Emergency Food Update

 Allen and Trish, currently in Florida, have been called into blog-post action because the Sowers4Pastors staff members on the ground in Honduras are simply too busy right now to add one more thing to their plates. This week’s update covers a little bit of everything: praise reports, prayer requests, emergency food distribution, and news about the sponsored children. So fasten your seatbelt and keep your arms and legs inside the imaginary vehicle. We have a lot to cover!

As we’ve mentioned recently, Sowers4Pastors is in the middle of an emergency food distribution effort. By the time you’re reading this, at least 137,500 pounds of food will have been distributed to families of sponsored children. That’s a tremendous amount of food—and a tremendous amount of work.

The school year in Honduras is wrapping up, and for many schools, the S4P food distribution is the final activity before they close for their annual vacation. In a typical year, this would also mark the beginning of coffee harvest season, when children and their families can find work and earn much-needed income. But this is not a typical year. Because of the ongoing drought, there simply isn’t much harvesting work available.

S4P staff members are hearing one heartbreaking story after another from families barely managing to get by. One family of three has been trying to survive on just four pounds of food a week: one pound of beans, one pound of cornmeal, and two pounds of rice. Families are selling off their animals and whatever possessions they can spare to buy food.

As Allen explained, “One chicken can be sold for about $11. With that money, families will be able to buy maybe 20 - 25 pounds of rice. They are going for volume. They are selling off the pigs they were raising for Christmas celebrations. They are going through their possessions and selling off anything they have, in order to buy enough food to get by for a while longer. It’s pure survival mode at this moment, for a lot of people.”

And the difficult reality is that this crisis is not likely to be short-lived.

“I don’t know if we've explained sufficiently how long this situation will last,” Trish shared. “During a normal year, the dry season runs from January - April. No crops can be grown then, even if the people have seed. And, when you are hungry, you eat your seed - the beans and corn kernels. May is the first month when planting might be possible - and then the harvest comes in August or September. That’s a long time to wait, when your pantry is already bare.

The 2026 May crops didn’t make it. The prediction is that, due to the continuing super El Niño, it will be no better - and will possibly be worse - next year. We’re hoping that the prediction will be wrong, but they got it right this year.”

There is, however, some very good news on the food front. S4P currently has two containers full of food in process. One should ship within the next two weeks, and the other is expected to ship within the month. Allen has also been working hard to secure additional containers of food. The need is enormous, and the ministry is doing everything it can to get more supplies moving. The cost of the three upcoming containers of food is around $52,000. 

There’s another container-related praise report, too—this time involving backpacks.

On November 7, a container full of backpacks collected from sponsors was shipped. These are the backpacks Kirstin, Mary Faith, and JR spent September driving around collecting. A second container of backpacks is being loaded in Maryland on the 7th. Those are the backpacks people made for children who don’t have sponsors, and for children who aren’t in a sponsorship program.

Last year, S4P faced enormous difficulties getting the paperwork needed to ship containers. Only one container of backpacks made it to Honduras, and the ministry had to rely on the extra backpacks and supplies already stored in the bodega, for the unsponsored children. That surplus is now gone, so it is a huge praise that the current administration seems to be doing a better job of approving the dispensas required for container shipments! S4P is taking full advantage of the opportunity and plans to ship as many containers as possible.

This is particularly good news for the Cofers, whose home and property have effectively been taken over by unshipped donations for the past year. We suspect they are ready to see those piles and boxes go on a very long trip!

During the time when government paperwork wasn’t flowing, the ministry was also not able to move containers of food. The flow of food is especially important now, and everyone is very grateful to God for this answer to prayer.

What About the Sponsored Kids?

Allen and Trish also want to reassure sponsors who may be wondering how their children are doing as the school year comes to a close. The Christmas greetings from the kids traveled to the States with Allen and Trish. They are in the mail and should be arriving to sister churches or directly to sponsors soon. As far as the supplemental meals given to kids goes, the end of the school year does not mean the end of the feeding program.

During the school year, children receive one meal a week at school and another through their church. That church meal will continue during the school holiday, and S4P supports any pastor who expands the program to provide two meals a week during this time. Everyone is working to make sure the children continue to receive food and support, even while school is out.

“The pastors are stepping up to the plate,” Allen said. “They are trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

That commitment is especially important right now. And there is something else Trish wants people to understand about the ministry’s approach to emergency food distribution: the food is not conditional on a spiritual response.

“Sowers4Pastors doesn’t equate giving food with giving the Gospel,” Trish explained. “While we do hope the food will be an answer to prayers and that the people will see God through this process, the food doesn’t come with strings attached.”

The ministry wants to meet an urgent physical need while continuing to share the love of Christ. 

Prepared for a Time Like This

As overwhelming as the situation is, Trish sees reasons to be grateful for the way things have come together.

“It reminds me of the story of Joseph – how, when famine came, he was ready. We didn’t see this coming, but we can look back and see many ways we were prepared for this. The guy who keeps our trucks running had just been on our property for two months getting all of our vehicles in their best possible condition (taking into consideration their mileage and the roads they travel on) - so we have the ability to put a convoy of trucks out at one time. We have more staff than in years past. We couldn’t have done all that we’re doing with a smaller staff. They are doing a phenomenal job of putting it all out there. Brandy’s military logistic skills are coming through as he leads convoys of food through the mountains. It’s all coming together.”

Ironically, this would normally be a season when S4P staff members could catch their breath and catch up on other work. Instead, they are pushing themselves to get this done. The first round of food distribution is just 2/3 complete, but the next major undertaking is already approaching: organizing backpacks and preparing for the backpack distribution teams.

Please pray for the staff as they continue to juggle these extra responsibilities. Pray for strength, stamina, wisdom, and encouragement. Pray for the families who are facing months of uncertainty and for the children who depend on these meals. And pray that the incoming food containers—and hopefully more after them—will arrive without unnecessary delays.

Finally, Allen wants everyone to know that Sowers4Pastors is open to hosting additional teams, to help with the food distribution. There is plenty of work to be done, and extra hands are always welcome.

There’s no shortage of challenges in Honduras right now. But there is also no shortage of people stepping up, doing the work, and finding ways to help. That’s something worth celebrating—and something worth praying for.

 - posted by Christi

If you’re interested in helping support the emergency food distribution, here’s the link to that donation page: LINK

Additionally, if you would like more information about sponsoring a child, here’s the link for that: LINK