Checking in with the Feeding Centers

Esdras is taking this time in the middle of the year to reflect on the feeding centers–on how much they are growing and how Sowers4Pastors hopes they will continue to grow in the future. 

A goal this year for S4P was to visit each feeding center. Esdras reflected on that by saying, “Each time I have visited a feeding center, it has been an opportunity to see how God is impacting the lives of these kids.”

Usually, pastors pick up the rice themselves, sometimes driving as much as four hours. Because of this, S4P staff has to make an effort to see the feeding centers in action. Visiting each center brings home the importance of this part of the ministry. 

Esdras said, “You can see the kids growing in the Word of God. At the same time, we can see that the pastors are doing a great job.” 

S4P provides fortified rice for the centers, but the pastors often add eggs or beans to the rice. Or sometimes they use the rice in a pot of soup. The food is not only nourishing the children physically, it is a way of enticing more children to attend Sunday school.

“Some kids don’t want to go to Sunday school,” Esdras said. “It’s not attractive to them. Some kids may just come for the rice. But during the time the pastors give the rice, they are also able to share the Gospel. The kids may come for one thing but they go home with the most important thing – the Gospel! Our goal is to get more feeding centers because we consider how important the program is. This year we have added thirty centers. For the rest of the year, we are looking for more pastors who can share the love by sharing the Gospel through rice. We praise God for those pastors.”

Esdras went on to talk about the fact that it is not Sowers4Pastors’ job to run each feeding center. All the feeding centers scattered throughout the rural parts of Western Honduras, that simply wouldn’t be a possibility. S4P’s job is to empower the pastors so that the pastors can then spread the Gospel to their communities. If the pastors were not serious about that, the whole thing would fall apart. 

The goal is to add another thirty feeding centers to the program in the coming months. Esdras would like to share that Sowers4Pastors regularly prays for the people who make the feeding centers possible. 

“We are thankful for every sponsor, for every donation, for every person that God put on their heart to help with the rice. Thank you so much for making this possible,” Esdras ended.

It will be exciting to see what the second half of 2024 has in store for the feeding centers.

- posted by Christi