Our Mission
Mission Statement
Our mission is to connect people and organizations through the game of baseball in order to provide young Dominican men an education and a greater vision for themselves, their communities, and their relationship with Jesus Christ. We desire to develop young men of character through mentorship and using relationally-based baseball programs. By partnering with other developmental organizations, we seek to work toward the personal growth of individuals, ultimately helping the greater good of communities throughout the world.
Objectives
- Connect people, organizations, and resources together, working with existing educational, developmental, and baseball programs, to improve education for young men in the Dominican Republic.
- Create an environment where kids can receive the baseball instruction they need to pursue their dream of playing professionally along with realizing the importance of, and receiving, the education and leadership skills that will aid them in any career they choose.
- Build relationships with young men who believe that baseball is the only way out of poverty.
- Open up doors and avenues for boys and young men, from both the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, to develop into leaders and role models, having a vision for their own life, their families, and their communities.
- Give people the opportunity to serve missionally using their passion for baseball, Latin America, and youth.
- Find Dominican leaders who love Jesus, youth, and baseball, and give them the opportunity to make a living doing so.
- Demonstrate, through our actions, what it is like to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and facilitate opportunities to have Him be a part of the players' lives. Our priority is to let people know who Jesus is and why He wants to be in a relationship with us.
Strategies
- Continue to build relationships with existing community development programs working in the Dominican Republic.
- Minister in the Barahona region in order to provide young baseball players with solutions that allow them to stay involved in their community and receive an education while continuing to practice baseball.
- Send North American baseball service teams to Barahona, Dominican Republic. The teams' objectives are to play games, teach clinics, do construction projects, encourage players to pursue education, and provide Bible study after baseball games.
- Redistribute recycled North American baseball gear to communities in the Dominican Republic, providing adequate equipment for youth who want to play baseball.
- Build a fully functional baseball training facility in Baharona, staffed by Dominican coaches, giving that region's young men the means to be professionally trained in baseball while completing their education.
- Run campaigns to raise money for and awareness of ILB and other organizations that have a similar vision.
- Recruit volunteers and staff to build ILB both in the US and in the Dominican Republic.
- Raise awareness concerning the problems that many young Dominican men face.