20 Jan Nicaragua Baseball Trip 2012

The team.

Cody Young giving his testimony to kids at a clinic.

Team members with some of the kids at a clinic.

Steve Dennie, Communications Director

Jeff Dice: “I’ve been to Nicaragua 29 times, and have probably been on 45 mission trips in my life. But it’ll be hard to top this one.”

Jeff is a Global Ministries “nontraditional” staffmember serving part of the year in Nicaragua. He visited Huntington, Ind., soon after returning from Nicaragua as part of team which, on their Facebook page, described themselves as, “We are a group of men heading to Nicaragua to play baseball and share Jesus with kids.” They did both quite well.

The team had 20 members:

• Jeff and his son Camden.
• A friend of Jeff’s who is a coach in Clare, Mich., and his son.
• 10 baseball players from Huntington University.
• 3 soccer players from Huntington University who wanted a mission experience during January Term and, according to Jeff, “actually played pretty good baseball.”
• 2 former baseball players from Anderson University (Anderson, Ind.). One of them, Cory Young, played minor league baseball (shortstop and outfield) for the Baltimore Orioles.
• Josh Kesler, pastor of The Well in Huntington, Ind. He went along as the team pastor.

“We had a mixed bag of people, but the chemistry was unbelievable,” Jeff said. “From the first day, I’m happy to say, we never had any kind of group issue. The maturity of these guys was amazing.”

L-r: “Goliath,” Camden Dice, and Cody Young. Cody Young is 6’3.”

The team spent a week in Masaya, of city of 130,000 (the country’s third largest) which is the center of our work in Nicaragua. Nicaragua has a four-team winter league, which they would call their professional league. It includes players from many countries. Then in February, 16 teams—all Nicaraguans—begin playing what they call their First Division.

“We played the team from Masaya that plays in the First Division,” Jeff explained. “The level of player was at or slightly above that of a US college player. We matched up because we had Derrick McKinney and Mitch Bowers pitching. They are elite college-level players, both from Huntington University. That leveled it out for us.”

They played their first game—actually, a double-header–on Saturday, January 7. They lost the first game 3-0, but won the second 6-2. The team’s Facebook page recorded it this way: “McKinney scared the crap out of several local hitters by buzzing them inside and high. He pitched really well except to a hitter we now call Goliath. He is 6’7″ and hit a McKinney 3-2 offering that is on it’s way to Costa Rica.”

Jeff recalls, “After the inning, Derrick walked over to the Nicaraguan bench to shake Goliath’s hand. We had this baseball connection that overrode any barriers present, because we all loved baseball.”

The Americans shattered four bats during those first two games. They went to the local bat maker and bought ten more bats. Then they stopped at the local Papa Johns, where they ordered 8 large pizzas and watched the Cincinnati Bengals lose to the Houston Texans.

On Monday, January 9, they began a series of baseball clinics which ran every day from 9 am to 12:30 pm, a different age group each day. After the clinic they would get some lunch, and then have a few hours before the evening game.

The clinics were conducted in partnership with the Masaya mayor’s office, which contacted local baseball coaches. Those coaches then brought their teams to the clinics—an average of 40-50 players each day.

(more…)

13 Jan JumpStart — Getting to the Field Fast and Cheap

Our friend Kim (last name withheld for security reasons) serves in Asia as a member of the Global Ministries Jump Start program, a new program which enables people to get overseas quickly and inexpensively. She shares that the past semester of teaching at a university went very well and that she and her roommate are traveling with three students, seeing sights, and enjoying the New Year’s celebrations.

Kim sent along this shot from their commute. And you thought your drive to work was challenging!

Kim is currently the only participant in JumpStart. However, an older couple will go to Jamaica in the fall of 2012 as part of JumpStart.

With JumpStart, you don’t need to raise the “big bucks” typically required of career missionaries–salary support, benefits, living expenses, etc., over a multi-year period. JumpStart keeps costs low, so that you get to the field sooner. Participants benefit from an extended ministry experience in an overseas setting to see if this is what they’d really like to do with their life, without being required to make a long-term commitment.

JumpStart may be a great opportunity for someone in your church who may be considering a call to missions. Global Ministries welcomes other applicants for JumpStart. You can learn more about JumpStart on the Global Ministries site.

12 Jan Week 1 for the Student Team in Sierra Leone

A team of students eight from Taylor University (Upland, Ind.), along with two professors, is currently in Sierra Leone. They left January 4. They are training Sierra Leoneans to identify opportunities to start up small businesses and to use sound business practices. The hope is that they can become more economically self-sufficient and better able to minister to others.

Jeff Sherlock (right), a former UB missionary in Macau and a current member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team, is one of the professors leading the trip. He reported on January 12:

“We are almost finished with week one of training in the capital city of Freetown. Today we talked about marketing and financial recordkeeping. Most of the participants seem to be getting it, and quite a few have expressed appreciation for what they are learning. I shared my dream with them today that in 3 years, these participants will have created successful kingdom businesses and will be teaching these things to others. It is a big dream–but we serve a big God.

“We have a group of professors from Saudi Arabia staying in our hotel; they are here to teach about Islam. This morning, Mick [Bates, the other professor] and I talked with one of them (who studied years ago at Indiana University), and they gave our students some extra jam for our morning rolls. Please pray that we can share the love of Isa (Jesus) with them.

“After we wrap up the training tomorrow (January 13) at lunch, we will travel three hours to the second largest city in Sierra Leone, Bo. We will spend the weekend there and do the training there next week. Compared to the hustle-bustle developing-world big-city feel of Freetown, Bo is much less crowded. We are all looking forward to a change of scenery. Yesterday, though, we went to a beautiful beach; a couple of students said it was the “coolest beach” they had ever seen.

“For all the parents (and friends) of our students–what a great group we have. Despite heat, discomfort, uncertainty, tiredness and–for a few–sickness, they have been great. I can’t remember a word of complaint, even though my frequent answer to questions is, “I don’t know; let’s see what happens.” It is a privilege to work with these students.”