Introducing: Yo Soy!

Sowers4Pastors is pleased to introduce a new program... except it's not so much a new program as a new name for the old sponsorship program. Instead of just calling it the “Sowers4Pastors Sister Church Sponsorship Program,” which never exactly rolled off the tongue, its name is now "Yo Soy."

The sponsorship program, which is currently made up of seven different programs across twenty-four different communities, has been a single but vital element of the S4P ministry for several years now. Just for a quick refresher, this project works by connecting US churches with Honduran communities, helping children get resources to go to school, feeding them with enriched rice, and empowering pastors and community leaders with Sunday school materials so the children are exposed to the Gospel. And it will continue as it has, but with a new identity and a more precise vision of what the ministry is trying to accomplish for the children and the kingdom of God.

There’s capacity for growth in the focus and purpose of this program and S4P is working to deepen what they’re doing. Rachel shared, “We have been working to improve some areas, to focus in on the ministry to the children themselves and working closer with the community leaders. What we do in this ministry is so different from our other ministries, like helping with church roofs and purchasing motorcycles. This is very labor intensive. With the children, we’re trying to see something sown in them on a weekly basis. It’s a big commitment.”

"Yo Soy" is Spanish for “I am.” When Rachel and Brandy first had the idea of officially transforming the sponsorship program into a sort of sub-ministry with a name of its own, they asked Alejandro and Secia to help with the brainstorming process. They wanted it to be something the kids can identify with. Sowers4Pastors Kids was considered and later vetoed because it was in English and didn’t seem very kid-friendly (as in, it doesn't roll off the tongue any better than "sister church sponsorship program). "Yo Soy", on the other hand, encapsulates what they hope to impart on the children. Yo Soy. I am. I am loved. I am chosen. I am a child of God. And, as God said to Moses, “I AM that I AM.” 

Rachel shared that many of the kids come from broken homes. Some come from many generations of broken homes. Some of the families are large, though it was never the intention of the parents to have many children. The woman who assists Rachel around the house told her that she has many times seen people trying to give away a child they didn’t want the same way you might give away a litter of kittens. Just imagine the impact that has on the child who grows up thinking, “My own mother didn’t want me.”

Many of the children in Yo Soy don’t feel wanted or loved in their homes. Many of the parents grew up like that, too. They are now prisoners of their own limiting beliefs. Rachel talked about the many times the adults say things like, “I could never do that.” They don’t see a way out of this cycle. Yo Soy is trying to change that for the next generation. If you are a child of God, who are you to say you can’t do something He has called you to do?

Apart from helping the kids, Yo So is also intended to help the pastors and teachers giving the lessons. The idea is that having a name will also give them a clear identity and purpose. “It can help them focus and feel like they are part of a team,” said Rachel.

Sowers4Pastors asks for prayers as Yo Soy continues to grow and reach new children. There is the hope to expand deeper into the nearby communities. Pray that the kids will be receptive to the lessons the ministry is trying to sow in them. Pray for S4P to focus energy, time, and resources into the things the great I AM wants for them.

- posted by Christi.