NW Georgia News

This week (January 2-7), the Covenant Baseball program is away on a mission's trip in the Domincan Republic. The team has partnered with SCORE International Ministries in order to share the gospel through a shared love of sports. You can find the mission and vision of SCORE here. 
 
Each day, Scots Baseball is wanting to provide our community with details and updates so that Covenant Athletics, friends, family, and fans can follow along on the trip.
 
Here are the updates that a few of the players have provided us for days two and three of the week.
 
Joseph Tolbert, a sophomore infielder, shares a short tidbit of what the second day for Covenant Baseball entailed:
 
He writes, "Day two started bright and early, venturing out to a village called Los Montones, where we met a missionary named Greg. Greg helped us gather up the children of the area to play baseball. The kids were extremely excited and the Scots said it was some of the most fun they've ever had playing the sport they love. 
 
After sharing the gospel with them, we ate lunch, and headed to Pasitos de Jesus, an orphanage for girls that is partnered with Score. The girls welcomed us with volleyball, card games, puzzles, coloring, and lots of dancing. Some of our players were even given homemade gifts by the girls to show their gratitude. We capped off an already amazing day by experiencing some professional Dominican baseball at the Estrellas de Oriente's stadium. The environment was electric, and the fans loved the 'gringos.' A long day no doubt, but one full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences."
 
The next day was no less exciting and full of different opportunities for the Scots. Senior first baseman Collins Poole tells about the third day of the trip.
 
"In the morning we had the opportunity to play a game of baseball against a group of very talented Dominican players. They expressed a great love for the game and played with pure joy. After the game we had the opportunity to share the gospel with these players and relate it to the game of baseball. We even were able to talk with some of their players and hear their stories. 
 
In the afternoon we visited a Haitian church. We walked through their community and picked up trash because Haitians do not get a trash service (simply because they are Haitian). We sat in their church and were able to hear from a few community members that were close in age to a lot of us. I was almost brought to tears hearing the persecution that they have experienced in the Dominican Republic. Each day they live in fear about being taken from immigration and being deported back to Haiti. Even through the uncomfortable and difficult lives they live, they continue to love the Lord and reflect that to others. We were blessed to interact with this Haitian community and see how the Lord is working through them."
 
* There has been a long history of discrimination in the Dominican Republic towards Haitians and Dominico-Haitians, including the 1937 genocide where almost 20,000 Haitians were slaughtered by the government. Since then, laws and orders have been put in place to directly negative impact those who are of Haitian descent. Thousands have fled back to Haiti, but many do not have the knowledge of the language nor the skills to live in Haiti as opposed to the Domincan Republic. The skills are not transferrable from country to country. In addition, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and does not have the resources to support those detained and deported during Dominican Republic migration raids. The economies are in no way comparable. Even those who are in the country legally experience severe harassment and treatment.

Tomorrow (Saturday, January 7), the Scots return home to Lookout Mountain. 

Original source can be found here.