Not the Amazing Headless Chicken Family

It’s time for a Sowers’ Schedule post, but this one has a twist. It has a theme! The theme is Delegating. Sometimes we read about the Sowers’ busy lives and wonder how in the world one family can accomplish so much. They are not running around the mountainsides of Western Honduras like chickens with their heads cut off - they know how and when to delegate!

Not the Only Oars in the Water

There are always a certain number of overlapping activities. There is always the Bible book store, but the primary responsibility for the daily operations falls on another missionary family who runs the store out of their house. Once in awhile, the Sowers purchase more materials for the store, but it’s not a daily thing. Of course, the feeding program continues in the background, with the pastors doing most of the actual work - preparing the meals, giving the Bible lessons, etc. The same goes for the coffee farm. Although Russell is actively involved with the coffee farm, he has a crackerjack team of men who do much of the work independently and check in with him as needed. Pastors’ Training School is going on, but Allen and Russell’s roles are more administrative. They don’t have to be there every day, with Melvin (Russell's brother-in-law) on site to handle things as they come up.

When it Rains, Pour the Fertilizer

The rains are starting and that means changes to the farm activities. The crew will start fertilizing this week. They will also begin a nursery of plants that will go into the ground at a later time.

So, what are Allen and Russell doing?

Open Wide

Allen and Russell were out with a dental team from Pittsburgh all last week. This group mainly did tooth extractions and fillings. Trish pointed out that when medical teams visit, they are limited by the tools and medicines they have available. Dentists are able to relieve tremendous pain simply by performing extractions and fillings.

Feeding the Sheep

Sunday School curriculum has been selected and purchased for pastors to use in the Manna 4 Lempira and sister church feeding centers that are ready to start this program.(Due to staffing issues and lack of classroom space, some of the feeding centers can't divide the kids by grade level.) The curriculum was created in Honduras and the woman who wrote it will be visiting the area on Tuesday and Wednesday. They are going to have a seminar for the teachers who will be teaching in four locations.

Preparing for a Team

The construction crew will be welding trusses and setting them in place for a church roof project. This is prep work for a team from Edgewater Alliance Church, which is arriving on May 20th. Although Edgewater Alliance has a sister church, this construction project is not for that church; rather, it’s for a church plant that grew out of the sister church. The team will split into two parts with two separate crews, while in Honduras. One team will work on a new church roof and floor. The other team will have VBS type programs in schools. Such programs fulfill requirements for religious training in Honduran public schools and are welcomed by school administrators.

Bridge Work Continues

Before the Edgewater team arrives, a crew will be trying to finish the concrete work for a bridge project. They also still have to do the cables and put on the wooden deck - but they probably won't be able to get back to that until July.

The Gifts that Keep Giving to Gracias

Do you remember when the Allen, Trish, and Russell thought they were finished with Gifts for Gracias for the year? Surprise! A large denomination came forward with a late list of fifty pastors’ names. What’s a missionary family to do? That’s right! They’ll be opening up the supplies, creating fifty boxes of gifts, and storing the remainder until next year.

- posted by Christi