Your 2015 Dominican Republic Missionaries

In less than a week we will travel from all over the US to bring Good News of God's amazing grace and love to the people in the Dominican Republic.  Please pray for:

Safe Traveling
Bags to get all the way through
Staff of SCORE International as they arrange all the details of our week
Good health and rest for all of us
Financial needs to be met
Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts and minds
Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts and minds of all of the baseball players and people we will meet
SCORE missionaries and their families serving in the DR
For our players to be open to sharing their testimonies with each other and with others
For our families back here in the US as we are gone

We are thankful for the team the Lord has brought together.  May He be glorified as we follow His lead!  In deed, Jesus Lead On!

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Romans 10:15

Kam

Kam Catching

We’re finally coming to the end of our missions trip in the Dominican Republic. The first two days here went by very slowly, but now it feels like we just got here yesterday. Ironically thats been one of our topics. Time flies and its as if we were born yesterday and then we’re going to die tomorrow. I’m so blessed to have been able to come here and experience this culture filled with joy and happiness even though they might be less privileged than others. They are all very welcoming and open to learning and listening to what we have to say. Especially when it comes to baseball! I'm thrilled that I had the privilege to play baseball against the kids down here and see their skill and talent. You can immediately see how much they want to make it in the MLB, and they definitely have the talent. It shows how much harder I’ll have to work as well as everyone else that wants to make it far in baseball. 

This has been such a humbling experience for me and has truly opened my eyes and softened my heart to see how privileged  I really am yet I still want more. I already cant wait to come here again next year! Several kids came to Christ this week sharing one thing that we all have a great passion for, and thats baseball. Im overjoyed that we gained many new brothers in Christ this week and I know that God is going to do great works in the lives of his children, even if it isn't making it to the big leagues. Another thing that impressed me so much was how grateful all of the kids were just for a baseball. A few of us gave away our shoes, and they switched them out for their flip flops right away. The satisfaction by giving to these people is far better than anything I’ve experienced. After experiencing the lifestyle of this culture I now realize how little the pictures do. I’m sure that if you come to the DR the kindness of these people will steel your heart as they did mine.

Kam

Kam & Kyle

Luke

Hey guys this week has been altogether amazing and life changing. My favorite moment  has to be playing a baseball game on the second day with the dominican people. We mixed the teams so the Americans and Dominicans would be on the  same teams! Although we may have had a hard time communicating with the the Dominicans with the language barrier, we still communicated through baseball.  This trip has taught me that not even language barriers can stop us from sharing the word of God.  Even though I miss my family a ton, I'm still so happy and blessed to come here. I am leaving here changed and ready to make an impact in America.


Luke

Luke Pitching

James

Many Dominicans don't have gloves and share with each other!

Hey everyone.  

I just wanted to share a little bit about my experience here in the Dominican republic.  To start off, I’ve had a wonderful time here.  It has been a lot of fun playing baseball and helping kids learn about baseball.  The first two days we had a chance to play four games against Dominican baseball teams.  It really is eye opening to see how Dominicans play the game.  They play baseball so differently than we do in America.  It’s a different culture and a different philosophy about the game.  

Although baseball is an amazing sport and something that the Dominicans are very passionate about, there is something that is far more important.  Jesus Christ came to save me and he came to save the kids we are working with.  He loves them, He wants them, and I have thoroughly enjoyed telling them so.  After all four of our games, we shared the gospel with the players.  After our clinics, we have testimonies and share the gospel with everyone there.  

For me personally, I feel special to be apart of something so small, yet so great.  We had a chance to go and bring a small village food.  This particular village was a Haitian village that lives here in the Dominican.  It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done.  These people don’t have running water, most children don’t have shoes or a shirt, they hardly have any food.  It was a blessing to go there and hang out with these people and bring them food and the gospel.  

What I have loved most about this trip is everywhere we go, everything we do, we bring Christ and the gospel.  We use these activities to show them the love of God.  I have nearly resorted to tears several times just seeing how little these people have and how content and grateful they are.  At one of our games, a kid missed a fly ball and was taken out of the game.  He then took his baseball pants off and gave them to another player next to him and the player entered the game.  After that I noticed how many of these Dominicans don’t have baseball pants, or cleats, or gloves, or bats.  If I ever get a chance to come back, I want to bring more baseball related gear to give away.  I hope I never take what I have for granted again.  Even though they have so little, they have something so great and that is Jesus Christ.  I have personally witnessed many Dominicans come to Christ this week and I hope to see many more.  

James

Vanya

This has  been quite and experience for me so far. I was afraid to come because I have the fear of flying but I prayed for about a month before the trip and God helped me get over the fear of flying and now I am here. These kids here are awesome and very fun. Being able to see what they go through and the places they live in are heart breaking because they really have nothing. So coming down here and being able to give them some food and water and being able to teach them about Christ has been amazing. I’ve seen so many smiles and people that have accepted  Christ has been awesome and hope to get some more out of a lot of kids the next day. I am glad that I got the chance to come because it has taught me a lot too, that I never would have known if I hadn't come. So I cant wait to get to go see some more villages and areas that need the help and be the ones to do that.

Vanya

Kyle

Howdy Folks!

My trip to the Dominican Republic has been an eye opening experience. This has been my first time out of the country and it has been awesome! When we first arrived we were all very surprised to see just how poor this country is. We knew coming in that many kids would not have a baseball glove, but actually seeing these kids walk up to the field empty handed broke my heart. I wish I had hundreds of gloves to give away, but that is something I cannot do. 

What I can do is love these kids. Not only am I making an impact on these kids lives, but they are making an impact on mine. One thing I noticed is the boys find joy in the small things. A simple ground ball or high five will light up their faces. Using my gift of baseball to spread God’s Word is what brings me joy. God has told us to use the gifts He has given us to spread His name all around the world…and that is exactly what we are doing this week. This being my first time out of the country, I was not sure what to expect. So far it has been a great week and a great learning experience. Today we put on another clinic for a group of kids from the ages of 5-18. The Dominican has surprised me with the talent in baseball. I knew they had a lot of skills, but I never knew they were so talented until I saw it with my own eyes. After wrapping up our clinic we headed to lunch and had a little break. Soon after our break we headed over to a girls orphanage. It was awesome to see the way they live and what the conditions are like. Our days are only getting better and better. I look forward to our next clinic as well as spreading God’s word through our love of the game. For anyone who has considered coming on this trip, I would highly recommend coming! 

Kyle

Codey

We went to a city to put on a kids camp for the town. We had about 225 kids attend the camp, all ages ranging from 4-18. We had 4 stations, hitting,outfield,infield and pitching. After that we shared Christ with the kids, about 60-70 accepted christ! Then we headed back for lunch and got ready to go buy food for the Molina Village. We were able to feed 26 families with the food we bought. The people we gave the food to were super grateful for the food we gave them, and we could tell it made a difference!  

Codey

Joshua

Today we conducted a baseball clinic for the children near the village of San Pedro.  We divided up into four different groups and taught the basics of baseball to each group.  Some of the kids picked up very quickly on what we were doing and we all had a great time!  The conference is going great with Walt teaching us in the mornings and nights.  

My favorite part of the conference, and I would say the favorite part of any other player here, is talking to all the former professional scouts and players here.  All of them are very open to conversation and very helpful with any questions we have.  This is only Monday and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for us and the entire group!

Luke Wrenn a MLB Scout for Arizona was on our team

Joshua

Wyatt

Dear Mom, my diary and my stuffed animals, Chasiti and Sandra.

My name is Wyatt. I’m 17 and from Texas. Normally when I write, my teachers do not let me use “be” verbs so i’m using them as much as possible, which is a true sign of a homeschooled kid. This is somethings about me.

Now that you know a little about me, let me tell you about this weekend. This is a life changing weekend. The players here are like my brothers now. And also the Dominican players. Today we had got to run clinics. And now were going to feed a whole village. Thanks y'all for praying.

 -Wyatt 

Joel

Hola, from the Gringos!  It's Joel here and it's actually night here in the DR.  Things are absolutely incredible!  The team has already played all 4 games and moved from the SCORE Complex to the hotel.  The team bonding has gone very very well and God is doing incredible things so far. So far my favorite part of this trip has been in-between and after our games.  In-between each game we would feed the team we played against, the way they responded in complete gratitude and the realization of how blessed we were to have what we have was both incredibly beautiful, and humble. Then after the games we gave the teams new gear and Bibles, which opened up the door for us to communicate and just share their happiness as they experienced some things they probably had never dreamed of. I thank God for this experience, and only 2 days in, I can already tell you, I will never forget this trip. God is doing amazing things in the Dominican Republic.

-Joel

Hi everyone,

Wow! Wow! Wow!  It's only been a little over 2 days and I am overwhelmed trying to catch everyone up on all that we have done.   I will give everyone access to over 1000 pics that you can get later that will express better than me all that we did in 2 days.  At the ball field we played at today they cut the electricity off at 1:30 pm.  At SCORE the doors are locked at 10:30 pm where we have access to wifi.  Unfortunately each evening we arrived after 10:30.  We plan to have everyone send out a blog but it is not as easy as in the USA!

The main reason for me to blog is to let everyone know your prayer and being answered and felt.  After 4 games in 2 days we have not made a trip to the emergency room and I haven't lost anyone!  We have had a blast.  All 14 players have bonded well and are playing as a team.  You wouldn't believe how well we played our first game without even one practice.  It was strange when we were sharing with the Dominican ball players about why the team was on a mission trip and they couldn't understand that we had never played together before.  Our translator had a hard time communicating to them that all of us had only spent a couple of hours with each other before we met them.  We honestly knew our competitors about as much as we did our teammates.

We had torrential rains the night we arrived from the States and were informed that our Friday games were cancelled.  Then miraculously we found a dump truck full of sand in a 3rd world country and had them deliver it to the ball field within about an hour!  I don't think we could do that in the USA.  We then played 2 games, fed the Dominicans sandwiches for lunch, gave them some baseball equipment, had player testimonies and finished with a Gospel presentation.  Your baseball ambassadors were awesome.  I don't have one complaint.  After a full day of baseball, we grabbed a quick dinner and then watched a professional Dominican baseball game.  It is an experience and I will let the boys tell you how different it is.  With only a couple of dissenting votes our team decided that they were so tired that they voted to leave the game in the bottom of the 7th inning.

The players are divided up in 2 rooms and I think it was hard for everyone to get up this morning including me.  After breakfast we again played 2 games and basically repeated our day 1 agenda except at our 2nd game we decided to mix up the teams.  Each team had a captain and they picked teams based on their observations in game one.  It was a very fun game and all the feedback from the players indicates we will do this again in the future.  After the games everyone was exhausted but had enough energy to walk to the beach.  It's located less than a mile away and enjoyed the beautiful beach for a little over an hour.  After dinner we had a devotional and I'm ready for bed!

Please pray that our hotel transfer process will go smooth.  We will start the day at Dominican Church, then a few hours at the beach before we transfer to our new hotel.  Also please pray that the testimonies and teaching at the SCORE mission trip will inspire and challenge us.

More later,

Keith

Nick

The team with Alfonso Soriano.  Many of our players gave their shoes and gloves to the Dominicans after our last game.

Dear Diary,

Today was a great day! We started off our day by eating a quick breakfast and then getting our uniforms on to go play some Pelota. We then got on the bus and drove about thirty minutes from the SCORE complex to a baseball field called Stadium Alfonso Soriano. We arrived and started a seven inning game. The Dominican kids are really good and they beat us on a walk off hit. Then we gathered all of the kids, lined them up and shook hands. right after that we broke out the sandwiches and fed them and all sat around together with the kids. Then we started the next game by mixing up the teams and started playing against the others with us all mixed together. The first two inning Felipe  (a missionary who is also our translator) pitched and carved the other team up. Then I came in the third and struck out the side and went back to the dugout and all the dominicans came to congratulate me. Then the next inning I got into a little bit of trouble and ended up giving up the tying run and then got out of it. Then we called it a game.

After that we met up and gave the kids Bibles and had them sign cards for us so we could pray for them. Then Felipe prayed and talked to the Dominicans a little bit and translated for Keith. Then a few of the SCORE guys and a couple of the Dominicans gave their testimonies on how Christ has worked and influenced their lives. After that we gave them new baseballs, a lot of old baseball stuff and I gave one of the kids my first baseman's mitt.

We then took some of their old baseballs and had them sign them. When I was sitting, I was thinking about giving away my Evoshield sleeve but I really didn't want to part with it. Then I just took it off and tossed it to one of the kids when he turned around. As we were leaving I was walking out and one of the kids points down. At first I didn't understand but then I got it, I thought about it for a second,  then took off my shoes and handed them to him. When we were driving back to the complex, we were driving through the village and Felipe spotted Alfonso Soriano and our awesome bus driver turned around. So then we pulled over and Felipe and Keith went and talked to them, then they let us come over there and get pictures with him. I took a selfie with him. After that we headed out and went back to the complex and got ready for the beach. The beach was amazing, we had a lot  of fun and Wyatt found this weird thing that we think was a sting ray tail and smelled absolutely grotesque. Then we went back and ate dinner.

For me one of the best parts of the day was getting to hang out with and play ball with the Dominicans. I loved seeing how happy they were and they were some of the nicest kids I've ever met. Seeing how grateful they were for the stuff we gave them was awesome because they're just so happy when they get some of our stuff because they have so little. The kids just made me very happy because they're just such happy people.

Nick

Friday, Nov. 7

What a great time of playing baseball and sharing our faith.  We even got to hear testimonies from Christian Dominican players.  Each Dominican player received a New Testament from one of our players.  Thanks for your prayers!

Andrew

Hola from the gringos, 

Today we went to visit young men in a village near a elementary school, to play baseball with them and to help them clean up their field.  We also fed them as well as got to share with them what it is that we believe.  It was amazing as well as humbling to see the kids and what it is they have, and how they are happy and content with it.  Definitely looking forward to doing more of this in the coming days.

Andrew

Tyler

Well today was really eye opening. We got to see and play against a bunch of kids who didn't have much and just loved to play the game of baseball. So it was pretty incredible to see how God works through these children and how they don't have much but are still always smiling, it makes me feel blessed and jealous at the same time that they can just enjoy life and baseball no matter what happens. All of us are excited to play some games and spread the word of God again tomorrow.

-Tyler

We are all here!

Yesterday was a big day of traveling with all of us arriving on 3 different flights at 3 different times.  Last night about 10 pm will all were in...safe and sound.  Tired but safe!  Unfortunately, we had a big downpour of rain about dinner time and this morning's games were canceled.  The silver lining is that it has given the guys an few extra hours of sleep.  We should be rested today and ready for God to direct us...Dominican style...as we go!

Our plan is for different players to write the blog each evening. Right now we have limited internet so don't expect to great personal communication between you and your son.  Hopefully, this blog will help you know what they are up to and how they are doing!

Thanks for your prayers.  We hope to get in a game or two this afternoon!

Judy

2014. OFF WE GO!

Today is the day!  13 homeschool young men from all over the US are on flights (or getting on them soon) to play some great baseball games....but that is secondary to the work their hearts have drawn them to;  spreading the love of Jesus and the message of His free gift of salvation to the players and people in the Dominican Republic!  We appreciate your prayers this week for hearts to be open and safety on our journey.  We will update this blog as Internet allows.  A big thanks to all of you have helped all of us get to this day.  We look forward to what God has in store for us!

Ephesians 3:20-21New International Version (NIV)

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Tournament Rains Extends Andy Pettitte Autographed Ball Offer

HWSA/SCORE Dominican Republic Mission Trip

November 6 - 13, 2014

Cost: $995 + airfare

Price includes: meals, lodging, ground transportation, insurance.

Send in your $100 depost by May 31 

and the tournament "rainout" autographed MLB ball will be yours to keep or help you fundraiser!

Contact Coach Coneby at 832-236-6810 or homeschoolbaseball@gmail.com

For More Information!

Check out Andy's message to High School Homeschool baseball players and Dads:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_lOuBSi6Jk

Check out SCORE Dominican Republic mission baseball outreach video:

 http://vimeo.com/41845333

2011 Beisbol pics from David Prentice! 

David is a HWSA alumni and played for the Oklahoma City Broncos.  He has been involved with HWSA for many years as a player and now as a sports photographer and fan.  David completed his formal education as a lawyer but his love for sports has him working with ESPN and local sports venues in the Oklahoma City area.  He volunteered his time during a very busy football season to record our memories in the Dominican Republic these past two years.  

Visit www.definingmomentokc.com to view his business web-site.  He also plans to return to our Homeschool World Series in Auburndale, FL  April 29 - May 5 (www.hwsa.net) to take pics of some of the games.  Make your reservations early because with 4 games (8 teams) playing at the same time David schedules his photo shoots on a first come first served basis.  Know that when you support him, your money in a round-about way ends up supporting us because of David and Leisel's generosity.  

Enjoy some wonderful baseball pics taken by David.  Many of us don't know Spanish very well, but David was able to capture some moments when we spoke the national language of the Dominican Republic...Beisbol.  I'm very proud of the way this year's team spoke the language of the island and clearly communicated the gospel of Jesus Christ.  (We won all our games.)
 

-Keith