Having Allen's Back

"Don't worry. I've got your back!" That's something you might hear whenever someone is letting you know that they are there to support you. Right now, it's something that Allen needs to hear because his actual back is causing him grief! After dealing with back issues for most of his adult life, the pain has finally caught up with him.

Allen’s long history with back pain stems from a combination of weight lifting as a young man, construction work, a minor car accident that happened years ago, and his incessant need to help lift any heavy object in need of lifting. Over the years, the damage would get better. Then it would get worse. But, as Trish shared, “He always considered it to be manageable. Until it wasn’t.”

The proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” moment came while Allen was on the current backpack collection trip. He had just arrived in the US and the pain was different. Instead of only being in his back, the pain was radiating down his limbs. That might have been a good time to stop pushing. However, Allen is not a person who stops until a job is done. So, he pushed on.

He completed the first leg of the trip. And the pain was pretty bad. He completed the second leg of the trip. And the pain was still pretty bad. When it was time for the third leg of the trip…Holy moly! The pain was so bad that even Allen had to stop. 

Kirstin completed the trip by herself. In a giant Penske truck, she drove from Mississippi, where she picked up backpacks collected in Texas and Mississippi, through Alabama where she also picked up backpacks, and back to Florida. It all got done while Allen waited in Florida. 

Allen, Kirstin, and Esdras were scheduled to fly back to Honduras today (October 19th). That won’t be happening for Allen. Instead, Trish will be flying to Florida next week, to join him. The plan is to find out what can be done for Allen’s back, and get it taken care of! They anticipate there will be at least one surgery involved. The damage from the long-ago car accident is in his neck and the other damage is in the lower back, so… Who knows? 

Because they have been in Honduras for decades, Allen and Trish only had minimal health insurance in the US. That always worked out well since healthcare costs are so much lower in Honduras. The insurance was mainly to cover costs in case Allen got sick or was injured on a backpack collection trip. Options for spinal surgery in Honduras are not great, and if they were, there would still be the issue that Allen is not currently in Honduras. The insurance they already had wasn’t going to cut it, so Allen found a different health insurance. Due to their low income, they qualified for an Affordable Care Act plan that doesn’t exclude pre-existing conditions. That will kick in on November 1st. In November, Allen will see a doctor and, hopefully, get plans to ease the back pain, and start taking steps to resolve the causes of the pain.

The new insurance plan requires all medical treatment to be in Florida. That brings up the next issue… Allen and Trish needed a place to stay. Since this could drag on for months, they needed to not be guests in someone’s home. And, in order to keep expenses down, they needed a place where Trish could cook, do laundry, etc. 

View from the cottage where Allen and
Trish will be staying!

Trish said, “We have been blessed by the generosity of a supporter.” The supporter is someone Trish met in an online homeschooling forum, back in the day. “She and her husband have a home in coastal Georgia with a guest cottage. It’s a two-bedroom cottage with a full kitchen and all of the amenities. It’s off in the woods by itself. If you put it together like a dream, this is what you’d come up with. It’s about an hour from Florida. We’re hoping to get treatment set up in Jacksonville and to remain in Georgia for as long as we can. It may be necessary to move around a bit, if the locations of the needed care requires us to be farther south.”

What does this mean for the ministry? Trish will continue doing her ministry work online. Everything else is in the very capable hands of Brandy, Rachel, Kirstin, and the rest of the staff. They will get the containers, etc. Trish anticipates that they will likely pass out the backpacks before she and Allen return home. 

How can you have their backs? Obviously, both Allen and Trish can use your prayers. Trish is preparing now, to leave her house empty for an unknown period of time. Allen does not have a reputation for being a patient patient in the best of times. These are not the best of times. He’s in a lot of pain and he isn’t sleeping well. Since there's not much he can do, we can expect that he will be experiencing boredom, as well.

You can also help with the additional financial burdens by donating through the website and selecting Allen and Trish Sowers Support from the dropdown menu.  It has been suggested that Trish set up an Amazon wishlist, for people who would like to help them with some of their needs while they will be in the US. Others have suggested restaurant or grocery gift cards might be helpful. If you're interested in helping in any of these ways (or you have some other way you'd like to help), you can contact Trish at trish @ sowers4pastors.com.

Trish said, “We’re just taking this day by day. God has brought us through difficult times in the past, and we know that He has this in hand, too.” - posted by Christi