They Were Cordially Invited

Look! It's another opportunity 
to show you a cute baby!

Today’s official announcement has been months in the making, so let’s make the most of it.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Rachel and Brandy have accepted an invitation to join the Sowers4Pastors ministry!

Way back in November, Allen and Trish approached Rachel and Brandy about the possibility of moving to Gracias to work with S4P. That was what is commonly known as “a long shot.” This particular long shot was more like a looooooong shot, due in no small part to the facts that Rachel and Brandy already run a ministry in another part of the country and that Brandy is still in the Air Force. They agreed to pray about it, which Allen and Trish took as a better sign than if they had collapsed into fits of laughter about the improbability of it all. 

A lot of pieces came together in ways to show that God was in this decision. Since Brandy is often away with the Air Force, the bulk of their ministry falls on Rachel. As it turns out, Rachel had already been training Brandy’s sister to help with much of the day-to-day operation of the ministry. Rachel and Brandy were already planning to find their own living quarters, away from the young women they assist. They had secured a rental house that was too small for their family and the students to all live in and were going to have to find another rental for the family this month. Rachel will still be able to do administrative tasks for their student ministry from afar. Brandy’s sister will be living in the home with the students in Tegucigalpa. Brandy and Rachel will continue to oversee that ministry.

Brandy was already planning to leave the military, but he hadn’t yet chosen a date to end his service. In Honduras, you can file paperwork and pay a fee to end your military service early. Brandy had been considering that for a while, but he wanted to wait until his next promotion, to captain, which he received in December. Because Trish is rightfully a very proud mother-in-law, this is a good place to point out that Captain Brandy received the highest cumulative military score in his entire class. After that, he began the paperwork process for his release from the Air Force. He will stay in Tegucigalpa until the discharge process is completed. Prayers are appreciated because, naturally, the military isn’t thrilled at the prospect of losing him. This could create an uncomfortable situation for Brandy. 

The skills that have made Brandy an excellent military man will also make him a valuable asset to Sowers4Pastors. He has impressive leadership and business skills. He has a reputation for being ethical. Besides all of those excellent qualities, he also happens to have a great sense of humor and visiting teams will enjoy getting to know him.

Packing is almost done, ready for the big move!

Rachel and the boys are moving to Gracias now and Brandy will follow as soon as he can. She found a rental house in Gracias. It is large enough for their family and to be used for some other ministry purposes. After the family is settled, it will be used to house part of the Bible bookstore and some food distribution. That will be convenient for pastors. Immediately upon Rachel’s arrival, she will open her home to a couple from Kansas coming down to serve as intern helpers for the ministry. They will reside in one room of the house. Later this month, an intern from Texas will arrive for a 3-month trial internship, and will stay at Rachel's home. Rachel will immediately - even while she's still unpacking - be doing all of the hospitality tasks she has been doing with the students. She will have her hands full, but she excels at organizational systems. Allen and Trish are hopeful that she will be able to help organize everyone’s workload in the ministry. 

Sowers4Pastors was short-staffed two years ago and Kirstin joined them. Now that Kelsea has moved on, they are short-staffed once again. Allen and Russell have always been the sort of guys to work until the job is done. While that is an admirable quality to have, Allen and Trish want to be sure Russell is able to have a bit of balance between work and home. That’s not easy to achieve when work is always right there. With some extra hands on site, Russell can have more time to spend with Iris and their adorable children.

Speaking of adorable children… Allen and Trish are pretty stoked that they will have all five grandchildren within easy hugging distance!

- posted by Christi