When we shook off the morning fatigue and made it to the field, I felt justified … the children were slowly showing up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. I am not sure much else besides a clinic by Albert Pujols would have pulled them out of bed at that hour.

I have to say, it has been well worth it for everyone. Albert won the Gold Glove yesterday. The same day he coached a clinic to poor children living in the batey, he won one of baseball’s prized awards. However, he didn’t even mention it. In fact, the morning started out not with stretches and not with news crews.

The day began with the children huddled around Albert as he told them the importance of having Christ in their lives – about the things that matter most in life.

“I grew up poor, just like you … no matter how successful you may become in baseball or in life, you can never forget where you came from. Never be ashamed of being poor; never forget that Batey Aleman is your home. You will always have a responsibility to your God, your family and your home.”

His depth of care for the kids is obvious. He is passionate that they leave the mindset of poverty behind them. He spends a lot of time with them and is very kind but assertive when it comes to coaching them on fundamentals. Any observer can see his love for the kids as he corrects them, makes them do it again and refers to them as “muchachos.”

When we left the field, the children returned to the child development center where they waited for lunch. Of course, that’s the time I started to entertain! I had a great discussion with the kids, who range in age from 8-16. I asked them why we started this league. Of course, they’ve been told that many times, but I thought I’d see what their response was.

Many responded with something about God, the Bible, respect, good behavior and one even said, “to teach us to catch.” I summarized it by saying that we established it to teach them to be good Christian leaders in their homes, community and country.

I added one more thing to the discussion before we engaged in some fun group chatter about America. I said that I wanted them to make sure that they respect women – that they do not mistreat, hit or abuse women. My translator said they were shocked by that statement.

That’s all I needed to hear, so I continued talking on that subject. It’s so obvious to see that the culture within this community, as well as many poor areas, tend to have little respect for women.

I think my talk with them worked (at least I hope it did). One 15-year-old young man raised his hand to talk. “I speak for everyone here when I say we love when you come here. We love you being here.”

I gave him a huge hug and went to every table and took pictures with them. We were laughing, goofing off and really bonding. I even showed them pictures of Colorado snow!

Throughout the day, Adrian ran to me, hugged me and smiled at me. He posed for pictures and really became more outgoing. It was a drastic difference from the little boy I have visited twice before. So, when it came time to leave the batey after a long and very tiring day, I was sad but hopeful. He gave me a kiss, we exchanged hugs and I love yous and I left on the bumpy bus. I already miss the community. I miss the people. I want them to thrive.

My mom always told me to leave things better than I found them. Mom, I just did. And so did the kids. They left me way better than the way they found me.

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As I pulled up to Aleman, the boys were all in baseball uniforms, proudly displaying their new found status in the area.

This place, often discarded and forgotten, was forgotten no more. Local news stations filmed the event, a military band played in the parade into town, the girls were dressed in traditional Dominican costume bearing the red, white and blue of their flag and the boys were the pride of the village.

For the first time, I did not have to look for my sponsored child, Adrian. He was looking for me and found me in the town center and jumped into my arms. My, how things have changed in my last few visits. Adrian never left my side – I mean never.

Once the parade made its way to the baseball field, people took their places under tents behind home plate. At home plate was the emcee of the festivities, the mayor of the San Pedro area.

We watched as the Dominican flag was raised over the field and listened to the national anthem. I was surprised to see many very small kids singing word for word. The pastor gave a wonderful prayer and blessed the field.

Then I was asked to go up to the podium and say a few words…which I hadn’t prepared for.

But I made the best of it and really let God do the speaking as I held Adrian tightly. Yes, he went to the podium with me because I didn’t want the dignitaries and the folks from 60 Minutes to forget why we were all assembled.

This is about God, this is about what he is doing through the local church and through sponsors around the world who care deeply for these children and who partner with us in order to release the children from the evils of poverty.

Albert and Adrian

Albert Pujols sat at our table and he was asked to speak also. Albert graciously thanked Compassion and the good people from Rawlings who donated most of the equipment the children used.

And as usual, Albert was not shy about giving glory to God.

The best part of the ceremony was when several children, dressed in traditional Dominican merengue outfits, showed all the visitors why merengue is the national dance!

They were about 7 years old, wearing white outfits with colorful sashes. These kids were dressed and they could move!

In fact, one little boy danced at home plate with maracas and he moved his feet as if this dance was as natural to him as walking. I have never seen anything like it.

The entire ceremony took about an hour and a half and then we were off with the crews to visit the homes and hear the individual stories of so many poor in the batey.

When we arrived at one home, we were shown a child who has encephalitis. His head has swollen and his skin hangs off of his bones. The mother was crying as she pulled out the x-rays of his head to show the large amount of water on his brain. The child will undergo surgery, but it was obvious mom is frightened.

So many people erroneously think that because the poor live such difficult lives, marred by illness, hunger, gangs and all other symptoms of poverty, that they are somehow used to death around them. I am here to tell you, a parent is a parent in all cultures and classes and that loving bond is not easily broken. Heartache may surround them, but just like us, they still don’t expect to be a casualty. It’s nothing they can ever get used to.

At the same time, if Compassion was not in the batey, this mother would not have any access to medical care and could never have shown us x-rays. If the local church partner had not intervened, there would be no scheduled surgery.

Some of the visitors who were with us found the batey lifestyle difficult to handle. Albert assured them, as did the rest of us, that, “This wasn’t bad. We’ve seen worse.”

As I sit here trying to mentally regroup from the chaos of events and shifting of emotional gears, I can tell you that what I witnessed today was God in the middle of this batey, holding their hands, clutching their children and saying, “I am well pleased.”

I walked away with thinking of something I wrote while watching the effects of Hurricane Tomas on the sea across the street from where I am staying:

“Here I am at the hotel, looking out at the expanse of ocean before me. The white tipped waves are crashing in, moving in different directions but in parallel lines. It’s obvious the ocean is tumultuous and the normally turquoise waters are brown – muddied by the churning ocean floor.

When I view something this intimidating and this fierce, I often think about the power of God. I think of Jesus calming the sea. I think of the sea creatures that will one day bow before Him.

The magnitude of the ocean brings me closer to the fear of God – the mystery of God – than anything on this earth. Maybe that’s why I am so at peace with it and comforted by it.

The first line of Genesis talked about the Trinity, the spirit of God hovering over the waters. I sense it when I look out at the endless sea. And the peace comes from knowing that there is not one area in this world in which God is not working and active. Which means that there is not one place in our lives that our loving God does not have total control and is working, sometimes against our wants and desires, to ensure that we grow in Him, draw nearer to Him, rely upon Him and ultimately submit fully to Him.”

The kids in Batey Aleman are my kids. The people in Batey Aleman are my people. Class, language, race, color are indistinguishable. Prejudice on any level does not exist here. We are family. We are the body. We are as our Creator sees us and I know He is pleased.

As I write this, I hold back tears. My heart is open and my focus on His work is intense. It is if I am already at work, with the faces of the kids etched on my heart.

I think of the hope they now have. It gives me that vision of being in a dark place, but for a small crack where light shines through. The darkness of that place is overcome by a sliver of light, while the light is unaffected by the darkness. That is Batey Aleman.

The children there are each flickers of light in what was once a dim, dark place, cloaked in oppressive poverty. Hope is renewed there. Hope is active there. Hope is a noun there. Hope dwells there. Hope is God.

And I found God there – in my own personal journey. Granted, we all know God is everywhere. But in certain places, at times when we are still, we are more open to receive Him.

Certainly, in the turbulence of life, we turn to God. God can often be a last resort for life’s pressing situations and wrenching decisions after coming to the realization that my way didn’t work and my plans, my strategies, my timing was in error.

In Batey Aleman, God revealed himself to me through the eyes of the people there.

Every time I drive up the desolate dirt road lined with potholes and litter, the children and adults run to welcome me with hugs, kisses, smiles and laughter – as if a homecoming.

They don’t welcome me because I have something to offer them or some way in which they can benefit. They welcome me because I showed up; because I did not discount them.

They welcome me because they see that I know their worth, even if they don’t. That’s not anything that I claim on my own behalf. I am human with a human heart. I am flawed.

Knowing the intrinsic value of every person, without regard for appearances, can only come from God. If left to my own devices, and my own understanding, I’m not sure I would be able to see clearly the sincerity of those in the village, or their value.

See, without God’s conviction, we humans are self-serving. Trust me, I can speak for myself on that point alone.

That’s when something called empathy enters. I have heard some label the tenets of empathy as co-dependence, rendering empathy as a negative value. This is not God’s intention.

God calls us to bear the burdens of others. When these people hurt, I hurt. When they cry, I cry. When they bleed, I bleed. When they fall, I carry them. And when they are threatened, I fight.

We are the body and when one area is not functioning properly, or is under attack, the rest of the body is weakened and vulnerable. Therefore, when we bear with others, we are strengthened as a whole, functioning efficiently and effectively – and few things are more positive and reinforcing.

Tomorrow, we’ll visit the batey again. Albert will teach his clinic to the boys and we will continue to make home visits and educate the people from 60 Minutes on the issues of poverty, from a more personal perspective.

See, at Compassion, we know the people we serve on a personal basis. We know their names, their personal circumstances and have walked with them on what can often be a perilous journey.

Then again, we know their Creator. We are all part of His body.

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The anticipation of the official launch of “batey baseball” with Albert Pujols, the president of Rawlings, 60 Minutes, the Pujols Family Foundation and of course Compassion, is evident at Batey Aleman. People have really come together in this community to take ownership of it, to take pride in it, and to give thanks for it.

The batey looks good, quite wet with some pools of water thanks to Hurricane Tomas. For the most part, it’s in better shape than I anticipated after seeing the large ocean swells and heavy rain the past few days.

It was wonderful seeing the friends again and visiting the homes of families whom I had never had the pleasure of talking to. I watched the community continue working on the baseball field, mowing it and clearing the long grass in the far outfield near the fence.

A water filtration system was implemented at the field and the community has access to it. I watched the children bring in the bags of chalk to line the bases and saw flagpoles lying on the ground which are going to be placed outside of the right field foul line. The community even built a marker as you enter the field to commemorate the launch of the league.

They have great plans for Monday – elaborate plans of ceremony, celebration and community. It is exciting to see the labor of love the community has placed into this project and the transformation that has taken place in the hearts and minds of those who live there.

Though the Dominican Republic is known for baseball, the excitement is not really about baseball. The excitement is about feeling a sense of worth, belonging and respect that has long eluded the community.

It is a revitalization that could only come from the power of God working through all of us who are blessed to a part of this endeavor.

I had the chance to stop by the home of Adrian, my sponsored child, who was fast asleep under a mosquito net with his little brother. It was difficult to see that.

The mosquito net is a reminder of the conditions in which he lives and the constant threats that exist. It was almost like when I saw my own son in the intensive care unit. It doesn’t take much to realize how fragile life is and how vulnerable children are to all the things that prey on them.

Unfortunately, the mosquito nets did not protect Adrian from the ants. He was bitten from head to toe.

I returned to church when the heavy rains began and discussed the leaks in the roof with the mayor’s office, which provided an “engineer” to assist the church with the repairs. Obviously, the mayor’s office found a day laborer and paid him to show up.

The roof leaked from nails he put in and removed when he realized that he didn’t put the roof in correctly.

The children who attend the development center are forced to stay on one side of the classroom to avoid the water. Once the rains ceased, I ventured out to the community to visit the homes of three women with stories of how their children have been blessed by the work of Compassion and have more opportunity and hope than the woman had as children.

Two of the women participate in the income generation program that the Pujols Family Foundation helped implement. The women have been selling the purses they’ve sewn and earning an income.

One of the women, Ramona, was a gracious host and made sancocho, a traditional Dominican dish of cassava, plaintains, potatoes and other meat and vegetables cooked over a fire to provide a very smoky taste.

Ramona’s three children attend the child development center and one of them is on the baseball team. Ramona, who wants to have her own sewing business, leads the sewing team and it was obvious that she is proud of this.

The most interesting story came from Jenny, whose two children are enrolled in our program. Her son was born paralyzed and with, as she described it, a foot that was “inside out.”

Compassion helped her son get the surgery to repair his foot and paid the expenses. He was walking throughout the house, happy and displaying the typical energy of a young boy.

When the doctors told her that a bike would be therapeutic for him, Compassion provided her with the bike which he rode in the house while we were visiting, since the inclement weather didn’t allow for the intense cycling a little boy is known to do!

The thing I love about Batey Aleman is its vitality! The hugs are warm, the laughter is contagious and hope is alive and well here. But it wasn’t always like that.

It goes to show that a partnership of like minds and hearts, focused on doing the will of our Creator, can accomplish anything.

UPDATED at 9:50 pm MT: There is great anticipation for what will take place tomorrow. Starting at 9 a.m. ET, a series of ceremony and festivities will begin in Batey Aleman.

After a long parade from the entrance of the batey to the baseball field, children from the our program will perform rhythmic gymnastics while another group of children will sing, in English, for the attendees.

We’ll watch the Dominican flag and the Compassion flag be raised over the field, while the Dominican national anthem is sung by a Dominican artist. And that is only the beginning.

For many of us, we may find it silly for so much pomp and circumstance to be given to the launch of a baseball league. But this is no ordinary league. This is the conduit, the platform, to build leaders and retain children and their families in our sponsorship program so that they may be ultimately released from the ugly bonds of poverty.

This community has never been so cohesive, proud and truly revitalized. We feared the uniforms or equipment would get sold if families became too desperate. That didn’t happen. These families volunteered, participated and became supporters of their children’s future. In fact, the parents spoke hope into their lives.

One parent I spoke to yesterday said that her two kids will now have a better life than she had thanks to Compassion’s work in the batey.

Normally, for those who have not visited the poor in the developing world, one of our great battles is to have the parents see the intrinsic value in their children and to know and speak their worth. At Batey Aleman, that battle is being won and that is no small feat.

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Yesterday, I made it into Batey Aleman, during a complete rainout. Tropical Depression Bonnie paid a visit and the rains haven’t ceased.

Right before going to the batey, I stopped at the Compassion Dominican Republic office and saw the 87 boxes of Rawlings and Nike equipment lining n entire wall three feet deep. I also learned quite a bit about Albert Pujols involvement in all the details of this league, including the discussions he had with Nike and Rawlings about what the team would look like.

I slept a little on the hour and a half ride to the batey after cracking jokes and wearing myself out. When I finally arrived at the muddy batey, I was greeted by a gorgeous but locked up baseball field. It’s fenced in so the animals won’t graze in the outfield.

Though the field looked professionally done, it wasn’t. It was cleaned up by members of the community who so desire to bring joy to the entire community. Can a baseball field do that? No. But people joined together to create something hopeful for the future of children who don’t believe they have a future, can bring more joy than any one of us can understand. It is about community, about fellowship, about faith and about others.

I walked down the street lined with animals, shanties, and children into the child development center where I began discussing how to create the teams and the goals of the league. Imagine my surprise when my sponsored child, Adrian, walked into the door and apprehensively walked to me to give me a hug. He then leaned against my legs for a time until I hoisted him on my lap and he cuddled up into me and fell asleep – oh, after some Smarties and lollipops!

Then, after quite a debate about how the teams should be divided, especially given the immense talent of many of these children, we sat down for an amazing lunch cooked by the center staff. The flavors of the Dominican are outstanding.

After lunch we visited the income generation program implemented by a group called NEST, with the help of the Pujols Family Foundation. We watched women truly engaged in the art of sewing, with a woman who said that life is great because she is learning to sew now!

Next door is a beauty salon where the women are learning beauty techniques that will hopefully bring some income into their families as well. I am praying that this batey is about to undergo a supernatural transformation.

I left the batey wondering when the rain will stop and if it does, when the heat will start. Regardless of the conditions, my team is prepared to give the boys of this batey a reason for hope and a belief that they have a bright future ahead of them.

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Communications is my profession and expertise, but blogging, well, that’s something I am hoping to figure out (partially) over the next week with as little pain as possible. My name is Katherine Redmond (affectionately, Katalina or Kata in Latin American countries) and I am the Communications Director for Compassion U.S.

I’m heading to the Dominican Republic (DR) today with the Pujols Family Foundation. We’re going to Batey Aleman, and we’ll be there through July 29.

A batey (buh-TAY) is a sugar plantation in the Dominican that mostly uses the labor of Haitians. Most bateys are defunct, but in some case the Haitians have been permitted to stay on the land, living in slums with little clean water or any means of support.

Batey Aleman is located in southeastern Dominican Republic in a rural area. This batey as well as others are fairly desolate, dusty and isolated with little to offer those who live in it, even though the image many of us probably have of the Caribbean is lush, green and tropical.

The sun is scorching and few trees exist for shade on the batey. Surrounding the community are brown, dilapidated sugar fields and a dump that families sift through. It’s a few miles from the main highway, and it seems like an eternity to the next town.

One thing this batey has is a baseball field. On a previous visit to the Dominican with the Pujols Family Foundation last March, we scouted the field and figured out some areas of improvement that we hoped the community would help us address so we can get the children involved in a baseball program. Baseball is “the” sport in the country.

The community rallied around the idea, and pitched in to help clean up the baseball field. What an awesome display of love for the kids to see — parents and community participating together to support the children in this way. It sends a beautiful message of the importance of these children to the community. A message many of them don’t normally hear in their own homes.

This league we’re creating, however, will be about more than giving kids a way to get exercise, and it is certainly not being created to find the next Albert Pujols. This batey baseball league will be used to engage the children, to help keep them in our sponsorship program, and to teach these future Dominican men character, values, responsibility and leadership.

I hope you’ll join me and the Pujols Family Foundation on this journey of faith, hope and love as we start batey baseball in Batey Aleman. I’ll be blogging for the duration of the trip as well updating Twitter and Facebook.

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As Albert steps off one of Major League Baseball’s many well-manicured baseball diamonds, he often finds himself stepping onto the dusty streets of the Dominican Republic. But he’s not coming to play baseball, nor is he coming to instill in the children who live the way he once lived a love of the game he is now famous for.

His mission is to provide to those who are less fortunate something we in the United States take for granted – rectangular mattresses to sleep on.

For many of the world’s poor in places such as the Dominican Republic, a mattress isn’t a necessity: It’s a luxury. For Albert, this is a tangible and lasting way to use baseball as a ministry in his homeland. Through his partnership with Compassion, he is able to provide to those less fortunate something that will last for months and years to come.

But it’s not just mattresses that Albert is providing to the people of the Dominican Republic. To find out what else he’s doing, read his story in the summer issue of Compassion Magazine.

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