Testimonials

World Baseball Outreach has been one of the most life changing experiences I have ever been a part of.  It has been a privilege to have been and continue to be a part of this great organization.  I met Jerry Jacobson through my father, Pat McConn, who had met Jerry at a men’s Bible study about 5 or 6 years ago.  I, then was a senior in high school and about to go on to Florida State University to play college softball and miss out on the opportunity to be involved with WBO.  But what I didn’t know was that my time would come later in life and teach me many important aspects about giving back to our communities and others in need. I was blessed to play my four years and receive my degree from FSU before moving back to Tulsa to then work towards receiving my master’s degree in Accounting and Financial Analysis.  I thought I would get an office job and be on with my career like everyone else, but God had different plans for me.  He seriously blessed me even more by putting Jerry Jacobson and WBO in my life to continue my passion for softball and to reveal to me the passion I had in my heart to work with children in need.  I instantly fell in love with WBO and everything this organization stands for. In the fall of 2011 I became the Indoor Facility Manager and head of softball operations at WBO.  This allowed me to go to school to work on my master’s degree, but most of all still be a part of the game of softball, help our local community and learn things about myself I never could have learned anywhere else.  I became very involved with the RBI Baseball league and helped coach a team of all girls to play baseball in the spring.  I enjoyed it so much, but wanted to try and do more for the girls that were coming to play baseball.  I knew if they wanted to continue in high school or even play in college, which they have the potential to do, I had to get them playing softball.  That next fall I started an RBI Softball program for the girls and we have been going strong ever since.  My dad, Butch Virdell and other local high school girls have really become a part of the program as volunteer coaches, and I could not have done it without them.  My dream is to have a league just like our baseball league, and get some of these girls, who may have never thought they had a chance in college, to the next level and receive a college education. I also had the opportunity to go on a WBO Mission trip to the Dominican Republic, while officially working at WBO.  Words can’t explain the experiences that I had on that trip and I am planning on going back in the future.  It was truly a magical time and something I recommend to all high school athletes if they ever have the opportunity to be a part of one. So while I may not be the facility director  anymore at WBO, I will always be a part of it through being a softball instructor and a volunteer, and it will always and forever  have a special place in my heart.  I am so  thankful I was given and blessed with this opportunity to become a part of the World  Baseball Outreach family!  

In May, 2009, while I was visiting in Santa Emilia, Nicaragua, one of  the young people stood up during a meeting with the community leaders  and asked quietly but strongly… “Could you bring some baseball  equipment?” “What?”  I replied, not sure that I had heard him right.   We had been talking about several major community projects that our  organization, JustHope, and their community were engaged in together – a  clean water project, a clinic project, a housing project – projects  that affected the lives of everyone in this critically poor  community.    This unexpected request for baseball equipment seemed  oddly out of place.

“Could you bring us some baseball equipment?” the young man continued.   “We have two teams here in Santa Emilia and only a few pieces of old  equipment – one ball and one bat and three old gloves.”“Yes, but they  play as good as the Yankees!” a community member said smiling broadly.   And suddenly the room was alive with conversation and laughter.   Just  the mention of the baseball teams had raised their spirits.

What I learned was that one of the teams is youth – young people who in  the islolated cloud-forest community of coffee pickers, have little to  entertain themselves.   And the other team is adults – men and women;  and the favorite activity of the entire community is the baseball games –  even with one ball, one bat and three gloves.   Baseball gives the  young people a constructive activity and helps avoid delinquency;   baseball gives the adults a sense of community and something to engage  in that doesn’t require money and resources they don’t have.   Baseball  gives the whole community a sense of pride. When I returned to Tulsa, I  immediately called World Baseball Outreach and asked Jerry for enough  equipment to outfit one of the teams.   He generously gave me two full  bags of equipment and another bag full of uniforms – enough to outfit  BOTH teams in Santa Emilia!

I delivered the equipment in July.  The entire community turned out to  receive the equipment.  The young men on the team couldn’t wait to try  on the uniforms and test out the equipment.  Even though it was dark,  they put it all on and gave it a whirl.  “We’ll be the champions for  sure!” they kept saying!” so excited they could hardly contain  themselves.   I’m told that one young man slept in his uniform that  night.   “We never expected this,”  the leaders kept repeating…    “please tell your donors thank  you form the bottom of our hearts!”

So, World Baseball Outreach – THANK YOU!  Thank you for the equipment,  thank you for the uniforms, thank you for the joy you’ve given to the  people of Santa Emilia, Nicaragua!

I wanted to e-mail you for a few reasons. First, thank you so much for the baseball equipment that your brought along to the Dominican for our campers. They loved having that equipment for practice at activities and for games. Although the kids may not have realized how truly fortunate they were to have such great equipment, I certainly was aware of the monetary value of the equipment you donated. Our camp could not dream of purchasing that much baseball equipment–the funds simply are not available. Even more than the monetary worth of the equipment, be sure that the equipment has eternal value as well. During the two terms of camp, many campers accepted Christ into their lives for the first time. In addition, we witnessed significant growth in the lives of almost every child. The second reason I wanted to contact you was to create an avenue for future communication. I would love to be of service to World Baseball Outreach in any way possible. I will be transparent and say that WBO is a very exciting ministry to me because it combines my love of ministry with my love of baseball. One of the lessons I learned while at camp was that many of the children present did not understand the concept of rules, consequences, and order both in sports and every other facet of their lives. Teaching the game of baseball with all of its intricacies can provide children worldwide with important life lessons. For example, sacrifice is integral to baseball. Everything from moving a runner up to hitting a sacrifice fly helps to demonstrate the importance of putting others before yourself for the greater good of the team. This is a lesson that many of my campers struggled to comprehend, but I have faith that they will learn it eventually. Stay strong in your ministry and keep in touch. Remember the essential words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13- “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” As you continue to put God first in your life and in WBO, his love with show through and lead to changed lives for Christ.

Jerry Jacobson and the World Baseball Outreach program have been a tremendous and exciting gift to the boys of Tulsa Boys’ Home. Jerry’s passion and excitement about baseball has sparked a new campus wide enthusiasm for one of America ‘s favorite pastimes the likes I’ve never seen before. Not only does Jerry and the WBO volunteers bring high caliber instruction with personalized coaching for boys with respect to the skills related to the game of baseball, but they instill a newfound sense of self-confidence and self-esteem that carry over into all other aspects of the boys’ lives. When Jerry and the guys come in and set up shop, you’d think you were at the New York Yankees spring training camp! Truly an amazing and exciting initiative that can have a significant and lasting impact for hundreds of boys here at Tulsa Boys’ Home. We plan to have WBO clinics and training camps for a long, long time. Jerry and his WBO colleagues are awesome, positive role models for our boys. I’m proud to have them involved in the mission of Tulsa Boys’ Home.

Dan Sullivan here from New York.  Hope you and Barbara are doin well.  I was thinking about you because I’m going to be doing a presentation for the RBI coaches in Syracuse next month and I’ll be bringing in my experience with WBO and TBH.  I will always have great memories from those experiences.   I don’t know if I ever told you this, but baseball was my childhood passion and I was removed from it in 8^th grade because of a coach I simply could not play for.  A number of us quit.  I wish I’d stuck it out because I did not get back to baseball until my senior year in high school. I was a starter on the basketball team and my coach discouraged me from playing other sports.  As a senior who had not played since 8^th grade, I was obviously not able to jump right on to varsity, but in practice I felt as if I’d never left the game.  I was consistently jacking BP balls over the fence and throwing heat down the middle  from the mound.  Unfortunately, baseball was not popular at that time at Cascia Hall and when the administration revealed that most of the team was on academic probation, the season just ended.  I then went to Montana for 6 years where baseball is considered an alternative sport to skiing, climbing, mountain biking, etc.  It was not until I got to the Tulsa Boys Home and, with you and  Mark Rector, began the baseball program that I was connected to the game.   Aside from the joy I experienced vicariously through the boys, I also felt that I’d rediscovered my own childhood passion and am now determined to hang on to it.  I should also mention that my father, who is not at all quick with a compliment, told me a few years ago that he really thought I could have been a professional ball player.  A statement like that is totally out of character for my father to make and I wished he’d said it when I was in 8^th grade, but it did inspire me to want to help other kids make their baseball dreams come true.  I now coach Little League, play city league softball, play catch with my father regularly, and am putting together a father-son retreat at my church that will include a 5 inning baseball game. That’s aside from the youth baseball program leaders in New York that I work with everyday in my job.   Sometimes we don’t realize how our future was shaped in a positive way by what somebody else did until we get to Heaven, but I thought I’d let you know before that.  I am very grateful for your role in bringing baseball back into my life. I’m thrilled to see you’re still working with TBH.  Hopefully our paths will cross again someday.