One Way International

04/01/2025

Thank you to all who have donated to One Way International through Champions fore Charity this year. We're almost halfway to our $10,000.00 goal. We appreciate you all and wanted to remind you that if you'd still like a chance to help us reach our goal this year, the fundraiser ends April 14. You still have a few more days to give. Attached is the link to make a donation. Just a reminder, if you decided to make a donation, an additional 7% will be added to your contribution through this campaign. Thank you for your continued support of this ministry.

Champions fore Charity makes a 107% difference. Donors are champions fore supporting charities and school programs. Charities are champions fore support our community.

02/05/2025

Happy 2025! One Way International is once again a part of Valero's annual Champions fore Charity fundraiser. When you give through Champions for Charity, an additional 7% is added to your gift. These funds will help provide for our ministry at Kerrybrook Apartments. We appreciate any and all of your support and are so grateful for amazing people like you. To donate online please use this link: https://donate.championsforecharity.org/OneWatInternational/

10/03/2024

Seven weeks of school are complete. Teacher Appreciation breakfast and gifts have been provided. Kids Club has begun. We are thrilled to have 68 students registered thus far this year. Our school year is well underway.

We now turn additional focus to “Food for Families” for Kerrybrook Apartment families registered for food in November, to the production of the 2025 One Way International student art calendar, and “Gifts of Love” baskets for families of Kids Club students which will be given out in December. Additionally, we will be providing a Christmas celebration at the Kerrybrook Apartments in December complete with crafts, tamales, a pinata, and lots of gifts for residents. We always share the gospel at this event and have Bibles for anyone desiring one. Families are open to hear of God’s love for them and the community, experienced at this event.

05/21/2024

OWI is collecting school supplies for 75 students, kindergarten though high school at the Kerrybrook Apartments and Colonial Hills Elementary School for the 2024-25 school year. We work with many of these students year-round on campus or at the apartments. Please pray that all supplies will be given by individuals or finances will be provided to purchase items. The following is a list of supplies needed no later than July 31, 2024:

05/21/2024

THANK YOU to all our donors for your continued support of this ministry and our ministry partners. In addition to our faithful monthly donors, seventeen donors gave $7,850.00 to our annual fundraiser, Champions fore Charity. We met 78% of our goal with April 15th being the end of this year’s fundraiser opportunity. Thank you to everyone for giving online, by check, through Champions fore Charity or in any other way to keep this ministry strong and able to serve God. Your trust in the work we do and care about the people to whom we minister is a blessing and encouragement.

05/21/2024

At our final Kids Club this spring, we were blessed to give a very special coach who we've worked with at Colonial Hills baby gifts to celebrate the birth of her baby girl in June. She has been a joy and amazing person to partner with on campus this school year. Her husband serves at a local church and they are a precious, believing couple. Please pray for her and her husband as they welcome their first baby.

In addition, we were thrilled to give out twenty-two Scripture and Books of the Bible awards and eight attendance awards at our last Kids Club on April 30th. These kids worked hard and deserved the recognition. We are so proud of all our Kids Club students and wish them well this summer.

Our students loved their small group leaders! Thank you so much for your time and commitment in their lives. We greatly appreciate you! Our ministry to these children would not be possible without you.

03/07/2024

Happy Spring! We just wanted to pop on with a quick update and to let you know how grateful we are for your continued prayers and support.

Kids Club is in full swing and we are currently studying Christ’s miracles and New Testament teachings. Students love the music time with action songs, learning memory verses, New Testament books of the Bible, and spending time in small groups with their small group leaders. The one-on-one attention they receive is treasured by our students. Ann and Noemi are visiting each small group presenting the gospel in either English or Spanish and answering any questions the students have about salvation. Thank you for praying for this special time we have to teach spiritual truths to these precious young ones.

We continue to study through Old Testament lessons at Teen Time. Recently, we studied about being an authentic Christ follower and what that means. Up next, we will be studying David, Solomon, and other Old Testament kings. Part of the time we spend with our teens each week is spent in taking prayer requests and helping them to become comfortable in praying for these requests individually within the group. Please pray that they would see answers to their prayers and know they are from God, not just coincidences in their lives.

Finally, by now you've probably received a couple of our newsletters along with our Champions fore Charity fundraiser information. We appreciate everyone who has taken the time to give so far and as of today your contributions have raised 78% of our goal. We praise God for your faithfulness and generosity. If you haven't had the opportunity to give and are still interested in making a difference, I am attaching the link for your convenience. The fundraiser ends April 15 so there's still plenty of time to contribute. As a reminder, Valero will donate an additional 7% of whatever is raised during the fundraiser to One Way International. We greatly appreciate all you do.

Champions fore Charity makes a 107% difference. Donors are champions fore supporting charities and school programs. Charities are champions fore support our community.

06/06/2023

Happy Summer 2023! Here's a quick update of what OWI has been and will be up to for the next few months. We would really appreciate your prayers for safe travels for kids to and from retreats.

May 26 was a wonderful day to “treat” the entire staff at Colonial Hills Elementary School to a bar-b-que lunch. Thanks to your generous giving, we were able to give away over 30 gift cards and 30 gifts to deserving faculty as an End-of-Year thank you for a job well done during the 2022/23 school year. There were smiles and laughter, sighs of relief, and a spirit of anticipation for the summer break. We ended the day with prayer for the summer ahead. Please pray with us that all will have a well deserved rest and time of relaxation over these next few months and be ready and recharged to return in the fall for a new school year.

June 4 though 9, twenty-one students from Colonial Hills Kids Club will head to His Hill Ranch Camp in beautiful Comfort, Texas. They will enjoy swimming, canoeing, horseback riding, and many other fun activities throughout the day as well as yummy meals, and amazing times of Bible study and small group devotionals. Students return from camp having grown in their relationship with the Lord, encouraged by the Godly counselors they have all week, and with a new desire to grow in the Word of God. July 17 though 20, students from Teen Time at Kerrybrook Apartments will go on retreat in Bandera, Texas. They too will get to ride horses, swim, enjoy yummy meals, great Bible studies, and personal prayer times. We will be spending a day painting inside and out at a local church as well this summer. Our students desire to serve others and we are privileged to be able to help this community in a tangible way. Please pray for all of these students to have a positive experience that impacts and changes their lives in a meaningful way forever.

In July, One Way International will be registering approximately 80 students for school supplies with distribution in August. Below is a short list of items you can be on the lookout for if you enjoy purchasing supplies for our students and families:

Elmer’s glue sticks
#2 Pencils
10 Washable Crayola Classic broad tip markers
Sharpie Highlighters
Wide ruled Spirals
Wide ruled Composition books
2 pocket folders with brads
Wide ruled notebook paper
Blue or black pens
3x3 Post-it notes
Sharpie markers—black & colors
Expo markers—all colors
3x5 Index cards
24 count Crayola crayons
Backpacks

Thank you for praying so faithfully for One Way International and thank you for supporting OWI so generously!

11/14/2022

Fall and the holiday season are upon us! At One Way International that means lots of outreach activity!

Teen Time students have already had a lesson on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Next week practices start for their second annual Christmas pageant for the apartment complex in which they live. The next five weeks, teens will either be practicing for the pageant, packing and delivering food for families, or presenting the Christmas pageant. Families in the apartment complex are invited to come see their kids perform, enjoy some community time together, hear the gospel message with an invitation to receive Christ, sing Christmas carols, and receive lots of door prizes. Our teens are excited. They love to serve. Pray that the message of the holidays will be reality for them as they live “the act of giving” and realize “the truth of the love of God” through becoming immersed in the story and meaning of Christmas. As they finish their fall semester and finals at school we will take them all out for Christmas dinner together. Another youth group has offered to pack bags of seasonal goodies and OWI Teen Time teens will take those bags door-to-door in their complex before going to dinner; serving once again. We are blessed by them!

Kids Club students will be learning the true story of Christmas, participating in an activity to show that it is truly a blessing to give, and experiencing the opportunity to be a blessing to their families throughout the month of November. Gifts of Love donations are being put together to make beautiful baskets for the students to choose from for their families. Craft packets are being assembled for the students to enjoy, gift bags for each student including a warm fleece blanket, a stuffed animal, and Christmas goodies have been put together and we are looking forward to a wonderful Gifts of Love celebration with the students we minister to at our after school Kids Club.

Winter coats and jackets are being collected for those who don’t have coats at the elementary school with which we work. Sizes needed range from children’s small to adult medium. Coats are given to students in grades Kinder through 5th. We request coats given to be new or gently used, clean, and ready to distribute. Texas is a place where we don’t usually experience snow and bitter cold, but for some children without coats, when the cold snaps occur, it can still be a bitter time. Please consider providing a coat, hoodie, or jacket for those who are in need. We will be accepting coats and donations to purchase coats and jackets from now through January. Thank you for your consideration.

Wishing you and yours a blessed and meaningful holiday season!

10/17/2022

Kids Club began September 20th!
We have a delightful team and group of students this year! The team includes 20 members and we have 85 students registered with more registrations still coming in. We look forward to a year of rich learning of Old Testament Bible lessons and books of the Bible. Please be in prayer for many to understand the gospel and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and for much growth in those students who have already believed in Jesus.

Teen Time is going strong this Fall!
We are studying the Old Testament in Teen Time as well. We are beginning a three-week series about Joseph after studying a single lesson on “I Wonder Why?” and two weeks on “The sufferings of Job.” All of us are so glad to be able to meet unmasked for the most part and have our food and fellowship time as in the past. We love hearing the laughs, seeing their expressions, and being mostly “back to normal” after the long Covid interruption. Students are looking forward to packing and delivering Food for Families in November and acting out the birth of Christ in December. Please be in prayer for our wonderful students!

Gifts of Love Gift Baskets for our Student’s Families!
If you would like to give gifts for baskets we would be very appreciative. All gifts are needed in the OWI office by November 1 for packing this year. Below are suggested items you may want to consider. Thank you so much for your generosity!

Women’s lotions, Bath scrubbies, Pot holders, Kitchen towels, Women’s colognes, Cosmetic bags, Kitchen utensils, Kitchen sponges, Women’s wallets, Fluffy winter socks, Lip balm, Fingernail polish, Men’s colognes, Flashlights, Mirrors, Brushes/combs, Men’s wallets, Men’s socks, Men’s gloves, Work/sports socks, Notepads, Home décor items, Warm, fluffy personal blankets for students

09/26/2022

School supplies have been given out, staff breakfast for all staff at Colonial Hills Elementary School has been provided, and students are back in school. Thank you so much for praying for students and families and providing much-needed school supplies and even some backpacks that were gratefully received. If you ever see good deals on school supplies, backpacks, and supplies for teachers and want to pick them up, we are more than happy to receive them any time of the year. We use them for new students, teacher appreciation gifts, and pass them on to the family specialist at the school who helps families as they transfer or enroll later in the school year. No supplies ever go to waste.

Kids Club has begun!
We are rejoicing that God is providing us a full team this year! We have 18 team members with 2 still pending. We have accepted second through fifth grade students once again this year. School scheduling needs compel us to teach the Christmas lesson the week before Thanksgiving and have Gifts of Love the week after Thanksgiving. There will be no clubs in December. If you would like to provide gifts or donate for the purchase of gifts, we wanted to let you know of the earlier calendar time this year. We are already buying and accepting gifts. Feel free to drop off any items you may want to donate. Thank you for your prayers and generous support.

Gifts of Love will be November 29th this year!

06/13/2022

June 5th, twelve very excited girls and boys boarded a bus headed for His Hill Ranch Camp in Comfort, Texas. They and their families were grateful for the opportunity of a week-long camping experience. We were not able to send students to camp for the last two years due to Covid 19. I enjoyed taking them to camp and getting them checked in. I left and prayed they would have a great time. I woke up during the week praying they were having a good week. Today when Pete and I arrived to pick students up, we were greeted with big smiles and some tears. In a short period of time these boys and girls had grown attached to their camp counselors. Most were not ready to leave. When asked what their favorite activities were, following were their answers: “riflery, canoeing, horseback riding, and swimming!” They also enjoyed the singing and Bible times. Please pray that the many lessons taught as well as the fun experienced will be long remembered by these wonderful students.

Please remember our School Supply project in July. We have over 30 students already registered and expect a total of 80-100 students registered by the July 13 deadline. With inflation, there is a great need this year. We will be collecting funds and supplies through July 25, packing supplies July 31, and distributing supplies August 6. Students go back to school this year on August 10. Please pray for safety and a good year.

We are looking forward to taking our Teen Time students on retreat July 19-21. We have four girls and three boys planning on attending. Please pray for a for a wonderful time of prayer, Bible study, horseback riding, swimming, worship, and games as we enjoy spending time with the Lord in the beautiful Texas hillcountry.