Former baseball player hits home run in winning souls

On Craig Smith’s desk sits a rock. It is very symbolic to the young pastor who once played professional baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers.
   
“A fan made this for me while I played for the Brewers,” he said. One of his baseball cards is superimposed into the flat painted rock and delicate hand-painted flowers and other artistic patterns surround it.
   
“It’s one of my most prized possessions,” said Smith. “When it was first given to me, it said, ‘Craig, you’re somebody in this world. You have a golden opportunity for fame, wealth and success … you’ve achieved your lifelong dream!’ ”
   
Smith’s passion for baseball began at his first T-ball practice  and continued through high school.
   
“It wasn’t that I was incredibly gifted at playing baseball,” he  shares. “I just loved the game and was willing to work hard at it.”
   
He received a scholarship to play baseball at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces while pursuing an engineering degree.
   
“I roomed with some guys while I was in college,” Smith says. “None of us were Christians at the time, but I did have a Bible. All I do know is that I was always compelled to read that Bible and that God used His Word to create a spiritual hunger within me. You see, even though life was good — even though I was ‘on top of the world’ — I felt this continual emptiness within me. So one night, I finally prayed, ‘Invade my life, God.’
   
“A day or two later, I was on the practice field at NMSU. The director of Campus Crusade ministries approached me. He told me to call or come see him if I had any spiritual questions, so I did. We met for lunch the next week, and I prayed to receive Christ during our meal together. Shortly thereafter, this man — my spiritual mentor — invited me to live with him, and he literally poured his life into me for three years.”
   
In the summer of 1992, during Smith’s junior year of college, he was drafted to play shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers. He had only been a Christian for a few months.
   
“I’ll always remember how warm the sun felt against my skin on the day I heard the news, and I thanked God right then and there for fulfilling my lifelong fantasy,” said Smith.
   
During baseball’s off-season, Smith continued his studies at NMSU. He was disappointed  there were no ministries on campus to target athletes, so he started an athletic ministry in a tiny dorm room. Four months later, 25 athletes were attending regularly. That ministry developed into the university’s first Athletes in Action and continues to this day.
   
“God used that experience to capture my heart for ministry and to give me a passion to evangelize and discipleship others,” he said. 
   
Smith continued to play with the Brewers for three professional seasons and completed his engineering degree. He also married his wife, Lenee.
   
“Although my baseball career was going well and even though I had wonderful potential to make great wealth, I just couldn’t shake this inward desire to win souls to Christ. I knew that I had to give up my baseball dream and pursue God’s call upon my life,” Smith said. “I’ll always remember Lenee’s unforgettable words to me: ‘Whatever you give up on Christ’s behalf, He’ll replace with something better.’
   
“When the opportunity to go to Spain for a year presented itself to us, we both agreed to go,” he said. “Lenee’s earlier words to me certainly rang true for me through the Spain experience,” he said.
   
Giving up baseball opened up doors for Lenee and I to live in Costa Rica and Spain for a time, and we’ve learned how to speak a foreign language fluently,” Smith said. “We’ve seen so much of the world now, and have watched so many lives — including our own — be deeply touched by the hand of God.”
   
Since September 1998 Smith has been pastor for growth and discipleship areas of cell-group ministry at Calvary Baptist Church in Las Cruces, N.M., and still invests ministry time in NMSU’s Athletes in Action. “While serving here, God delightfully surprises us. (ABP)