An Exciting and Exhausting Time

There needs to be a list of creative ways to begin a Sowers4Pastors blog post. “It’s an exciting time” seems to be used with the same frequency with which Snoopy wrote, “It was a dark and stormy night…” But it really is an exciting time. Just to jazz things up a bit, let’s throw in the word “exhausting.” Because “exciting and exhausting” pair as well as “dark and stormy.” By the way, you may ignore this paragraph. 

Here’s the official first line of this post: It is an exciting and exhausting time for Sowers4Pastors. 

Just when you think this post is going to ZIG, it ZAGS. So we’re going to start off talking about the exhausting part (some of which is also exciting). The last team of the summer has left. Team time is something S4P looks forward to as much as the team members that visit. But, let’s face it–hosting guests is tiring. Hosting guests all summer is EXHAUSTING! The team visits coincided with some staff turnover and the continuing cleanup from COVID. 

Another item that falls under the exhausting category is the open border situation in Honduras. This has had a tremendous impact on the sponsorship programs. Some of the children are gone. More of the children have been relocated to other family members because their parents have gone. Some heads of churches are gone. This has required a lot of extra work to be sure S4P is working with up-to-date information.

In short, they’ve been putting out a lot of fires. This call was with Trish, but Allen was in the background chiming in with pertinent information. He shouted out, “Be sure you tell them that we are taking a moment to breathe and regroup. We’re looking forward to being able to quit putting out fires and start doing more fire prevention.” Consider yourself told!

While most people will have a little longer to catch up on the things that get pushed aside for team visits, Allen is preparing for his upcoming backpack trip. That’s exciting! And, yes, it’s also exhausting! He only had 10 days between when the teams left, and when the backpack trip starts. The trip is physically grueling, plus he only has a short time to take care of everything that needs his attention in Honduras. 

Sowers4Pastors has always known that any backpack trip could be the last one. This was particularly evident in 2020. COVID hit and S4P had to wonder if people would really be up for filling backpacks and putting their boxes out at the end of their driveways. Then in 2021, there were supply-chain issues. Would people still be able to fill backpacks? 2022 has brought high inflation into the mix. Would people be willing to prioritize the costs associated with filling backpacks? YES! Sowers4Pastors is only able to collect backpacks when enough people step up to make the trip make good sense financially. 

Everyone with S4P is thrilled to have so many people committed to filling backpacks. Allen pointed out that there has been a rotation of people filling backpacks. Some groups have needed to step away for a year. Other groups have taken their place. It’s like a giant square dance with people do-si-do-ing so Allen can help the backpacks promenade home! 

The supply of backpacks shipped to Honduras in 2021 was completely used up. As you may know, S4P often keeps a few backpacks in reserve to meet unexpected needs. This time, there were just enough to fill the immediate needs. If there had been more, they could have been used. 400 pastors signed up to receive pastor appreciation gifts. S4P had to stop accepting requests to prevent running out of gifts. The bodega is close to empty! 

Another exciting thing is that two brothers in the States have volunteered to go on the backpack trip. Dillon and Dennis will be splitting up time on the trip. One will take the first half of the trip and then the other will take over. You may recognize Dillon’s name because he previously interned with S4P. The brothers are old enough to drive rental trucks and young enough to have really strong backs! This is an absolute Godsend. Brandy would love to go on the trip, but he doesn’t have his visa yet. It could be years before he has that, but everyone is trusting that God’s timing is perfect.

We all know the importance of this time. So many families in Western Honduras are only able to send their children to school with the gift of school supplies and shoes. We know it’s working because of the huge increase in kids attending school. S4P has seen tangible benefits, such as middle schools being built in areas that never needed them before! As always, thank you to everyone who has been praying for Sowers4Pastors. Please continue to pray for the backpack trip and the ministry in general! 

- posted by Christi