and move to West Alabama… a part of the country with no cell service and no “take out.” The morning after they both agreed, the phone call came that changed their lives. Someone had just written an anonymous, unrestricted check to Sam and dropped it in the bucket at church. The rest is history. “We are beyond humbled to be serving the Lord full time here at Baseball Country and are blown away by all He is doing in and through our lives. Our girls are growing up not only hearing about Jesus, but seeing Him move day in and day out. We cannot thank all those that support the ministry here enough!”
Caleb & Noel Ellis
Caleb has accepted the call to lead our hunting and fishing ministry, Creators Outpost. He was born and raised right here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. An avid outdoorsman who enjoys all aspects of the sport from the off season preparations to the harvest and
to the table. Hunting, fishing, and raising livestock are simply ingrained in his DNA. He became a believer at the age of 9. Shortly after high school graduation, he surrendered to the call of ministry. Caleb is married to Noel, and they have a high-strung toddler named Wyatt. Caleb and Noel have served in youth/church ministry for the past 8 years, serving in part-time ministry at Shiloh Baptist Church and most recently a full-time ministry position at Taylorville Baptist Church.
“Being able to use my passion for making disciples alongside a passion for the outdoors is absolutely a gift from God. Living out a love for Christ for all to see is what it’s all about. I see Creators Outpost being an unbelievable opportunity to further the Gospel and the Christ Life. A ministry that shows young men how to work hard and live right according to God’s Word. A ministry that gets people involved and able to serve others by connecting through outdoor passions. Unbelievable is right, because it leaves us all pointing straight to the one who created it all, God our Father. This opportunity to serve people with a tie to the outdoor way of life is a blank slate on what God can do and whom He can use as well as how many will be added to the Kingdom. I can’t wait to see how The Lord continues to orchestrate Creators Outpost and I hope that you will join in on the journey and be a part of it.” -Caleb