During his time with Partners Worldwide, Bob has:
• Watched someone hand feed a pig a bag of milk….ON A BUS!!
• Climbed into a cage with a wild cat because the owner said he was playful….he was NOT
• Been encouraged, challenged, and blessed by those we serve and those we serve with all over the world
• Watched someone hand feed a pig a bag of milk….ON A BUS!!
• Climbed into a cage with a wild cat because the owner said he was playful….he was NOT
• Been encouraged, challenged, and blessed by those we serve and those we serve with all over the world
During his down time, Bob gets re-energized by:
• Spending time with his beautiful wife, Claudia.
• Enjoying God’s marvelous creation- especially the waves of Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast.
• Board games with good friends….it may sound old fashioned, but what can you do?
• Spending time with his beautiful wife, Claudia.
• Enjoying God’s marvelous creation- especially the waves of Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast.
• Board games with good friends….it may sound old fashioned, but what can you do?
Carissa De Young
Carissa first connected with Partners Worldwide through an internship in Nicaragua in the summer of 2009. A year later, after graduating from Calvin College with degrees in Economics and International Development, she moved to Quito to become the Partnership Manager for Ecuador.
During her 4 years with Partners Worldwide, Carissa has:
• Seen God transform lives and businesses through the work of partner organizations in Ecuador.
• Ridden in the bed of pickup trucks, in canoes, and the back of motorbikes to reach rural farming communities.
• Moved across the country to more closely support a budding partnership in the southern Andes city of Cuenca.
• Moved across the country to more closely support a budding partnership in the southern Andes city of Cuenca.
During her down time, Carissa gets re-energized by:
• Hiking and mountain climbing in national parks throughout the Andes Mountains.
• Participating in Ecuadorian holiday traditions, like the country-wide water fight during Carnaval and burning sawdust-stuffed effigies on New Year's Eve.
• Discovering unusual native Ecuadorian fruits. Her favorites include tamarillos, Ecuadorian oranges, yellow dragonfruit, and gooseberries.
Daniel Espinoza Rojas
Nicaragua, a Central American
country commonly known as the land of lakes and volcanoes, is the place where Daniel
was born and has lived to date. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration
and has experience working in the local shipping industry. Currently he works
as the Partnership Manager for Nicaragua and is thankful to live out his
calling to business through Partners Worldwide.During his time with Partners Worldwide, Daniel has:
• Tasted the delicious fruit from a cocoa tree for his very first time.
• Met a wonderful group of North Americans who also share a love for Nicaragua and its people.
• Seen that business is the most effective way God has created to address poverty.
During his down time Daniel gets re-energized by:
• Spending quality time with his lovely bride, Teresa.
• Playing with the family dog, a female Labrador named "Lakshmy".
• Exploring God’s creation through outdoor sports.
Debbie Velis
Debbie grew up eating pupusas in the small country of El Salvador. She studied Economics and Business in Calvin College. During her last semester of college, Debbie interned at the Partners Worldwide home office in Michigan, working to support a program of university students that served in Honduras. In June 2011, Debbie moved to Tegucigalpa, Honduras to become the Partnership Manager for Partners Worldwide.
During her two years with Partners Worldwide, Debbie has:
• Become more appreciative of cross-cultural relationships due to their impact, transformation, and benefit to all parties involved.
• Seen the positive effect of spiritually transformed leaders running their businesses and a special blessing upon their families.
• Observed that economic and business development is achievable through empowerment and encouragement.
• Learned how to drive and now boldly navigates the hilly, crowded twists and turns of Tegucigalpa.
• Become more appreciative of cross-cultural relationships due to their impact, transformation, and benefit to all parties involved.• Seen the positive effect of spiritually transformed leaders running their businesses and a special blessing upon their families.
• Observed that economic and business development is achievable through empowerment and encouragement.
• Learned how to drive and now boldly navigates the hilly, crowded twists and turns of Tegucigalpa.
During her down time, Debbie gets re-energized by:
• Doing all kinds of sports. Soccer specifically, since it was the sport she grew up playing since she was six, under any extreme condition imaginable- heavy rain, dusty fields, and even barefoot in the street.
• Enjoying Honduran food. Drinking one of the best coffees from Honduras- Espresso Americano- which is located on pretty much every corner of the country.
• Eating baleadas- gigantic flour tortillas that are stuffed with beans, eggs, butter, cheese, and all kinds of vegetables and meat.
• Traveling and exploring new places. After living in El Salvador, USA (CA and MI) and Honduras, Debbie enjoys seeing new places, meeting different people, and understanding culture and its impact on societies.
Freddy was born in
Managua, Nicaragua to a hard working Christian family. He is the youngest of
all his siblings, 4 brothers and 2 sisters. He has lived all his life in
Managua and grew up in a wooden house in one of the safest neighborhoods of the
capital city. He had a happy childhood and has wonderful memories with his
parents. He thanks God that they are still both living. Freddy's life changed
on a rainy October afternoon in 1989, when he accepted Jesus.
During his time with Partners
Worldwide, Freddy has:
• Hiked the
mountainous terrain of Nicaragua to visit each of the farm families on the 7 land banks.
• Learned many
different English idioms from the North American farmers. His favorites are:
¨Go with the flow”, “Never judge the book by its cover” and “Say what you mean
and mean what you say¨.
• Grown more deeply in
his faith through reading the scriptures.
During his down time,
Freddy gets re-energized by:
• Spending time with
life-long friends.
• Playing with his
son, Franco Leonardo. Freddy simply adores him!
• Sharing life with
the most beautiful woman in the world, Janiel Arana, who he married on July 25,
2009.
Leda García
Leda Liliana García was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She worked for the Solitas Association, an institution that supports single mothers with informal micro-businesses, where she provided training for the loan program. After that, she accepted the opportunity to be the Lending Advisor for Diaconia National, where she manages a number of portfolios including the Partners Worldwide loans in Tegucigalpa. Leda is currently studying to get her degree in English from the Universidad Pedagógica.
During her time as Lending Advisor with Diaconia Nacional, Leda has:• Been able to use her work as a way to share the love of God with others. During business visits and trainings, Leda prays and shares openly with those that don’t know God.
• Walked every single street in Nueva Suyapa. Since she is a resident of that community, Leda knows all the routes through Nueva Suyapa and she does many of her visits on foot. Everyone greets her and knows her by name!
During her down time, Leda gets re-energized by:
• Singing. Leda is a soprano and has the gift of song. She serves in the music ministry at her church and also receives invitations to sing at other churches.
• Spending time with her family. Leda is the mother of two children, Susan Eunice is nine and Pablo Gadiel is three. They fill Leda with much happiness, playfulness and satisfaction.
• Implementing the family ministry that God has placed in their hearts. Leda and her family go to the plazas and parks of downtown; she sings, her husband, Henry, preaches and their
children pass out candy to the children. Her dream is to one day
be able to share hertalent and the gospel all over the world.
Lety Tejeda
Ana Leticia Tejeda was born in Campamento, Olancho in Honduras. In college, she studied Psychology and Social Development Management. Lety worked for two years in a youth counseling center before moving to Catacamas to work with those affected by Hurricane Mitch.
During her time as Lending Advisor with Diaconia Nacional, Lety has:
• Been able to dream, believe, suffer, and most importantly, share with the people she works with and has seen a transformation in them, their families and their community in the name of God.
• Felt fulfilled as a person, as she serves in this marvelous ministry.
• Grown as a person, becoming more sensitive, humble and committed to those in need.
During her down time, Lety gets re-energized by:
• Spending quality time with her wonderful 16 year old son, Daniel.
• Enjoying tasty Honduran food. Her favorite dish is seafood.
• Sharing the company of her family. Lety is the second of six siblings and has an innumerable number of aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and extended family. Her large family gets together often to spend time together- celebrating birthdays and other special occasions.
Rolando Mejia Gonzalez
Rolando was born and raised in Masaya, Nicaragua
by a hard-working, single mother that supported Rolando’s education and transformation
into the man he is now. Rolando studied English Translation as his major in
1992. Since his senior year in college, Rolando has worked for various
international missions and organizations in a great variety of fields. In 2004,
Rolando met David & Wendy Van Klinken, US missionaries in Nicaragua, and
started working along with them as interpreter. Since then, Rolando has been
deeply involved in the Partners Worldwide Farmer to Farmer partnership with 85
farm families in Nicaragua. David & Wendy left Nicaragua in 2010 and
Rolando took over their position in June 2011. Rolando is married to Yessenia
Gonzalez and they have two beautiful children and one cute grand-daughter.
During his year with Partners Worldwide, Rolando has:
• Been able to share God’s
word and stewardship principles to farm families so that they develop their
potential in God’s kingdom on earth.
• Experienced personal and
family growth through business and economics studies by sharing expertise
visits and promoting farm families changes into new business mindsets.
• Had the chance to realize
that poverty can be overcome through education, discipline, and support given
by National and North American mentors and donors.
During his down time, Rolando gets re-energized
by:
• Eating Nicaraguan typical
plates as he shares his time with family and friends.
• Sharing his knowledge with
others so that they can do it by themselves.
• Reading and sharing God’s
principles and salvation with others.
• Expanding God’s kingdom on
earth.
• Seeing Nica families
getting out of poverty and being led to leave spiritual and family legacy into
their next generation.
Yessenia
Gonzalez
Yessenia was born and raised in Masaya, Nicaragua. Yessenia’s parents are retired school teachers. Her dream was to become an executive secretary. This dream came true and she was able to work as secretary for a few years. After she accepted the Lord, her life was changed and transformed. Now she is mentoring farm families and discovered that she was made for this. She met a couple of missionaries named David & Wendy Van Klinklen and with them she started visiting the Farmer to Farmer families.
Now she is working, alongside her
husband Rolando, with Partners Worldwide in Nicaragua. She did not imagine that
one day she would work with and support her husband in his job.
Yessenia was born and raised in Masaya, Nicaragua. Yessenia’s parents are retired school teachers. Her dream was to become an executive secretary. This dream came true and she was able to work as secretary for a few years. After she accepted the Lord, her life was changed and transformed. Now she is mentoring farm families and discovered that she was made for this. She met a couple of missionaries named David & Wendy Van Klinklen and with them she started visiting the Farmer to Farmer families.
During her year with Partners Worldwide, Yessenia has:
• Seen the support of each
one of the North American partners, and the changes in the minds, hearts, and
the lifestyle of many farm families.
• Experienced the love and
interest of North American mentors, and how it has transformed the lives of
farm families in Nicaragua.
• Observed the genuine
interest of Partners Worldwide to help poor people to change their living
conditions through businesses and empowerment.
• Learned that holistic
development is not concentrated in giving grants or donations but also the fact
to teach farm families with your experiences and mentoring
During her down time, Yessenia gets re-energized
by:
• Sharing time with family
and friends.
• Sleeping long hours.
• Watching romantic movies
and series.
• Reading the Bible, sharing
the Gospel and finding out the surprising things that God has for her.
Yonatan Venegas
During his time as a Loan Officer, Yonatan has:
• Appreciated the smile of a client when they say, “Yonatan, thank you for trusting in me. I am now making my final loan payment”.
• Taken on the challenge of helping residents of Nueva Suyapa and has decided to make a difference in the community by supporting the businesses of capable people that desire to move forward.
During his down time, Yonatan gets re-energized by:
• Eating delicious Honduran cuisine. His favorite plate is the “typical” which consists of egg, grilled beef, sour cream, beans, cheese and fresh tortillas.
• Enjoying Honduran family life. Yonatan enjoys the tranquility and easy-going culture of Honduras- where people aren’t very agitated or stressed. They know how to take the time to enjoy others.
