One by One Nicaragua

Update on Mike

2012-02-08T17:23:00.001-06:00

Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Mike’s healing and the situation with his fall last week. This has been an incredible opportunity for the XXI Stones team and the One by One staff, and hopefully those of you who have been in prayer with us, to see the power of God displayed as we have seen Him answer our prayers. Mike was able to leave with the team and arrive home safely on Sunday. He has been to see the doctor in the States, and fortunately, he will not have to have back surgery. He will, however, be recovering for 6-8 weeks. Please keep praying for Mike and his healing. And praise God with us for saving Mike’s life. Pray also that God would continue to glorify himself through the accident and that His name would be known.

Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel – he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God! - Psalm 68:35

New One By One Staff Member - Yeril Lozano

2012-02-06T11:02:00.002-06:00

Yeril Lozano is the newest One By One team member. He is native to Managua, Nicaragua and is married to Katie Loos Lozano. He doesn't have an exact title yet, but he will be working with Chase, our children's Director, to help the opening of new Niños de Vida ministries throughout the country. He will be in charge of encouraging the pastors and workers at the various locations. In addition to this, he will be working on starting neighborhood based small groups for the kids. He will have an office and offical office hours (two things he has never had before since musicians don't usually work from offices). And, so far this is the only computer we have for him to use and yes it is pink:) He will work two full days a week in addition to two other afternoons as he continues some of his volunteer duties. We are very fortunate and excited to have Yeril on board. He will be an amazing addition to the One By One staff.

XXI Stones Update

2012-02-03T16:36:00.001-06:00

This week has been quite an adventure! The XXI Stones team started the week by helping us put a new roof on our Camino de Vida building. However, on Tuesday morning, Mike, one of the team members, fell through the roof (about a 15 foot drop!) and was rushed via ambulance to the hospital. While he suffered some back and facial injuries, he is recovering well. We are praising the Lord, as we know that it is a miracle that Mike not only survived the fall, but also that he did not break any bones or have any brain damage. He spent 2 nights in the hospital, and is now resting back at the guest home. He will most likely have surgery when he returns to the States, but he should fully recover. Please continue praying for the Lord to heal Mike!

Even though replacing the roof was put on hold, the team did still host the water filtration seminars on Thursday and we were able to give water filters to 40 families from 4 of the neighborhoods we work in. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to start building relationships with the parents of the kids that attend our programs on a weekly basis. It was the first time we have attempted to do an event like this, and we are grateful to the Lord because it worked out really well. Thank you XXI Stones for all you did to make this happen, including purchasing the water filters!

The team will leave Nicaragua on Sunday morning. We would greatly appreciate if you would pray for their travel back to Illinois, especially for Mike.

XXI Stones Team

2012-01-30T11:45:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, our first team of the year arrived. A group of 7 adults came from a ministry called XXI Stones in Champaign, Illinois to help with replacing the roof on our Camino de Vida building, as well as to serve the community by offering water filtration systems to about 50 families. They started working on the roof today, and on Thursday, we will host 2 different seminars for the families receiving the filters to teach them about the importance of clean water. Please be in prayer for the team this week, especially for safety while working on the roof and for the seminars, as this will be the first time we have hosted something like this. We are looking forward to seeing how God will be at work this week!

To learn more about XXI Stones, visit their website at: http://www.xxistones.org/

The Refuge Project Update

2012-01-26T17:49:00.000-06:00

Our meeting for the opening of The Refuge Project did not go as well as we hoped today. At this point the government is not giving permission to open new group homes. We still have freedom to continue with everything we've been doing with Segundo Paso, and even encouragement to do more in that area. This meeting does not mean that we're giving up, what it does mean, is that we need to pray that God moves mountains! We are going to continue fighting to rescue and restore the innocent!

PRAYER NEEDED!! Meeting with Mi Familia for the Refuge House tomorrow!!

2012-01-25T11:49:00.000-06:00

PLEASE be in prayer for the Refuge Project. We have the final meeting with Mi Familia tomorrow at 2:00pm CST which will determine whether or not the Refuge House will be able to open. We are so excited about this meeting in hopes we will finally get the approval to begin rescuing the innocent kids from situations of abuse and trafficking. Please pray with us for favor and that God's presence would be evident in that meeting to the leaders of Mi Familia. Begin praying for the kids we will be able to rescue through the Refuge Project. Here is how the Refuge House looks thanks to so many churches and a lot of hard work. We have done all we can and the house looks GREAT!! Thank you to everyone who helped with this project either by giving of your time or your resources! Prayer works so please pray with us for tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm.

Visiting Kids in the Oriental Market

2012-01-18T07:24:00.001-06:00

Here are few pictures from visiting the kids in the Oriental Market before the first service of 2012! It was great to be back and see the kids.

First Kids Service of the Year!

2012-01-17T16:41:00.000-06:00

We had about 150 kids for the first kids service of the year for 2012 which is a great turnout for the first service after a break. We are starting to teach from a new curriculum this year and will be making a lot of changes. Please pray that the changes would go smoothly and the kids will grow in their relationship with Christ. Also, please pray that we will reach even more children this year in 2012. Here are a few pictures from the service...

A RESTORING JOY CHRISTMAS!!

2012-01-10T19:19:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!! We had the joy of providing Christmas to all the kids at our end of the year services. Between both kids services and the youth service there were 1400 people that came to the end of the year services. And, we provided Christmas to 1100 kids. Thank you to Discover Church and Woodcreek for donating the toys to the children. Here are few of the pictures from the services. Is this amazing or what!?!

Restoring Joy to Kevin

2011-12-24T13:00:00.001-06:00

Kevin is one of our regular volunteers here at One by One. He’s currently working with Segundo Paso. He is a friend of Ileana’s from her Japanese class. Kevin is a recent high-school grad who already speaks 4 languages (Spanish, German, English, and Japanese). In his senior year of high school he had to work as a volunteer somewhere to complete requirements for a class he was taking. Ileana told him about our kids services and Camino De Vida and he decided to volunteer with One By One. He was not a Christian and one day Ileana and Kevin were talking and she explained the gospel message of Jesus Christ to him and asked if he'd like to give his life to Christ. He did! Kevin was baptized at our baptism service this year!! God works in amazing ways. We are glad to have someone as faithful and involved as Kevin helping us out in the ministry.

Restoring Joy to Dayana

2011-12-20T08:18:00.000-06:00

My name is Dayana. I'm 9 years old and have suffered from infant abuse. Although you don't believe it, at my young age I have to take care of my sisters and 7 cousins which doesn't allow me to be a normal young girl. I believe that my mom and aunt have bad luck because they have the same story. Both "husbands" that have come have given me new sisters but we don't know them. I don't have a father, but at Camino de Vida and Segundo Paso they're teaching me about God and that he's a father that won't abandon us. My mom sells mango and watermelon and other fruit that grows in Nicaragua and with this money we get by. Above all I want a miracle from God. Unfortunately, in my life and the life of my cousins we live with the vice of our parents. When they aren't working, they're playing poker and once again the weight of taking care of my cousins falls on me. The only days that I'm able to feel like a little girl is when I come to the church because the leaders help me with my little sister and cousins and I hope that it'll be possible for One by One to continue.

Restoring Joy to Jessica at Nuevete!

2011-12-16T17:25:00.001-06:00

Jessica started coming to the youth services, Nuevete, about 8 months ago, and Ileana could see while preaching that she was paying attention and trying to learn more. We also noticed that she started to sing during the worship time and it showed that she was doing it from her heart. When we started the girlsmeetings, she came every week and after a little while she shared a bit more about herself. It gave us the chance to pray for her. After this, we saw that she was more excited about coming to the services and she was recently baptized at our first baptism service. We know that it hasn’t been easy for her to follow God. She’s going through a lot of hard situations at home and also with her health, but we are praying for her. She is serving with us now on Saturday nights and we are so happy to have her with us and see all the things that God is doing in her life.

Restoring Joy to Eliezar

2011-12-10T21:43:00.002-06:00

Eliezar is 5 years old and full of energy. Eliezar attends Segundo Paso with his older sister Ana. He is behind in his development and one of the quiet kids who is easy to overlook while others draw the attention. When you get Eliazar alone he loves to talk and is a soccer fanatic! At Segundo Paso we have the privilege to help him learn and the opportunity to challenge him to grow. His sister, Ana, was baptized at our first baptism service and we're encouraging her to be a part of her brother's development. Where Eliezar may have lived his whole life quietly being overlooked, he now has a team of people who are surrounding him with the love of Jesus and are fighting to see him grow and develop into an awesome man of God.

Restoring Joy to Scarleth - 10 Years Old

2011-12-06T21:53:00.002-06:00

Scarleth is 10 years old and is part of our Segundo Paso program. She is not currently in school and does not know how to read and write. Through Segundo Paso, we were able to recognize that she was behind in her learning and provide extra help with her reading and writing. Her aunt Jessica is one of our youth who also does not know how to read and write. Jessica has been coming to receive classes for reading and writing two days a week and is now bringing Scarleth with her. Scarleth really enjoys these classes and opportunities that she now has to be able to learn. Scarleth is very faithful not only in coming to Segundo Paso, but also on Saturday mornings. Through the ministries of One by One she has learned about the love of Jesus, not only through word, but also through actions. We've been able to provide Scarleth with the opportunity to truly change her life through gaining the ability to read, and more importantly through gaining a relationship with Christ. At our recent baptism service Scarleth proclaimed that relationship with Christ when she was baptised! Through Segundo Paso and Niños de Vida we are restoring joy in the life of Scarleth!

Restoring Joy Christmas Celebration

2011-12-03T13:18:00.001-06:00

This month One By One is celebrating "Restoring Joy" to hundreds of children and youth in Nicaragua this year. We will be doing this by sharing stories throughout the month on the impact God has made in the lives of the children that are involved with One By One. Partner with us by giving monthly to help restore joy in 2012 to more children. If you already give monthly consider increasing your monthly giving. You may also partner with us by inviting your friends and family to be a part of Restoring Joy!

One By One is currently reaching about 500 kids each week through our programs. It costs $15 per child per month to reach the children through our kids/youth services, local kids centers, community development, leadership development, and The Refuge Project. Your participation will help us to continue and expand these ministries. We hope you will partner with us this year with a monthly contribution to help us Restore Joy to more children in 2012 by giving for one child at $15 per month, two children at $30 per month or by giving $180 to support a child for one year.

Please check our blog frequently throughout the month of December. We will be updating the blog with the stories of kids and youth being impacted by the ministry of One By One and the work God is doing in their lives. You can also help One By One to spread the news of Restoring Joy by getting your friends and family involved this Christmas. Simply give them the link to this blog so they can read the stories with their families throughout the month of December.

TO GIVE AN ONGOING MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION OR A ONE TIME DONATION CLICK THIS LINK

http://www.theinnocent.org/give.htm

Making a Difference

2011-11-30T16:02:00.002-06:00

This young girl usually comes to the kids service and to Segundo Paso on Wednesdays, but last week she also came to the youth service and brought her mom with her. Her mom had been noticing such an amazing change in her daughter that she just had to know why. Now, several moms have also been attending Nuevete on Saturday nights because of the change they are seeing in their children. Ileanna has been leading the youth group for a year now, and has been preaching since April of this year. Isn't God so awesome that moms would see such a change in their children that it would make them want to come and check it out.

New Location Opening Soon in Leon, Nicaragua

2011-11-21T08:50:00.004-06:00

We have met with and will hopefully soon be partnering with another local church to begin another kids program in Leon, Nicaragua. They have a wonderful building that we will be able to use to do even more to reach the children and youth of Nicaragua. We are so excited about this opportunity to partner with Verbo Church, which is a non-denominational church that sought us out to ask for our help in starting a kids program at their location. Please check out the pictures of the building. The opportunities here will be amazing. Please begin praying for this new location and for this new kids center partnership. Pray that this year we will be able to reach more kids than ever before.

Some of the kids in the neighborhood that will hopefully get to attend the kids services!

100th Kids Service!

2011-11-14T09:37:00.001-06:00

We had our 100th kids service this past Saturday. It was one of the best services ever. We had 220-240 kids at our main campus and 200 in Mayoreo. It was an incredible day. Here are a few pictures from the service.

Shaun Phillips

2011-11-11T11:14:00.001-06:00

We have the privilege of having Shaun Phillips here from Greenville, SC this week as he has come for training and interviews for a full-time ministry position with One By One. He has been on many short term trips over the past couple of years through Discover Church. We are excited to have Shaun here and excited about his journey and the potential to have him on staff here permanently. Please be in prayer for Shaun as he begins raising his support and will hopefully be joining the One By One team by this summer.

The Quiet Room

2011-11-01T13:24:00.001-06:00

Recently, our Children’s Director Chase Russell, and his wife Julie were able to attend a Kid’s Ministry conference in Chicago, where they were able to attend several helpful seminars on how to do children’s ministry better. One of the principles emphasized at the conference was that children have the ability, the desire, and the need to connect with God on a personal level. Our services tend to be fast-paced, fun, and energetic, but this past Saturday we started to incorporate changes that will enable kids to meet with God more intimately. We sang slower worship songs, allowed kids to spend time during the service silently praying to God, and created a separate room where kids can go to be quiet and pray during the play times before and after the service. We had several kids request to go to the prayer room on Saturday. One boy came up to ask where the prayer room was, but since we were about to dismiss the kids, we told him that he could go next week, and he was clearly disappointed. We were told at the conference that many churches give kids what they “want” (fast, energetic entertainment) and not want they “yearn for” (a connection with their Creator). We certainly witnessed this to be true as kids responded so well to the new changes this week!

The Shuttle Bus

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

This week, we were able to purchase a shuttle bus to use for the ministry and we received it for a great price! To revel in our excitement, the staff celebrated by taking the shuttle bus to a staff lunch at McDonald’s!

It seats 18 passengers, although it is set up in a way that we can fit up to 38 people inside. We will be able to use the bus weekly for Second Step (our after school program) and also for short-term teams and staff events, in addition to our weekly services. Thank you Discover Church for donating the money to purchase this vehicle! And praise the Lord for his provision of this blessing to our ministry!

Baptism Service

2011-10-26T12:56:00.003-06:00

Last night, we had our first baptism service, and we were amazed to see the Lord at work in the lives of so many people here in Nicaragua. We had 94 people attend the service, 17 were baptized and at least one person trusted Christ as their Savior!

We bought a plastic baby pool for the baptisms to take place.

Pastor Antonio baptized all 17 people, while Jeremy led us in praying for each person individually.

Each person received a Bible to help them grow as they continue their walk with Christ. The kids even received children’s Bibles.

Gloria (pictured above) was quite upset when Pastor Antonio asked her if one of her children could be baptized, so much so that he wondered if her anger might spread to others who were being baptized and prevent them from doing so as well. Pastor Antonio came home, and prayed that the Lord would change her heart. He went back the next day and the Lord answered his prayers! Gloria said that not only was she okay with one of her children being baptized, but that she would let all of her children be baptized! Last night, 4 of her 5 children (all pictured above) were baptized!

Also staff member Ileana O’Neill and her sister Massiel (One by One volunteer) were able to watch their younger brother, Miguel, be baptized. Miguel was overwhelmed with joy to take this step of obedience in his walk with Christ.

Every person has a different story, as God is at work in all of us. We are thankful to be here in Nicaragua and be a part of the stories He is writing here. Please continue to pray that God would make His name known here and that He would use One by One to bring many more people into His kingdom!

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20

Dan Quigley

2011-10-13T16:29:00.001-06:00

Dan Quigley, our Creative Arts and Maintenance Director, has recently been given the title of Assistant Director of One by One. He will be working along side Jeremy to lead the staff as they invest in the various ministries of One by One. Dan has had some practice in this position filling in for Jeremy when he has been gone in the past. We are all excited about this change and look forward to working with Dan in this new role.

Ignite Nica

2011-09-27T11:44:00.001-06:00

This past Saturday morning at Niños de Vida, we had over 40 volunteers from the Ignite Nica group at Nicaragua Christian Academy! There was an abundance of one on one attention for kids, and they were loving it. Thank you, Ignite Nica, for coming to serve with us!

Discover Team

2011-09-20T15:30:00.001-06:00

Right before we left for the States, Discover Church brought a team of 11 down from Greenville, SC. While they were here, they helped with many projects and ministry events, both for One by One and for House of Hope. It was a great week and we are thankful for Discover and their consistent support and commitment to bringing down teams every year!

Hosting a piñata party in the Oriental Market

Playing with kids at House of Hope

Enjoying a free day together at the crater lake

Caroline Gamble

2011-09-17T08:55:00.001-06:00

Caroline Gamble arrived in Nicaragua on September 14th and will be here for the next 2 months. Caroline, a recent high school graduate, is from Community Church in Sterling, Virginia. She will be helping with various areas of ministry at One by One during her time here, along with studying Spanish. We are glad she is here!

Matt and Amy Cleveland

2011-09-17T08:39:00.001-06:00

This week, we have the pleasure of hosting Matt and Amy Cleveland, who are here from Greenville, South Carolina. Through attending Discover Church, Matt and Amy became interested in moving down to Nicaragua to get involved with One by One. They are here this week for training in how to raise support, to visit the ministry, and to do in-country interviews.

Back in Action

2011-09-14T10:57:00.001-06:00

While most of the missionary staff returned to Nicaragua last week, the rest returned yesterday. Today we are all back in the office and excited to get back in the swing of things. After a 3 week break of traveling to the States to see family and friends and raising financial support, we had our first kids and youth services this past Saturday. Both went well, though we did have fewer kids than normal, due to the break. However, we are looking forward to what God has in store for the ministry in the coming weeks and months, and we will make sure to keep you updated via the blog. Make sure to check back often!

Typical Saturday morning service

2011-09-09T08:00:00.002-06:00

Many of you have gotten the chance to come down to Nicaragua to see first-hand what we do. However, for those of you who haven't (and especially for those of who have a difficult time picturing what it is we actually do), here's a video that hopefully helps you visualize the ministry aspect of our lives. The following is a compilation of short clips from each of the activities that are included with a Saturday morning kids' service.

http://vimeo.com/28109870

Hasta la vista

2011-08-15T16:15:00.000-06:00

The One by One staff is currently on break, and most of us are in the States visiting family and friends as well as raising ongoing support. We’ll be out of the office and out of the action, and therefore out of things to report on for a short time. We’ll resume our normal lives and our normal blogging habits within the first couple weeks of September.

Until that happens, we suppose you’ll have to find a new way to spend that five minutes a week normally used keeping up with us. We hope you’ll understand.

Sincerely,
the One by One staff

Clowns from Crossroads

2011-08-06T17:49:00.001-06:00

Last week, we had a team of 6 from Crossroads Community Church in Simpsonville, SC come down to work with us and House of Hope for the first time. The team had a great desire to pray for and bless the missionaries and people here and spent a lot of time praying over the One by One staff, as well as the House of Hope interns and ladies. We were all encouraged by the words of wisdom and truth the Lord had for us through them.

In addition, they had prepared a clown program that they performed in each of our neighborhoods and the kids LOVED it! At the end of each event, the gospel was shared and several kids from each neighborhood trusted in Christ! Pray for us as we desire to develop an effective program for follow-up and discipleship of new believers within the kids ministry. We look forward to having many more teams from Crossroads minister with us in the future!

Soccer Tournament

2011-08-06T16:50:00.001-06:00

Last month, we had the pleasure of working with Kingsland Church from Houston, Texas. They brought a team of 60 high school students down to work with One by One and House of Hope. During that time we were able to host a soccer tournament at El Salero. We were able to bus in over 100 youth, which made up 5 teams. There were 3 additional teams made up of staff and Kingsland team members. A team from Monseñor Lezcano, the neighborhood surrounding our church building won the whole tournament!

We were also able to share the gospel with everyone who came and have since seen an increase in growth in our youth program! Praise God for working in the hearts and lives of our youth and continue to pray that He would be known among the neighborhoods He has entrusted us to minister to!

To see more pictures of the soccer tournament, visit our Nuevete facebook page here. Also, become a fan of the group if you haven’t done so already!

Online Giving Update

2011-07-08T14:24:00.001-06:00

We've recently made improvements to our giving system! The company that manages our online giving has changed. If you're currently giving through EasyTithe (our old system), you are currently still able to manage your account. We will determine a date in the future where we will require that all donations be made through the new system.
To make a donation to the general ministry fund using our new giving system, you may do so here. If that link does not work for you, copy and paste this link to your internet browser: https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=41297. In order to donate to a specific missionary working with One by One, visit our giving page at www.onebyonenicaragua.com/give.htm.
Thank you for your help to support the missionaries and ministry of One by One!

Epico

2011-06-29T14:28:00.006-06:00

Last Saturday night, in place of our usual youth group event - Nuevete, One by One hosted an event called Epico – a concert featuring 4 Nicaraguan bands, including our very own Nuevete band. Typically, there are around 75 youth who attend, but this Saturday, we probably had between 175 and 200 people! The night was a great success and we hope that many of the newcomers will become regular attenders to our weekly Nuevete events. It has been a great encouragement to see this ministry grow over the last year!

Westside Church

2011-06-23T12:36:00.001-06:00

A team of 6 men from Westside Church arrived in Managua yesterday and will be serving with One by One through next Wednesday, June 29th.

They will be working on a variety of projects around the church, including replacing the tile floor in a few classrooms, building a more secure wall for The Refuge house, building an additional office for Mike Havlin, Jeremy’s dad to use for ministry, and helping prepare for a computer lab we would like to start soon. In addition, they will be visiting kids, passing out invitations for our services and visiting our partner church, Mayoreo, on Sunday.

The team brought several suitcases of donated supplies down for the ministry, including sound equipment, office supplies, toys, balls, beanie babies, hygiene items, and a guitar! We are so grateful for Westside’s generosity and willingness to come and serve with us this week!

Jeremy’s back!

2011-06-23T11:48:00.001-06:00

After almost 3 months of serving as a Pastor at Discover Church in Greenville, SC, Jeremy Havlin and his wife, Jessica, and daughter, Addi, have returned to Nicaragua. Dan Quigley did an excellent job filling in for Jeremy as the Director of One by One while he was gone, and the Lord greatly blessed us with continued growth in all areas of ministry, despite his absence. However, the staff are all glad to have Jeremy back – welcome home Jeremy!

Beach Day

2011-06-13T14:05:00.001-06:00

After a week of tiring work, the Wildwood team was ready for a day of rest at the beach about an hour away from Managua. Unfortunately, most of them are headed back to the States today with sunburns!

The One by One staff really enjoyed spending the week with the Wildwood team – in fellowship and serving God together. Chase and Julie Russell particularly enjoyed getting to share their lives here with their friends from Oklahoma. We look forward to having them back next summer. Thank you for coming down to serve with us Wildwood!

Update on the stage door

2011-06-13T13:44:00.001-06:00

The Wildwood men, along with Dan Quigley, were able to complete the “hidden” stage door, though not without acquiring some impressive blisters! We look forward to using this new entrance to have our characters come out on stage. Thank you Wildwood for working so hard to complete this project!

House of Hope

2011-06-10T16:19:00.001-06:00

The Wildwood team was able to visit House of Hope, a partner ministry to One by One, this morning to learn about how God is working in this ministry. House of Hope is a vocational and residential program that seeks to remove women and children from prostitution.

Even though the girls were supposed to be in school, they got out early today and a few people on the team were able to meet the girls they sponsor for the first time. The team and the girls enjoyed a sweet time of fun, fellowship, and laughter together.

Carnival Time!

2011-06-10T14:46:00.001-06:00

The Wildwood team has spent their afternoons putting on carnivals in three of the neighborhood’s involved in One by One’s ministry – Loma Verde, Mercado Oriental, and Los Martinez. Below are some photos from the first carnival in Loma Verde.

The kids from the neighborhood were invited to play one of the many games offered, like bowling, and they would earn tickets, which they could later use to either buy things from the “store” or do something fun like face painting or throw a pie in Chase’s face!

The store had many things for sale, including notebooks, pencils, other school supplies, toothpaste, soap, candy, etc. Some of the kids were especially excited about the large toothpastes they bought! (Many of these items were collected and donated by the Wildwood Children’s ministry.)

To see more pictures of the Wildwood team, visit the One by One facebook page and click on the Wildwood Youth Team 2011 photo album.

The Stage Door

2011-06-08T12:51:00.001-06:00

Currently, our skit closet is located behind where all of the kids sit during our services. When a character, like the dog, the chef, or the gorilla, come out to assist with a game, they run through about 200 children to get on stage, oftentimes being “attacked” as they make their way up. Chase Russell, One by One’s children’s director has been wanting to put in a hidden door on stage for a long time and is finally seeing his dreams come to fruition, thanks to the Wildwood team. Check out the video above to see the beginnings of tearing down the wall!

Wildwood arrived!

2011-06-08T11:47:00.001-06:00

The Wildwood high school team arrived safely last night and hit the ground running with orientation this morning.

Before getting started on the work projects, the team toured The Refuge Project house, which Wildwood helped us to purchase in January of this year.

It didn’t take long for us to put them to work however! There are several small teams working on projects like cleaning, painting, designing, destroying (check back later for a video!), and preparing.

This afternoon, the team will be putting on the first of three carnivals for the kids involved in our ministry. Pictured above are the girls prepping all the supplies we will need for the games and events this afternoon.

On the way

2011-06-07T11:34:00.001-06:00

After a delayed flight from OKC, a team of 15 from Wildwood Community Church in Norman, OK made their way to Houston but were too late to catch their flight to Managua last night. They should be arriving tonight if all goes well.

A family of 5 from Colorado Springs who attended Wildwood previously did arrive safely last night and have begun some work projects at Camino de Vida this morning.

Pray for safe travel for the Wildwood team today and for a great week of ministry ahead! Check back here for updates throughout the week.

Día de las madres

2011-05-31T09:25:00.001-06:00

Here in Nicaragua, día de las madres (Mother’s Day) is a big deal. Celebrations aren’t limited to just the day itself. As it’s always on May 30th, this year’s Mother’s Day fell on Monday, and many businesses that are normally open on Monday—including banks—were closed. Many restaurants that are normally closed on Monday were open. Kids got out of school both on Monday and this last Friday. And, of course, the number of cakes and flowers sold skyrocketed.

For the kids’ service, we celebrated by decorating with balloons and teaching kids about obeying their parents in the Lord (Eph 6:1).

Camino de Vida, est. 2009

2011-05-16T17:28:00.001-06:00

Today marks the two-year anniversary of our first kids service at Camino de Vida. It’s a long and short amount of time all at once.

Short in that 2 years hasn’t shown us what kind of impact the ministry will have in the kids lives as they become adults. Short in that for all we’ve learned, we know we still have so much more to learn about developing and managing a ministry that successfully connects kids to Christ. Short in that our rate of change and development has hardly slowed down.

It’s feels long when we reflect on the number of people (kids, parents, volunteers) who have passed through our doors—who has stayed, who has moved on, who has grown closer to God, and even who has grown physically taller.

Thanks to all of you who read, pray, support, and visit! We couldn’t be here without you.

First comes love…

2011-05-13T12:52:00.001-06:00

Today we will be celebrating with Katie Loos and Yeril Lozano as they get married! Yeril started working the youth band over a year ago, and for the last several months has begun getting more involved, including helping with the kids program on Saturday mornings. He’s done a great job being funny characters for skits and has even taught the main lesson to the kids. He works hard, and we all like him.

Katie has had quite the experience in planning a wedding in a language and culture she didn’t grow up in and is definitely glad the big day is finally here.

They are getting married here in Managua at a beautiful locale a little outside the downtown area.

Súper Músculo

2011-05-05T11:46:00.004-06:00

In addition to the gorilla suit we previously posted a video about, a couple of months ago we purchased a few other new costumes, and a team brought them down for us.

For the most part, we just got accessories like some wigs, capes, hats, etc., but one of our more complicated full costumes is our superhero costume. We call it Súper Músculo (meaning Super Muscle Man). It has well-sculpted muscles, an eye mask, and a cape. The difficult thing is that it’s all one piece (not including the eye mask), and doesn’t breathe much, so it’s pretty hot and cumbersome.

Ever since we used the costume the first time, a lot of the kids—including some of the older ones—have forever after viewed the volunteer who wore it as having above-normal strength, even in real life!

An April shower

2011-04-28T10:35:00.002-06:00

Yesterday afternoon in Managua, it rained for the first time in several months. As you can imagine, several months without a drop of rain (the norm for the dry season) causes almost every plant to turn brown. The rolling hills around town, instead of being beacons of lush, tropical vibrancy (to wax poetic) are mounds of yellow grass and scraggly, thirsty trees.

April is notorious for being the hottest month of the year—a fact that we can attest to. Temperatures have been in the upper 90s, there is little wind, and humidity hovers around 60%. Rain, on the other hand, usually lowers the temperature but raises the humidity (75% this morning!). In any case, it’s a welcome change from the dry season monotony.

The rainy season hasn’t fully begun, but we expect it to within the next few weeks.

Semana Santa

2011-04-21T17:09:00.001-06:00

This week is semana santa, which means “holy week” since it is the week that leads up to Easter Sunday. In following with the ways of a lot of businesses here, we have the week off to spend time with our families and will return to work next week.

Happy Easter!

Great Ape

2011-03-29T14:43:00.001-06:00

In February we ordered some new costumes for the kids’ ministry that we’re pretty excited about. The Discover Church construction team brought them down for us, and we’ve wasted no time in putting them to use.

Among them are included an alien mask, a full-body superhero costume (complete with eye mask, cape, and fake muscles), and some biblical-looking attire. But the most impressive one is the monkey suit. It weighs about 10 pounds and even comes with rubber hands and feet.

We recently made a video for the kids using this costume and thought we’d share it with you. Hope you enjoy it:

Refuge House updates

2011-02-22T09:08:00.001-06:00

In lieu of us having to double-post all updates about the progress being made on the Refuge Project house next door, please follow the link to the Refuge Project updates page: http://therefugeproject.blogspot.com.

Here’s a preview of what you’ll find there from the last few days:

House Build Update	Helpers

Make sure to check back there regularly to see how the team is doing and how the house is coming along. It’s looking great and we’re all really excited about it!

Preparandonos (getting ready)

2011-02-17T14:03:00.001-06:00

The construction team arrives tomorrow afternoon to put in a long, hard week renovating the Refuge House. John Asher from Discover Church (who will serve as foreman) arrived yesterday afternoon to begin planning out all the specific details of the job. He along with One by One staff Dan Quigley and Paul Fazio have been running around town yesterday and today buying lumber, screws, Gatorade, and other essentials.

We’ll post pictures once work gets under way.

Some new scenery

2011-02-11T10:50:00.001-06:00

In an effort to make our main room look better, feel better, and sound better, we’ve introduced a number of improvements of late.

1) Movable room dividers. We have a number of 8’x10’ metal frames covered in thick black fabric. This helps the room feel a little smaller during Nuévete (the youth program) so that attention is focused more easily on the stage. It also helps a little bit in reducing echo—which as you can imagine, is greatly needed in a large, rectangular, concrete room.

2) Stage wall backdrop. Where there is bright blue carpeting on the wall behind the stage, we have hung black curtains from floor to ceiling to cover it. This also helps in focusing attention on the people on the stage and reduces a little bit of echo. Plus it just looks cool.

3) Sound booth table. The table in the sound booth that holds the mixing board and the computer that runs the slideshows had been in need of replacing for some time as it was badly warped and wobbly. The new one that we have is a little bigger and also a little lower so flying soccer balls during kids service won’t hit the computer and all the equipment won’t shake every time someone touches the wall.

4) Stage lights. This speaks for itself so I’ll just attach a picture of them when they were being installed so you can see what they look like. Maybe someday we can post a picture of them in action.

Rough Start

2011-01-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

We’ve been back to work now for about two weeks and it feels like we continue to hit difficulty after difficulty. The main laptop we use for all of our slideshows for our church services crashed, our speaker system has stopped working reliably, the internet at the church (which we use constantly for communication, research, and resources) has been out unexplainably, the power goes out when we do have internet, and more seriously, staffer Julie Russell has been hospitalized for several days with kidney failure and other health concerns.

Aside from the hospitalization, all these things aren’t very out of the ordinary, but the fact that they have all been happening at once has been frustrating and discouraging. We don’t know if it’s an unfortunate coincidence or if it’s something more, but we ask that you would pray that despite difficulties, we would honor God and be successful and effective in our ministry.

We’re back!

2011-01-12T09:08:00.001-06:00

Well after a three-week break, most of our One by One staff is back to work in Nicaragua. Those of us from the States enjoyed a refreshing time with family and friends over the Christmas holidays.
This last Saturday we had our first kids’ service of the year, and we’re never quite sure what to expect from the first service after a long break, as kids easily forget dates and times! We made sure to visit as many kids as we could to personally remind them that we had service and invited them to come. As a result of this, we had only a few less than we’re used to—175! As usual, we played games with them, had a silly video, and taught them truth from God’s Word.
We look forward to this new year and continuing to invest in children and youth as we do our work in the gospel. Thanks for all of your prayer and support!

‘Tis the season?

2010-12-10T14:45:00.001-06:00

Every year in Nicaragua, Purísima is celebrated, which is a holiday commemorating the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. Though it has Catholic origins, the majority of the country celebrates it regardless of beliefs.

Purísima (December 7th and 8th) is a bigger event to most people than Christmas is, and there are a lot of traditions and activities associated with it. The most noticeable one is the setting off of firecrackers at 6:00pm, midnight, 6:00am, and noon on the 7th and 8th. Though these are the official times for firecrackers on the holiday, many people all over town use the season as an excuse to set off firecrackers in the street at all hours of the day during the weeks that surround the holiday itself!

Staff Retreat

2010-12-02T15:04:00.001-06:00

Following our Thanksgiving break, the One by One staff gathered together for our annual staff retreat. We spent the first day making presentations – about what God did in 2010 and what our goals and plans are for 2011. We are all excited about what is to come in the new year and our theme for the year is “believe”. We do believe that God can do all that we ask, and that He wants to do great things through the different ministries within One by One. We spent the next couple days relaxing and fellowshipping together as a staff. We got back yesterday and are back to work today. We have 2 Saturdays (both kids and youth services) left before we head to the States for the holidays!

Pooh the Piñata

2010-11-12T16:15:00.001-06:00

Today we had our last piñata party in a neighborhood called Loma Verde. It was our first time to visit this neighborhood and we had over 60 kids come out!

We look forward to continuing to deepen our relationships with the kids and families here. Praise God for a wonderful afternoon of fun, fellowship and candy!

Tropical “Autumn”

2010-11-11T09:57:00.001-06:00

Seasons in Central America aren’t defined so much by the designations familiar to North Americans of “spring”, “summer”, “autumn”, and “winter” as much as they are by the descriptions “rainy” or “dry”. Likewise, there aren’t arbitrary dates to change the seasons. For example, the rainy season doesn’t begin on March 21st (the first day of spring)—it begins when it suddenly starts to rain 5-7 days a week, which is usually towards the end of April.

We are now coming to the end of the rainy season. October, which historically is the rainiest month of the year, actually saw less rain this year than the months before it, and now that we’re in November, we don’t see rain more than once a week (if that).

I couldn’t tell you the meteorological reasons for it, but we’re also enjoying some cooler weather. The humidity is down, and the temperature hasn’t been getting above 90—at night it may even get below 70. To those accustomed to living here, anything below 75 is cold! And we only have more to look forward to as December is usually cooler than November.

More Donated Items!

2010-11-09T08:15:00.000-06:00

Over the past couple of weeks we've received some great donated items. They include several full size filing cabinets, a HUGE whiteboard, and lots of office supplies. All of these items help our office to become more effective at our calling. Thank you so much to Bill and his team for their donations to our ministry. Here are some pictures-

5 piñatas, 200 happy (hyper) kids

2010-11-05T21:08:00.001-06:00

We had our first piñata party on Thursday at the church for the kids in the surrounding neighborhood, Monseñor Lezcano. We didn’t pass out invitations for this one, so we were unsure of how many kids would come, but they trickled in and we ended up with over 50!
Clifford was utterly destroyed, like any good piñata should be. His remains are pictured above.
Paul, Jeremy and Ileana went to Siete Sur with Tasha, the hippo from backyardigans.

Chase and Julie went to Los Martinez with the pink ballerina. She did her share of twirling through the air before her limbs were plucked off.

Barney and the yellow mouse/elephant went to the Oriental Market with Katie, Dan and Pastor Antonio, where they had 2 separate parties. All in all, we had fun, the kids had fun, and it was a great way to meet some new kids that have never come to our services before!

We will have a sixth party next week in Loma Verde, a neighborhood were 15-20 of our kids come from, but we have not yet visited. We’re looking forward to breaking ground in this new place to see what the Lord will do! Pray for us!

Holy Beetle!

2010-11-04T10:54:00.001-06:00

This year we've seen many different kinds of creepy crawly insects, but we found one that is the grandest one of them all. The picture may not do the beetle justice, but this beetle is HUGE...

We hope you enjoy this beetle as much as we do!

An outdoors experience…inside

2010-11-04T09:39:00.001-06:00

One thing we really enjoy about this country is the abundance of large trees—trees that are clearly several decades (if not one or two centuries) old. They are so commonplace that people don’t leave space to revere them; they just build around them. An extreme example of this is the tree growing in the food court of Las Galerías, a nice mall in Managua.

Although it’s not extremely old, this tree is clearly older than the food court. I can’t imagine the effort it must have taken to construct everything just so to keep it from dying, but somehow it was managed. Unfortunately the custom opening in the skylight is too small now, and the glass around it is cracked from the tree shaking in storms.

Piñata Parties

2010-11-03T10:43:00.001-06:00

Today and tomorrow, we will be having parties in each of the neighborhoods that our kids come from. Each party will feature one of the above piñata beauties! Which one would you choose to have at your party?

The Cattle Roundup

2010-10-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last Friday when we were playing at the park with the kids in the Los Martinez neighborhood, there was a cow and a few horses hanging around the park as well. The boys, naturally, decided they needed to chase down the cow, mount, and ride her. Here are a few photos of their fun for your enjoyment:

Julie Winters is Here!

2010-10-26T08:43:00.000-06:00

Julie Winters is a young lady from Columbus, Ohio who is visiting the One by One staff for the week to see how the ministry is growing. She is part of the One by One family and as soon as her fundraising is complete she plans on moving to Nicaragua to love on the kids and make an impact with her administrative skills. We are excited to have her here and we hope this is a refreshing and encouraging week for her. Here is Julie-

Roads in Rainy Season

2010-10-14T08:39:00.001-06:00

Around Managua, most of the roads are paved, but in some places (especially on the edges of town), a dirt road is your only option.

During the rainy season, this becomes difficult, as it can rain pretty heavily, and deep gouges are formed in the roads as the water drains. Below is a picture of a severe rain we had last month:

And here are some pictures of dirt roads we’ve come across recently:

It’s probably safe to say that driving around down here is never boring!

Masaya Volcano

2010-10-13T16:40:00.001-06:00

Masaya volcano is located 20 kilometers south of Managua and is Nicaragua’s first and largest National Park. The volcano continually emits large amounts of sulfur dioxide gas. Over the last 50 years, it has been permanently active and there have been a number of discrete explosive events, including the one in 2001. This explosion caused rocks with diameters up to 60 cm (almost 24 inches) to travel up to 500 m (1640 feet) from the crater, which damaged several vehicles in the area and injured one person. For this reason, there are signs to park with your car facing forward so you can exit quickly in case of emergency! A guided tour of the volcano will provide an interesting story about the volcano’s history. In 1529, the Spaniards erected a giant cross at the summit to exorcise the devil because they believed the crater was the entrance to hell. At night, you can actually look down in the center of the crater and see the lava!

Building Makeover

2010-10-06T16:49:00.000-06:00

Our building used to be mustard yellow, but this past summer a team from Discover Church came and helped us paint it bright green and purple! We just recently added 2 signs so people will know who we are!

One by One/Refuge Project/Camino de Vida sign in the front

Camino de Vida sign on the side of the building

We like the look of the building so much better now! What do you think???

A big thanks to John Meeks for printing the signs and giving them to us!!!

Getting Around

2010-10-05T12:41:00.000-06:00

One of the great things about Nicaragua is that you do not have to own a car to get around. The roads are a little crazy, but it is not very hard to find a wide variety of public transportation to take you anywhere you would like to go for a decent price. A taxi ride in the capital city of Managua can cost about $10 for a long drive, but if it is short it may only be $2. Apart from buses and taxis there are motorcycle taxis and bicycle taxis. These forms of transportation are generally cheap, around 50 cents to about $2 for a ride, and they go where most other forms of transportation cannot. So even if you do not have a car, you can still get around!! Here are some pictures of the motorcycle and bicycle taxis:

Some pics

2010-09-30T23:27:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of the time that Dan, John, Richard, and Chase spent here in Managua:

At the playground in a neighborhood near Camino de Vida

These kids found some tadpoles in a puddle.

Playing jump rope with some kids before the service.

Special Guests

2010-09-29T16:15:00.001-06:00

This past week, we have had the pleasure of having 4 visitors from the States. Dan Atkins and John Asher from Discover Church came from Greenville, South Carolina, and Richard Carver, owner of Little Mountain Productions, and his son, Chase, came from Tulsa, Oklahoma . We really enjoyed getting to know them as a staff, and we were very encouraged by their desire to come and see the ministry face to face. We are grateful for all of the love and support these men have given us. Check back tomorrow for more pictures of their time here!

Silly Video

2010-09-23T08:30:00.000-06:00

Several months ago we wrote about a Ninja Skit that Chase and William did. Recently they also made a first of a series of videos with the same ridiculous characters, using absurd amounts of green screen effects as well as Japanese subtitles to make it seem more “authentic”. English subtitles have been added for your benefit.

Update on the Refuge Project

2010-09-22T13:28:00.001-06:00

Though we had been planning to open the Refuge Project in the building where One by One has their offices and where Camino de Vida (One by One's church) meets, there were several reasons why this was not ideal, including insufficient kitchen and bathroom spaces. Since we want to build a family environment for the kids to promote emotional stability and a sense of security, we started to think about other solutions.

Entrance to the house, next door to Camino de Vida’s entrance

We knew that we eventually wanted to rent a house for the children and host family to live in, but we wanted it to be close to our offices so we can maintain relationships with the kids and family. God, in His mysterious and miraculous ways, provided an available house directly next door to One by One/Camino de Vida. After looking at the house, we feel that it will be the perfect location to start The Refuge Project, although it needs a lot of work.

Pastor Antonio teaching about Joshua to 4-10 year old kids

In addition, we have been able to use the large porch in the front of the house on Saturday nights during the Youth Services, when we have a separate breakout session for kids age 4-10 (pictured below). We are so grateful that God knows the desires of our hearts and for his provision for The Refuge Project!

Pastor Dan is Visiting!

2010-09-21T16:11:00.000-06:00

Our staff is really excited about Pastor Dan visiting on Thursday. Not only is Pastor Dan visiting, but so are John Asher, Richard and Chase Carver. All of these men are great supporters of One by One and of Nicaragua. We will be showing them our ministry and they will be sharing with our staff. We are very excited about their coming!

One by One staff hard at work (or play…)

2010-09-16T15:28:00.001-06:00

Leadership Development

2010-09-10T16:19:00.001-06:00

The last few days, the One by One/Camino de Vida team has been taking part in a leadership webcast called “The Forum”. This conference has covered a wide range of leadership topics brought to us by exemplary leaders like Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, and Erwin McManus, among others. The best part? It was free! Yesterday, we had to succumb to some connection and power outage issues, and had to miss a few of the sessions. Today, however, everything went smoothly, and we enjoyed a time of fellowship, learning, and growing together as a team of leaders. We are thankful that things like this are offered and that we can take part, even from Nicaragua!

Ultimate Forgiveness

2010-09-08T17:00:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday, we finished up our series on forgiveness that we have been focusing on for the past 5 weeks in Niños de Vida. We have looked at the parable of the unforgiving servant, Joseph and the forgiveness he gave his brothers, forgiving people who aren’t repentant, and what it looks like to actually forgive someone. We concluded by studying the ultimate forgiveness that Christ has offered us through his death on the cross. We were able to share the gospel with almost 200 kids and provide them each with a bracelet as a reminder of what Christ has done for us. We look forward to seeing and being a part of these kids growing closer to God!

Our Official Seal!

2010-09-08T08:11:00.000-06:00

We've been working hard at getting our ministry's legal papers processed and accepted here in Nicaragua so that we can continue to serve faithfully and we are almost done! One of the last steps is to get our official seal made so that all of our documents will be legally accepted by the Nicaraguan government and now we have one and here it is:

One of the amazing parts about getting our paper work through has been how quickly we've been approved by the Nicaraguan government. In fact our lawyer, who has worked with many organizations, said that she has never seen papers get approved so quickly. She called Jeremy just to say that the Lord must be with us because this paper work never goes through this fast. She said that things that take one month to get approved have only taken 2 or 3 days. She truly is blown away by what she is seeing. For us it has truly been awesome to see how the Lord has opened up such doors for us to serve in Nicaragua. He is good!

Window Washers

2010-09-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

You have probably heard the statistics, but poverty is rampant in Nicaragua and jobs are hard to come by. People make money to support themselves and their families however they can. Meet Javier (pictured above). He works as a window washer every day at an intersection very close to Camino de Vida. Over the last year, the One by One staff has come to love Javier. Every time he sees one of us (he recognizes our cars), he will run over to wash our windshield, or just to talk. He will even run from a different corner of the intersection to greet us. He works hard (he will scrape bird droppings off with his fingernail) and with a smile on his face. A window washer generally makes anywhere from 1 to 3 Cordobas per wash (5-15 cents), and of course, has to submit to the weather (rain, heat, etc). We hope to continue to building a relationship with Javier and blessing him for his hard work!

Tree of Warning

2010-09-02T14:03:00.001-06:00

Two blocks from the church lies an open manhole. This is actually fairly common, and is just one more reason why you have to drive carefully (imagine catching a wheel in one!). The difference with this manhole, however, is that someone was kind enough to mark it with a flag so that an unsuspecting driver wouldn’t suffer devastating damage to their car.

The flag itself (a tiny strip of blue cloth) doesn’t do so much to warn you as much as the tree that it’s attached to does. Not a proper tree, I suppose, but a very large tree branch. When it was first put in this pit a week or two ago, it towered over the street by a good 8-10 feet and was covered in leaves.

But alas—life is hard for a tree in a manhole, and already the effects are evident: all the leaves are gone, and the branch only reaches about 5 feet off the ground. Below is a picture of it. In another week or two, I suspect it will have disappeared altogether, and we’ll just have to drive carefully again.

Art 4 Awareness

2010-09-01T11:57:00.001-06:00

Clint Brewer, a fine art photographer, who visited Nicaragua in June with a team from Woodcreek Church in Dallas, captured some powerful images during his time here. Since returning to the States, he has put together a website, which you can find here, where you can purchase those images to support both One by One and House of Hope. Please go check out the website, and consider purchasing an image to support our ministry! It can serve as a reminder for you to pray for the ministry, missionaries, and Nicaraguan children and youth.

In addition, Clint held an exhibit at Woodcreek this past weekend to show his artwork, and share with others about the ministry being done here in Nicaragua. Approximately 250-300 people came, and several One by One staffers were able to skype (video call) in and meet many of them! Thank you Clint for your hard work and passion to support the work God is doing through One by One and House of Hope.

Dios es Bueno!

2010-08-27T09:26:00.001-06:00

Enjoy this video of a recent kids service where the kids sang about the goodness of God in the song “Dios es Bueno”!

The Little Things

2010-08-26T16:23:00.001-06:00

Lately, we have been praising God for some of the little things we have seen him do. One of which is that a volunteer that works with Camino de Vida recently had her cell phone stolen. As there was no money to replace the phone, she has gone without for the last month. Though the details are a bit muddy, her phone was actually returned this week! We are thankful that we serve a God who constantly provides for us!

Also, we have a boy, who is known as “El Gato”, who has been attending our youth group for quite awhile. A few weeks ago when we were visiting him and the kids in his neighborhood, we accidentally left behind our soccer ball. As he has been known as a thief and tends to be one of the causes of danger in this particular neighborhood, we didn’t expect to see the ball ever again. However, the following Saturday, he came running up to Jeremy to return the ball, proud of his honesty and good care of it. We are so excited to see God changing the hearts and lives of the kids and youth through Camino de Vida.

Pitahaya

2010-08-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

Pitahaya (pronounced pea-tie-ah), called dragonfruit in the States, is a baseball-sized fruit that grows from a vine-like cactus found in Latin America and some parts of Asia. It has an unusual appearance both inside and out, with a lobed, soft, fleshy peel, and a richly colored, almost kiwi-like interior. Right now it’s in season and can be found just about anywhere fruit is sold for about 60 cents each.

Locals mix the dark purple juice with lime juice to make a sweet drink or they use it to flavor/color ice cream. The fruit is high in vitamin C, fiber, calcium, and antioxidants, but is usually mixed with so much sugar that it’s hard to claim that it’s healthy!

32 for One

2010-08-20T13:31:00.001-06:00

One by One is a ministry that has been greatly blessed. We have been blessed by the body of Christ all over the U.S. that has faithfully supported us financially and through prayer over the last couple years. We have been blessed by the hundreds of kids that participate in our ministry each week. And we are blessed to be a part of what God is doing to reach Nicaraguans with the gospel of Christ.

If you have been a part of blessing us, we want to say thank you! Our ministry would not survive without the faithful support of people and churches like you!

However, the needs are great. If you are interested in getting involved with supporting One by One, participating in the “32 for One” program would be a great way to do so! By giving $32 a month (only about $1 a day), you can be a part of reaching Nicaraguan children and youth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Every dollar given is tax deductible. For more information or to view a video about “32 for One”, visit our website here. You can make the difference.

GHOP

2010-08-19T11:50:00.001-06:00

GHOP, as you may have guessed from its name, is a local knock-off of IHOP. Not satisfied with IHOP’s use of the term “International” (which apparently only includes Canada and Mexico) George, the “G” in “GHOP”, decided to come down and start his own House Of Pancakes right here in Managua. His son used to work for IHOP in the States and consequently knows all of their recipes.

Though hilarious in its shameless imitation of style, we find it easy to forgive because of the (usually) tasty food, the air conditioning and free wi-fi.

Street Celebration

2010-08-18T23:00:00.001-06:00

If you aren’t sure what Santo Domingo is, you can read the previous blog post on the topic found here. Also, you can view the video above to get a small taste of the many celebrations that have been taking place in Managua the last few weeks in honor of this holiday. (The firecracker rockets have been plentiful!)

Wednesday – Soccer and Service

2010-08-13T18:24:00.001-06:00

Half of the team went to House of Hope on Wednesday to help with some work projects there and half the team stayed at Camino de Vida to help with some additional touch-up painting inside the building.

Here are Megan, Sean, Levi, and Ed in front of the Discover team’s neon masterpiece!

Wednesday afternoon, we rounded up some kids from the neighborhood for a game of soccer before the service we had planned for them! It started to rain a little right before the service, but God answered prayer and it did not pour (which would have kept kids from coming and/or been so loud that the kids wouldn’t have been able to hear during the service!)

During the service, Megan came out as a clown (on the top right in the above picture) to help us with a game of boliche (bowling)!

We also played a game of “Red Light/Green Light”, and Michael, Levi, and Richard came out as a burglar and ninjas to make the game a little more fun. Ileana did the lesson again on the armor of God, and the kids loved it! We had between 50-60 kids and we are so thankful to be able to continue building relationships with kids and families right where we are.

Wednesday night, most of the One by One staff said their goodbyes to the DC team, as Thursday was their free day and they headed off to relax at a Laguna de Apoyo and debrief about the week. Thank you Discover team for all of your help this week! We enjoyed getting to know you all and serve the Lord together in furthering the Love of Christ in the lives of Nicaraguan kids and youth!

Tuesday – Paint and Playtime

2010-08-11T17:22:00.000-06:00

Tuesday the team finished up with the green and purple paint. They did 2 (and in some places 3) coats on the outside of the building and then painted a few of the rooms inside the church. The One by One staff is very grateful to the Discover team with their help in painting the building!

The team and staff enjoyed lunch together and then we headed out to the Los Martinez neighborhood.

We walked around to invite kids to come and play with us at the park nearby.

And then we had a great time playing soccer, playing on the slide and teeter totter, and conversing with the kids and each other. (There had been a Nicaraguan circus camped out at the park for several weeks, and we are glad that it is finally gone, so that we can have our park back!)

More Painting!

2010-08-10T10:03:00.001-06:00

Monday, the team worked hard at all the detail work of painting the church!

Richard finishing the bottom border

Paul painting part of the steps

Today they also added the purple to the posts! And Sean and Megan were working hard on the backside of the building.

After we finished painting for the day, we split into 4 teams to hand out invitations for a special service we are having Wednesday afternoon for the kids that live in the neighborhoods surrounding the church

Monday evening we were able to fellowship together and hear from Mike Havlin, Jeremy’s dad, who has been a missionary for many years in several countries. We heard about the hardships (snakes, power outages, spiders, eating grubs, etc) and the joys (seeing lives changed and ministry multiply). It was a great time of learning about God’s work in other places around the world, and seeing how we can be used if we trust in God and are willing to go wherever he calls us! Thank you Mike for being willing to share with us!

Saturday Services

2010-08-09T09:10:00.001-06:00

Saturday, the Discover team helped with both our kids service in the morning and our youth service in the afternoon.

The team and missionary staff spending time together before the service

Team members and kids playing an egg toss game during the service

Ed, Danny, Sean and Richard aiding Jeremy with the lesson about forgiveness when Joseph forgave his brothers for selling him

The old man (Ed), the pirate (Michael), and the dog (Levi) playing musical chairs with the kids

The kids getting ready to leave: we had about 400 kids Saturday morning! The team gave them each a gift bag with items they brought from the States.

The team also helped with the youth service, and Michael and Danny both shared their testimonies with the 50 youth that came. It was a wonderful time to worship together, study God’s Word and talk about what He’s done in our lives.

On Sunday, the team joined the missionary staff at ICF, or International Christian Fellowship, for church, and afterwards went shopping at the Market and enjoyed some rest and time of fellowship together.

House of Hope

2010-08-07T08:48:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, the Discover team went to visit House of Hope, a vocational rehabilitation center and shelter for women and young girls who desire to get out of a life of prostitution. The team started off by meeting the director April Havlin and hearing about the history of HOH and how God has been working through this ministry.

Afterwards, we put on a kids program for the 40 little girls and boys who live at HOH. We played games like musical chairs, sang worship songs, and had a lesson about putting on the armor of God from One by One staff member, Ileana.

After the special event, the team handed out gifts to all the children, which included notebooks, pencils, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. In addition, Mary, one of the mission team members, got to meet the girl that she sponsors at House of Hope, Reyna. Reyna was excited all day at school, telling everyone that she was going to meet her sponsor that afternoon! What a blessing from God! After the program, the team spent some more time with April and several of the girls, ladies, and families that live at HOH, including Alma, Sisney, and Maria José. These three girls had been coming to our Niños de Vida service, when we found out that they were being forced into prostitution. Since the Refuge Project has not opened yet, we asked April if they could come live at HOH, and she said they could if we could pay for their monthly expenses. We asked Discover Church to help us with this, and they have been supporting these three precious little girls since March, helping provide food, school supplies and a shelter for them. Alma (on the right) has been able to start attending school for the first time in her life! Praise God for Discover, One by One, House of Hope and the ministry partnerships that have formed to make a difference in these girls lives.

Painting, Prepping, and Practicing

2010-08-06T13:00:00.001-06:00

The Discover team has been busy serving at Camino de Vida today. The messiest job they’re doing, by far, is painting the outside of the church! Right now, they are painting it bright lime green, and later next week, they’ll be painting the posts a plum (purple) color. The colors are bright and fun, and very Nicaraguan!

Along with painting, they put together 500 gift bags to give out at our Saturday Niños de Vida service. They also made 45 to give to the girls at House of Hope, where we will be having an event this afternoon.

And the last thing we did this morning was practice for Saturday morning’s service. Below, you’ll see Jeremy teaching about forgiveness, using the story of Joseph (Jacksel on the ~~chair~~ throne) forgiving his brothers for selling him into slavery. (While Danny and Sean are bearing the prince on his royal folding chair, Ed and Richard serve as fierce bodyguards.)

The neighborhood

2010-08-06T11:05:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit the kids from the Oriental Market and Siete Sur neighborhoods with the team. We were able to hand out about 300 invitations to our service this Saturday. We also played soccer and met several new kids and families.

As we were starting to head back towards the van, it started pouring! We tried to run, but we all ended up hopelessly soaked. We anticipate a large turnout at our next service and we our glad to have the team here to help us out!

They’re here!

2010-08-05T13:42:00.001-06:00

The team has arrived!!! So far, they’ve had orientation, a tour of the church, and have just unloaded all the gifts they brought to give to the kids! (Thank you Discover!) We are excited about the coming week and what the Lord is going to do with the team, the kids, and One by One! Be praying for us this week!

Discover Team 2010

2010-08-05T09:34:00.001-06:00

As we speak, the Discover Church team of 9 people from Greenville, South Carolina is on their way to Nicaragua! They will arrive around lunch time and we will hit the ground running, as we go into the neighborhoods this afternoon to play with kids. We are excited about the week ahead with them, as they will be helping to paint the outside of the church (bright green!), and also participating in several ministry activities with kids and youth. Check back for pictures and updates throughout the week!

A Nicaraguan Holiday!

2010-08-03T15:01:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday was a national holiday celebrating the patron saint of Nicaragua, Santo Domingo or Minguito (which is his nickname). The holiday actually starts on the 1st of August when a small statue, a little less than a foot and a half tall, is carried from a small church in Santo Domingo Nicaragua all the way to the downtown cathedral in Managua. Many places shut down as Nicaraguans dress up and pay homage to and make vows to Minguito. Many streets were closed, and the US Embassy advised people to stay away from crowded areas due to alcohol. Here is a picture to show you what Santo Domingo looks like:

Paul Fazio

2010-07-29T22:09:00.001-06:00

Paul Fazio moved to Nicaragua yesterday from Dallas, Texas. He joins us from Woodcreek Church, and we are so glad to have him! His part of the One by One staff will be as the Go Programs director, and today was his first day in the office. He was able to join us for our weekly staff meeting and he also went to the market with Jeremy to get a desk for his new office. In the coming weeks, he will be getting settled here, helping with the Discover Church team, and then diving into Spanish classes. Bienvenido a Nicaragua Paul!

Saturday Services!

2010-07-28T14:56:00.000-06:00

We're back from the states and we've hit the ground running!! On Saturday we had our normal kids and youth services and we weren't sure how the turnout would be. We were pleasantly surprised to have 260 kids at the morning service! This is more than we had the couple weeks right before we left, and right in the average range of what had been coming. And even more exciting is that we saw new kids too!!

A couple of the kids on Saturday morning

Berta and Jessica after handing out the candy at the end of the service.

For our youth service we also had a good turnout, around the 45-50 youth that have been coming faithfully for some time now. For some reason our bus never showed up to do the bus route on Saturday evening so we had to go and pick up the youth in a truck, some of the youth walked to the service. This isn't the first time that they've walked several miles to make it to the youth service. It's incredible to see what God is doing here!