Everyone Complains About the Weather. Believers PRAY!

There’s an old saying that is often wrongly attributed to Mark Twain: “Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Today, Sowers4Pastors is asking you to do something about the weather. Pray! Pray for the drought in Honduras and for the devastating effects it is having on families throughout the country.

Forecasters have been warning about a serious El Niño climate pattern for some time. Brandy remembers hearing that this would be a particularly dry season and that it was expected to be difficult. But it’s one thing to hear a dire weather forecast and quite another to live through it.

“They said it would be tough, but we never thought it would be this tough,” Brandy said. S4P is located near the Celaque mountains, whose name literally translates to “box of water.” Under normal circumstances, the staff can see a waterfall from their property. Now, everything is dry. Rivers have dwindled to a trickle, creeks are going dry, and Honduras is experiencing a rainy season without much rain at all.

And that is a serious problem for the people living in the mountain communities.

“The people in the villages produce food for themselves, but they also produce food to be sold,” Brandy explained. “People are very worried.”

The Honduran government has issued red and yellow alerts for different departments throughout the country. Lempira is currently under a red alert, which is especially concerning in a department where so many families depend on agriculture for both food and income.

During recent visits to different communities with VBS teams, Brandy saw firsthand how badly the crops are being affected.

“We saw people sowing their crops of corn and beans,” he said. “But the crops haven’t grown as they should. Corn stalks should grow to heights of 7–9 feet. August is the time of harvest. This year, the corn stalks only grew to 2–3 feet. Some places have reported a loss of 100% of their crops.”

There is a little rain in the forecast for the coming weeks, and the government hopes that farmers will be able to plant another crop. As part of its contingency plan, the government is providing fertilizer to farmers at no cost. But, of course, fertilizer doesn’t do much good without rain.

“We need to trust in God and we need to be praying to God,” Brandy reminds us. “We are His kids, and as His kids, we ask the Father to supply our needs.”

That’s a good time to hold tightly to the promise found in Philippians 4:6–7: Do not worry about anything. Pray about everything. Give your needs to God with thanks. God’s peace will guard your heart.

Of course, “don’t worry” is easier said than done when you can see people struggling. Many families in Lempira already face food insecurity during a normal year. Brandy estimates that the current drought could double the number of families affected.

Even Sowers4Pastors is feeling the effects. Last Friday, Brandy and several others went to check on the ministry’s water supply. The river that supplies their water is dry. For now, they are relying on whatever water remains in their storage tank.

The drought is also creating an increasingly urgent need for food.

You may remember that S4P has been struggling to get food containers into Honduras. The last food shipment arrived in 2025. There is still some food remaining, but it is earmarked primarily for the children in the sponsorship programs, leaving very little available to help others who may be struggling with food insecurity.

The ministry’s next food container still has not been approved, despite S4P doing everything required on its end. The paperwork was recently resubmitted in hopes of finally receiving permission to bring in a shipment containing fortified rice-and-bean, rice-and-soy, and oatmeal meals. These foods are specifically formulated to provide essential vitamins and nutrients and help prevent malnutrition. And the drought isn’t only affecting food crops.

Brandy has been checking the S4P coffee farm twice a week, watching closely as the lack of rain affects the crop. Each coffee tree flowers four times, with each flower eventually becoming a coffee bean.

“The first flowers appeared normal,” Brandy explained. “The third flowers were really small. And the fourth flowers did not make it. Because it is dry, the coffee has already ripened, but the beans are small. And we can’t fertilize with no rain.”

That is a challenge facing coffee farms throughout the region — and the people who depend on those farms for their income.

There is a lot here that Sowers4Pastors cannot control. They cannot make the rivers flow, force the clouds to open, or make a crop grow without rain. But they can pray. And they can ask others to pray with them.

So that is the request today: Please pray for rain. Pray for enough rain to nourish the parched land, restore the rivers and streams, and give farmers another opportunity to grow food. Pray for the families already facing food insecurity and for everyone whose livelihood depends on agriculture.

Please also pray that S4P’s food container will receive government approval quickly and that the shipment will make it safely into Honduras. And pray for wisdom and provision as the ministry continues responding to the needs around them.

Even when circumstances look hopeless, we know that hopelessness is not the final word.

Everyone complains about the weather.

Believers pray.

 - posted by Christi