Highlands Dominican Republic
The Highlands Sports and Events Complex in the Dominican Republic, or "Tierra Alta," is a ministry of The Rawlings Foundation and Impact Youth Worldwide. In May 2006, the Rawlings Foundation broke ground in Boca Chica and began building a sports and events complex. Boca Chica is a short distance from the Dominican capital city, Santo Domingo, which has a metropolitan population of about three million.
The complex officially opened on January 22, 2011. It includes two baseball fields, a softball field, a soccer field, two outdoor volleyball courts, a basketball court, and an Olympic-size pool. The campus also includes youth camp facilities with capacity for 760 campers and plans for a future Bible Institute.
Tierra Alta DR website
Tierra Alta DR Facebook
Tierra Alta DR Twitter
Tierra Alta DR Instagram
Tierra Alta DR Vimeo
Our camps are structured to reach young people. There are games and activities in facilities designed to attract young people and provide a fun space to learn about Christ. These attendees, most of whom have never experienced a church service of any kind, are mainly from low-income communities. Impact Youth Worldwide provides transportation to bring the youth to camp, provides for all their daily meals, ministers to their needs, and introduces them to the Lord Jesus Christ. The evangelistic director and national pastors teach and preach to the youth. The camp is not seen as just an "American enterprise"; it has been determined to be more effective when national pastors understand local culture, and preach and communicate to the youth in their own language and dialect.
Through our Highlands DR sports camps, we have partnered with other sports ministries including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, SCORE International Sports Missions, Athletes in Action, and many others. This enables the ministry to reach more young people through sports-related events and other camps. Many Major League Baseball, college, and high school coaches and players from various sports are willing to give of their time and talents to teach kids how to play. When the instructional time is over, there is an inspirational time where the young people are presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are given an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
Church Camps and Events
The facilities host many visiting mission teams from the United States, including sports, church, civic, and medical teams that come for weeklong missions and serve alongside the staff here. Housing and meals are provided for these visitors. It is a blessing for the ministry to partner with these groups to further the Kingdom of God.
Hosting Missions Groups
The Tierra Alta facilities host many visiting mission teams from the U.S., including sports, church, civic, and medical teams that come for a week to do missions and serve along side the staff at Tierra Alta. Housing and meals are provided for the visiting missions teams. It is a blessing for the ministry to partner with these groups to further the Kingdom of God.
Highlands DR houses a medical mobile clinic that is driven to low income areas to bless those in need and provide crucial medical attention, at the same time evangelize the patients and teach them about Jesus. The ministry also partners with local Dominican churches and doctors and teams up in many local clinics. Contact us if you are interested in becoming a medical volunteer or if you have a church medical missions team looking to visit and serve the Dominican people.
Home of the San Francisco Giants Latin America Training Academy
In a partnership between The Rawlings Foundation and The San Francisco Giants, Major League Baseball World Champions of 2010, 2012, and 2014, Tierra Alta ("Highlands") has been the home of the SF Giants Training Academy since 2010. In 2016, the facility was expanded and renamed the Felipe Alou Baseball Academy, after Dominican native and baseball great Felipe Alou. The Giants practice and play all their home games in professionally conditioned fields. The Giants organization has been a blessing for the local Boca Chica community. The directors and staff at Tierra Alta are excited to see many of the players involved with weekly baseball chapels and participating in sports camps.