// July 13th, 2009 // 14 Comments » // Barahona, Faith, Featured, I Love Baseball
Let me be blunt. I’m a coward. I left my job and in 7 days I’m getting on a plane to the Dominican Republic. I won’t be back until Christmas. I’ll be working with young men whose dream is to play professional baseball. Most, if not all, of them will fail. Our goal, while helping them pursue their dream, is to build up Godly men who will transform their communities. Normally many of these young men would leave home at 13 or 14, abandon their education, move to Santo Domingo and pursue their dream of becoming a professional baseball player. When 99.9% of them fail, they return home with no education and no real options. The program I’m working with, I Love Baseball, keeps these young men at home in Barahona and provides them the same training and opportunity to be signed that they would have in Santo Domingo while holding them accountable in school and being mentored by men and leaders in their community.
Sounds pretty noble right? It is brave to walk away from a great job to go serve right? Not really. I’ll happily walk away from my salary and pay $9,000 to serve. Crazy to some but that is the easy part for me. That is what makes me feel alive. That is what makes my heart beat.
The hard part for me? Not limiting God’s vision for my trip to what I am capable of. I’m a coward because I’m scared to ask people to partner with me. I’m a coward because I’d rather pay the $9,000 than be obedient, tell people about the work I’m going to be doing, ask them to partner with me, and go and pray while I wait to see what God does.
I love supporting people. I don’t like asking for support. God has been revealing to me this week that by being disobedient in asking people to partner with me in the Dominican, I’m denying them the opportunity to be obedient to His call and limiting God’s vision for my trip to my own vision, to what I can fund, to what I am capable of.
Can I share a growing desire in my life? I don’t want to do things I am capable of doing. Why? Because then I can take the credit for them. I want to see God do things in me and through me that I am absolutely incapable of so I can’t possibly take credit for them.
- Mark Batterson
God has been breaking me of my fear this week. He has been calling me into obedience. So here I am, humbled and willing to serve, asking you to partner with me in the Dominican Republic.
I’m not believing for getting my trip funded. That is a me-sized vision. I’ll pay for the trip and every penny raised can go into the program. I’m believing we can get every young man in I Love Baseball sponsored. I’m believing the funds we raise will allow the program to bring in new young men. I’m believing we can raise enough money to make the dream of purchasing a piece of property, building a field and building a high school a reality. I’m believing God has vision for I Love Baseball that goes beyond anything I can comprehend or be responsible for.
Here is how you can partner with I Love Baseball:
1. Pray for I Love Baseball and my time in the Dominican
2. Donate to support I Love Baseball http://www.cotni.org/opportunities/15
3. Sponsor a player http://ilovebaseball.org/sponsor-a-player.html They are amazing kids
4. Tell your friends or readers 
5. Come visit on a short term mission trip!
The primary reason most of us don’t see God moving is simply because we aren’t moving.
- Mark Batterson
I was moving by going but my movement was incomplete. Now I’m going to go pray and wait for God to move through yall. Thank you in advance and God bless.
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