Anyone into Pitching Reality TV Series?

Someone should really turn the backpack collection trip into a reality television program. Picture it. Penske trucks driven over the span of weeks to multiple locations to pick up a slew of backpacks, all across scenic America. It really has everything you could ever want from a reality television program. We’ll call it The Real Missionaries of Honduras: Backpack Collection Trip Edition. It has a ring to it, don’t you think? Well, maybe it’s a little long, so we can abbreviate it to TRMoH. Obviously, too late to film this year's trip - but never too early to start planning for next year!

If this year had been filmed, this season of TRMoH: Backpack Collection Trip Edition would have started two days after Christopher and Audrey’s nuptials. Russell and Kirstin were in the Penske for the first leg of the trip. Because every reality show needs drama, they were on a tight schedule this year.

There is a push to get the shipping containers filled earlier than usual this year. Over the past year, there have been some challenges getting the shipping containers of food, due in part to the shippers having trouble getting trucks to haul the containers to port. The Real Missionaries of Honduras are anticipating delays, but they still need those backpacks before the Honduran school year begins. They completed the paperwork in Honduras earlier than usual. Russell and Kirstin pushed through their leg to get all of the backpack collected as quickly as possible. In Indianapolis, they had to rent a second Penske, as in years past, to be able to tote all the backpacks - praise the Lord!

After the west-to-east leg of the trip were done, then of course they still had to do the East Coast leg and the Southern States leg. For this part of the trip, Kirstin tapped out and Allen took her spot. Russell completed the whole trip this year. Since there were three legs of the trip, one of which took two trucks, they rented a total of four Penske trucks - maybe if S4P can't get a reality TV series, they should look into doing ads for Penske?

If you were following the journey in almost real time, it might seem like they weren't going all that fast. That’s because they stopped along the way to speak at churches. Sometimes they arrived at a location before it was time to speak. That gave them a little bit of downtime for those all-important “having fun” scenes you need in a reality TV show.

You probably recall that there was some concern over whether or not this trip would happen. While COVID has created some inconveniences, it couldn’t keep a good backpack collection trip down. The biggest issue, outside of rising expenses, has probably been finding places to eat along the way. Dine-in areas of restaurants are closed in a lot of areas. Drive-thrus are open, but you can’t drive through in a gigantic moving truck. You will be interested to know that you aren’t allowed to walk through a drive-thru either. The restrictions vary in each area, but that just keeps things fresh and interesting for the viewer. 

You might notice that photos of the backpacks in the Penske trucks at the end of each leg show that they were pretty-much-but-not-quite completely full. While it may look like there’s still room for more boxes, they have to consider the weight of the truck, too. Every year there is concern that there won't be very many filled backpacks to collect (a source of tension for the TV show, right?), so everyone at Sowers4Pastors wants to give a big shout out to everyone who has filled backpacks this year! What could have been a skimpy year is not turning out skimpy at all! 

Ongoing prayers are appreciated. Everything is more expensive this year. Everything. Penske did offer a discount to Sowers4Pastors for being a loyal customer. Even so, the price is up from last year. Plus, fuel costs are up. And the shipping containers… Prices are up by about 5 times and they are still rising. There are a lot of people who would love to help with backpacks, but they don’t live in an area where someone in a Penske truck can swing by and pick them up. If that’s you, there is still a way you can help. You can go to the Sowers4Pastors website and click on the Donate page. Go to the dropdown category for Backpack Project to help with the added expenses. You can also virtually fill and donate a backpack full of school supplies, but clicking on "Backpacks" on the top menu of the website.

Kirstin mentioned that a lot of people on the trip expressed relief that the boxes of backpacks were out of their homes, as they were already starting next year's packing!! Obviously, the crew at S4P appreciates this attitude and wants to say thank you to everyone who packed and made this year's trip a successful one! Whether you plan to pack backpacks or not, prayers for next year's trip are appreciated! S4P hopes and plans and prays to do it next year as well - it is certainly the goal!

Overall, things have gone really well and there are many reasons to be thankful. You might recall that last year’s trip meant dodging California wildfires, snowstorms, and a hurricane in Louisiana. This year’s drive has been comparatively calm and peaceful. The crew at Sowers4Pastors is grateful for all your prayers!! Please pray that the containers are filled and ready to be moved in a timely manner. Fictional reality show or not, everyone wants to keep the drama to a minimum! 

- posted by Christi.