Photo courtesy of Tim Smith.
Young baseball players from Birmingham and the Dominican Republic meet on the ballfield.
Reel Life International, a local faith-based missions organization, facilitated a father-son trip to the Dominican Republic over spring break for young baseball players. A group of seven dads and 10 sons collected gear, packed their bags and headed out for a week of extreme “travel ball.” Area members of the team included Vestavia resident and Reel Life board member Tim Smith, Kevin Witherington of Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que and State Farm Agent/Reel Life founder Michael O’Neal.
The Vestavia Park System played a role in providing baseball equipment for the several Dominican communities visited by the team. Brooks Souders, vice president of Vestavia Hills Youth Baseball, gathered a load of helmets, catcher’s gear, baseballs and jerseys for the team to transport. Play It Again Sports donated 25 pairs of cleats, and many area families also contributed extra gear.
Baseball was a large part of the trip, but the team also focused on community service. Each morning was spent visiting impoverished villages to minister by distributing food and water purification systems. In order to cover more ground, the group divided up into four smaller teams, each accompanied by a translator. All together, they were able to provide 18 families with a water purification system and food to 30 others. Each group shared the Christian faith as they went door to door.
Each afternoon, the group traveled to play a baseball game against a young Dominican team, and kids on both sides were full of fun and enthusiasm. In the first inning of the first game, Conner Witherington made his presence known by hitting one out of the park for a grand slam. Throughout the week, the boys all seemed to enjoy playing each other, and more importantly, displayed great sportsmanship and character.
At the conclusion of each game, one of the dads would come forward and share their testimony for all who had gathered. Following the final game of the week, two of the boys stepped up to address to the crowd. Wheeler Smith of Vestavia and Clayton Noblitt of Fairhope each got up before the teams, coaches and onlookers to share their faith.
Brooks and Elizabeth Sounders are already putting together a team of Vestavia families to return to the Dominican Republic next year. For more information about that trip, or any others offered by Vestavia-based Reel Life International, please visit Reel-Life.org or email info@Reel-Life.org.
– Submitted by Tim Smith.
