Things have been out of the ordinary for a while, yet by God’s grace, extraordinary things continue to happen through Mission Emanuel. Although we haven’t hosted short-term, in-person missions this year, our US supporters continue to be critical partners in ministry. Our education sponsorship program is a great example of this. We wanted to share with you a story about one of our recent graduates, Ricky, a student who has been sponsored at Mission Emanuel since he was a young boy.
In a community where becoming a professional baseball player is a dream pursued by every boy, Ricky, known as “Ricky Yankee” because of his love for the NY Yankees team, trained hard trying to make it to the major leagues. His age range passed to get signed by a team and he didn’t make it to the majors, but this disappointment did not dampen his determination. Ricky set his sights on enrolling in university and pursuing a major in Business Administration.
Ricky is the oldest son in his family and is the first in his family to graduate university.
“What inspired me to take this major was my love for numbers and the fact that a good administration is very important even at home,” Ricky says. “Now that I am graduating, I want to put what I have learned into practice. My girlfriend and I are planning to get married and create a home together. We have goals that we want to accomplish but wanted to get an education first, this is something I wanted to do before getting into a family. I am very thankful to God for the support from my sponsor joining hands with Mission Emanuel, because without them none of this would have been possible, but with it I could accomplish my goal and get as far as I am right now.”
Ricky has been sponsored for years by Kearns Davis and his family (shown above). Here is what Kearns had to say about his experience sponsoring Ricky:
“Our family has been blessed by the opportunity to sponsor Ricky since he was a little boy. We prayed for him nightly in our children’s bedtime prayers, and through letters and pictures we watched him grow and mature into the man he is now.
We got to meet Ricky in the spring of 2016, when he was in high school. He and our children formed an instant bond, as if they had known each other their whole lives. In a sense, they had.
Now Ricky is a university graduate, poised to use the education he received at Mission Emanuel, in high school, and in college to serve the people of the Dominican Republic. He has worked hard, and we are thankful and grateful to have played a small part in his journey.”
Ricky has a bright future ahead of him; about two months ago he started a job as an Administrative Assistant in the budgeting department of INAVI, a governmental institution that carries out works and services of social improvement in the Dominican Republic.
We are all so proud of Ricky and grateful to be a part of his accomplishments. Watching students like Ricky learn, grow, and create new opportunities for themselves and their families through education is a big part of why we are so passionate about education at Mission Emanuel. If you would like to learn more about sponsoring one of our students, please email sponsorship@missionemanuel.org
“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” {2 Corinthians 9:12}
Dios te bendiga,
Emmanuel Corsino
Director of Family Ministries
