Sowers4Pastors has always had the mission of empowering pastors. Since their arrival in Gracias umpteen years ago, Allen and Trish have believed in the importance of giving indigenous pastors the tools they need without creating an atmosphere of dependence. They want to know that the Gospel will continue to spread throughout Western Honduras long after they are gone. That's one reason it is an exceptionally big deal that S4P recently hosted its first team from Honduras. It's also one of the many reasons they are happy to have Honduran staff members working with them.
Prior to joining Sowers4Pastors, Alejandro and Secia served as pastors at a church in Tegucigalpa with 4000 members. Two of their coworkers at that church were Raúl and Brenda Jiménez, who continue to work in Tegucigalpa as children’s ministers. When Raúl and Brenda found out about the work S4P is doing, they prepared a team of twenty-seven people to help. The group consisted of all ages–children, teens, and adults. The team arrived intent on its purpose of sharing the Gospel and ministering to the children in the area. Though they were only there for two days, they were able to accomplish a lot.
The first day, the team evangelized to 2020 children, ranging from kindergarteners to middle schoolers. Think of it as a huge, one-day VBS program, involving games and Bible lessons. They team prayed for the children and their families, taking special prayer requests. Many of those kids accepted Christ that day. During a drama involving Jesus and the events leading up to the cross, the children were so excited that they began shouting to run and give Jesus a hug because he would soon be gone!
On the second day, the team worked with two churches in the area. That included two pastors, seventeen Sunday school teachers, and almost two-hundred children between the ages of 2-14. The theme of the morning was Fiesta Kids! The team arrived with shoeboxes from Samaritan’s Purse, and, along with the Sunday school teachers, led the kids in singing, dancing, Bible teaching, and prayers. In the afternoon, the team gave training to the Sunday school teachers, equipping them with strategies to teach the children more effectively. They also prayed over the Sunday school teachers. By the end of the day, both pastors were crying and offering thanks as the team presented the teachers with medals for working with the kids. The medals were a way of thanking the Sunday school teachers for helping the children and volunteering their time.
This is actually a case of Honduran pastors preparing a Honduran team to work with Honduran pastors to empower Honduran Sunday school teachers to spread the love of Jesus and train up a new generation. Since that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, it looks like Sowers4Pastors will keep its original mission statement about empowering pastors. But you know there’s a depth and breadth to that statement that extends beyond what can fit comfortably on a letterhead!
- posted by Christi, information gleaned from a call with Alejandro!
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