'Operation Dominican Dream' a home run
What began as only a dream more than a year ago turned into the experience of a lifetime for a group of young baseball players from the Dominican Republic last week.
The 10 players that were selected to make the trip enjoyed a week of baseball, Bible school, shopping, roller coasters and making new friends in the northwest Georgia area during “Operation Dominican Dream”.
Taylor Barnes came up with the idea to bring the players to the States after a baseball/ mission trip through SCORE International last year. He, along with the help of many of his fellow members of Parkway Baptist Church in Fort Oglethorpe, raised the funds to pull off the massive undertaking.
Parkway Baptist has had a presence in the Dominican for several years, helping its citizens by building churches, solving water issues and working in orphanages, among other projects.
The group landed in Atlanta on July 23 and headed straight for Turner Field, where they cheered for their favorite Dominican players at an Atlanta Braves game. A stadium usher, once she found out where the boys were from, alerted the team’s Public Relations office, which later presented each player with a goody bag full of Braves’ items.
Players attended services on Sunday at Parkway and participated in a three-day Vacation Bible School and played four baseball games during the week, one each in Chickamauga, at the Baylor School, at the McCallie School and at Camp Jordan in East Ridge against both north Georgia and Chattanooga-area 12-U teams.
The team was invited to Lake Winnepesaukah this past Friday, where they were special guests for the Opening Ceremonies of the Rick Honeycutt World Series, and their week concluded Friday night with a churchhosted party at the Fort Oglethorpe City Pool before they flew back home early Saturday morning.
“It’s been a good time, but for (the players) it’s also been a little difficult because we’ve had a very heavy calendar,” said the
team’s coach, Robersy Lara, who works as a missionary in the Dominican through SCORE. “There wasn’t a lot of time to rest so sometimes it made it difficult to play. But it has also been a great time of fun.”
Local business sponsors helped by purchasing new uniforms and cleats for the team and Parkway members, both young and old, donated their time and money to help house, feed and take care of the group during their stay.
When church members heard that the players were planning on spending the $60 that each had been given at the start of the week to buy new sneakers, an offering was held at the church on Wednesday night to try and cover the expected $600 cost. The offering ended up being more than double the goal when every last dollar was counted.
“It’s been amazing to watch God’s hand work through people, from sponsors to media,” Barnes said. “Things have even come my way that I didn’t even ask for, things like finances and avenues to be in certain places at certain times. Even watching people at the Braves’ game, it was just great to see them accept the kids once they found out where they were from and what they were doing. It was just cool to watch people step up.”
More than baseball, the players formed strong bonds and made lasting memories between the kids they met and played ball against and the adults who helped to make their stay unforgettable. An impromptu dance party even broke out on the all-turf infield at the McCallie School after their final game on Thursday night.
One of the players, Yoel Celedonio, said he made friends for life.
“I thank God that I was able to be here
and enjoy this,” he said through a translator. “I want to thank Robersy and his wife, Sarah, and I had a really good time here. I loved the food, especially the grilled cheese sandwiches and the juice we had at the church.”
Another player, strong-armed catcher Francisco Rosado, called it “one of the greatest times of my life.”
“I want to thank God for letting me be here,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed a lot with our team. All of the kids in my country would love to have this privilege, so I thank God for giving me this opportunity. I’ve enjoyed it as I have never enjoyed anything else before.
“I thank (Parkway) Pastor David (Sampson), Taylor and the church that has been helping us. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here so I have to thank God for all of that. I also want to thank my family back in the Dominican. I love them.”