Backpack Trip - 2019

Trish's harp at the Lyon and Healy
factory in Chicago (with Kelsea)

If you ever want to feel better about your hectic schedule, talk to someone at Sowers4Pastors during their annual backpack trip. In this week’s phone call, Kelsea shared some of the high points of the first two weeks of the trip.

As you may know, this year’s backpack expedition began in Kelsea’s hometown of Seattle. Allen and Russell met Kelsea there and the trio set off in their luxurious Penske truck. Well, maybe luxurious isn’t the right word. Big. That’s the word. They set off in their big Penske truck.

The first stop was at the home of Heidi Cook to pick up the backpacks she had collected. Heidi is one of Trish’s and my friends from our days on a homeschooling forum. Heidi is one of the managers of the Seattle 4 Lempira program. Then the truck headed to the home of Kelsea’s sister, Kate Meyers, to pick up more backpacks.  Kate is the other co-manager of Seattle 4 Lempira.

After everything was packed onto the truck, Allen, Russell, and Kelsea drove to Southern Washington, to pick up backpacks at the home of Alan and Faith Hayes. Faith is one of Trish’s, Heidi Cook’s, and my friends from that same homeschooling forum.

Next, it was on to Oregon to collect backpacks from Kelli Johansen. The team kept driving until well into the night. They finally stopped at around 2:00am to catch a few ZZZZZs before driving to California. Melissa Pompa headed up a huge backpack drive, and was also the drop-off person for her area, so she had a collection of backpacks ready for the team when they made it to her house in California.

California backpacks!

Phoenix backpacks!

The next stop was Arizona, where they picked up backpacks from the home of Karen Reill. Karen is one of Trish’s, Heidi Cook’s, Faith Hayes’s, and my friends from that aforementioned homeschooling forum. Karen had filled backpacks, as well as collected them from members of her church and community. While in Arizona, the Penske truck made its way to meet up with a longtime friend of the Sowerses and supporter of Sowers4Pastors, Ben Cofer.

Colorado was the next stop. The team was able to collect backpacks from the home of Monica Lederman. In addition to the backpacks collected by Monica, this location also had the backpacks collected by Laura Eley in Denver!  Monica also put them up for the night and took them to breakfast before they went on their merry way to Kansas.

Colorado backpacks

In Derby, Kansas, they stopped at The Well Worship Center, which is a part of the Sister Church Program. The team arrived on Friday and stayed until Sunday. They were able to collect all of the backpacks for the Sister Church and attend two church services on Sunday morning. There should be a special shout-out to the Emberson family and the Graham family for taking Allen, Russell, and Kelsea around town and out for great food. Then the team headed to Topeka for dinner with Lee and Emily Schnee.

From there, the truck headed to Minnesota. They spent the night with Brad and Jenny Irvin, who happen to be Trish’s brother and sister-in-law. They left with Trish’s harp safely on board the Penske.

On the day we spoke, they were in Wisconsin, where they will collect backpacks from Sarah McCully and Kelly Walsh. Since Allen, Russell, and Kelsea have their priorities in order, they squeezed in a stop at a cheese factory and relaxed with a little bowling.

The trio and Trish’s harp will soon be heading to Chicago. The harp will be dropped off for repairs, and sponsor Agnieszka Justl will be handing off backpacks for her two sponsored kids, to Russell and Allen, at the harp factory! Kelsea will be flying back to Honduras on September 20th, while Allen and Russell will head to Indianapolis.

So, are you feeling better about your own schedule yet? If not, stay tuned for the next installment!

 - posted by Christi