Just Keep Swimmin'

Over the last few months, you’ve probably noticed a lot of photos, posted on the Sowers4Pastors Facebook page, of gringos taking Honduran children to the swimming pool. Do not be misled into thinking that Allen, Trish, and Russell have started an offshoot ministry called Sowers4Swimming. Still, there are good reasons for those swimming photos. Once you know those reasons, you’re sure to join the “Just keep swimming,” bandwagon.


While it’s true that taking a bunch of kids swimming doesn’t seem to fit with the Sowers4Pastors ministry goal of helping pastors, they would like you to know the story behind those outings. For starters, whenever you see someone from Sowers4Pastors with gringos at a pool, you are seeing sponsors taking the children they sponsor swimming for a fun day. This is 100% funded by the sponsors taking part in the activity. The day o’ swimming fun costs $10 per person. Each sponsor pays for him or herself, as well as any kids they bring to the pool. They are also paying for the photographer and other expenses associated with this. Absolutely no funds are being diverted from money given to sponsor children, or from money donated for other parts of the ministry.

You might be wondering what the benefits of these excursions are. For starters, Allen and Trish said they definitely find that sponsors who are able to connect with the kids they sponsor on a personal level are best able to mentor those children. The sponsored kids with strong sponsor relationships are more likely to stay in school and are encouraged in their faith. These types of connections are easier to make when sponsors and kids are involved together in fun activities, rather than when they're awkwardly standing around talking outside a school or church, surrounded by a crowd of other people.


As for the other benefits for the kids…


Many of the children in the sponsorship programs are from families that rarely leave their small villages. The vast majority of their families don’t have vehicles. The parents aren’t driving the kids to organized sports activities, piano lessons, museums, field trips, and vacations. The kids are in a very enclosed environment. They aren’t even going to the mall or movie theater (the nearest theater that Trish knows of is 3 hours drive from Gracias).

Trish said, “A lot of people in the U.S. idealize rural, country living. I like it, too. It’s nice to know your kids are outside playing and not sitting around looking at their screens. But one thing parents in the U.S. can do that these parents can’t, is to expose their kids to different experiences. You give your kids piano lessons, even though you realize they aren't likely to become professional musicians, and gymnastics classes without a goal of the child becoming an Olympian. Exposing children to various events and activities opens their minds, makes them curious, and broadens their interests. The kids in the remote mountain villages of western Honduras get very little of this kind of exposure to new and different things.”


Allen described the swimming pools as the most miniature of mini theme parks, with multiple pools and slides. To the sponsored children, it’s gigantic. They may previously have only ever been swimming in a rainy season river. This day is a very big deal for these children - more like a trip to Disneyland for a US child.

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Most of the kids do not own swimsuits. The sponsors provide their children with suits. They often bring swimsuits from the U.S. Many teams hit up the used clothing stores in Gracias to buy swimsuits for their sponsored kids. Teams bring fun things like big inflatables. It is a big, cool event, which is a supplement to the sponsorship program.

Allen put it into perspective when he said, “This may be the most fun, out-of-the-ordinary day these kids ever experience. It will be the day ingrained in their minds as a special day. For many of the kids, even ten and twelve-year-olds, this is the first time they’ve ever eaten a restaurant meal. They’ve never had that experience. This is part of what they get that day. The sponsors can give it to them for $10.”

 - posted by Christi