Every October, the Pujols Family Foundation – the charitable organization established by Los Angeles Angels baseball star Albert Pujols and his wife Deidre – holds a dance for teenagers and young adults with Down syndrome. Albert and Deidre have a daughter, Isabella, with Down syndrome, and they wanted to use their resources to make a difference in the lives of others with the same condition.

Albert, who was born in the Dominican Republic, accepts the responsibility of being a hero, seeing his baseball talent as a platform to point people to his Savior Jesus Christ.

"Baseball is simply my platform to elevate Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior," he says.

In this regard, Pujols echoes the Apostle Paul who said, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (1 Corinthi-ans 11:1)

Albert knows that his baseball skills and personal mo-tivations are from the Lord, and he uses them for eternal purposes. Albert is the starting first baseman in this year's Major League All-Star game, moving up the list of most home runs in history.

"We did not choose Down syndrome," Albert and De-idre say. "Down syndrome chose us."

Such a perspective comes from the Pujols' faith in Christ, believing as they do, according to their founda-tion's statement of faith, that God is "all-knowing and all-powerful," and that "human beings are made in the image of God...no matter what their race, occu-pation, status, economic level or disability."

Derek Rabelo's father had hopes that one day he would have a son who would be-come a professional surfer. Unfortunately, the child was born blind, leaving the Rabelo family disap-pointed.

But as he grew up on the sands of his local beach in Guarapi, Brazil, Rabelo listened to his relatives and friends share their excitement after surfing incredible waves, and he began to picture in his mind what it must be like to surf. When he finally shared his desire to try it at the age of 16, his family didn't discourage him, but encouraged him to try his best.

With only two years of surfing experience, he wanted to challenge arguably the world's most dangerous wave: The infamous Banzai Pipeline.

So, he set out for the North Shore of Hawaii, a place where surfers have broken their necks and given their lives in pursuit of one of sport's biggest emotional and athletic challenges.

Rabelo's performance left everyone astonished.He gave a giant smile before finally giving us the an-

swer as to how he does it: "Faith to me is to believe that the impossible for man is possible with God."

While his passion for surfing is obvious, Rabelo is just as enthusiastic for the Lord.

"I can just feel God blessing my life, and I know that God empowers me to do everything that I do," he says.

ATHLETE TESTIMONY ATHLETE TESTIMONY

Pujols uses baseball as a platform to honor the Lord and serve others through his family's charitable organization.

When asked how he's able to surf without his eye sight, Rabelo simply says that with God, all things are possible.

Dominican Republic baseball star Albert Pujols believes his ability has given him the platform to share his faith in Christ

Blindness hasn't stopped Brazilian surfer Derek Rabelo from realizing that everything is possible through Christ

HEART VALUE AS SERVANTS

HEART VALUE PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL

ALBERT PUJOLS DEREk RABELO

HEART VALUES

where spor t s and fa i th connect

SPORTS MINISTRY AROUND THE WORLDSOUTH AMERICA

• In Bolivia, 3 days of training took place in both Sucre and

Potosí for soccer life coaching and sport and games for families,

singles, teens and kids.

• In Arequipa, 35 people from 18 major sports partners completed sports ministry training.

• In Peru, games and sport for kids were held in a jungle village.

In Israel, a week-long soccer camp has served refugees, along with other games and sports that have served kids.

• IN SPORT AND PLAy• IN TEAMS• PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL

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