A note directly from blog-writer, Christi:
Rarely, if ever, have I written any part of this blog in the first person. But today, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
Having written for Sowers4Pastors for over ten years, there is one thing I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt: Allen and Trish do not create sensational headlines simply to raise funds. They weigh their words carefully. In fact, they frequently say things like, “We don’t want to come across as alarmists, so let’s rephrase that.”
I’m sharing this because I want you to understand that when Allen and Trish say a situation is serious, it is serious.
And the current food crisis in Lempira is serious. (If you missed the previous post, about the food crisis, here's a link to that.)
Today, Trish began our call about this blog post by saying, “What we need is a loaves and fishes miracle. This is a food crisis of a very big scale. We need whole food containers to be multiplied.”
They had held off on saying that when things first looked bad, because they wanted to wait and see if the situation would improve. They were hoping and praying it would improve . . . but it hasn’t.
The areas S4P serves did receive some much-needed rain, but it came too late to save the first harvest and too early to help with a potential second harvest.
As Allen put it, “The crops from the first planting were already dead. With the rain, they were just dead and soggy.”
The Honduran government is actively discouraging people in the drought-stricken areas from planting a second harvest, because there is no rain predicted for them during that growing season. Planting requires precious seeds, time, and energy. If there is not enough rain to produce a crop, families could lose those resources as well. People are already beginning to run out of food.
Last week, we shared Brandy’s plan to assemble grocery bags to help families hardest hit by the drought. Since then, Allen has encountered another difficult reality: local sources are reluctant to sell S4P large quantities of food because they want to preserve their own stock for their stores.
The ministry is looking for other potential suppliers, but time is not on their side.
There is some good news. S4P has finally received a dispensa — the government authorization needed to ship one container of food into Honduras. But one container does not provide immediate relief.
“That means that we should have one container of food available to ship in 4–6 weeks,” Allen explained. “If everything goes smoothly, we could have that shipment on site in two months.”
Two months is a long time when families are already running out of food. And the need will require multiple containers. That means S4P will need additional dispensas. They're starting to work on that immediately.
Allen and Trish estimate that there are easily tens of thousands of children in their area who need food. Once adults are included, the number could reach into the hundreds of thousands. The scale is almost impossible to comprehend.
Some missionaries have already managed to hold food distributions, but their supplies have not been enough to meet the need of the location. If you show up with 100 bags of food to distribute and 500 families show up hoping for help, things can get crazy - even violent.
“We don’t have the resources to help everyone,” Trish said. “Normally, we let the pastors decide who is most needy. But that is now putting them in an awkward spot. How do you tell one hungry family that they qualify for help while another hungry family does not? And the situation will almost certainly become even more serious. We are going to have to figure out a boundary line unless God decides to shower containers of food on us.”
“If these families run out of food and they have no money — no coffee to pick for cash — the next time they can potentially have food they’ve grown is next September,” Allen said. “And there is already a prediction for a water shortage next year. The current Super El Niño has not yet hit the middle of its cycle. There is no human solution for that.”
Pastor Lorenzo talks about how the drought and food emergency is affecting his area.
No human solution. That is a sobering statement. S4P can make plans. They can search for food. They can ask for dispensas. They can find suppliers, fill grocery bags, coordinate shipping, and distribute food through the pastors who know their communities best.
But they cannot manufacture rain. They cannot make a failed harvest grow again. They cannot make food appear in an empty warehouse.
They will do what they can do — and pray to the One who can do what they cannot. That is why Trish used the story of the loaves and fishes.
Jesus took what was available, blessed it, and multiplied it to feed thousands. The need before S4P is enormous, and the resources currently available are nowhere near enough.
Allen and Trish are asking for something bigger than a successful fundraising campaign or a smoothly approved shipment.
They are asking God for a miracle. They are asking Him to provide food where there is not enough food, open doors that seem closed, multiply what is available, and make a way through a situation that has no obvious human solution.
“This can’t wait another year for a second dispensa to be approved,” Allen said.
And so this week, S4P is asking us to pray boldly.
Pray for food. Pray for suppliers. Pray for the additional dispensas. Pray for the families who are already hungry and the pastors who are trying to care for them. Pray for wisdom as S4P decides how to distribute limited resources. Pray for rain in the places that need it. And pray for loaves and fishes. Because sometimes, when the need is far greater than the resources, there is only one place to turn. To God.
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