Putting Russell in the Driver's Seat

Russell, with Steve Spanos, at the beach on the Atlantic
side of Florida . . . in the morning, I'm guessing, based
on the glare of sunlight from behind them, LOL

Getting a driver's license is a rite of passage. For Russell - who's been driving in Honduras with a Honduran license for twelve years - getting licensed to drive in the U.S. meant flying to Sarasota Florida and spending some quality time at the DMV. He scheduled a ten-day trip to Sarasota just in case the process took more than a couple of days. However, overachiever that he is, Russell passed his written test on his first full day there (Monday the 13th), and passed his road test on the very next day!

Don’t worry. The rest of the trip will be put to good use. Russell will spend the remainder of the trip meeting with supporters and spending time with family.

In case you’re wondering what prompted Russell to get his first U.S. driver license, this is in preparation for the next backpack collection trip. The trip keeps getting bigger every year and Allen and Trish are delighted to have Russell joining forces with them this year. Having Russell join them for some of the driving and heavy lifting will literally lighten their load. Russell will travel with Allen during the first portion of the trip, and then he'll return to Honduras and Trish will join Allen for the remainder of the trip. This will also be useful in the long term because, eventually, Russell will be doing more of the traveling and fundraising in the States.

Trish had some funny observations about Russell taking a driver’s test. He is, of course, a fabulous driver--trained on the somewhat unpredictable road conditions in Honduras. Trish proclaimed him to be a very alert, safe driver, and said he's also the kind of driver who can easily back a trailer attached to a pickup into a tight spot.

However, Trish also pointed out that while the actual laws of the road are pretty similar between Honduras and the U.S., those laws often tend to be more like suggestions in Honduras. It has only been within the past few years that Honduras has gotten lines in their roads. It has always been perfectly acceptable to pass a car on a blind curve, as long as there’s enough room for three lanes of traffic. The things that would make most of us white-knuckle it are simply a part of regular life to Russell. Trish was praying that muscle memory wouldn’t kick in at any point while Russell was taking his road test.

Shifting Gears a Bit, to squeeze in some unrelated news:

Sowers4Pastors recently hosted a team from Discover Life Church in Melbourne, Florida. The small team did VBS programs at the Mercedes sponsorship center.

Last week, Sowers4Pastors had a very small team of people visiting, who sponsor kids through the Manna 4 Lempira program. The team members are visiting the different centers where they sponsor children, as well as visiting the homes of their sponsored children and meeting their families. This team is also having “fun days” where one of the Sowers’ crew members go out to collect children and their families to hang out with the sponsors at the swimming pool. That is a rare treat for them.

Kelsea is currently out of the country. Because of her work status, she has to go back to the U.S. every three months to meet the requirements of her Visa. She will be home soon, though. And there's no team on the ground this week. As Trish said, “Things are a little quiet right now, but the work hasn't stopped.”

In a last bit of exciting news, it’s raining most every day now! With the new water tank they built on the property, the Sowerses didn’t run out of water this year, before the rainy season arrived and filled the rivers back up! Allen said they probably even had a month’s supply of water left in the tank when the rains started. That is very good news.

- posted by Christi