Spring Observer - News
Student ministry turns kids’ lives around
By KEVIN KOLOIAN
Nearly every week One Way Student Ministries preaches the word of God at schools throughout Spring in hopes of steering troubled youth away from going down the wrong path.
The group is made up of about 30 people, most of whom had checkered pasts, going in and out of jail as they constantly stayed in trouble with the law.
“We are all products of this type of preaching so we know it works because it helped us turn our lives around,” said Rob Diaz, 25, one of the group’s founders.
Diaz sold drugs throughout his youth and showed no signs of stopping until he wound up facing a 25-year jail sentence for aggravated assault. During that period, he found the Lord and realized if he didn’t change, things could get much worse.
“After giving myself to God I started doing things I thought I could never do,” Diaz said. “Now, my dreams are coming true. I have plans of opening my own barber school.”
The idea for the ministry came to Diaz and his friends after hearing of a Spring Independent School District cop’s struggle to connect with teens in the community.
Officer Mike Mares said that teens aren’t as responsive when talking to a police officer as they are talking to their peers.
“He said I can talk to them, but they won’t listen,” said Diaz, a life coach for One Way. “The fact that all of us came from the street and turned our lives around makes the kids relate to us.”
By showing teens they can still live the same flashy lifestyle without breaking the law, Diaz and other members of the group prove that taking a different path may be tougher, but it’s also more prestigious.
Picking up 25 teens to play laser tag or going to a Houston Rockets game aren’t just bonding activities.
“It’s one thing to talk to them and say, ‘You can have all the things you want in life by doing things the right way,’ but when you show them, then it becomes real,” Diaz explained. “We want to give them a chance to get out of their neighborhood for awhile and let them see what we are talking about.”
The group’s first speaking engagement went so well they knew their testimonies could touch anyone.
“We were just being real, no sugarcoating,” Diaz said. “At the end of the day we had gang members and police officers apologizing to each other and Bloods and Crypts calling truce.”
Based out of Faith Builders Church in Spring, One Way Student Ministries also travels to Humble, Aldine and other school districts in the area.
Spring High School student Edward Luna said he connects to One Way ministers.
“I’ve been to a lot of churches where I sat and watched people talk and go home and forget what they said,” said Luna, 15. “With them, I can see that they have been in bad situations and turned their lives around.”
Luna said he is not the same person he used to be.
“Their teaching has gotten through to me,” he said. “I was going down the wrong road very fast. I was arrested when I was 14 and ended up breaking into a couple of cars after that. I just kept doing the wrong things. Nothing could change me, my mom or no one.”
Now, he has a perfect 4.0 grade point average in honors classes and has his sights set on being an electric engineer.
One Way Student Ministries also works with probation officers for kids who are getting off of probation.
“They are all good kids, but they might be having problems at home or hanging out with the wrong crowd or made bad choices,” Diaz said. “We’re not here to put a band-aid on the problem because it won’t go away that way. We are just here to help.”
more info
Call 713-609-9361.
The group is made up of about 30 people, most of whom had checkered pasts, going in and out of jail as they constantly stayed in trouble with the law.
“We are all products of this type of preaching so we know it works because it helped us turn our lives around,” said Rob Diaz, 25, one of the group’s founders.
Diaz sold drugs throughout his youth and showed no signs of stopping until he wound up facing a 25-year jail sentence for aggravated assault. During that period, he found the Lord and realized if he didn’t change, things could get much worse.
“After giving myself to God I started doing things I thought I could never do,” Diaz said. “Now, my dreams are coming true. I have plans of opening my own barber school.”
The idea for the ministry came to Diaz and his friends after hearing of a Spring Independent School District cop’s struggle to connect with teens in the community.
Officer Mike Mares said that teens aren’t as responsive when talking to a police officer as they are talking to their peers.
“He said I can talk to them, but they won’t listen,” said Diaz, a life coach for One Way. “The fact that all of us came from the street and turned our lives around makes the kids relate to us.”
By showing teens they can still live the same flashy lifestyle without breaking the law, Diaz and other members of the group prove that taking a different path may be tougher, but it’s also more prestigious.
Picking up 25 teens to play laser tag or going to a Houston Rockets game aren’t just bonding activities.
“It’s one thing to talk to them and say, ‘You can have all the things you want in life by doing things the right way,’ but when you show them, then it becomes real,” Diaz explained. “We want to give them a chance to get out of their neighborhood for awhile and let them see what we are talking about.”
The group’s first speaking engagement went so well they knew their testimonies could touch anyone.
“We were just being real, no sugarcoating,” Diaz said. “At the end of the day we had gang members and police officers apologizing to each other and Bloods and Crypts calling truce.”
Based out of Faith Builders Church in Spring, One Way Student Ministries also travels to Humble, Aldine and other school districts in the area.
Spring High School student Edward Luna said he connects to One Way ministers.
“I’ve been to a lot of churches where I sat and watched people talk and go home and forget what they said,” said Luna, 15. “With them, I can see that they have been in bad situations and turned their lives around.”
Luna said he is not the same person he used to be.
“Their teaching has gotten through to me,” he said. “I was going down the wrong road very fast. I was arrested when I was 14 and ended up breaking into a couple of cars after that. I just kept doing the wrong things. Nothing could change me, my mom or no one.”
Now, he has a perfect 4.0 grade point average in honors classes and has his sights set on being an electric engineer.
One Way Student Ministries also works with probation officers for kids who are getting off of probation.
“They are all good kids, but they might be having problems at home or hanging out with the wrong crowd or made bad choices,” Diaz said. “We’re not here to put a band-aid on the problem because it won’t go away that way. We are just here to help.”
more info
Call 713-609-9361.
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