I Love Baseball Summer 2011 Update!

Posted on July 25, 2011 by admin

Thank you again for your support of the young Dominican 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, Jose Carrion, who left to pursue new opportunities. Filling in for Coach Carrion until we find a permanent head coach is assistant coach Maximo Ortiz. Maximo 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:
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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.
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Ben Holman
I Love Baseball® USA Coordinator
benholman@ilb.org

Winter 2010-11 Update with Video

Posted on February 16, 2011 by admin

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.

Click here for a Video Update!

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

Posted on October 5, 2009 by admin

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.