Category Archives: Get Involved

I Love Baseball Summer 2011 Update!

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Thank you again for your support of the young Dominican

Interim Head Coach Máximo Ortiz (left) with new ILB Director Ruddy Suero.

men in the I Love Baseball® (ILB) program. We’re excited about the changes we have made in the last few months and the progress we hope to make throughout the year with your continued partnership.


Highlights from the First Half of 2011:
  • Earlier this year, we bid farewell to our former head coach, José Carrion, who left to pursue new opportunities. Filling in for Coach Carrion until we find a permanent head coach is assistant coach Máximo Ortiz. Máximo is a former baseball player and track athlete, as well as an inspirational Christian leader. We’re glad to have him on our team.
  • In March, we hired our first ILB program director, Luciano “Ruddy” Suero. Ruddy (pronounced “Rudy”) comes to ILB after ten years with Plan International, a like-minded organization. He is also an accomplished baseball player, and we are excited to see more advancements with him on staff.
Stay up to date on all that is happening with ILB by joining the Facebook fan page.
Your partnership is making a big difference in the lives of the young men in the ILB program. Thanks to your support, each of our sponsored players receives breakfast and lunch each day, a good education, spiritual encouragement, and a chance at a bright future. Read a story about one of our sponsored children, Dilson Alcantara Suero, by clicking here.
Areas in Greatest Need of Support:

Sponsorship
For just $32 a month, you can provide one of the young men in our program with hope for a better future. Click here to sponsor a player.

University Program
One of our players, Salomon Trinidad, has a partial scholarship to the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, but still needs about $250 per month in support. Click here to support Salomon.

Full-time Head Coach
We are still seeking a full-time head coach. If you are able to partner with us to help provide a $400/month salary for the new head coach, click here.
Thank you again for all your prayers and support! We would not be able to care for these young men without your partnership.
 
Ben Holman
I Love Baseball® USA Coordinator
benholman@ilb.org

Winter 2010-11 Update with Video

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Dear Friends and Supporters of I Love Baseball®,
 
Thank you again for all of your support for the young men in our I Love Baseball (ILB) program this past year. This year has been a good one for Children of the Nations and I Love Baseball, and we look forward to building on our success into 2011.
Please take a moment to enjoy this brief video on the lives you have touched through support of this program. Your partnership has a real impact on the young men in the ILB program, and we’d like to give you this opportunity to meet the boys who are being transformed through ILB.
 

Again, thank you for your prayers and support. If you would like to make a year-end gift to I Love Baseball, please contribute via our website or send checks to: Children of the Nations P.O. Box 3970, Silverdale, WA 98370. Donations must be postmarked no later than December 31 or received online by midnight to qualify for a 2010 tax deduction.

 
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about getting involved, visit our website; www.ilovebaseball.org, or contact me at benjamin@ilovebaseball.org, or 206-369-1429.
 
Thank You!

Ben Holman
I Love Baseball USA Coordinator

Chris Sullivan in the DR: A Big Praise

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I’ve been marinating for the last couple days on something I heard Friday and I just need to go ahead and give God all the glory for it.

Julin is one of my favorite players. He is a charismatic kid with big dreams but at 16 years old he is only in the 6th grade. A couple of weeks ago we got a report from Julin’s teacher that he wasn’t going to school. When I talked to Julin, I found he didn’t like going to school because all the younger kids make fun of him and tell him he is too old and no good. He doesn’t like going to school because all the people in his neighborhood tell him he is dumb and should just play baseball. Julin didn’t have anyone speaking life to him. He didn’t have anyone encouraging or telling him he was capable, in fact, everyone was saying the opposite.

When I sat down with Julin I tried to explain to him as best I could why he needed to go to school.

If he doesn’t, he is proving all those people right. I told him all those people in his neighborhood that are criticizing him spend most of their days sitting on their porch doing nothing. They were sitting on that same porch 10 years ago and they’ll be on that same porch in 10 more, but that he has the opportunity for a life better than that. Only he loses if he doesn’t go to school.

He needs to be an example to his younger brothers. He wants to make something of his life and he needs an education to achieve his goals. He needs to be able to provide for a family one day and give them with a better life and more opportunities than he has had. That he couldn’t change the past but can decide what he wants to make of the future.

It has been a couple weeks so I don’t even remember exactly what I said but those are some examples. I don’t know what stuck. Maybe nothing, I was saying all of this in broken Spanish after all. Probably nothing, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t really matter what I said as much as that I was saying it. I think what made the difference was that I cared enough to say something, that I cared enough to encourage him, that I told him he was capable. I think he was desperate to hear that. But as Julin left that day, I didn’t know if he would go back.

On Monday I visited Julin in Los Robles. I chatted him up a bit before asking how school was. He lit up. He told me school was great and that the school is going to let him go to 7th grade in the spring. He thanked me and told me if it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t have gone back. I told him that he deserved all the credit, that I could do all the talking I wanted, but only he could make the decision to go back and that I was proud of him. I took it all with a grain of salt until I talked to Julin’s teacher later that day and got the same report. Wow, God is good.

In the end, God just put me in the right place at the right time and he used me as the tool to touch one of his children and that feels awesome. I feel so honored but yet humbled. I know it wasn’t my wisdom that made a difference but God’s love pouring into this young man. Please keep Julin in your prayers. He is back in school and over one large mountain but has a lot of school and a lot of life to go.

Rooting for ‘Fry

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As I watched our players try out this week, it was with mixed emotions. Sufry Thumb is the kind of kid you root for. He is the kind of kid you would do anything for. You want the best for him because he deserves it . He isn’t the biggest kid on the field but he is strong and fast. He works relentlessly and never complains. He is always respectful and never talks back. ‘Fry is probably the best player on our team but he doesn’t expect to be treated differently. He is humble and treats all of his teammates with respect from the best to to the worst. ‘Fry isn’t technically our captain but he is the one that sets the tone for our team. His is the example I want all of our other players to follow on the field and off. When he isn’t at practice or at school, he is working hard on his own, doing extra work, running or lifting weights. His passion has started to rub off on his teammates, particularly some of our younger players who are the in the worst situations. They are always following him around. When ‘Fry is doing extra work in the evenings, they are right there with him. When ‘Fry is lifting weights at home, they are there with him. Every time I’ve been at Fry’s house since I’ve been in the DR, our most at risk player has been there, watching, learning.

So it is with a little sadness that I cheer for ‘Fry and pray for the best. ‘Fry is our silent leader and I don’t want to lost his hard work and dedication, the example he sets for the rest of his teammates, or the mentoring he is giving to some of our players who need it most. But I couldn’t be more excited for ‘Fry as a player or as a person. As he closes in on his goal, he has begun a relationship with Christ. And as he has started to read his Bible everything that is already good in ‘Fry has been confirmed and started to grow. He reads his Bible with the same passion, dedication and joy that he plays baseball and that has been an inspiration to me and you can see the excitement in his eyes and hear it in his voice as he tells me what he learned in his reading.

I don’t really have a closing point. This post brings several questions out of me that aren’t really related. Are you the kind of person the people that know you best are rooting for or are they hoping you fail a little bit so you will be humbled (because we have a player like that too)? Do you read your Bible with the same passion you do the thing you love most? Do you read it like it is God speaking to you? Like you have been invited to play a role in a story that is so much bigger than you? Does that get you excited or do you read your bible “dutifully”?

Answered Prayer

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On Wednesday I asked you all to pray for two of our players, that God would draw them closer to him, humble them and bring them into dependence on him as they got closer to signing with a pro team. Since they weren’t planning on eating dinner the night before one of the biggest days of their lives, I took one to dinner and our coach took the other. As I walked to his house, the skies were ominous and appeared ready downpour at any moment. I wondered to myself whether being out at night in a bad neighborhood with a storm brewing could possibly be a good idea, probably not. However, the rain held off and we arrived safely at the sandwich shop. 30 minutes later we emerged with full bellies and still no rain. Then the heavens opened, and we ran. On the way to the sandwich shop, we had passed by my church and seen that there was a service in progress. I shouted to him to run to the church which was a block way.

As we entered the church wet and under-dressed, I couldn’t help but my smile to myself. Thank you Father. It just felt like we were supposed to be there. I felt him telling us, there is going to be sun and there is going to be rain and come whatever weather there may be, I am here. When it rains, I’m here to protect you. I’m your safe port in the storm. Draw close to me. Whatever happens tomorrow I’m here. And when the rains stop, don’t forget me. When all your dreams come true, don’t forget me. And if they don’t, I’m still here and I love you.

As ominous as the skies were, I’m pretty sure it only rained long enough to get us running and settled comfortably in the church. Then it stopped. Coincidence, I think not?

Broken Hearts and Empty Stomachs

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I was heart broken last week after two months of sweating and working day after day in the sun with our baseball players to learn that on a daily basis the majority of them show up at practice with an empty stomach. There is no food in their homes to eat for breakfast. Those that do have food, have bread and coffee. Try and think back for a moment to your days as a high school, college or peewee athlete. Now imagine training day after day on an empty stomach. Imagine working for or five hours every day in the sun with no fuel and never complaining. If you never played sports, imagine going to work every day and not eating until lunch. How cranky would you be? And you aren’t running in the sun. That is the reality for our kids. It crushed me for that for the two last months I had been ignorant of this problem and that somehow how our program hadn’t already done something to solve it. I couldn’t sleep. I spent the night crying and calling out to God to protect and strengthen our kids.

I still can’t understand how something hasn’t been done sooner but I’ve vowed to make sure something is done about it. For the time being I’ve resorted to buying bread, peanut butter and Gatorade every morning on the way to practice with my own money, but the long term solution is finding more sponsors for our kids and making sure that that money gets directed to our kids basic nutritional needs long after I’m back in the United States and can’t buy breakfast. I’ll get on my knees and beg if that is what takes because my heart break for these kids.

So sponsor a kid already! Your money isn’t going to bats, balls and gloves. It is going to make sure our kids have the basic nutritional necessities they need to survive and grow much less train to become professional athletes. It is going to go to making sure they have the basic educational opportunities they need to have a choice about what they are going to do with their life.

We have 4 different levels of sponsorship:

Single………………………… $32/month
Double……………………….. $64/month
Triple…………………………. $96/month
Home Run…………………… $128/month

Please sponsor a kid and get everyone you know to sponsor one too. Family, friends, enemies, acquaintances, whoever! Shoot me an email chrissulli@gmail.com and I can tell you all about our different kids and help you pick the one that right is for you. They have truly amazing stories and God is doing an amazing work in their lives. They need our prayers too, but in this case we have the opportunity to be a part of the answer to those prayers.

St. Paddy’s Day Dash

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The second I Love Baseball Ironman event was a success!! We had a great turnout of 32 people wearing I Love Baseball shirts at the St Patrick’s Day Dash on March 15th.The Streets were filled with green St. Patrick’s Day costumes and I Love Baseball shirts. “I would have been so impressed and encouraged with the great turnout if it was a normal day, but it was probably the worst weather to be outside running. It was snowing, windy., raining, and COLD!!! And everyone was still there supporting ILB and having a great time. Thanks to all!” said Brian after the run.

The next I Love Baseball Ironman event that we will be running will be the Beat the Bridge in Seattle on May 17th at 8 AM at Husky Stadium. We’ll send out more info as the race approaches. We hope the weather will be a little nicer this time.

Jingle Bell Dash

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Last Sunday Brian ran his second official Ironman event. However this time he was accompanied and supported by a small following of friends. Together the group ran the 5k Jingle Bell Dash at somewhat of a slowed down pace (9 min miles) compared to Brian’s usual pace of 5:42, rumor has it that this was due to one “out of shape” ILB director. After the run Brian said, “This was a great event to slow down and enjoy all of the surroundings. There was an abundance of fun costumes, holiday spirit, and even a little snow! It was fun having other friends and supporters of I Love Baseball come out to help the cause. I am excited to get more people at events in the future to raise more awareness and get people out enjoying this great sport.”

The next event Brian will be participating in will be the Henry Wienhards St Patrick’s Day Dash on March 15th. Brian says would love to get 20 people participating with him for the race. If you are interested in running with us send us an email (benjamin@ilovebaseball.org) and we’ll get you the details.

Faith Lutheran goes to DR ’08

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We took our first official baseball team to Barahona, DR to work with the I Love Baseball players on July 4th-13th. A total of 15 kids and five adults from Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, NV came down to play games and help improve the baseball field that our kids practice on daily.

During the week the team spent their mornings working with the ILB kids to clean up the field and build a batting cage. The batting cage will be a big help to the kids in the ILB program (batting practice has been very hard to come by because of limited practice space). 

During the afternoons the team from Faith Lutheran played against some of the local high school aged teams in Barahona and with some strong coaching and good hitting they managed to win 3 of their 4 games.