Prayer Requests and Praises: What's Happening Behind the Scenes

 At Sowers4Pastors, it’s always a good time for prayer — but consider this post your “all-in-one guide” to what’s happening behind the scenes and how you can specifically lift up the ministry right now.

Celebrations First! 

The Day of the Child celebrations were a huge success! Every one of the 2,600+ children across 27 locations was celebrated with food, fun, and reminders of God’s love. With the biggest wave of team season wrapped up, staff members are now turning their attention to the less flashy (but absolutely vital) tasks: catching up on paperwork, keeping records up to date, and a bit of ministry “housekeeping.”

The Warehouse Shuffle

Remember the prayer request from a couple of months ago about a shipping container full of food? Great news: it’s expected to arrive within the week! Staff are working to prep the warehouse — think of it as a super-sized pantry that needs to be perfectly organized. Items already inside are moved to the front so they’re used first, and the new supplies are stacked toward the back. Once backpacks and boxes start rolling in, everything must be sorted so that each child receives the correct items. To put it simply: it’s a big honkin’ deal!

The Office Shuffle

Maybe you also remember a mention in a previous post, that once Rachel and Brandy moved to their new house, the Sowers4Pastors office would be moving into that rented house in Gracias. Well, that move is almost completed, so the office staff and all the office equipment should be moving in the next couple of weeks! The new office location will make it much easier for pastors and others to visit the book store, collect food, and visit the staff for any reasons they might have!

Gifts for Pastors

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the annual pastor appreciation gifts. This year, there are 388 requests for gifts for pastors and their families. Please pray for smooth logistics as these gifts are gathered and distributed — and for each pastor to feel deeply encouraged by this expression of support.

Updates from the Home Front

Rachel and Brandy are still settling into their new home. A few stragglers from the old house remain to be moved, the kitchen cabinets are about 80% finished, and soon, Brandy hopes to build a fence around the yard. There are still boxes waiting to be unpacked — so please keep praying for endurance and order in the midst of a busy season.

Coffee on the Horizon 

The coffee harvest is coming soon! The farm crew has been hard at work fertilizing and applying fungicide, and Brandy reports this could be an especially good year. Please pray not only for the crop itself, but also for the right number of workers to come when harvest time arrives.

Backpacks on the Move 

Stateside, Kirstin and Mary Faith are in the thick of this year’s backpack collection trip. They’re logging long hours on the road in a big box truck, visiting churches, connecting with supporters, and gathering backpacks. It’s an exhausting journey, but such an important one. Pray for safety as they travel, strength for the long days, and smooth paperwork processing. (Two shipping containers of backpacks are planned, but one crucial government document is still pending. Please pray for its timely approval.)

Wrapping It All Up

So there you have it — praises for what God has already done, and prayer requests for what’s still unfolding. From pizza parties to paperwork, from farm fields to overflowing warehouses, the work of Sowers4Pastors touches countless lives every single day. Thank you for standing with the ministry in prayer. Your prayers are not just words lifted up — they are fuel for the work being done in Honduras and beyond.

 - posted by Christi

Pizza, Piñatas, and Plenty of Joy: A Weeklong Day of the Child Celebration

 It’s possible that Sowers4Pastors is the only organization capable of stretching the Day of the Child into an entire week of festivities — but thankfully, they aren’t doing it alone. As mentioned in an earlier blog post, a team from Tegucigalpa has joined S4P to make the celebrations even more memorable.

Sixteen people, including Pastor Jackie Montoya, arrived in Gracias on Monday and immediately hit the ground running. Together with S4P staff, they divided into four smaller groups, each visiting two communities per day.

And they didn’t show up empty-handed. The Tegucigalpa team came loaded with candy, cookies, piñatas, and even funds their church had collected to purchase pizzas for the kids.

Pizza for the First Time

You may remember that the pizza idea was Pastor Jackie’s brainchild. For many of the children, this would be their very first slice. Would they like it? Alejandro admitted he wasn’t entirely sure how the kids would react, since pizza isn’t a common food for them.

He needn’t have worried. “The kids didn’t eat the pizzas. They attacked it!” Alejandro said with a laugh. “They loved it! The first day was amazing. The kids were happy and laughing. They were waiting for our arrival with joy.”

Culture Shock and Connection

For some of the Tegucigalpa volunteers, this was their second year serving alongside S4P. For others, it was their very first time visiting the kinds of rural communities S4P works in. Imagine a group of people from a big city in the U.S. volunteering in some of the most remote, under-resourced areas — the contrast is stark, and for the new volunteers, a little surprising.

Yet Alejandro noted that there’s a deep connection between his and Secia’s church plant in Gracias and their former church in Tegucigalpa, where this team serves. At the heart of it all is one shared mission: serving people in the love of Christ.

Pastor Jackie reflected on her experience, “Last year, I saw some of the medical issues the kids were facing, and I can say that I’m so grateful to the Lord that Sowers4Pastors is here. Without them, maybe these children wouldn’t be healed. Sowers4Pastors is making a difference, and it isn’t only through backpacks and new school shoes.”

More to Come: A Medical Brigade

And the week’s celebrations don’t end with pizza and piñatas. On Thursday and Friday, a medical brigade of 32 people will be serving the communities around Gracias, providing free medical care. The brigade includes fifteen doctors, five dentists, and eleven nurses.

Pastor Raúl, who is working with the team, shared what has meant the most to him. “My favorite part has been sharing the Word of God with the children. The children are living lives with few resources, but they are learning that they are loved by God.”

And that is the most beautiful reason of all to celebrate.

  - posted by Christi

PS: check out the Sowers4Pastors Facebook page for lots more photos of the festivities!

Pizza, Piñatas, and God’s Love: Preparing for the Day of the Child

 September 10th is the official Day of the Child in Honduras — but for Sowers4Pastors, the celebration can’t be contained to just one day. With 2,600 children across 27 communities, the festivities will stretch over an entire week of cakes, games, piñatas, songs, and joy.

In case you’re new here (or just need a refresher), here’s why this day matters so much.

Why Day of the Child Matters

Maybe you’re someone who celebrates your birthday with cake, candles, and a little hoopla. Or maybe you prefer a quiet day with minimal fuss. Either way, you probably know when your birthday is.

That’s not always the case for the kids S4P serves.

“Sometimes we ask the kids for their birthdays when registering them,” Alejandro explained, “and they have no idea. So we ask the parents — but often, they don’t know either. And you can’t celebrate a birthday if you don’t know when it is.”

What about Christmas? For many families, that’s coffee harvest season. Parents often bring the whole family to work in the fields to earn much-needed income. So while the work is essential, it also means Christmas often slips by without celebration. Without the Day of the Child, an entire childhood could pass with little to no festivity.

Because it falls during the school year, the Day of the Child is celebrated at the schools. Sowers4Pastors comes alongside the school and helps make the day extra special!

From an Idea to a Movement

When Alejandro and Secia first joined Sowers4Pastors, they committed to celebrating children in a big way. That first year, they packed up cakes and goodie bags and spent an exhausting but joy-filled week visiting the 21 communities served at that time.

By last year, volunteers from their church in Tegucigalpa joined in — 12 people, including their pastor. This year, 16 volunteers are already signed up to spend a week bringing joy to kids they’ve never met, but who are deeply loved by God.

Pizza, Piñatas, and Pure Joy

Some things never change: S4P always arrives with cakes, goodie bags, piñatas, games, songs, dancing, and a Bible lesson. The schools pitch in with decorations and meals.

But this year, there’s something new. Last year, the pastor from Tegucigalpa said, “Why don’t we bring pizzas for the kids? Let’s do that next year.”

Alejandro admitted he chuckled privately at the thought — imagining the cost and logistics. But the pastor never forgot, and this year the church is raising funds to provide pizza for all 2,600 children. For many of them, it will be their very first slice of pizza. Can you imagine the delight?

More Than a Party

Behind the balloons and candy bags, the purpose is deeper.

“Our desire is that when these kids are grown, they remember that we celebrated the Day of the Child and that Jesus loves them,” Alejandro shared. “The kids in these communities don’t always receive the love that children in other places are used to. Parents are busy just trying to survive. In one teacher training, I asked 80 teachers how many of them received love as kids. Only four raised their hands. That reality hasn’t changed much. We want each child to know they are special, unique, and loved.”

This year’s goodie bags are already being assembled, filled with candy, cookies, chips, and a small toy. Volunteers and staff will divide into four teams, each covering a portion of the 27 communities in one week — ensuring every child is seen and celebrated.

Preparing goody bags for all 2600 children!

Thank You for Making It Possible

Sowers4Pastors is deeply grateful for the sponsors and churches whose generosity makes this celebration possible. Please keep praying for the children, the volunteers, and the staff.

As Alejandro put it so beautifully:

“Pray for the Lord to give us the strength and wisdom to give these kids the right word, the right hug, and the right smile. We know God can change their lives. We are sure we are not just giving candies. We are changing destinies.”

 - posted by Christi

More Help, More Love: Children’s Day 2024

Children’s Day 2024 was an absolute success, made even more special with a little—or rather, a lot—of help from friends. This year, Sowers4Pastors had the incredible support of a 15-member team from CEAD Church in Tegucigalpa, and their presence made all the difference.

Alejandro summed it up well: “It was incredible. The extra help allowed us to do so much more—more songs, more games, more smiles. While one group ran the piñata fun, another group was off playing games with the kids. Last year, it was just the Sowers4Pastors staff, and we pulled it off, but it was pure craziness! This year, we could actually enjoy the moments—there were so many hugs, so much joy, and most importantly, we shared the love of God with the children.”

This year’s Bible message came from Psalm 139:13-14:

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

This verse is also the official verse of the newly named branch of the ministry: Yo Soy (which means I Am). The team shared this powerful message with the kids, encouraging each one of them to say, "I am special. I am created by the Lord. I am a child of God. I am!"

After the Bible lesson, the team gathered the children for prayer, and that’s when something truly beautiful happened. “It was amazing how they came up to us, asking for prayers,” Alejandro said. “Sometimes we adults forget that children have their own struggles, but they do, and we need to listen. We need to ask them what's going on in their lives and show them that no problem is too big or too small to bring to the feet of Jesus.”

Some of the children shared heartbreakingly big concerns: “Pray for my family,” “We don’t always have enough food,” “I don’t know where my uncle is,” “My mom is sick.” The team prayed with each child, reminding them that in every hardship, they can always turn to God in prayer.

By the end of their visits to 24 villages, the team saw joy written all over the children's faces. “This year’s Children’s Day was even better than last year’s,” Alejandro reflected. “With the extra help, we had more time to really connect with the kids. We weren’t just rushing through activities; we were having real conversations. The celebrations spanned from Tuesday to Saturday, and while it was exhausting, it was worth every minute!”

Sowers4Pastors extends a heartfelt thank you to the churches and individuals in the States and in Honduras who made these celebrations possible. Alejandro shared his gratitude: “None of this would have been possible without your prayers, help, and support. We love you. We love every church that partners with us. Please keep praying for us, for the children, and for the schools. We want to keep growing!” He even joked, “Next year, let’s celebrate with 500 more kids if we can!”

- posted by Christi

Ministry Updates, August 2024

How good are you at those Magic Eye images? You know – the two-dimensional images that can create the optical illusion of a 3D scene. A Magic Eye optical illusion can only be seen when you hold the image close to your face, relax your gaze, and focus on something far away, behind the image. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Or maybe it is if you think it sounds like a sure-fire way to make yourself go cross-eyed. Magic Eye pictures are a lot like the work that Sowers4Pastors does; there’s a lot more going on than first meets the eye and it’s important to keep the focus. The scenes change, but the focus stays the same!

S4P has finished up with the final VBS team of the summer. And just like that, the picture of their daily priorities shift. Brandy and Rachel are working on the dispensas for the upcoming shipping containers. A dispensa is basically a list of every possible item that might be on one of the backpack or food containers. Spoiler alert: They’re a big deal! If an item on a container is found to be not listed on a dispensa, it will result in a container being stuck in port while the ministry pays for the privilege by way of holding fees.

Even though the backpacks haven’t even been collected yet and the future shipping containers are just a plan at this point, S4P prefers to get an earlier start on the dispensas. This year, the task was delayed while they waited for some of the necessary paperwork to begin the long and complicated process. This is a good opportunity to begin praying for the shipping containers to arrive with no dramatic twists and turns. 

The Day of the Child is officially on the 10th of September, but S4P celebrates the week before because they have so many locations to visit. The preparation takes about three weeks because it is a very big deal. One of the pastors of Brandy & Rachel’s and Alejandro & Secia’s former church in Tegucigalpa recently visited Gracias. She prayed with them and offered to send a group of people from the church’s youth group to help with Day of the Child celebrations. Last year, the ministry only had teams of three or four people who were responsible for entertaining up to 150 kids at each location. Each team was covering three locations per day and it was a monumental undertaking! Brandy doesn’t know how many youth to expect, but all help is welcome. Pray for the preparations and the people who will help to prepare celebrations for the children.

Kirstin and Esdras will be traveling to the States in September for the backpack collection trip. Thank you in advance to the people who have volunteered to accompany them on different legs of the trip. Those people include Mary Faith and a volunteer from LCC in Ohio (Hi, J.R.!). Please pray for the travelers and the people who are packing the boxes filled with backpacks to be collected. 

If you look at the ministry’s metaphorical Magic Eye, you will also see the coffee farm. The farm crew is currently spraying the plants with fertilizer & fungicide and cleaning up the plants. Brandy said it has been so hot that they are anticipating the coffee will ripen soon. Last year’s picking started at the end of September. This year, they expect picking to begin weeks earlier. Brandy expects a big harvest, which will continue in cycles every couple of weeks until the final harvest in January. You can pray for the harvest and the harvesters. 

And, of course, pray for everyone at S4P as they keep the focus on God while dealing with the minutiae of different ministry pictures. 

- posted by Christi

Day of the Child 2023, So Much Cake!

What’s better than having a blowout birthday celebration with all of your friends? If you’re a child growing up in Honduras, the answer is the Day of the Child–which is essentially a celebration of every child in the entire country!

Sowers4Pastors can’t celebrate with every Honduran child, but they are going all out to celebrate the children at all 23 sponsorship locations. That amounts to 20 school locations, 3 churches, around 75 piñatas, and 75 cakes, spread out over the course of 6 days. Since it would be impossible to celebrate all of the 2150 kids officially in the program (plus a few hundred extras expected to show up for the fun), staff is divided into two teams, with each team visiting two schools on Monday-Friday. Then on Saturday, the teams will visit the three church locations. Alejandro and Secia oversaw the planning, and Secia is the mind behind the logistics of this massive undertaking. 

Staff spent two weeks bagging candy for the 23 separate events! Those of you who have been a part of a team visit will appreciate the difficulty of transporting cakes to so many different locations. Staffers have been riding across the bumpy roads with cakes in their laps to prevent them from getting squished or excessively jostled.

When Alejandro and Secia joined S4P, they were told that the ministry would like to celebrate the children at least one time a year. Without hesitation, the couple said, “the Day of the Child.” Schools are out for Christmas, so it is much easier to plan events during the school year, plus Christmas is not as big a deal in Honduras. 

Prior to the recent candy-bagging-palooza, Alejandro and Secia spent time reaching out to the US sister churches, explaining the need and why the Day of the Child is so important. Then, as a way of finding resources beyond those normally used, Alejandro and Secia went to the mayor’s office and several larger local churches. They received some donations of piñatas and candy, turning this into a community effort. 

We’ve mentioned in the past that Christmas in Honduras isn’t typically celebrated with a pile of presents, especially in the rural villages. Children might receive a clothing item if their families can afford that. But anyone who ever received socks and underwear from a great aunt for Christmas probably didn’t find the experience to be magical. Celebrating birthdays isn’t really a thing, either. A lot of kids don’t know when they were born. For kids born in the mountain villages, there’s a chance their parents don’t know their exact birthday, either! 

While International Children’s Day is November 20th, Hondurans officially celebrate Día de los Niños on September 10th. The theme for Children’s Day is, “Inclusion, for every child,” which is a poignant reminder that every single child deserves to be celebrated. You might be interested in knowing that the holiday got its start through the Geneva Convention, though Honduras didn’t declare the Day of the Child as a national holiday until the 90s. It is about taking a stance against child trafficking and child labor by remembering that children are precious and that childhood is something to be protected. What a beautiful reason to buy a LOT of cake!

 - posted by Christi