24 Nov Spreading love through hard work and baseball!
I sit here today with a heart overflowing for our mission team from ICON Sports Management who left Honduras yesterday. . . I am not even sure where to begin telling the story of this trip. . . An amazing group of professional baseball players and their agent who chose to come to Honduras the week before Thanksgiving to serve and “give back”. (One spouse and one fiancé came too!) And the personalities of this team made for a week Honduras and H2H will never forget. .
Their zest for life. . Positive words. . Full hearts. . And big strong work ethic will be forever shared in the community of Suyapa. . We spent our work days there clearing the land and pouring the footings for the Will Smith Learning Center. (A center which will serve 100+ kids with homework. . Life skills. . Spiritual guidance. . Career planning, etc) The money for this project was donated by a foundation that was created to allow the life of 8 year old Will Smith ,who was killed in a car wreck, to live on.
How perfect and fitting is it that these athletes were the ones to begin the building process? Happenstance? Coincidence? No way. . God knew in June when we first were introduced to this site who would chop down the 3 huge trees, move a boulder from the center, clear lots of debris that had been there forever, dig the footings, pour the concrete. . . He knew the hands of these professional athletes (most are pitchers) would be the chosen ones to begin this project.
A group of guys who are standing firm to prove that Professional athletes are not all thugs. . They are not all unappreciative . . In a country where the media loves the negative stories. .
We have the positive story:
These guys are amazing role models. . They work hard on the talents God gave them. . They give back in their communities and now in Honduras. They have an agent group (ICON Sports Management) who teaches moral values and honor to the athletes they represent. We are so proud to be partnered with this company who is trying to make sure we have athletes to cheer for . . . who are respected and loved for their talents . . . on and off the baseball fields.
I wish I could put into words how precious it was to see them teaching their sport to the children in the barrio Suyapa, village of Olivos and at Copprome Orphanage. . .the delight on the faces of the kids. . the smiles on the athletes faces as the kids made contact with the ball, the cheering and jumping up and down with hands in the air . . as the kids rounded the bases and ran home. . Baseball. . . A stick and a ball (plastic in this case). . . So much joy, laughter and love… .
What a sweet trip right before Thanksgiving. . Athletes from the US. . Giving back to a country in need. . All Gods children. . No country is more important to God than another. .
It is so refreshing to see these young men give back. . . With open arms and big hearts. . . . Your parents raised you right. . . Your agent group gives you strong guidance. . . Thank You for allowing us to enjoy a small part of who you are!!!!!!
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