Finding Genuine Connection: Gabriel Garcia’s Journey in Ecuador
Gabe Garcia went to Shandia, Ecuador expecting to build things and came home thinking about how well he knew the people he served. What barefoot kids and cheerful home repairs taught him about connection.
Discovering Deeper Purpose: Noah Swanson’s Journey
Noah Swanson has been to Masatepe, Nicaragua three times in four years. On this trip shared meals, music and friendships with local youth mattered more than projects, and his prayer life changed at home.
My Business is My Mission
Andrew Babyak, Messiah University business professor, on his years in Senegal and why half-hearted ventures erode trust. His case for building a real business, with local partners paid from its profits.
Clarity for the Future and Creating Safe Spaces: Emma Narber’s Journey
Emma Narber interned with One Collective in Athens, Greece in 2022, working with refugee women and alongside Nea Zoi’s anti-trafficking team. How a summer of uncertainty gave her direction and a calling.
Getting People in the Same Room
In Elgin, Illinois, Catalyst Bobby Jackson and Alex Madrid pull nonprofits, churches and city officials into one plan to end chronic homelessness. Their odd measure of success: serving fewer people each week.
The Impact of Strategic Partnership
Calvary Community Church in Williams Bay, Wisconsin partnered with Mapalo Trust School in Chibolya, Zambia. Retired educators, teacher-led priorities and $25,000 for classrooms show what listening first produces.
Leaning Into the Uncomfortable
Hope Trainor arrived in Cowley, England as a planner who packed every hour. Her Catalyst, Lola, handed the interns open space instead. What she learned about saying no and ministry as people, not projects.
The Long Work
A One Collective engineer came to Central Asia to show women another path, and found water projects only reached men. How parallel women’s and men’s projects, and plenty of mistakes, are changing families.
It’s Not What You Think It Is
Researcher Joy Lee on why dramatic rescue stories distort Christian anti-trafficking work. The case for listening to survivors, protecting their agency and accepting that recovery is rarely a straight line.
Change-Maker
Libbie spent her life next to Chibolya, Zambia, and wanted a place where people could know God and learn to provide for themselves. She died in April 2022; the young women she helped carry on her work.
Setting the Stage for Lasting Change
In Chibolya, Zambia, a women’s empowerment program started by Ben and Kristin Choitz is helping women like Sylvia, a single mother of six, build real businesses. A new ministry center is about to multiply it.
Generosity That Multiplies
After selling their business, Robert and Tessa Swarthout wanted their giving to build independence, not dependence. Why One Collective’s model gave them a way to invest in communities shaping their own futures.
Empowering Innovation that Transforms a Community
In Buffalo City, South Africa, a generation of job scarcity has left young adults disillusioned. Catalyst Scott Worley is piloting entrepreneurial training that starts with mindset, not short-term fixes.
Rebuilding Hope Together
When war sent displaced families into Uzhhorod, Ukraine, Doug Landro’s team had 14 churches and 21 organizations already at the table. How those ties became 18 solar-powered tiny homes and a community center.
Working Together to See the Invisible
Rachel and Alonso Silva coordinate volunteers from 10 churches to mentor young people in state care in Santiago, Chile. Yanira, who entered protection at 12, is beginning to see her own worth.
Hope in Complex Situations
In central Athens, Greece, Danielle Kelly’s team could not serve every need at once, so they focused on mental health and dignity. How showers, laundry and meals with a local church changed a man named Chet.
Finding Healing & Unity Together
In Tulovo, Bulgaria, Catalyst Margie Brown works with Rroma families facing generations of segregation. An after-school program, girls training as hairstylists and Mira’s preschool dream show healing beginning.
Empowering Communities for Exponential Change
Aaron Passmore in Quito, Ecuador on why the work starts with relationship and a safe place to grow, and why no one should be the hero. Healthy people make healthy community, and that community makes more.
The Impact of Investing in Generosity
Jared and Lori Blong asked how they could do more than support their church. A serve, pray, pay framework and a donor-advised fund changed how they give. Their view: passive investments never get it done.
A Vision for Sustainable Change
Hector Chavez met Catalyst Nancy Donat as a teen in Lowell, a Fresno, California neighborhood with few paths forward. Now he wants to lead the change she started, and she is doing it again in Hidalgo.