Let's extend a warm welcome to Janelle, our guest blogger who is graciously offering another reflection from her trip to the Dominican Republic last year. Janelle is a morning DJ with The House FM Christian radio station in northern Oklahoma, which helped host a DR trip last year. (In case you haven’t noticed, Mission of Mercy has some fantastic partners in Christian radio!)

Before we hear from Janelle, one note: our Circle of Caring trip to Kenya is open to any woman with a heart to serve. And you don’t have to be a member/listener of a certain station to attend our upcoming DR trip, which will visit the very project Janelle describes below.

Last summer, 32 team members traveled with Mission of Mercy to the Dominican Republic with a common goal in mind: we brought servant-filled ambitions in the forms of hearts, hands, and feet ready to make a difference at the Mission Valiente Joshua 1:9 Child Development Center.

When we first arrived, the children enrolled at the Mission of Mercy facility were gathered in the open air pavilion finishing up the day’s lesson and activities. It was so neat to hear the kids singing songs in their own language. I stood in amazement – I expected mayhem, but it had no place there. The teachers held the attention, despite the eye-catching busloads of Americans filtering in. Patiently the children waited …knowing that soon they would get to play.

We knew our team would work on a baseball field in addition to some light construction work, but first we could go inside and look around the project, talk with the workers, or (in my opinion the best idea ever) play with the kids.

I didn’t stop to ask questions. Two steps onto the playground and it felt like we were joined by a 100 kids out of nowhere! It still makes me smile as I remember how a few steps were that magnetic – that a simple bat and ball could draw the children out of the small tin shacks, prying them out of their momma’s arms. All of a sudden there was a team of kids at home plate ready to swing. There were parents watching through the chain link fence. Fists slapped gloves on first base and the unpadded catcher crouched, ready for action. The first pitch was tossed, and a game was born.

My mission trip teammates and I learned two things: it doesn’t take much to build a team, and it doesn’t take much to start a game. There were always plenty of players on stand-by with no absence of enthusiasm. But it was more than an entertaining pick-up baseball game – it was companionship, friendship, and community at its finest. The kids didn’t need team captains. There was no judging or picking someone last. They just played.

The Field of Dreams was rose out of the dust through generous donations, the efforts of Mission of Mercy, and the dreams of a preacher. The idea was nurtured through the prayers of many. As God brought in the necessary support, the Field of Dreams became a much-needed nucleus for this tiny rural community.
 
Although the field is operated and maintained by the Mission Valiente Joshua 1:9 Child Development Center, it is more than just a baseball field to those who live in the community – it is an extension of the project's mission. It sends a message of caring, of trust, of love, and of friendship. The field that volunteers built is now building relationships. It places value on friendships and binds hearts together.

The Field of Dreams is a place to belong, an oasis for families from the harsh reality of life. Children can laugh and simply be children again. Dreams are born there, dreams are built. When you hear the crack of the bat or the cheer of the child, hope rises in the Field of Dreams. One smile on a child’s face says it all: God can make beautiful things out of the dust.