Dining hall manager uses heart for education and families to support children in Nicaragua

Jennifer Chappell may be the food service manager for Liberty University’s Food Court at Reber-Thomas, but her mission to provide for others extends beyond the university and the country through her nonprofit “Save Them One by One,” which sponsors children in Nicaragua in need of an education.

Chappell took her first trip to Nicaragua in 2007 with the group “Bread of Life” led by her former pastor. During her visit, she developed a heartbreaking personal connection to the people of the Central American country.

“I remember the first night, when we were flying into Managua (the capital), I saw children out on the street begging for money, food, water, and so on,” Chappell said. “I helped to raise my two nieces after my sister passed away when they were little, and so I remember seeing the little girls in the streets and thinking, ‘What if that was (my nieces)?’ You see pictures of Nicaragua and the poverty there, but it wasn’t until I actually went that I realized how unbelievable it was.”

Later on, during that same trip, Chappell visited a family plagued by financial poverty. The father made very little money transporting people on his bicycle, and the family had resorted to eating limes and cardboard scraps for meals.

“We went into their tiny home, and the family was squeezing limes onto pieces of cardboard and that was what they fed their family, and that’s something that will always stay in my head,” she said. “I’m also sure that’s just one family’s story, and there are many others like that.”

Chappell was sponsoring a Nicaraguan girl at the time through a different organization, and she was able to meet the girl and her family during one of the trips. While talking with the girl’s mother, God opened a door for Chappell to serve His people by helping to provide an education.

“She could have asked me for anything, but she said she wanted her children to have an education, because she didn’t have an education — she couldn’t read or write — but she wanted her children to,” Chappell said. “That’s when I felt called and thought that I could be a piece for that puzzle and find a way to help.”

In order for children to attend school, the Nicaraguan government requires students to wear a proper school uniform that is often not affordable for poorer families. With that in mind, Chappell created “Save Them One by One” in August 2008, which would provide 120 students with their uniforms and basic school supplies. She was able to take photos of the children in need so she could show them to potential sponsors in the U.S. Unfortunately, her camera was stolen, but she was able to talk about the children and find them all sponsors by the end of that first year.

In the 12 years since, that group of 120 children from one village has expanded to 1,800 children in 12 villages in Nicaragua and one in nearby Honduras. Chappell’s goal for 2021 is to sponsor 2,000 children.

“We want to give these children something that no one can take away from them: their education, and something that can change their life,” she said. “We want to teach these children and hopefully change the poverty cycle.”

Over the years, “Save Them One by One” has found additional ways to serve churches and communities in parts of Nicaragua: building a church where 60 families currently worship, purchasing a motorcycle for a pastor preaching at multiple churches, building a mission home to fit up to 20 visitors when they serve, and creating a program that supplies 15 local pastors with study materials. Throughout the year, they also distribute “Stockings of Love” filled with food staples.

Chappell has been able to connect her Liberty coworkers with her mission as well, bringing three dining managers to Nicaragua individually on multiple occasions. Overall, Chappell has visited Nicaragua 34 times over the last 13 years, and she hopes to continue bringing people with her after COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted.

“I think them seeing my passion and commitment toward (the ministry) made them want to join and help, too,” Chappell explained. “I also had a Liberty student go with me once, a roommate to one of my employees, and later his sister came, too. It’s so much more than money also; we need people who want to help send out information, volunteer at fundraisers, and other ways.”

To get involved with “Save Them One by One,” visit www.savethemonebyone.com or send mail to P.O. Box 102, South Boston, VA 24592.