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| Today's post is brought to you by Kel and Truett. |
Today, the SCORE Organization was subjected to yet another life changing endeavor. After enjoying a pancake breakfast, we embarked on an hour and a half bus ride to a girl’s orphanage. The disembarkment proceedings were not as marvelous as that of the village, (Me and Kel want an A+ in vocab on this paper) because the girls were still in class at the time.
We knew immediately when they were released from school, however, because we were swamped instantaneously and called “Justin Bieber” repeatedly; in fact, they later began singing Justin Bieber’s hit song ‘Baby’ in English, with perfection. The younger girls, ages 12 and under, behaved with a remarkable semblance to the village children in that they latched on to a single “Americano” each and refused to back down from their grasp despite any coaxing. Conversely, the intelligence displayed by these young women demonstrated a remarkable discrepancy from the mentality of the village children.
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| Kel visits with girls from the orphanage Tuesday morning. |
Many spoke English relatively well, which allowed for conversational continuity. The young orphans were not the only ones who cherished the visit, though. Smiles and joyous expressions were on every face around, including all of us with SCORE. Shockingly, the girls were very well informed on American culture and music, and they informed me of their dreams of becoming either American actresses, singers, or clothing designers. I was abashed at the ungratefulness I had exhibited at home in the U.S. for my blessings after realizing that their most extravagant dreams are in fact my reality.
The little girl who chose me became surprisingly attached and began to cry when we said adios and begged me to stay. I felt sad that we had to leave, but I was moved more than I would have ever guessed by my experience with these little orphans and their unique perspective on our world.
We returned to SCORE Headquarters and ate a quick lunch while anticipating the afternoon game. After another bus ride with many questionable occurrences on behalf of the driver, we miraculously managed to arrive at our destination. We found ourselves on a seemingly old-fashioned baseball field in the midst of a rundown town. Ten homeruns and seven intense innings later, we found ourselves to be victors by a score of 15-14.
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| Truett delivers a pitch during Tuesday afternoon's game against a local Dominican team. |
Coach Coneby, my teammate David, and a member of the SCORE staff by the name of Kiko shared the gospel with a very receptive group of athletes who seemed transformed by the event in it’s entirety. I saw a something as simple as the game of Baseball used to change lives forever. The game was extremely competitive and was played at a high-level yet, the game was overshadowed by the message of salvation.
When I got on the plane in Houston, I thought I was going to play some baseball in the Dominican Republic and talk to little Kids. Now, I realize, when I boarded that Boeing 787 in Houston, I was going to share the gospel and change lives. God hopefully has changed some hearts as I result of me going on this trip, but there is one heart that I know for sure God has changed, mine.
From the DR,
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