The Unsung Heroes

It seems that if your last name is Sowers, at some point you can expect to be asked to talk to me about a blog post. My most recent phone call with the Sowerses was a special treat because it was the first time I actually got to speak with Iris. (RJ and Abby should go ahead and start preparing their blog topics because they’re next on the list.) Iris shared about an appreciation conference held on Saturday, July 20 for the wives of pastors in the area around Gracias. They are unsung heroes.

The pastors' wives, and the team from Alabama

In case you’ve forgotten, a fellow missionary named Clay Powell is in charge of the teaching at Pastor Training School. Sowers4Pastors contributes financially, but Clay raises most of the funds and handles the day-to-day work of the school. Clay’s wife, Cynthia, raised the funds for the very special conference. None of the money contributed toward the operation of Pastor Training School was diverted for the event. A team of women from Alabama helped raise money and then came down to run the conference.

The pastors’ wives spend a lot of time holding down the fort while their husbands are out running their ministries. Iris was able to witness some of the conference firsthand,as she was in charge of the worship music. She was very honored to be a part of it. Iris described how happy the women were to have a special event designed to recognize them and give them a little time to refuel their spiritual tanks.

The team from Alabama washed the feet of the approximately forty pastors' wives in attendance. Iris said it was an emotional time. The women from Alabama also talked about their lives and shared their testimonies with the crowd.

Iris (singing), and the rest of the worship team at the conference

As at most women’s conferences, there were beautiful decorations. The pastor’s wives even stayed over at the Training School facilities on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the dedicated pastors got to spend some time holding down the fort at home and caring for their children.

RJ and Abby had better bring their “A” games if they want to come up with sweeter topics than this one.

 - posted by Christi

Note from Trish - there were so many beautiful, touching photos from this event, I had trouble choosing which ones to use (which might explain why this post is a bit picture-heavy). If you'd like to see more of the photos, they can be found here.