Santo Domingo Highlights!

After months of my girls asking to play in the capital, Santo Domingo (SD), we finally got ourselves a tournament in the placio de voliebol... in gringo terms- the volleyball palace... in Jess' terms- MY HEAVEN.  This is the place where they train and recruit players to be the players that represent the DR in any national tournaments.  A couple months ago, I went and saw one of their teams play (girls ages 14-16) and they beat a college team from the states.  They have a facility that has 5 courts (my girls have never played anywhere with more than 2).   It seriously is any volleyball players dream to be in a facility like that.  I am super exhausted because we spent the night there but I want to give you some highlights of our trip!

#1:  Watching my girls line up to give high fives to the other team and noticing that all my girls are about 5'5 average height and the other team's was about 6'.  Then, watching my girls play their hearts out and watching them BEAT the other team... 1 out of 3 games.. BUT STILL!

Dianny, Sarah, Anna and Esther 

#2:  Estephanie said she wanted to give a devotional talk to the SD team before we arrived. So, the oportune time came right around the time we sat down to eat with the other team (keep in mind there was a table of food and drinks set out).  I asked her if she still wanted to do and she jumped up with such enthusiasm that she tripped and took out the entire table of food and then continue to fall HARD and spralled out on the floor.  So not only did she fall, but got red pop and cheetos everywhere.  She then just popped up and ran to go get her bible and give the talk. UNPHASED!  Satan can't stop this team!!!!

#3  Watching my girls continue to play volleyball, buck buck, ninja into the night Saturday night.  You would think after 7 hours of volleyball, they'd get tired or something!

JV Girls in the Van

#4  Watching our 2 new JV teams play in their first tournament ever!    We currently have 9 players on each of the JV teams coached by two new GREAT coaches, Melisa Gomez (great friend and quality female example for these girls) and Adan (Dominican who is an AMAZING volleyball player and brings so much knowledge and skill to coaching JV practices and helping me coach varsity).  Both teams played great and it was so awesome to have 3 of us to coach all the girls. Above you can see a picture of the JV. The totally held their own at the tournament.

Overall... and AMAZING trip!  We plan on continue practicing so we can beat those giants ASAP!

Check out a video taken from one of the games.  Place close attention to number ten, Nana as she continues to pass the ball from the FLOOR! Man, I seriously LOVE these girls.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150297562797797

Fall Update

Hey Friends and Family, I just wanted to give you a overall update of what has become of the girls sports site in the past year or so.  Also, enjoy the pics of some of the girls on the varsity team! 

Shakira: Wears Uniform #7

Home Barrio:  Corocito (lives up in the mts 15 min away from practice)

Statistics:  Dominates the position of setter for the varsity team. Has a mean top spin serve. Still a bit timid, working on being more vocal and running the court.  

“My personal goal is to better my relationship with my dad.   He does not want to continue being my dad like before.  I need to continue fighting for my dad and giving him what he deserves.”  This was said by a 15 year old Mabelis in response to the question, “What is a personal goal for your life?  Most 15 year olds do not take it upon themselves to “fight” for their dads.  However, girls here in the Dominican Republic are forced to fight for all kinds of things that may not seem natural. 

Mabelis:  Wears Uniform #1

Home Barrio: Cristo Rey (shares a two bedroom home with mom, brother, grandpa and mom)

Statistics:  Mabelis has a strong attack from the outside as well as the middle.  She leads the team not only on the court, but is a dominating force in motivating her teammates to live for Christ.  

Through the avenue of volleyball, we are able to help girls see beyond their hard home lives and seemingely hopeless situations and start setting goals for their future.  We currently are working with 5 volleyball teams throughout the city of Jarabacoa.  Within that larger circle of 80 girls practicing and playing games weekly, I have worked hard to invest in a smaller circle of 12 girls that belong to the varsity team.  This is the group of girls that, God willing, will be traveling to the United States in August of 2012.  In addition to a more intense game and practice schedule, these girls have been sponsored to attend a private school and a rigorous English program.  In addition to their education, discipleship is a key component in transforming these girls into well-equippedwomen who can rise to be world changers for Christ.  

Keysi:  Wears Uniform 6

Home Barrio: Pinar Quemado (20 min from court yet has never ONCE asked for a ride) 

Statistics: Keysi has the passion that drives this team to excellence.  Keysi plays right side but its her dedication and work ethic that make her unstoppable.  Keysi became a Christian last spring and continues to grow and push her teammates in the same direction. 

I feel so blessed to have the support of my church family of Blythefield, friends and family.   Your prayers and support have been huge.   I hope that next August, you will be able to meet this group of girls when they come. The will be attending volleyball camps, participating in homestays, and going on a youth trip.  These girls have been such a blessing in my life, and you are a big part of making that possible. Thank you so much for investing in me and the lives of these girls."

Prayer Requests

1.     Girls can grasp hope for their lives through Christ who empowers them.   
2.      Fundraising and logistics of trip (visas) can go smoothly and quickly.

Leslie: Wears #5

Home Barrio: Vanessia 

Statistics:  Leslie is one of our biggest weapons in the front row.  She plays middle and has a wicked slide approach around the back. Leslie's high level of play continues to motivate her teammates to work hard... and BLOCK to try to slow her attack down! 

Meet Esther and Estephanie

So, I would like to introduce you to some of my players. Below you will meet Estephanie and Esther (left to right).  Both are key players of our teams.  Esther is one of the captains on the varsity team.  She has done a great job of leading the team in both volleyball and off the court.  She lives with her mom and Brother.  Esther has such a solid character and really shines wherever she is.

Estephanie also has such an incredible heart.  She is one of the hardest workers and always puts the other girls over herself. Estephanie dreams of being a flight attendant and getting to meet people of different cultures. 

Overall,  two wonderful girls.  I put a link that connects to my facebook video. For some reason it wouldn't let me load it here.  Thank you to those who have helped pay for the girls' school and english classes.  They are paying off! Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=553328523665

God's Orchestra

The past two weeks have been full of sweat, tears, volleyball and meeting many world changing people.   I have been blown away by God's powerful hand in orchestrating the events of the past two weeks.

Act #1:  Big Sisters from San Diego College

One of the biggest things that my girls lack in their lives are quality role models.  They look and their friends, big sisters and moms and see an poor example of how to live their lives.  Most of their "role models"  have gotten sexually active young and do not encourage the girls in any other alternative.  Most of my girls are actually the direct the result of this infidelity.  Thus, my role becomes even more crucial to counteract years of culture teaching them to do the same is okay... and almost expected.  

About 2 weeks ago, God blessed these girls with 12 more big sisters by sending the San Diego College volleyball team.  The team ran a camp for the varsity girls.  Not only that, they each formed a "buddy" during their week and took it upon themselves to make sure their girls mastered each skill well.  Not only that, the team was very intentional in being vulnerable and sharing their testimonies with the girls.  The team was such a blessing not only to my girls, but also to me. At the end of the trip, each girl wrote a note to their buddy.  Keysi wrote something that I feel represents well the impact of the San Diego team, "Thank for helping me so much even though I didn't always do things well.  Thank you for having patience and leadership. Thank you for making me laugh so much and for teaching me funny words. I admire you."  Thank you San Diego College.

Act #2: Meeting Coaches from the Volleyball Palace of Santo Domingo

There is a ministry called SCORE which is a sports ministry located in the capital of Santo Domingo which is about 2.5 hours from where I live.  In the spring of last year, I contacted them requesting the opportunity to visit and learn more of how they do sports ministry in the DR.   I was able to help them when Bethel's basketball team came in the spring.   About a week ago, they contacted me asking if I could help with a volleyball team that was coming from Asbury college.  I went down not expecting the big things God had planned.  Funny how that works.  So the team was playing at this place called the Palacio de Volleyball (Volleyball Palace).  This is where the National Dominican volleyball teams train. Yeah, its a big deal.  In this facility they train girls starting at age 6 to become the elite players of the country.  The place had multiple courts going with different age groups practicing.  At one point, I saw an 6 foot eleven year old POUND a ball on a visiting college team.  Insane.  Pretty much what heaven is going to be like I think. :)  Okay, so the first day I was able to set up a game with the main coach so that I can bring our JV and varsity teams down in September to play them.  Awesome.  But here comes the best part.  As I was about to leave, I decided to go and watch one of the younger teams practice.  I was interested to see what this countries elite coaches do to create players like they have here.  So as I was watching, one of the other coaches came to me and asked who I was and what I do.  After I explained, he said, "Well, why don't you coach my team then today."  WHHHHHAT!???  I asked him what he wanted me to do and he said, "Whatever you want."  So after recovering from shock, I preceded to give a practice to this team for over an hour! About 30 minutes into the practice, 3 of the coaches had come over and were watching me coach this team.  Is this really happening?  So after finishing, the coach came up and asked, "So can you come tomorrow?"  After laughing, I realized he was serious.   He told me that anytime I am in the capital and want to come help coach, that I am more than welcome.  So cool!   It was so neat to make that connection and I wonder in what capacity God will use this connection to minister to the volleyball elite of this country.  Who knows.  All I know is that I was so pumped after that practice and that my volleyball team has a lot of work to do before September 24 when we go to play them! Oh and that God is an incredible orchestrator!

Coming and Going

Well, I am currently in the lounge chair in my living room watching the Tigers play. Life is good.  I am home for two short weeks. I was able to come home to see two of my best friends, Lauren Kovac and Matt Glynn get married.  It's such an amazing thing to see two God loving people get married.  Another bonus of coming home is that I get to see my amazing bro who is currently serving in the Peace Corp in Africa.  We will all head out next week to see our cousin, Caleb, get married in Wyoming. It's so wonderful to be with the whole fam.

US trip update... last week all the girls went to go get their passports.  It is seriously so exciting! The girls are so pumped as the passports were just another sign that the trip is becoming less of a dream and more of a reality.  We have raised about $3,000 of the $20,000 that we need for the trip.  Please be in prayer about this because in order to continue the planning for this trip, we need at least half of the funds by December.  As of right now, the set iterary is this.  One week of volleyball camp at Northwestern College in Iowa, one week of visiting Chicago, playing teams in Indiana and also teams in Michigan and then Hume Lake Camp in California has also offered to cover all the girls to come out to camp.  Hume Lake is one of the largest christian camps and will be such a fun opportunities for the girls.  Also, it will be neat for the girls to participate in the Northwestern camp.  The team came on a trip in the spring of 2010.  Ever since then, they have helped out in so many ways.  Their coach has sent me drills, they have provided funding to send two players to a good school, they even are pen-pals with my English class! It will be so fun for the girls to reconnect with that team.  So really, since both camps are being covered, most of our funding will go toward food and transportation.

Cool Story:  Keysi and Mabelis have been serving as my "assistants" this summer at the sports site.  Keysi became a Christian a couple months ago and has shown HUGE growth.  She has taken it upon herself to go to church on her own and really take inititive in her growth.  The other day, she told me she wanted to give the devotional at the end of a practice.  Keep in mind, this was one of the first times she had met this team.  Well after practice, she opened up her notebook and had prepared a 3 page testimony to share with the team.  I knew her story, but she had never shared it with a larger group of people.  So she explained to this group of girls her history of being physically abused by her dad and her struggle to love him. However, when she accepted Christ, she felt like God began to heal her from the bitterness.  She encouraged the other girls as well to rid themselves of any hatred that they may have toward their dads and that Christ was the only one powerful enough to do that.  Sometime, I'll have her tell the story.  She tells it much better than I do.  But anyway, God is moving and its so fun to see these girls take faith as their own and start to share it with others. 

Pirates in the Dominican

Well, in order for me to access my old blog, I need to be able to access my old bethel account which I no longer have access to, so I will now be posting new blogs here. If you wish to check any old blogs...  http://jessg8s.blogspot.com

Well, its Friday! My favorite part of this past weekend was going to a birthday party with my best friends here.  We all dressed up as pirates.  On our way home, we drove through the park (the cool place to be on a Sunday night) and blasted “Friday” by Glee.  We are so cool.  The grand finale was all putting our arms out the window and as Maggie chanted UP! DOWN! UP! DOWN! we actually lifted the car off the ground and flew home.  Great times in the DR.  Below is a pic of my roomates (minus one).  I love them so much. 

Besides defying gravity, there is some other news.  Our team is now officially in the process of getting ready to go to the states in the summer of 2012.  But before continuing, let me tell you why we are doing this trip. 

Unfortunate Truth About Most Dominican Girls:

Most girls here around 16, drop out of school and move in with their boyfriend.  Within a couple years, they begin to have kids of their own.  They are willing to abandon their education, family, everything because they think that’s all life has for them. That’s what their mom did. 

Our Goal: Open their eyes to other options

I have selected 10 girls who show the most potential to succeed in school and volleyball if given the right opportunities. This team will take a one-month trip to the states during the summer of 2012.   The team will have the opportunity to play against other high school teams as well as visit numerous college campuses and possibly get recruited.  In order to “prepare”  for the trip the girls will take a year of intense English classes,  train harder and play against teams around the country. 

Here is a pic of the spring varsity team. We have added two new players.  Pics soon to come! 

For each athlete, we need to raise about two thousand dollars.  If you are interested in sponsoring one of these girls monthly or giving a one time donation (or just want more info), please send me an email at jessgatesdr@gmail.com and I will send you the brochure for the trip.  Please join us in praying for this trip. It is a big task, but we can change the lives of these girls forever when we make it happen!