Pivot!

With the flurry of visiting teams, there were four construction teams on the calendar for Sowers4Pastors over the next few months, two of which were bridge-in-a-week projects. However, one of the most necessary skills for missionaries is the ability to pivot when it’s necessary to go in a new direction. So… PIVOT! There is now only one bridge-building project on the calendar, as one of the bridge projects has been replaced by a water tank project.

The bridge-in-a-week projects have been so popular with teams, that Allen and Russell have come up against the fact that they have built almost all of the bridges currently needed in the general area surrounding Gracias – to date they have completed 20 bridge-in-a-week projects. When selecting locations for team bridge projects, they have always stayed right in the Gracias area so teams could go back to the hotel each night. If they want to continue with the bridge projects in the future, it will be necessary for teams to go to a location and rough it by sleeping out.

One of the planned bridge projects didn’t work out because Sowers4Pastors requires local government to contribute something toward the cost of a bridge. Sadly, this is not an election year in Honduras and elected officials aren’t as gung-ho about impressing voters by funding projects. Have no fear! The pivot is here!

The town of Catulaca is the nearest town to the Sowers’ property. It is the area where most of the guys who work for the Sowerses live. The town has been having ongoing water issues, and this year’s super dry season has only worsened the problem. Currently, Catulaca only has one small water tank for the entire community. That tank is about the size of the Sowerses smaller water tank.

This time of the year, water is coming in very slowly and the tank in Catulaca is running dry regularly. During normal dry seasons, the town’s water would be turned off for a few hours to allow the tank to refill. Residents are used to having a few hours without water each day. Now, they are fortunate if they have a few sporadic hours with water. Town officials have been in conversation with Sowers4Pastors about building a bigger tank. With a bigger tank, the town could do a much better job of providing water for their residents, because the water pressure would be higher, and houses at all elevations would receive water, not just those at the lowest elevations.

So, instead of building a bridge, one of the upcoming teams will be going out with the Sowers’ crew to build a second, larger tank in Catulaca. The Sowerses very much want to thank the team from Christ Church of Orlando for their willingness to change projects so close to the time of their trip! In the end, this “pivot” is truly a win-win proposition. The town has agreed to send up a percentage of the water from their system to the Sowers’ property. That will not benefit them this year because Russell and the crew will still have to put in pipes from the town’s system to the ol’ homeplace. Ultimately, this will be a tremendous benefit for the Sowerses. They currently share their supply with an individual and they frequently run into problems over how the water is distributed.

You might say it’s a pivotal development.

 - posted by Christi