By: Amelia Wyatt
This past December, Cami Lee and I ran a booth for One by One at Christmas in Davidson. Christmas in Davidson is a Christmas celebration and people are allowed to set up booths and sell items to the people who come to Davidson for three nights of events. These events include singing and music, carriage rides and a Christmas parade. Through our booth, we raised donations for One by One and La Escuelita, another organization I am taking part in. La Escuelita runs a pre-school for Hispanic children.

We stocked the booth with sweets like cake pops, cupcakes, marshmallow pops, brownies, and more. We had paper ornaments which Olivia Lee help create, and also had bracelets/hair bows, Costa Rican and Christmas inspired cards, cat toys, Costa Rican knick knacks, and dog toys. All of the items, with the exception of the Costa Rican knick knacks, were home made by either me, Cami, or Olivia (with some help from our moms!). We spent over a month making all these items.
In addition to selling the majority of our items, Christmas in Davidson gave us the opportunity to meet lots of people and spread information about One by One and La Escuelita. It was great seeing so many people walk in and out of our booth, seeing little kids pointing to our booth and running there, but most of all, it was really rewarding to see people get excited about what we are doing.

In total, we raised $2,700.00, half going to One by One and half to La Escuelita. We also received separate donations for One by One of $2,800.00. Thank you to all who donated. It is making a great difference in our effort to spread love and positivity through One by One.

Some people asked me: why is One by One important to you? What makes you work for this cause? It is because of so many reasons. I am inspired by seeing the stands packed with people cheering on the One by One soccer teams, and seeing a child with little hope or future grow and start teaming with love and positivity because of One by One. This organization invokes a change in people and that makes me very happy. I love growing with the other Costa Rican children and learning from all the experiences seasoned into my life from helping; I love meeting new people and making new friends; but mostly, I love giving people opportunity to live a full and abundant life, and am forever grateful I'm in the position to do so.

By:  Ben and Daniel Wyatt
When we started the One by One program, our plan was to provide permanent funding for the program. Because of the large number of soccer players, it takes over $15,000 to run the program each year.  Initially, we discussed with Pastors William and Anais Padilla the idea of raising enough money to buy a soccer field.  The plan was for the soccer field to be rented to other teams, and perhaps to build some buildings that could be used for a church retreat.  Over the past two years, we looked at various pieces of land in the San Jose area that were for sale. In order to make the soccer field accessible to all the players, it needed to be located in the central part of the city.  The land that was available was very expensive (over $1 million) and some of the land needed extensive work.  Although we have been able to raise over $200,000, buying a soccer field was simply out of our reach.

We prayed about the situation with Pastors William and Anais Padilla, and consulted with Dr. Steve and Rebecca Scott.  Dr. Scott and his wife have been major supporters of our program. After much thought and prayer, we decided to change course.  We began looking for buildings that would be suitable for a permanent home for the Vuelo de Aguila church.   The church has been renting different locations for its services and programs for the last several years. During our last trip to Costa Rica, we found a building that was ideal for the church. This piece of land cost $525,000. On June 27, 2014, we coupled the donations we raised over the last several years with a generous loan from Dr. Steve and Rebecca Scott and were able to purchase this building. The church will use its donations to pay the remaining balance of the loan, and will also use donations to fund the One by One soccer program on a permanent basis. In addition, we will continue to raise funds to help pay off the balance of the loan. Because the church will eventually have a building that will be debt-free, some of its donations can be used for the One by One program, as well as other church programs.

We definitely feel that God has guided us through this project, but not always in ways that we anticipated. We believe that the purchase of the building is the best way to not only support the Vuelo de Aguila church, but to ensure that the One by One  program is a force for permanent and positive change in the lives of teens in Costa Rica.

The church and its members are the people who make the program work, and who provide the weekly guidance and leadership for the players. The church has also hired professional soccer trainers to work with the teens, and to provide an environment for growth, opportunity, and change.  The One by One program is designed to provide an opportunity to teens in Costa Rica who, through their own hard work and effort, use it to better themselves in their community and to learn about Jesus.

We are excited about the future of One by One  and the Vuelo de Aguila church. We are also deeply appreciative of the guidance and leadership of Pastors William and Anais Padilla, as well as the incredible generosity of Dr. Steve and Rebecca Scott.