March 1, 2011 - Tuesday
Today we left bright and early to make our way south to San Pedro. We came to San Pedro to visit Marco, who has started a baseball ministry there. It was awesome and Marco and his team is doing such a great job. The vision of the ministry that he is a part of is awesome. We will be writing more about that ministry in the coming days. We saw a 46-acre tract of land where they will soon start construction on a complex to include: 3 baseball fields, 3 basketball courts, a school, a church and administrative offices. Checo was able to go to San Pedro with us, and it was very inspirational for him to see what has taken place in San Pedro.
We watched Marco run a practice and he was great. He had about 50 kids and his practice ran very smoothly. He has instilled discipline in the kids and it definitely shows. We are very excited that AIM will be able to send a team to San Pedro in late June to conduct a VBS/baseball camp.
I can’t put into words how this trip has affected me. I truly feel God calling me into baseball ministry. I am anxious to return home and share all these wonderful things with my wife and family.
February 28, 2011 - Monday
Today we visited a village in the mountains with some other missionaries that were from Canada. They came to the Dominican to bring clothes and school supplies for the children. The church we visited was built in 3 three days and it was amazing.
The afternoon was spent in Cangrejo watching some older boys from all the leagues pitch, catch, and hit. It was great day of baseball. After we left there we went to La Union to visit friends from last year. We were able to see some of the fruits of our labor from last year’s mission trip, including the joy of seeing how $10 of medicine changed a young boy’s life. You might remember him from our posts last year, his name is Ricardo.
Tomorrow brings another full day of activities. We will visit Puerto Plata and host a coaches clinic for all of the Pro Play League coaches. The last thing we will do is watch a girls’ softball team play.
God Bless,
Carlos
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Prov. 22:6)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Feb. 27, 2011 - Sunday
Today was Independence Day for the Dominican Republic. They celebrated their 167th anniversary of independence from Haiti. Many parades and celebrations were planned for the day.
This morning we left for Mocca, a beautiful city in the mountains. Pastor Rivas’ sister lives there, and we also planned to visit Pastor Rivas’ brother in jail there. Once there, we had the opportunity to meet Pastor’s parents and some of his brothers and sisters. He has 17 siblings! Stacy would not have been able to handle the drive to Mocca. The roads are extremely curvy and filled with large potholes. Talk about holding on for your life! Pastor told us our visit would not be complete without trying the pork and yucca. And yes, for those that know what a picky eater I am, I even tried the yucca! The pork was very flavorful, and the yucca tasted like a potato. I have truly enjoyed all the Dominican food I’ve eaten on my trip. In fact, Stacy claims I'm not really Mexican, that I must be Dominican :).
In the evening, we returned to Sosua and attended Pastor Rivas’ church. He’s a very gifted Pastor and speaker, and he delivered a very passionate sermon on focus. We were also blessed to have 6 missionaries from Canada join the service. They were bringing clothes, school supplies, and backpacks to some of the orphanages.
We witnessed a street fight on our way to church, just proving to us that we need to get the Word of God out to these people more, especially the adults so the young children have a Christian example to follow.
This evening also brought another first for me - a ride in the back of a safari truck. There was nothing smooth about that ride! Tomorrow we are headed back to the mountains and hopefully I can get some pictures. We will also be visiting La Union, the site we had last summer. After that we will be headed to Congrejo, a site from last year. At each site from last year we are interviewing the coaches to see how things are going, to see what they are doing, checking their needs, and we are also checking to see how many Bible studies are being done with the kids.
God Bless,
Carlos
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Prov. 22:6)
This morning we left for Mocca, a beautiful city in the mountains. Pastor Rivas’ sister lives there, and we also planned to visit Pastor Rivas’ brother in jail there. Once there, we had the opportunity to meet Pastor’s parents and some of his brothers and sisters. He has 17 siblings! Stacy would not have been able to handle the drive to Mocca. The roads are extremely curvy and filled with large potholes. Talk about holding on for your life! Pastor told us our visit would not be complete without trying the pork and yucca. And yes, for those that know what a picky eater I am, I even tried the yucca! The pork was very flavorful, and the yucca tasted like a potato. I have truly enjoyed all the Dominican food I’ve eaten on my trip. In fact, Stacy claims I'm not really Mexican, that I must be Dominican :).
In the evening, we returned to Sosua and attended Pastor Rivas’ church. He’s a very gifted Pastor and speaker, and he delivered a very passionate sermon on focus. We were also blessed to have 6 missionaries from Canada join the service. They were bringing clothes, school supplies, and backpacks to some of the orphanages.
We witnessed a street fight on our way to church, just proving to us that we need to get the Word of God out to these people more, especially the adults so the young children have a Christian example to follow.
This evening also brought another first for me - a ride in the back of a safari truck. There was nothing smooth about that ride! Tomorrow we are headed back to the mountains and hopefully I can get some pictures. We will also be visiting La Union, the site we had last summer. After that we will be headed to Congrejo, a site from last year. At each site from last year we are interviewing the coaches to see how things are going, to see what they are doing, checking their needs, and we are also checking to see how many Bible studies are being done with the kids.
God Bless,
Carlos
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Prov. 22:6)
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