Breaking down cultural barriers takes time, patience, and the heart of Jesus. For two boys from an island in the Caribbean and one family from the South, the gap was bridged by baseball.
This summer, Abel and Eric left their home in the Dominican Republic to spend five weeks with Tim Dean and his family in Georgia. They played baseball with the FCA Fury, a sport-specific ministry baseball team, and observed firsthand the fingerprints of God.
Abel, Eric and the Dean family at Turner Field.
The couple and their children, Zach, John and Rebecca, opened their home to the boys and toted them around to ball games and family festivities, immersing them in life in the U.S.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Abel. “The Deans took care of us and we were never in need of anything. They are like my family now.”
The idea sprung from previous interactions with the country through baseball trips with SCORE, International. An FCA Baseball team went to the Dominican and played ball games by morning and ministered in the afternoon. Abel and Eric were on the team they played against. Dean had cultivated a relationship with FCA Dominican Director Mike Shaheen, and in January, when the team decided to bring two ballplayers over for the summer, Shaheen helped identify the boys and bring them to the States.
Dean’s 17-year-old son Zach also played on the Fury and served as translator for the majority of people’s interactions with the two boys.
Zach recalls a time of deep discussion over relationship and teamwork: “Our team verse was 1 Corinthians 12, with the one body but many members. I got Abel to read that in the Spanish Bible he had, and I knew body parts in Spanish, so we were able to talk about it a little bit.”
The boys’ stay became a community investment long before they ever boarded a plane. People prayed for them since January and rallied around the boys as they toured the state for tournaments. Dean admitted they were like celebrities and had fans at practically every stadium, as many had visited the Dominican with FCA on previous trips.
“They were like rock stars wherever we went. People wanted to talk to them; it was wild how many people had been on mission trips to the Dominican with FCA, and when they found out they were in the country, travelled to see them.”
One day specifically, Dean detailed the generosity of the baseball community. During a tournament at Tennessee Wesleyan College, Eric’s shoes fell apart. After the game, the university’s coach went into the locker room and brought him out a new pair of shoes.
“It was a great vacation to play baseball in the USA and to share life with our new friends there,” said Eric.
Zach, Abel, Eric and John at the airport.
“It was a great opportunity and we also learned a lot about God.”
Abel added, “For me, God was who organized all of this from the beginning to the end.”
The joy and excitement exuding from the boys’ presence both captivated and inspired friends, teammates and fans.
“There were a lot of people that were touched by what they came from and the attitudes they had,” Zach said. “It was like they had the blessing of God on them, using them to teach everyone lessons.”
And the boys didn’t leave unaffected, either. Come departure time, the airport was a place full of tears and bittersweet hearts. Abel and Eric took their experiences back to the Dominican with a fresh sense of God’s attention to the details of their lives.
“I was able to learn that for God, nothing is impossible,” Abel noted. “He guides us in all of our lives and He loves us and helps us for good each day. I see the work of His hands in my life. I can say that God always completes what He starts in our life. God is not finished with me. In fact, He has just started His work in me.”
Barriers broke when Dean conveyed a universal line of conversation.
“We didn’t speak much Spanish, and they didn’t speak much English, so you truly had to show them the love of Christ. You couldn’t just tell them ‘Jesus loves you.’ You had to show them.”
That’s a truth understood in any language.
Originally published November 2014