LULU
Today we did many things that impacted me while we have been on this trip to the Dominican Republic. First, we made our journey on the bus to the Rawlings baseball facility. It was one of the nicest fields I have ever played on. We then proceeded to play two five inning games. The first game we played was against a group of a Dominican team. Next, we shook things up a bit by mixing both the teams; Americans and Dominicans vs. Americans and Dominicans. I believe eight people from our group gave their testimonies. We then took a bus ride to an authentic Dominican restaurant and ate lunch. We then traveled to the market where we bargained our way through and came out with machetes, jewelry, knives, hammocks, sunglasses, etc.. We ended our day with a CornHole tournament (basically a beanbag toss game) and closing devotionals.
My Testimony:
I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart at a very young age. I thought I understood everything on how to be a Christian. In the last couple of years I realized that being a true Christian means to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Over the last couple of years I have grown in my faith by praying every day and talking to the Lord, reading the Bible, and doing devotionals. As well as these things I have been growing in my faith with the Lord through having fellowship with and surrounding myself with strong Christians.
ALLEIGH
I read in a book once that there are only two things that are completely universal: smiling and God. To me, this has never been clearer. Throughout this trip, I have seen the brilliant light of God shine through the boundaries set up by language and cultural barriers. The evidence for this could be seen in the smiles on the faces of the kids in the orphanages, the children and families in the villages, the Dominican baseball players and especially our team. As a group, there have been an extreme range of emotions. From laughter to tears, I don’t believe that anyone is walking to this trip completely untouched. If spiritual growth did not occur, then I think at least the seed was planted.
Today, I said my testimony after the baseball games. I didn’t have long to prepare what I was going to say so I sat and I prayed. Like many of the kids on this trip, I grew up in a Christian home and accepted Christ at an early age. I felt like I didn’t really have anything important to say but God kept putting Romans 12:1-2 on my heart. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this will be your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” I realized that I didn’t know what a Christian life was until I heard these verses and I pray that these verses will touch someone else half as much as they continue to touch me.
Although this whole trip has been absolutely life changing, the most powerful moment on the trip for me was on Sunday at church as we read Philippians 2:9-11. This is the passage that declares that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the LORD. As the pastor spoke those words in Spanish and as I heard them again in English, it echoed in my mind the importance of the work we have been doing here. As Christians, we are called to drop everything and follow Jesus and I know that He has led us all here for a reason. Whether the guys were playing baseball or we were having “caballito” races in the villages, God’s work was being done. We were confessing that Jesus is our LORD and hopefully leading others to do the same. It has been amazing to be a part of this trip that has touched all of us and hopefully made an impact in the lives of many people here.
Mi Americano’s,
Hey everybody! Today (Wednesday) was a day of fun and fellowship where we ministered by playing baseball and sharing our testimonies in the morning, and then we enjoyed some authentic Dominican food and bargaining in the market later in the afternoon. In the morning, we went to a baseball complex built by Rawlings to play a Dominican team. The fields were absolutely immaculate. It was so much fun to play the Dominicans on a really nice field and the game was very competitive, but still fun and loose. The first game we won 2-1 and the second game we did a little mix-up of the teams. This allowed for us to interact with some of the Dominicans through our broken Spanish and their broken English. However, one of the kids could speak English pretty well. We were talking to him, and he told us that their catcher just recently signed with the Marlins and several other players were being looked at by the Mets, Red Sox, Yankees, and Devil Rays. They were very competitive and it made for two great games.
After the two games, a few of us gave our testimonies and we handed out used baseball equipment. They were very appreciative and seemed very receptive of our gospel. I was one of the kids to give a testimony and I basically told them how the game of baseball is very similar to our gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ. I told them that even the best hitters in the game only get on base 3 times out of 10. That means that 7 of those 10 times they fail and those are the best players in the game! No one bats 1.000, no one strikes everybody out, and nobody has a perfect fielding percentage. The point is that baseball is a game of failure, miserable failure. This point made a great transition to how we as humans fail to live up to God’s standards of holiness (Romans 3:23) and that we are sinful and need God to step in and save us in order to go to Heaven and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I told them that he offers them forgiveness and fulfillment found in nothing else on this side of eternity. To summarize, I told them that it was the most important decision I have ever made and it changed my life forever and that it could do the same for them if they accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and made him Lord of their life.
Hello everybody, Tyler Deen
Today we played a baseball game, gave some testimonies, ate at a Dominican restaurant, and bargained with different people at a market. In the morning, we played two five inning games against/with a Dominican team. Although most of them did not speak English, we were able to minister to them through the game of baseball, in which both teams love. In the second game we shook it up a little bit and mixed the two teams together. I had a blast playing with the other teams and talking to the few Dominicans who spoke English. This Dominican team had a couple players who have signed with major league teams, one of which was the catcher to play with the Marlins. After each of the games, 8 total people gave their testimonies. Part of my testimony was about the growth and knowledge gained during this mission’s trip. This mission’s trip has been a very good learning experience to me and I feel like I have grown closer to the Lord through it. After the games we went to an authentic Dominican restaurant in the downtown part of Santa Domingo. The restaurant had amazing food and great service. Next, we went to a very old cathedral which featured a variety of stain glass windows and other antiques. I heard from one of the score staff that this is one of the oldest cathedrals in the Northern Hemisphere. Finally, we traveled to a Dominican market in which I was swallowed in by the shouting calls of the salesman. I eventually bargained a knife for half of the original price. I was very proud of myself considering I have never really had to bargain for much. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I am very honored and glad to go on this trip.
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