Prayers and Praises!

Today’s blog post was supposed to involve talking with Alejandro and Secia about a Bible school program that Sowers4Pastors is involved with. Alas, it is not. You can blame that on a power outage that left Alejandro and Secia without electricity for a bit. We’ll have to take a raincheck on the Bible school info. In the meantime, Rachel came to the rescue and took the opportunity to share a list of ministry and staff prayer requests, as well as some praises!

Allen and Trish

• Pray for Allen and Trish as they try to figure out their housing situation in the US for the next 6-9 months. They are accepting that they will likely be able to commit to being in one place for that long and they want to be wise when it comes to making a housing decision. They want to remain open to whatever God’s best is for them and not jump into a lease agreement based on fear and uncertainty. 

• Praise God, the cardiologist cleared Allen for surgery! Allen’s first surgery is now scheduled for April 29th. Pray for Allen & the medical team and that the surgery will be an unequivocal success. Please be praying for Allen's pain in the meantime.

• Pray for Trish’s health and stamina. She’s doing fine but please pray that continues. You probably know that she has asthma that rears its head. As the person with the sole responsibility for caring for Allen at home throughout his medical journey, she needs to be in tip-top shape.

Allen and grandson Steven hanging out

Rachel and Brandy

• At the time of this writing, Rachel is 32 weeks into her pregnancy. During her pregnancy with Levi, she went on bedrest at 30 weeks. And with Michael, she made it to week 33 or 34 before being put on bedrest. Naturally, they are hoping that she doesn’t have to go on bedrest with this pregnancy. However, they will not be surprised if that happens at some point.

• It’s hot in Honduras right now. And, as mentioned in the previous bullet point, Rachel is 32 weeks pregnant. That’s not the ideal situation to deal with temperatures in the high 90s and a house that feels like an oven. Pray for some relief from the heat!

Got to find ways to beat the heat!
(But Rachel is getting too pregnant for swimming)

Mary Faith

• Pray for Mary Faith’s fundraising efforts so that she will be able to move to Honduras sooner rather than later. Having her there will do a lot to reduce some of Trish’s workload so that Trish can focus on other things.

Ministry Programs

• Ministry staff is continuing the process of distributing backpacks. They are registering new kids and checking on the children that didn’t show up for the initial registration. Pray that there will be no issues.

• S4P is finalizing decisions about this year’s applications to receive a motorcycle through the motorcycle ministry. Pray that they will select the right applicants and for funding for this ministry.

• Requests for church roofs are pouring in, as well. Pray for Brandy as he sorts through the stack of requests and makes some difficult decisions.

Praise and a Follow-up Prayer Request

• Praise! S4P staff registered more than 60 children at a new school in the Lighthouse program - Lighthouse Church has been hoping to expand their program for a while now. This school is smaller than Lighthouse had initially been hoping for, but they made the decision based on the motivation of the pastor working in that area. Here's a video from of this activity: https://fb.watch/rnI_wKtJ7z/

• Prayer request! After registering the students at the new school, Secia had an observation. One of the questions the kids were asked was, “Who do you live with?” Many, if not most, of the children said they only live with their mother or that they only live with their grandparents. Some of the kids seemed visibly upset that they don’t have a father in the home. When asked what church they attend, many said they do not attend church. Please pray for that community and that God will open up hearts. Pray for the pastor as he continues the work God has set before him.

- posted by Christi

Motorcycles incoming!

If middle school writing class taught me anything, it’s that when you don’t know how to begin a paper, try starting with the phrase, “According to Webster’s” and a definition of a word. Let’s see if that little trick works for blog posts, too.

According to Webster’s, motorcycle is defined as:  

mo·​tor·​cy·​cle (ˈmō-tər-ˌsī-kəl)

:an automotive vehicle with two in-line wheels 

Since this isn’t middle school, I’m adding in the following:

See also: a blessing

Okay, you probably already knew what a motorcycle is before enlisting the help of an online dictionary. But have you ever stopped to think about how a motorcycle can be a blessing? Esdras recently had the chance to talk with a pastor who received a motorcycle through the Sowers4Pastors in a previous year. This pastor lives two to three hours from Gracias. Before he received his motorcycle, he and his family walked six hours to get to church. This wasn’t some easy-breezy walk in the park, either. It was a six-hour hike on bad roads and rugged mountainous terrain. Contrary to the old song by The Commodores, there was nothing easy about that pastor’s Sunday mornings! FYI, six hours is long enough to fly from Miami to Honduras and back with enough time to grab a Cinnabon in the airport! 

The pastor wanted the motorcycle to have a shorter time to travel to church. He got more than he bargained for. One time when someone was sick, the pastor gave the person a ride to the hospital. The patient credits that act with saving his life. The pastor has also been able to help out by giving people rides to church. Today, that motorcycle is still going strong and is being used to grow the Kingdom of God. Now that he isn’t hiking six hours to church, the pastor has more time to prepare sermons, enjoy time with his family, and be at church. In fact, he is now the pastor of three churches! 

If you’ve been acquainted with S4P for long, you probably remember that the recipients of the motorcycles are required to pay for 50% of the cost, with the remaining 50% coming from donations. The reason Sowers4Pastors doesn’t pay the full amount is because the pastors appreciate their motorcycles more when they partner with the ministry. It also insures that the pastor will be able to find the resources to actually maintain the motorcycle and purchase fuel. This method also means the ministry is able to help twice as many people.

The next batch of motorcycles should be distributed sometime in June. It takes a couple of months to receive them after the order is placed. That’s because the ministry buys a specific model that is good for mountains and bad roads. Esdras is already looking forward to the day the pastors will receive their motorcycles. He shared, “You have no idea what the emotions are like on the faces of the pastors. They are like kids with candy!”

Esdras continued, “It’s a fantastic time with the pastors. After they receive their motorcycles, we share a devotional with them. It’s a unique opportunity for these pastors to meet together. We talk about how important their lives and their ministries are. Sometimes the pastors think they are working alone. We want to tell them, ‘God is with you and we are with you. You are so important. That is emotional.”

Please pray about making a donation to the motorcycle ministry. And pray about the impact these automotive vehicles with two in-line wheels will make! 

- posted by Christi

Strike Up the Mariachi Band!

Brandy and Rachel took time during Holy Week to talk about Father’s Day. (You didn’t see that one coming, did you?) Father’s Day in Honduras is celebrated on March 19th. Yes, it’s always on the 19th, which means that this year it fell on a Tuesday. It’s a day that doesn't generally garner the same kind of attention that Mother’s Day does. But today, let’s talk about the importance of fathers.

This year, Brandy and Rachel had a small celebration with the Crosspoint team in honor of Father’s Day. They bought a cake (which Brandy declared to be delicious) and some Cokes. Alas, there was no mariachi band! They explained that, in Honduras, Mother’s Day is often observed with a mariachi band coming to the house to play for mom. The bands are booked up on that day so it’s perfectly fine if the band shows up at 4:00 AM to let mom know that she is loved! (Trish has previously stated she is quite okay with not partaking of this particular holiday tradition.) But, even more so than in the States, Father’s Day doesn’t receive the same fanfare. 

Brandy shared that, in Honduras, it is becoming more and more commonplace for the man of the family to move to the big city or even a different country in pursuit of money, especially among the desperately poor. The idea is supposed to be that the men send money home to their families, but what often happens is they end up starting a new family in their new location, while their wife and kids are left to fend for themselves. Even when the father is consistent about sending money back, no amount of financial gain is going to make up for children living with absentee fathers. The ramifications include things like girls getting pregnant when they are very young and drinking among the boys, as well as a tendency to perpetuate the cycle.

Growing up with a father who wasn’t always in the house is something Brandy can relate to. His father was away serving in the military and Brandy and his four siblings were raised by their mother. It was difficult for her, and it meant that the kids were often left to their own devices while she was working at part-time jobs. Brandy’s older brother was sometimes in charge. Rachel still wonders if a mysterious bump on Brandy’s head is something he was born with or if it happened the time he fell off a roof! Brandy remembers a time he was left in charge of a little sister. He remembers taking the powdered milk reserved for the baby and making a bottle for the baby and a glass as a snack for himself. Rachel has been in the family for years now and she said that previously untold stories of what really happened while Brandy and his siblings were home alone still come out when they get together. 

Being a single mom is hard pretty much anywhere, but it’s even more difficult in rural Honduras, where the women don’t have decent daycare options, and there is no government assistance. Even for families where the man stuck around, many women find themselves in abusive relationships with no option to leave because she’s afraid to raise the kids by herself. 

Brandy said you can see the difference in the homes that have a responsible man in them. Broken things get fixed. Children have more stability and are more able to continue their education. Women are less burdened. As a ministry, S4P is conscious of where the next generation of pastors and church leaders are coming from - children with a good father in the home, or at least a positive male role model, are more likely to grow up to be community leaders.

While it isn’t a replacement for having a father in the home, it’s not difficult to understand why Sowers4Pastors stresses how important it is for local pastors to develop personal relationships with the kids in the sponsorship programs. Kids shouldn’t grow up without a positive male role model. Doing so can affect their relationship with God and their understanding of what a good father looks like, or even what a relationship in a marriage should look like. 

Last year Rachel joked that Brandy’s Father’s Day gift was the birth of Levi on March 17th. That’s true enough! It’s also true that Brandy and all good fathers are gifts to their families. Please pray for the fathers of Honduras. Pray for the women and children who are living without a husband and father in the home. And for the fathers who are there, facing the daily pressures of raising kids while trying to be godly role models, let’s strike up some metaphorical mariachi bands to celebrate them!

- posted by Christi

Newsletter update: Allen's surgery postponed

 If you don't receive the newsletter, here is a link to the most recent one with an update on Allen's surgery:

Allen's surgery postponed!!

EXCITING NEWS Re: Allen's Back Surgery

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, blog readers of all ages… it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! (Or at least we have a date for the moment we’ve all been waiting for.) Allen officially has a date for surgery number one. It happens to be on April 1st, but this is no April Fool’s joke. Let the rejoicing commence! 

Allen's having to spend a lot of 
time in a recliner, but the occasional
visits from family help alleviate 
the boredom.

After a six month process to get insurance squared away, find a doctor, and jump through various unexpected hoops, Allen and Trish are abundantly grateful to God to finally see some real forward motion toward relieving Allen's pain. Insurance has approved the first surgery and things are feeling hopeful.

Apart from Allen’s surgery and recovery, the biggest concern is Allen and Trish’s temporary housing situation. They believe they will have their current house until the end of April. 

So far, they have been "loaned" the use of houses, and they hope that another such situation might be available for them, especially now that the folks who own homes in Florida that they only use during the winter might be returning north for the summer. Perhaps Allen and Trish can "house-sit" for someone.

Regarding other housing options (if a "loaned" house isn't available), Trish said, “We have talked about… well, it gets complicated. We don’t want to rent a place because we hope we don't need a home for a year, so we prefer not to sign a lease. We don’t own furniture in the US and don’t want the expense of buying furniture, and then needing to get rid of it later (assuming we return to Honduras). For now, aside from my harp, I can pretty much move all of our belongings in a car. We’d like to keep it that way. Of course, if God provides us with housing, we'll be thrilled. If not, we assume our next-best option will be to set up in an Airbnb. While that seems more expensive at first glance, since it includes furniture, utilities, trash, Wi-Fi, etc., it probably works out to be a better use of funds, for our situation."

Please pray that they will find housing that meets all of their needs. If you know of possible housing for them in the Orlando area, please let them know. Since Allen’s surgery will be in Orlando, they are thinking it is likely that his future surgeries will also be there. For obvious reasons, they would like to find a place near their medical hub. 

Allen and Trish are always quick to point out their current praises and how God has provided for them up to this point. They are trusting that they will continue to see God’s hand moving in all aspects of this unanticipated saga. 

Pray that Allen’s surgery will be a success. This is not a minimally invasive surgery. Allen stated, “The surgery will involve removing four discs, fusing together all five lumbar vertebrae. I’ve already been told that I could lose my ability to walk without this surgery. Please pray that the surgeon takes his time, and that the surgery will be successful.”

Don’t forget to pray for Trish during all of this. Allen’s care throughout the recovery period will all be on her. She will be trying to manage life and likely move them to a new home in the middle of his recovery. She'll continue her online work for the ministry, and is hoping to make progress with writing her book, while also practicing her harp. 

In the background, Allen piped up by sharing, “Plus, I’m just a downright difficult patient. I work so hard to not be grumpy, but I'm not a patient patient!” 

Other prayer requests not previously mentioned include:

• As a redhead, Allen is difficult to anesthetize. The doctor has assured him that he won’t wake up during the surgery. However, when he had his heart stents put in, they had difficulty putting him to sleep and keeping him asleep. Yeah. Pray that he’s out like a light for surgery!

• Finances are a concern. This first surgery is expected to cost Allen and Trish somewhere between five and ten thousand dollars. In the grand scheme of medical care, that’s not a fortune but it's certainly not something that they've budgeted for! There will be at least one more surgery to come, too. Please pray that the needed funds will be available! If you'd like to help with the expenses, you can donate through the Sowers4Pastors website donation page. (Use the donation category "Allen and Trish Sowers Support")

• Pray that recovery goes well. The tentative plan is to have a second surgery - on Allen's neck this time - about four months after the first.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support as Allen slowly morphs into the 6 Million Dollar Missionary with a bionic back!

 - posted by Christi

So Many Babies!!

People want to know how Rachel is doing in her current pregnancy. In order to share how she is doing today, we’re going to also talk about their other children and God’s obvious sense of humor.

Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Honduras, a couple named Brandy and Rachel were dating. Even then, they spoke of serious things–distant things–like children. Brandy thought he might like to have two children, but certainly no more than three. Rachel, on the other hand, wanted four children, no fewer than three. Obviously, they felt like three kids would be a good number.

After Rachel and Brandy were married, they learned that sometimes it doesn’t matter what plans you make! Rachel seems to have a gift for getting pregnant at times that cause her due date to fall during inopportune times. When she was pregnant with Nathan, his due date fell within weeks of the MK camp she had already scheduled. She was at the camp while she was (to put it in biblical terms) “great with child.” Her pregnancy with Nathan was good but her experience at the hospital left a lot to be desired. Basically, as a first-time mom, she didn’t know what she needed to fight for. She was induced at 38 weeks for absolutely no reason. 

Michael is a bit obsessed with his Papa

A couple of years after Nathan was born, Brandy and Rachel were ready for a second child. However, the next pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. A month later, it was discovered that Rachel had a large ovarian cyst that required surgery. Fortunately, the cyst was benign, but it was a scary time.

The first two pregnancies had happened quickly. After the surgery, that changed. It took about a year to get pregnant for a third time. The waiting was difficult. During that time, Rachel spoke to a pastor who had gone to Honduras on a retreat for missionaries. The pastor prayed with her. He said that she would have a baby and that he would be as beautiful as Moses was, referring to two verses that speak about what a beautiful child Moses was. The story of Michael’s pregnancy is one of the most amazing stories to Rachel.

Brandy and Rachel’s church was doing a Daniel fast. Rachel decided that all she wanted to pray for was for her to get pregnant. One Sunday, as the church was ending its fast, Rachel stayed home to watch the afternoon service online. While sitting there she felt a strong urge to go take a pregnancy test. Even though pregnancy tests are best taken first thing in the morning, her late afternoon test came back positive. Keep in mind this was all happening during the church service. Michael, who is truly a beautiful child with a beautiful personality, was named after the pastor of that church, who died of COVID a few months prior to baby Michael’s birth.

Brandy and Rachel thought that since it took so long to get pregnant with Michael that it might take a while before baby number three came along. Surprise! Michael was born in October and they found out they were expecting Levi the following July. Levi was a March baby and there were a lot of things going on toward the end of that pregnancy–including the coffee farm going up in flames, new staff that was still being trained, and bedrest for Rachel. None of that helped Rachel’s stress level. Plus, at an early sonogram appointment, the doctor had assured them that Levi was a girl. Obviously, he was not. Surprise, again!

Rachel often finds herself under a pile of small humans

Brandy and Rachel decided that three was indeed a good number. They were done! Finished. No more babies. But Rachel likes saying God has a sense of humor. Surprise! Number four is now on the way, due early June. Three sonograms have confirmed that this baby is a girl. Rachel described their feelings as being “very excited, horrified, and scared at the same time. Well, maybe not horrified. But definitely scared! I was grieved that we weren’t going to have a girl, especially when we had been told that Levi was a girl and I'd been excited for it. But we were trusting that God knows best. Now, we are trusting that God knows best again!”

Please pray that this pregnancy does not require Rachel to go on bedrest - she had to go on bedrest with both Michael and Levi's pregnancies. It would be very challenging with so many little ones in the home. Currently, Levi is starting to walk and Michael is running around like a bumper car on the loose. And anyone who has met Nathan knows he is a bundle of energy that doesn't stop. Pray for Brandy’s sanity during this fun yet hectic time. He was never planning on having four children. That’s a lot of milk and diapers! Pray for God’s continued provision. 

If you would like to help Rachel acquire some pink things after having to buy many blue things (plus extra items she needs because they will have three under the age of three when the new one is born), she has a baby registry, link below. A family friend has generously offered to help bring the stuff down to Honduras.

Rachel's Baby Registry

-posted by Christi

Levi living his best life. Dude knows how to chill.

Let's Talk Teachers

It’s time for some teacher talk. Teachers are more than a classroom background noise in a Charlie Brown special. “Wah wah woh wah wah wah.” So let’s hear it for the teachers! Today we’re recognizing the incredible commitment and passion it takes to be a schoolteacher in the communities within Lempira. 

Last week, while collecting letters from sponsored children, staff members of Sowers4Pastors met a new teacher. She is currently traveling more than two hours each morning to get to her school. This isn’t like some lengthy but bearable commute in the U.S. She’s not cruising along listening to podcasts or audiobooks or catching up on some sleep while riding a commuter train. She is traveling two hours on bad roads. Her children currently attend school close to their home but she believes it will be necessary to have them attend the school where she is currently teaching. She is hoping to find an affordable rental house near the school since there are no apartments in the area. 

Alejandro explained, “Being a teacher is not just a job people do for income in Honduras. It is a passion for the students. The schools don’t have many resources. Because of that, the teachers have to search for help with supplies and classroom resources. If they don’t find the help, they will never get the resources they need.”

Recently, S4P brought some classroom decorations for the schools. These included numbers and alphabet letters to go on the wall–the sort of things we might find at Dollar Tree, but that are highly valued commodities in rural Honduran classrooms. 

The schools usually only have two or three teachers. However, there are some schools within the Lighthouse Church sponsorship area with only one teacher. That teacher is fully responsible for educating 1st-6th grade students. It’s like something straight out of a “Little House on the Prairie” episode. Understandably, it is not an easy task for the teachers. 

“We know they are not just in it for the money,” Alejandro said. “We pray every day that God will give them strength in their hearts and the wisdom to do their jobs in the schools. Each time we go to the schools to give backpacks, we take extra supplies for the schools. Each time, the teachers start crying. The government doesn’t help with supplies. The teachers are so grateful for everything they receive. Last year, Lighthouse Church also brought supplies for each school in their program. Sometimes the schools don’t have markers to use–or even paper. These gifts gave them the tools and supplies they needed for their classes. We pray for every teacher to have the strength to continue to teach their students.”

There was some sad news, as well. Last week, a teacher of more than fifteen years was a victim of a bus accident. This was a teacher the S4P staff knew well. She was always the one to open their doors to the ministry each time they visited. Last year, when a team from Lighthouse Church painted the school where she taught, she was in tears. She shared that it was an answered prayer. She will be missed by the ministry and certainly by the students whose lives she touched. 

On the day we spoke, Alejandro said they were getting ready to give out backpacks to kids from three different locations, in the FBC and Settle programs. They were going to set up at one location and the children would be rotated in and out of that area to receive their backpacks. They will give out backpacks to 250 kids, as well as some classroom supplies to help make the lives of the teachers a little easier. Several of the sister churches in the States chose to donate supplies to the schools this year, which is a huge blessing, and those get handed out when the S4P staff is on site delivering backpacks.

Please pray for the teachers of the programs who sacrifice so much so the children of Honduras can get an education. And please pray for the S4P as they travel about to distribute the backpacks and supplies.

- posted by Christi

Teachers and Sunday School teachers from the sponsorship programs at a training event

An Allen Update: Hurry Up and Wait

Allen and Trish are glad to have progressed 
to the point where they are seeing actual
neurosurgeons! Yay!

It has been about a month since our last big Allen medical update. At that time, he’d seen one neurosurgeon for a consultation and had an appointment to get a second opinion. A lot of progress can be made in a month. Sometimes. And sometimes a month can feel a little bit like being stuck on a hamster wheel. As far as Allen’s back goes, the past thirty-ish days were more like the hamster wheel variety. 

Allen and Trish did see a PA at the second neurosurgeon’s office. After consulting with the doctor, the PA shared their analysis of Allen’s condition. The PA and the doctor were in agreement that there is one area of Allen’s back where the nerves are so badly pinched that, if left untreated, he would possibly lose his ability to walk. That’s the sort of news that gets your attention and takes returning to Honduras without treatment completely off the table. 

The second neurosurgeon says that Allen should have the two surgeries previously discussed. The first surgery would be on the lower back, since that is the more pressing issue. Allen and Trish were told they could make an appointment to meet with the surgeon and then book the first surgery. That should have been about a six-week process. Except . . . 

Insurance isn’t going to approve surgery until Allen goes through rounds of treatment with a pain management specialist. The pain specialist disagreed with the second neurosurgeon’s opinion. The second neurosurgeon’s opinion had been different from that of the first neurosurgeon. Ultimately, none of that really matters at this point since it all comes down to what insurance is willing to do at this moment. 

So Allen went in for his first injection in his lower back. However, things didn’t go as planned because the pieces of bone were so tightly pinched that it was impossible to insert the needle at the chosen location. Instead injections were given between the vertebrae above and below that spot. The injections are being used as a diagnostic tool to see how the pain changes. Before injections, it is necessary for Allen to cut way back on his pain meds for two weeks. After the injections, it’s a two-week waiting period before seeing the pain specialist again. Then it’s another couple of weeks before getting more injections. 

Trish said, “This could drag on and on. You don’t even know what to hope for! I’m just hoping to get things going and stop spending so much time waiting!”

A major concern is the fact that Allen’s back is continuing to worsen. While Allen does think the physical therapy may be helping him to decline less rapidly, the overall deterioration is still happening faster than they are getting help. If the delays continue, the concern is that they will affect the final outcome. 

As of this writing, a telehealth appointment is scheduled with the second neurosurgeon for today (February 28th). Allen and Trish have heard that it may be possible to ask the insurance agency to reconsider the previous request for surgery. All of this will be discussed with the surgeon. 

The surgeries suggested are both pretty major – involving a bunch of fusions.  Allen and Trish are having to think about what all of this means for their future. Even if something changes and the first surgery is approved quickly, it will not be a speedy process. There will be a two or three month recovery time from the first surgery. Then Allen would likely need to undergo the pain management procedures again (in his neck this time) before insurance would give the go-ahead for the second surgery. Naturally, that would require more recovery time before thinking about going back to Honduras. It’s a lot to deal with. 

To end on a happier note, Allen and Trish are glad to be plugged into a local church. They are enjoying the services and are starting to get to know people. Also, they have spoken to the owner of the home where they are staying. He has assured them that they will be able to stay there through March and possibly through April. He promised to give them thirty days notice before they need to move. That’s a comfort! 

As always, your prayers are appreciated. 

 - posted by Christi