When God Changes Dreams: How Hector Found His Calling

One spring morning at her home in Colorado, Sherri Rasic opened a message on her phone and saw a photo that took her breath away.

The photo that took Sherri by surprise

A young man stood at the front of a church in the Dominican Republic preaching a sermon.

Sherri knew that young man well.

His name is Hector.

She and her husband Dana, Chairman of the Board for OneChild, had sponsored him for six years. From the time Hector was 12, they had encouraged his spiritual growth, reminding him in their letters that Jesus loves him and encouraging him to pray, read his Bible and stay in church.

Now Sherri was seeing a calling from God blossoming in the life of this youth they had come to love so much.

Overjoyed, she shared the photo with some of the staff at OneChild headquarters in Colorado, which led to me sitting across a table from Sherri and Dana to hear the extraordinary story of their journey as Hector’s sponsors.

An Instant Connection

In 2011, Dana and Sherri traveled with a group of Major League Baseball players to the Dominican Republic, a country in the Caribbean where poverty is prevalent and baseball is a beloved sport.

Poverty affects nearly a quarter of the people in the Dominican Republic.* OneChild has been ministering to kids there since 2006, and several MLB players had partnered with us to build a baseball field for the children at Mission Valiente Joshua 1:9 Hope Center.

Kids playing on the baseball field sponsored by MLB players who wanted to bring hope to kids in the Dominican Republic.

One particular day during the trip had been set aside for the ballplayers and their wives to spend at the Hope Center, visiting and playing with the kids. It was a day filled with laughter, games and food. Sherri and Dana were there lending a hand to the Child Champions, serving the kids in any way they could.

Take a tour of a Hope Center in the Dominican Republic.

Suddenly, a slender boy in jeans and a T-shirt appeared at their side. He was tall for a 12-year-old, with short-shaved hair and a bright smile.

His name was Hector, and throughout the rest of their visit, he seemed determined to stay with Dana and Sherri. They both enjoyed Hector’s company, but Sherri was immediately drawn to him.

I ask Sherri to explain that to me.

“Our eyes met,” she says, “and there was just something about him …”

Her voice falters and tears fill her eyes. Then she steadies her voice and continues.

“When he and I started interacting … I don’t know, he just … he captured my heart in a way that I can’t even put words to. He wanted to be right by my side.”

Dana nods at his wife.

“I think it was the heart connection that the two of you almost instantly had,” he says. “There’s 100 kids there — they’re playing volleyball, they’re playing baseball, they’re playing with the hula hoops — and the famous baseball players are there. It’s the Dominican Republic; baseball’s a big deal. But he chose to spend his time interacting with you as opposed to the other kids or the baseball players.”

Dana and Sherri could tell Hector got along fine with the other kids, and from time to time they encouraged him to go play so he wouldn’t miss out on the fun. But whenever he could, Hector returned to them, enjoying just spending time with them.

For reasons they can’t explain, it seemed that Hector had chosen them.

I’ve heard similar stories of special connections between a child and sponsor, though none more powerful. But this time I had the unique opportunity to hear the story from more than one point of view.

Hector meets MLB player Justin Masterson.

I reached out to Yunior Cabreja, OneChild Country Director in the Dominican Republic, who put me in touch with Hector. Not long after my conversation with Dana and Sherri, I was sitting in the same room but this time talking on the phone with Hector, who is now an adult.

“Do you remember the day that you met Dana and Sherri?” I ask.

“Yeah, I remember,” he says, without hesitation.

In fact, he remembers the very moment.

“Sherri was serving chocolate to the kids, and I was the only one that can speak a little bit of English,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Hi. I just want a little.’ And she said, ‘Oh, you can speak English!’ And I said, ‘So-so.’ And at that time began our relationship.”

The Journey Begins With “Hi.”

Hector recalls the kindness he experienced with Dana and Sherri. He, too, struggles to explain their special connection.

Hector’s dream was to become a professional baseball player.

“They were, with me, very, very good people. And I love them,” he says. “It’s like when you have this special person in your life. You can’t describe how lovely they are with you.”

Though Dana and Sherri didn’t know it at the time, it was truly extraordinary that Hector wanted to spend time with them rather than the MLB players. Because Hector’s biggest dream was to become a professional baseball player.

Hector tells me that from childhood until age 19 he spent all his time preparing himself to play baseball.

“I didn’t have any other activity,” he says. “Only baseball.”

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Despite that dream, Hector’s family had encouraged him to also pursue another skill: English. In the Dominican Republic, it can be hard to find a job, even for professionals. But speaking English provides more opportunities. Seeing Hector’s interest in English, his family urged him to learn more.

“My grandma and my mom, everybody here in the community say, ‘Keep it up.’ Because if you know English you can get a very good job in the future,” Hector explains.

And it was his few words of English that opened the door to meeting his future sponsors.

Getting to Know Hector

Dana and Sherri knew immediately that they wanted to sponsor Hector. But what if he already had a sponsor?

When the OneChild Dominican staff told them Hector was unsponsored, they knew it was meant to be. Before they even left the country Dana and Sherri became his sponsors.

As Hector spent time with them, Dana was impressed by the many questions he asked.

He didn’t ask what they could bring him or how big their house was. Instead, he seemed genuinely interested in them as people, asking where they grew up and what their family was like.

They answered his questions and showed him a photo of their daughter, Bailey, about the same age as Hector, who hadn’t come with them on the trip.

Spending time at Hector’s Hope Center, located in a community that struggles with poverty, extremely high unemployment and domestic violence, gave Sherri and Dana a firsthand look at his world. They especially loved meeting his Child Champions.

“The connection with [the Child Champions] was phenomenal,” Sherri says. She particularly remembers Manuela, who provided a role model for the kids at the Hope Center.

A Child Champion at Mission Valiente Joshua 1:9 Hope Center helps a child read a letter from his sponsor while his friends look on with excitement.

Dana says that, as sponsors, they are working in partnership with the Child Champions at the Hope Center.

“They’re on the ground in the Hope Center every time they meet,” he says. “And that’s where — while we may have a bond via letters or … the occasional trip there that many sponsors don’t have the chance to do — Manuela is the lady that is there really advocating on behalf of Hector and the other kids.

“She’s the one that gives them the hug. She’s the one that gives them the daily or weekly encouragement to pursue their education. She’s the one there that’s checking on his home life, on ‘Are things going well there? Is he getting the encouragement and support to attend [the Hope Center], is he going to church? If not, what’s missing?’ Those types of questions really help guide, direct, encourage and support his development from a very young age.”

Dana and Sherri also learned about Hector’s family. He lived with his mom and grandmother. His dad, though not in the home, lived nearby and was part of Hector’s life.

They Heard Me

Just as Sherri and Dana were impressed with Hector, he tells me that they made a deep impression on him, too. In addition to kindness, he remembers that they gave him something every child craves — a listening ear.

He could sense their genuine care for him.

“You know, they heard me,” he says.

Hector was also impressed by seeing how much Dana loved playing with and helping all the kids at the Hope Center.

“I would like to have that experience with them again one day if God allows me,” he says.

Soon it was time for Hector to say goodbye to his new sponsors. Little did he know that he would see them again in just a few months.

In the meantime, Sherri and Dana stayed in touch with him through letters. Their correspondence continued to build their relationship — and Hector’s faith.

Many Voices, One Faith

Early in our conversation, Hector told me, “I can’t imagine my life without God. It’s the best thing that happens in my life to me — Jesus Christ.”

At Hope Centers in the Dominican Republic children learn that their heavenly Father loves them and they can always talk with him in prayer.

In their letters, Sherri and Dana regularly told Hector how loved he was and encouraged him to keep following Jesus.

“They told me many beautiful things,” says Hector.

At the same time that Hector was receiving those letters, his grandmother, Mercede, provided him with an up-close example of faith.

“When I was a little boy, I have been many, many times, praying with my grandma because my grandma is a huge believer in God,” says Hector. “And I can say, she gave to me the way to follow to God.”

He told me his journey to faith started from the time he was 7 or 8, when he remembers his grandmother praying.

“I loved it,” he says. “Sometimes she’s in the kitchen cleaning, and she’s talking with God. And you’d think she’s talking with someone, but when you go in, she’s alone; she’s talking with God. So at home is where I started to believe in God.”

Hector was also learning about the Bible at his Hope Center. He recalls his connection with the Child Champions and the joy of playing baseball and other sports there but says that learning the Bible was the most important aspect of his time at the center.

Family to Family

When a child is sponsored, it often impacts both the child’s and the sponsor’s families as well, and that was true for Hector and his sponsors.

In 2012 Dana and Sherri partnered with several other families who sponsored children in the Dominican Republic to build a library at Hector’s Hope Center and launch a literacy program for the kids there. Together they organized a family trip along with their children to visit the Hope Center and launch the library.

With emotion, Sherri remembers their return to Hector’s neighborhood.

“[Hector’s] house was on the road going to the center, so we had to pass by their house in the bus,” she says. “He would see that bus go by and literally run to the center and see who was on the bus.”

When Dana and Sherri got off the bus, Hector was waiting to give them a huge hug.

Sherri, Dana, and Bailey visit Hector and his family at home.

During that visit they deepened their family connections, as Hector got to meet their daughter Bailey, who had come on the trip, and Dana and Sherri got to meet Hector’s family.

Dana recalls, “The most special interaction with him and his family was for him to take us to his home where he lived, where he grew up.”

Sherri nods.

“He was just so, so excited and so proud to have us come to his home and to see his home and meet his family,” she says. “They were just so warm and welcoming and inviting. His grandma was just precious.”

The visit is a sweet memory for Hector, too. Speaking of his family, he told me, “Dana and Sherri love them, because they came one day to my house.”

Dana and Sherri’s family has also been impacted in broader ways by their relationship with Hector.

Bailey (left) and other kids on the trip spending time with Hector (right) at his Hope Center

Dana says that Bailey, now an independent adult, still mentions Hector and their trip.

“It does come out at times that surprises me,” says Dana, “when she’ll realize how fortunate she is here. But also, how she can blend her experiences of having seen … and interacted and sort of grew up with Hector … how she can blend that experience into the conversations with her peers … to have a conversation about a different view of the world with those folks who are sometimes very focused on the U.S. because that’s the only experience they’ve had.

“But it’s not just Bailey,” he adds. “It’s our siblings, it’s our parents. It’s our aunts and uncles. It’s had a broader impact for our larger family than just the three of us.”

Growing Up and Keeping in Touch

Over the years Dana and Sherri’s relationship with Hector grew even stronger through letters and one more trip to the Dominican Republic.

Hector at age 16

Hector kept pursing his dream of becoming a professional baseball player, working out and practicing relentlessly in hopes of signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have a Latin American headquarters and baseball training complex in the Dominican Republic.

But that wasn’t his only dream.

During one of Dana and Sherri’s early visits, Yunior was serving as a translator and trip host for visitors, long before he became the Country Director. Hector told them that someday he wanted to be a trip host just like Yunior.

“You can do it!” Sherri told him. And she encouraged him to keep up with his English studies. Hector did so and was able to attend the English Institute.

Sherri says that over the years she’s seen tremendous growth in Hector, both in maturity and spiritually.

After Hector graduated from the OneChild program at age 18, he reached out to Dana and Sherri directly, as some graduates do. Because they had met Hector and his family in person, they felt comfortable staying in touch with him, and they now exchange text messages.

A New Dream

Dana and Sherri have seen Hector come full circle in many ways.

He now leads sports activities for the kids at his former Hope Center. And one of Hector’s childhood dreams was fulfilled when he began helping as a OneChild translator and trip host for American visitors. He also loves translating at his church when needed.

Hector greets kids in the neighborhood while he leads visitors through the community as a Group Host.

Hector now works at a small grocery store as he gets ready to attend the university and study to become an English teacher.

Sherri noticed through Hector’s messages that he was very intentional about going to church, and he would sometimes ask her and Dana what they had learned at their church.

That led to a conversation with Hector about baptism, and Hector later delighted Dana and Sherri by sending a photo of himself being baptized in the ocean at age 23.

Hector (center) moments after his baptism in the ocean.

Then, as Hector continued to grow in his relationship with God, the Lord suddenly replaced his lifelong dream of playing baseball with a new dream.

Hector says that as he was praying, God showed him that He had a different plan for him.

“He told me that many, many young people would come to Jesus Christ through me. In that time, I understood that He had something better than what I was thinking about.”

Sometimes he still misses his dream of Major Leage Baseball, but says, “Now I know that the purpose of God is better than mine. My big dream now is to preach about God around the world.

“In the moment that I met Jesus Christ, I discovered that the only important thing that we have in the planet, in the world, is to serve God,” says Hector. “Because without God, we have nothing. For example, the Bible says, ‘Don’t get riches in the world. Serve Jesus Christ, and then Jesus Christ will give you everything in His kingdom.’”

I asked Hector what his dreams are for the children he serves at the Hope Center.

“Only one thing,” he says. “And the most important. If they follow Jesus Christ, then God can guide them and give them a very good future. For me now, the best thing that happened to me, even more than baseball, that was my dream, is God.”

Though Sherri saw evidence of Hector’s growing faith, Hector hadn’t yet told her and Dana about the new dream of preaching that God had given him. Then one day, Hector’s pastor invited him to preach at the church.

“I preached about how people need to come to Jesus Christ,” says Hector. “Because in the world, you can have [keep] nothing. Everything is temporary, you know? But when you have God in your heart, you will understand how good He is.”

During Hector’s sermon someone took a photo of him, which he later sent to Sherri.

The Wow Moment

Hector at 24, a young man who is passionate about his new calling in life.

“He just said that he preached at church this weekend,” says Sherri. “And I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ He was just so proud and just wanted to share. And that he loved the Word of God and wanted to just get that out there, and that he wants to do it more!”

For Sherri, seeing Hector’s love for God is the answer to her prayers for him.

“Yes, you pray for their safety and their wellbeing,” Sherri says, “… but more than anything, just for him to be a child of God and to have salvation.”

Dana calls it a “wow moment” for them both.

“I think a calling to ministry is that — a calling,” says Dana.

But he believes God used Sherri’s regular encouragement as a significant part of Hector’s spiritual journey.

“He had never talked to me about wanting to be a pastor, to speak about faith publicly,” says Dana, shaking his head in wonder. “I never saw that coming.

“And where he’s at today, and how God’s directing his life — that is so far beyond what any of us, at least what I, would have imagined when he was a little guy.”

Dana says people sometimes ask him how they can know if child sponsorship is really effective.

“That’s what we went to see,” he says. “And we have seen it over and over again. It’s a worthwhile investment of your time and your money, and your prayers.

“Don’t underestimate the impact it will have on your life,” he adds. “The ripple effect of that sponsorship will be far beyond what you can imagine the impact will be. One drop in an ocean will travel a great distance. Same for sponsorship.

“Only one child and it’ll ripple through the country.”

* World Food Program https://www.wfp.org/countries/dominican-republic accessed November 11, 2024 

Discover how God can use you to impact the life of a child like Hector. Sponsor a child today!