Emmanuel Johnson, Pitcher
Liberty University
This is my first year with the Pride and playing for Coach Hudak. When I first received the invitation to play I was hesitant. I had never done anything he had explained like going to the Dominican Republic and do ministry around the island. My family and I prayed on it and I decided to come play for the Pride and attend the trip to the Dominican Republic. As the trip has concluded I can honestly say this was the best decision I ever made coming on this trip. I got to experience things that I feel like will have an impact on me for the rest of the life. Being able to serve others whether it was passing out food bags to families of the less fortunate, all the way to going to a boys and girls orphanage just to play with kids for a few hours, even to helping others with the construction of their homes. For me the best part had to be the orphanages. I can still see the smiles that each child had on their face. Those were the happiest children I had ever met and were so grateful for every little thing and makes us realize the things that we take for granted like a baseball glove or a soccer ball. Things that we see as so minuscule they treasure and that was amazing to see. Coach Hudak mentioned that “we were the ones going to minister to other but we are the ones that end up getting minstered to” and I truly stand behind that. I can say that this has been one of the most impactful times in my life from the many different experience to the group of guys that I was around for the past 15 days.It just makes me realize that life is so much bigger than just baseball. I have enjoyed seeing God work around me the past 15 days and will never forget this experience.
