Finishing Strong

       

Grab the stuff...it's time to play!

                  For the past 10 days the Shaheen family has had the pleasure of hosting college kids Phil Tuttle, Chris Wages and Kevin Dodson.  All of these young men graduated from Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn Georgia and now play college baseball at Wheaton, Kennesaw State and Augusta State respectively.  It has beenwonderful and intriging having 3 very mature, faithful, and respectful guys that have been seeking out God's plan for their lives. They have done so many things here in the greater Boca Chica area over the past 10 days, from visiting sugarcane villages in order to play with the children, to coaching baseball clinics, to attending church in a very poor community, to attending church in an affluent neighborhood in the capital, to following missions teams to various baseball game sites, to swimming in the chaotic Boca Chica beach, or even just swimming in the pool in front of the house.  They even had one of their best pizza pies in the Dominican Republic.  Who would have thunk it?  We have a lot of Italians that live in Boca Chica.

        My favorite part of their visit was definitely the small group time we spent reading Ephesians, The Dream Maker and excerpts from Radical.  We always went on long tangents that really stretched our faith out to a point of learning and discerning.  Phil, Chris and Kevin spend time in the Word and in prayer and it shows in the fruit of their spirits.  It was very clear to all at the Highlands complex and beyond that these guys want to spread Christ's love all the time.

       Today, Wednesday July 27th, we jumped into the Suzuki __?__ and drove 30  minutes to a batey in San Pedro de Macoris.  I have had the opportunity to talk with the pastor of the church in the community called El Penon.  His name is Maximo and he had been trained by SCORE and planted their a few years back. I met him at another church and asked him if I could bring the guys over for a clinic.  He was excited to have us their.  Their village is very poor and his church is definitely a place that the people of El Penon can take refuge.  It was clear to us right from the start that Maximo has created a great sense of community through the church.  The kids were behaved and the adults were extremely friendly. 

      We first conducted a 3 station clinic where we allowed the 20 players to hit, field and take fly balls.  After we worked them hard for 45 minutes, we mixed the teams up and played a friendly game.  I had the opportunity to pitch for one team, while the college guys played on the other team.  That was fun.  It allowed me the opportunity to get revenge on these providence guys for all the heart-ache they gave me the past 4 years.  I will not give you the stats of the game, but lets just say my 36 year old body held its own against those rascals.  We had a lot of fun and spoke a lot of spanish (good or bad).  Its amazing how Christ's love and the game of baseball has its own language.  We did not feel like we could not communicate. 

Below are pictures of our time in El Penon:

Smile for the camera.

 Phil getting mobbed for his candies (dulces) and July with the Bibles we gave him for he and his coaches.

Shaheen against Tuttle with a gorgeous backdrop.

Coaching up the infielder with the wooden "soft-hands" gloves.  Note the jersey number.  I was a big fan of John Hannah, the best lineman of all-time.

Chris teaching "short to, long through" or "please do not hit me".

With the Gospel glove on my head, Holt on my right arm, I am ready to preach.

Kevin doing his best touch shot when throwing fly balls.

Talking baseball with Pastor Maximo.  Look at his shirt.  Even Dominicans know about Cobb County Baseball.

Phil has a new friend. 

Maximo shows us the center of the community, the church.

Fixing the field cage/backstop before we get started.

Picture of the day.  El cielo.

The boys from Providence are heading home tomorrow.  I pray that they go home with conviction and a renewed feeling of Christ's love in their hearts.  It was fun for 11 days.  I hope I see them again next summer.