Every Ending is a New Beginning

The older cousins hanging out
with Russell
(This is from a recent vacation)

As someone with a Pinterest account once said, “Every ending is a new beginning.” Seriously, I have no idea who said it first, but variations of that theme are plastered all over Pinterest on backgrounds of sunrises and seashores. Regardless of who said it, Sowers4Pastors needs it needlepointed on a pillow. Earlier this summer, they had four back-to-back teams for a total of four and half weeks. That ended and it was a new beginning of two weeks with no teams and everything that filled those weeks. By the time you read this, that will have ended and they will have begun a new cycle with three back-to-back teams. Today, we’re going to talk about what has happened during that interim period with no teams.

The biggest news family-wise is that Rachel and Nathan have been visiting. Brandy couldn’t make it because of work obligations, but he will come to pick them up this weekend. They’ve been enjoying the extra fun of having an additional grandchild/cousin/nephew (depending on their relationship to Nathan) on the property. They’ve been a little limited to what they could do because of ongoing COVID restrictions. But does anyone really need anything more than an inflatable pool to have a fabulous summer?

Taking a trip to the park with the
cousins. All the kids are holding
Russell's and each other's hands
at the front of the group (Except
Hannah, who is helping her Auntie
Kay take the picture)

Rachel, who is 5 months pregnant with boy #2 is a mover and a shaker, a get-things-done-er, anti-couch potato kind of person. While those qualities cause Allen and Russell to tackle things like construction projects, Rachel turns her focus to domestic endeavors. Prior to her visit, she actually contacted Trish and asked what projects Trish would like for her to complete. Then she arrived with fabric and turned it into handmade curtains and a system for hanging them on Trish’s doorless lower kitchen cabinets (this system employed clothesline and cup hooks). She also brought some plants since Trish has proved that she can be plant responsible. A year or so ago, Rachel researched hard-to-kill plants and brought several to Trish, who is known throughout the family for her not-so-green thumb. So far, those plants have survived, so Rachel decided to bring in some new varieties. Trish already had hanging baskets, so Rachel brought potting soil and hardy plant varieties. The baskets are now beautifying the front porch of Allen and Trish’s home. Rachel is also going to organize the pantry.

Block walls are starting to go up!!

Meanwhile, the menfolk and staff have had time to finish a section of the new house that is being built. This is not a luxury, as they are desperate for housing. Kirstin is living in substandard conditions that mean she must haul water to wash dishes and then haul the water back out. There is also no way to keep her living quarters cool during the hot months. The new house means building a one-story home with a partial basement. Originally, the most ambitious timeline for completion was two years. Allen very vocally added in an “AT LEAST,” when this was being discussed. They have currently poured all of the concrete there is to pour. That means the basement has a ceiling, which is also the floor of the main floor. The walls will be made of stacked blocks because it’s easier to work on smaller sections that way. They can work a couple of days here and there, moving forward when they have the time.

Mattress delivery!

In the category of getting ready for teams, they have spent some of the two-weeks getting ready for Project Mattress. A team from Edgewater Alliance Church did a survey among the families in their program and learned that most of the homes didn’t have mattresses or were sleeping with a whole family on one mattress. We’re not talking about something you might purchase for your master bedroom. These are closer to camping mattresses. As a result of this ambitious project, Sowers4Pastors has acquired 380 foam mattresses. They are ready and waiting to be distributed. They also had to contact the 16 different locations the team will be visiting to make sure that people know when to expect them.

We recently talked about the challenge of keeping the ministry vehicles up and running. Part of the team prep was having work done to the vehicles the teams will be traveling in. Since these are smaller teams, they are in good shape.

Besides the team from Edgewater Alliance Church, they will also host a team of people who attend Lighthouse Church. The final week, Clay Powell, who was the teacher at Pastor Training School before it disbanded for COVID, will arrive with a team of 4-5 people. Clay will be leading a 1-week seminar at the school. That means, Sowers4Pastors needs to oversee the housing and feeding of pastors, as well as that team.

Picture of Hannah, because why not?

Allen and Trish want to say a special thanks to the teams that came and those yet to come. These brave front-runner teams have had to deal with a bit more hassle since COVID is a reality. Sowers4Pastors appreciates the commitments to the children and their families. As Trish said, “Even with COVID, life has to go on and we’ll figure this out.”

Allen stressed that the arrival of teams is the best thing that happens in the minds of these kids. He said, “It’s better than the Day of the Child (a Honduran holiday), Christmas, and their birthdays. These team members are like superheroes for the children. It means more than you can imagine.”

- posted by Christi.