Backpack Shenanigans

 “It’s time to play Blog Post Family Feud! 100 imaginary people were surveyed and the top five answers are on the board. Name shenanigans the Sowers are currently up to.” 

 “Steve, I think I’m going to say skydiving!”

“Show me skydiving!”

As usual, the crew is up to all kinds of different shenanigans. A week and a half ago, Allen arrived in Ohio to get the filling process of the next container of food in motion. He loaded all of the food packing equipment from the Maryland event into a small Penske truck. He dropped things off in Columbus and headed to the Amish communities of Apple Creek and Sugarcreek to show participating groups how to do a food-packing event. This packing event will be completed by Amish, Mennonites, and a bunch of people whose parents were Amish or Mennonite, but now attend other Bible-based churches. Supplies will be distributed between six different locations. The food will be packed, loaded onto a container, and sent to Honduras. From there, he went to join the backpack crew in Indiana. 

The backpack collection portion of the trip is going well. Russell, Kirstin, and Kelsea had already picked up 1800 backpacks when they met up with Allen in Indiana and picked up a second Penske truck. They collected donations in Indiana from Kelly S., Deb B., and Mr. and Mrs. B.

While in Indiana, the crew stopped to traverse the longest navigable underground river in the US, at Bluesprings Caverns. Not with the trucks obviously, but in boats.Try to say, “Longest navigable underground river in the US,” ten times fast. 

Besides visiting the depths of the earth, the adventurous crew decided to traverse the heavens.... Very quickly…. In a vertical direction…. Without an aircraft. In other words, the crew went skydiving. For their first time, they decided to go tandem skydiving, which is when you are strapped to the instructor. Kelsea notes that for a first timer, tandem skydiving is a good start, as she wasn’t sure she could have forced herself to jump off the plane. Being strapped to an instructor who pushes you out helps with that part!

The two Penske trucks then headed to Ohio to pick up donations from Life Community Church in Hilliard and The Branch in Sugarcreek. From there, the crew went to Pittsburgh, where Allen and Kirstin visited the family dentist, Miss Annette. While there, Allen got a cavity filled. Also while in the Pittsburgh area, the traveling missionaries collected 6000 menstrual kits from Days for Girls. Allen succinctly described that as, “a winner.” 

The total number of backpacks collected this year is still projected to be down about 2000 from last year’s total of 8000, but the news isn’t all bad. A lot of new people are trying their hand at filling backpacks this year. And some of the groups that previously said they would be unable to participate have contacted Allen to say they have enough people interested in doing it again. 

Other projects currently in motion include paperwork for shipping containers. Honduras has accepted Sowers4Pastors preliminary paperwork to do duty-free shipping on the container of food packed in Maryland. A trailer was brought in to store the boxes of food until it’s time to fill the container. 

The crew has arrived in the MD and VA area, unloaded the backpacks into the staging containers, and returned the Penskes. They are currently visiting Boo and her husband Sam in VA. They don’t have a lot of downtime this week, but they are trying to fit a little fun in between meetings and unloading boxes. 

As the first leg of the backpack trip comes to an end, the Sowers4Pastors crew wants to give a shoutout to all the different people who packed backpacks. This year has been a rough year for everyone, so the crew is extremely appreciative of anyone who helped with this project. The team also wants to especially thank anyone who coordinated, collected or stored the backpacks. Thanks everyone!!

- posted by Christi