Robersy – Born in October of 1987, I grew up in a village just outside of Bani with my mother. I had a little bit of a relationship with my father, but that developed only when I began to show interest in baseball. When I saw how excited my father was, I decided to pursue the sport thinking that would win my father’s approval. Like many Dominican children, I dropped out of high school and focused entirely on baseball. When I began to see what a professional player gained by playing ball (money, women, fame) I realized that it was everything I wanted. I lived, breathed, and ate baseball.
At 20 years old I was preparing to play with a team in Mexico when I was invited to a pick-up game with a friend. At the end of the game, which we won, a pastor came onto the field and began to share the Gospel. It was the first time in my life that I had ever heard the Gospel. Although some of the players made decisions that day, I did not. I did, however, leave the field really thinking about what I had heard. It urged me to visit the church where the pastor preached a message about Noah, a man obedient to the will of God. I realized that I had been walking in disobedience and that day (November 12, 2008) I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and be Lord of my life. My life changed forever. After a few months, I even walked away from baseball, knowing that I could not serve two masters. Right away I was involved more in my local church and a month or two later I was invited to a Bible Club conference put on by Word of Life in Santiago. There I met Sarah for the first time. We met again at a camp the following summer… and long story short… on April 6th, 2013 we were married.
From my conversion in 2009 through 2012, I walked to every baseball field in Bani and shared with young players the same message that changed my life. God showed me that I could use my love for baseball to reach others for Jesus. As well as a ministering through baseball, I became the Youth Pastor, until 2020 when God called me to be the Senior Pastor. I was blessed to pass the baseball ministry into the capable hands of 3 men who grew up under that ministry, as well as the youth ministry into the hands of a great team of young adults. Though I still sneak to the field as often as I can to continue pouring into the lives of these young players, I am also blessed to reach them, as well as men, women and children, from the pulpit. God has been so good to our family. Sarah and I have 3 beautiful children, Josiah Norman (8 years old), Adelyne Grace (5 years old) and Isaac Hudson (4 years old). They keep us on our toes and remind us of the responsibility that we have in discipling our own children first. After almost 12 years as a full-time missionary and 4 years as a Pastor God has brought us to Daystar Baptist Missions to continue to serve as God has called us to do. We can’t wait to see all that God does as we walk in obedience.
Sarah – Born on November 13, 1985 I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home on the island of Bermuda. Church was a priority and Christ was at the center. At 8 years I confessed my sin and gave my life completely over to Jesus. Right away I wanted to tell everyone about Jesus. I shared Christ with my school mates, I read missionary biographies, I was a sponge for everything to do with sharing the Gospel. It was no surprise that before my 10th birthday I was already telling everyone that I was going to be a missionary. That desire never fizzled out. I continued through high school and on to Pensacola Christian College with the goal of seeing where and how God wanted me to serve. In 2005 I was introduced to Daystar and the Dominican Republic for the first time. I came as an intern for 5 weeks. It was an incredible trip! I loved everything… except the Spanish. So, I decided I’d be a missionary in an English-speaking country.
Right before my college graduation I had my life mapped out. I was joining onto an 11-month mission trip where I was going to survey 11 different countries. Surely then God would show me where to go. Unfortunately, I realized that the Gospel was not the primary focus and decided to drop out of the trip. When I graduated, I had nothing. No job. No plans. So, I returned to Bermuda to volunteer in the Word of Life Caribbean office. That time just continued to fuel my heart for missions, and I returned to the Dominican Republic where I served from 2009-2010, then again from 2013-present. I have learned Spanish since then, and of course married a Spanish-speaking man. We now have 3 bi-lingual children. God really has a sense of humor! Robersy and I have had the joy of serving in sports ministry, youth ministry, Sunday school ministry and since 2020 I have led the women’s ministry at our home church. Our family is thrilled for this next chapter and we look forward to what the Lord will do in the days to come.