"How's it Going, Now that You're Back in Honduras?" An update on Allen and Trish

Trish and Allen are home! Oh, sure, that’s not exactly news since they’ve been home for a couple of weeks now. But it feels like news because Trish was the one sharing today’s blog update. So let’s celebrate anyway by dropping some imaginary confetti. 

The most important thing Trish would like to share is that while they had to be away from Honduras for so long the ministry continued to thrive. Trish said, “As the founders of the ministry, we don’t want it to flounder in our absence. And it didn’t. Even though Rachel had a baby and Brandy had appendicitis during our time away, things still continued on very smoothly. That is really, really encouraging. We’ve had great reports from the visiting teams concerning how our staff is handling things. We’re so grateful that God brought these people to join Sowers4Pastors.” 

Allen and Malia at
Lighthouse Church

As for the actual trip back to Honduras… Allen and Trish left the home where they had been staying in Florida in early July. They visited with family and then flew to Maryland. While there, they were able to visit three sister churches. Trish drove to Ohio to visit Life Community church. While she was there, Allen visited Lighthouse Church in Maryland, and they both paid a visit to Fredericktowne Baptist Church. 

They were able to pick up the plumbing fixtures for Rachel and Brandy’s new home construction and pack them in their suitcases. They were prepared to pay import taxes upon arrival in Honduras, but when they went through the airport it was so late that customs was shut down and they were waved through. 

Allen and Trish spent the night at a hotel near the airport and Kirstin arrived the following morning to drive them home. The trip was extra long due to construction work on the main road. Trish said, “It wasn’t bad in terms of traffic or the roughness of the road, but the road was shut down to just one lane, multiple times. We probably sat for a total of two to three hours just waiting for the lane to open for the cars going in our direction. We did make the trip in one day, though. We knew the hardest part of the whole trip would be the drive from where the paved road ends to our house. It's a rough, unpaved road for about two miles. Because we're in the middle of the rainy season, the road is especially bad right now.” 

You might think that Allen spent the following day resting up from the trip, but you might think wrong! The next morning, Allen got up early and drove himself into Gracias to have breakfast with a visiting team. (Trish mentioned that it’s easier to be the driver than the passenger on rocky roads.) If he’s going out, he usually wants to do it early in the morning. But one day last week, he made a total of three drives out – one to meet a team for breakfast, one to go with Rachel to purchase supplies for the home construction, and one to join the team at the hot springs. 

Trish explained, “We weren’t sure how he was going to manage being back, but he's definitely not stuck at home. When we were driving in the US before his surgery, just the small bump experienced when changing from highway to bridge, then back to highway was very painful for him. He has made great strides! He still experiences sudden pangs of pain. He still has arthritis and bone spurs, plus he’s still healing - the surgery was only three months ago! But, at least for now, we are finding it do-able to live in Honduras, which is a huge praise!"

Charlotte and Michael!!!

They have enjoyed lots of time with their grandchildren living in Honduras, including the newest model! And Trish said it was lovely to come home and see projects that were completed in their absence. She’s especially delighted by the beautiful new fence/railing in her backyard. 

Please continue to pray for Allen’s recovery and for both Allen and Trish as they reacclimate to life at home.

 - posted by Christi