To start something. Oh, have we. Precisely. Intentionally. Consistently. Here are a few examples. I could tell stories for days...if you know me, you know that's true.
NICARAGUA
- 1st to ever take volleyball from the USA to Nicaragua (2003)
- 1st collegiate volleyball team from the USA to Nicaragua (2004)
- 1st female athlete from Nicaragua to get a scholarship in the USA (2007)
- 1st to ever take women's basketball from the USA to Nicaragua (2014)
RESULTS:
- Professional volleyball leagues for women and men
- Multiple age level national teams for women and men
- Over 7,000 volleyball athletes nationwide
- Premier women's beach volleyball duo of Swan Mendoza and Lolette Rodriguez became the 1st Nica team to EVER reach the World Championships (2019).
- Their men's premier beach duo matched that accomplishment last month.
- Their men's national team is a contender for BEST in Central America
- Their women consistently fight to 5-set matches for an elusive gold medal. (They WILL win that gold - mark my words!!).
- The women's and men's national teams pack the national stadium in Managua!
- The athletes who were the youngest on our early visits are now among the most respected athletes in the nation.
- The FIRST young girl who had enough courage at 14 years old to participate in our early skills clinics in Tipitapa has grown up to be the BEST defensive player in all of Central America, serves as an announcer for the national media during the professional seasons (when her team is not playing), and is one of the key leaders who will help plant our "Soy Ignite" mentorship program in the coming year.
It simply is impossible to describe in a paragraph the enormity of impact Ignite International has had on the nation of Nicaragua since 2003. If you want a closer look, watch Jacky's story after becoming the first female athlete to ever get a scholarship to a university in the USA. (Thank you again, Andrea and Kevin!).
And, frankly, if you REALLY want to understand it, there's only one way.
GO WITH US IN 2023!
"I will never forget you were the first in sport who made me see how much we are loved by God and that if we try hard enough we can achieve our goals.
Above all, we must use our blessings and knowledge to help others.
Swan Mendoza
Nicaragua Beach Volleyball Champion
2021 Pre-Olympic Qualifier
2019 World Championships
2019 Pan American Games
RUSSIA
- 1st athletes to enter Beslan, Russia after the attack of 2004 (2005)
- 1st sports training seminar for youth leaders in Sochi, Russia (2005)
- 1st sports training seminar for faith leaders in St. Petersburg, Russia (2006)
- 1st sports activity for the disabled at an orphanage in Moscow (2005)
- 1st USA athletes to visit Chechnya (2006) - bet ya didn't know that one, did ya!!
RESULTS:
What an absolutely amazing experience to watch Beslan, Russia come back to life after the horrific attack of September 1-3, 2004. Take a look back at our impact in Beslan here. If I had to name one location that totally wrecked me over the years - without a doubt, Beslan is that place. On our first visit, we were at School #3 (pictured at right below) and our dear friend Coach Rob McCoy was instructing when the missionary told me to go with her - we had been called to the principal's office. haha - well, kind of. The Director had sent orders to bring in the "visitors" and as we sat down in his office, the interrogation began. At least, that's what it felt like.
"Who are you?"
"Where are you from?"
"What are you doing?"
"What is your purpose?"
"Do you do this in other countries too?" (Yes, Sir, we do.)
"Where? Name them."
"And they let you?" (Of course, Sir....they welcome us. We have many friends around the world."
Questions.....questions.....more questions. I don't know what a KGB interrogation would be like, but his tone had to be close. Until......in the same blunt manner and with the same scowl on his face, he said (totally in Russian of course - it gets to me through translation)....
"Well....my favorite soccer team won last night and I don't know why you haven't congratulated me yet."
Then the twinkle in his eye appeared.....and we laughed and laughed and laughed.
One year later (2006), I returned with our friend Kailee Roessner a former volleyball player from my alma mater, Houghton College. As Kai and I were leading some life skills activities, guess who got called in to the principal's office.....again. Only this time I wasn't nervous. "The Director would like to see you," the message came to me.
And as I entered, he arose from his desk and said, "It's so nice to see the face of a friend."
I handed him photos I had printed out from our visit the year before - some 8x10 and a whole bunch of 5x7 photos from the year before. And when I returned for the third time in 2008, I went straight to School #3 to give them a bag full of soccer uniforms that had been donated by a friend (first real uniforms their school had ever had). I asked for the Director. He was not there that day, but they walked me down the hallway to show me a bulletin board that had all of the photos I had printed for them in 2006 from our visit in 2005.
Don't ever think you'll convince me that one must have a big name to make a big impact. All one needs is trust, integrity, relationship......and the funds to do it. For Beslan - in May of 2005, 2006, and 2008 we have ignited hope for survivors, educators, and coaches (one of whose daughter lost 30 of her closest friends in that horrific terrorist attack). Again....I could tell stories for days.
One more - in 2008 I was determined to speak again at School #3 along with Schools #2, #5 and the new #1. I was required to get permission from the FSB (kind of like our FBI), yet those working at the office seemed determined to deny it. I kept telling our local friend and pastor Jombul, "Let's go ask again....they are going to approve this!" Every day we went and asked for permission. Every day they said no. Until one day, just having been denied AGAIN....we walked out of the building to the car, and walking toward us was THE top decision-maker on his way back from lunch. He and Jombul greeted each other and the man asked what we needed. We told him and BOOM......permission was granted on the spot.
LIBERIA
- 1st athletes to reenter Liberia after their 14-year civil war (2011)
- 1st women's soccer team to visit Liberia. From anywhere. (2013)
RESULTS:
Our friend Doc Lawson continues to impact Liberia in partnership with the YMCA of Monrovia, the single-most impactful entity for youth and leadership development in all of Liberia. Donami Sports and the YMCA literally provide education, athletic, life skills, and job training services for thousands of Liberians of all ages. What an honor it is to have been able to help "ignite" their partnership as the first group to ever serve alongside Doc and his great organization. We IGNITE hope!
BETHLEHEM
- 1st foreigners to provide activity at Deheisheh Boys School in Bethlehem (2014)
- 1st volleyball initiative empowering females in Bethlehem (2015-present)
RESULTS:
- The volleyball program WE helped start and I was the key visionary partner continues to grow, training nearly 50 young girls each year through sports.
- These girls, some Christian and some Muslim, grow up together facing many of the same adversities common in their marginalized contexts. Together they are empowered to become women of great influence in a society that tends to place women in the background.
In 2017 I was in Rochester, NY at a Barnes & Nobles bookstore trying to get my phone to do an update. Without going into that whole saga, suffice it to say I had to do a full system reset to factory settings on my phone (don't get me started on that one.....) - as I sat alone in a study room, a young woman in her 30's (ish) came and sat in the room. We talked briefly and I recognized her pronunciations immediately. I asked, "May I ask your heritage?" She answered, "I am Israeli." and went on to tell me she is from Haifa (north of Tel Aviv). I responded to say I love her country very much and it's beautiful. She asked what I have done there - I told her about our relationship with the Israeli National Volleyball Federation and schools/sports clubs in Nazareth. And I followed by sharing about our work in Bethlehem, empowering Palestinian girls and young women through sports.
This can sometimes be a dicey answer and I'm very careful about where and to whom I share details. This woman's response caught me a little off-guard, if I'm honest.
"THANK YOU!!!!"
I said, "Really?" I would have expected that from a Palestinian, but from an Israeli?
She said, "YES....THANK YOU for what you do!! Because when you give THEM hope, you are helping to keep all of us safe. PLEASE do not ever stop doing what you do."
I promised her I will never stop.
