The Mission Field Has No Borders - a message from our Honduran missionaries

Regardless of how far a missionary travels to serve, the calling comes with unique challenges. That’s why Alejandro, Secia, and Brandy — who are Honduran — are no less “on the mission field” than their international counterparts Rachel, Kirstin, Allen, Trish, and Mary Faith. Today, Alejandro shared some heartfelt thoughts on the spiritual needs that unite all missionaries, no matter where they’re from.

When Alejandro and Secia moved to Gracias a few years ago to serve as local missionaries, they were met with messages of congratulations and encouragement. The same was true when Brandy stepped into ministry. But as Alejandro later shared, that first year wasn’t easy. They didn’t know anyone beyond the Sowers4Pastors team, they weren’t familiar with the area, and they had to adjust to a different culture within their own country.

Since then, Alejandro and Secia have planted a church that now includes Brandy, Rachel, and Kirstin among its members. Recently, their church took part in a spiritual retreat at a camp owned by a church in Tegucigalpa, joining with other churches for two days of renewal and connection.

Alejandro reflected, “We spent two entire days without cell phones — without distractions. We prayed and worshiped together. Often, retreats are just for women or just for men, but all missionaries need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We’re constantly pouring out — into pastors, kids, and those around us. And sometimes we confuse a busy day with a blessed day. But those two things are not the same.”

He described the emotional and spiritual labor that comes with ministry: praying with pastors, comforting children and teachers, and sometimes crying alongside them. “We’re trying to be a light in the darkness. And to be effective in that, we must seek the Lord. This isn’t a complaint — we know God called us here. And when you know that, you have to trust that He’ll provide everything you need to do what He’s asked of you.”

Alejandro added with a chuckle, “But that doesn’t happen if you just stay on your couch. We have to move. We have to seek the Lord, read our Bibles, and pray every day. That’s one reason these retreats are so powerful. We’re reminded that yes, God brought us here — but we also have a responsibility to seek Him through prayer and His Word.”

And he has a simple, heartfelt request: “If you’re reading this, please share it. And if you can, give us a gift — the gift of prayer. Our spirits need the prayers of our brothers and sisters in the U.S. Please pray for us, for Sowers4Pastors, and for our church. We’re growing every day. With growth comes the need for even more of the Holy Spirit. We now serve 27 different communities and have recently added around 500 children to the program. We need your prayers to carry the Gospel into all of it.”

But his message isn’t only for missionaries. Alejandro closed by saying, “We want to encourage everyone to seek this kind of connection with the Lord. If we open our hearts, He can work through all of us. We can do all things — not on our own, but because it’s the Lord working through our lives.”

- posted by Christi

Supporting HONDURAN Missionaries! Here's how you can help . . .

Secia, giving a child their letter

What comes to mind when you hear the word “deputation?” Please, oh, please say it’s a scene from The Andy Griffith Show when Barney Fife deputized Floyd the barber, Gomer Pyle, or Otis the drunk. That is not what we’re talking about here. It would just be good to know that other people’s minds work the same way. 

In the context of North American missionaries, the word "deputation" has traditionally been used to refer to the process of raising funds to start or continue a missionary endeavor, though the word seems to have fallen out of fashion in recent years. The process often involves missionaries speaking before groups and churches, hoping that God will inspire others to be a part of their support team, through financial help and prayers. A church or an individual may make a financial commitment to help support a missionary monthly or annually. The commitments may be large or small, but even the smallest commitments add up over time. It’s also fairly common for a group, church, or individual to make a single, one-time donation, to help the missionary and/or their ministry.

Allen and Trish have not made
any actual tents.

This is how most North American missionaries have raised money for living expenses and ministry work for decades. Allen and Trish raised funds this way, in order to start their work in Honduras. During some of their years on the mission field they did things a little differently. Allen worked various jobs in the U.S. to earn the money needed for their family’s personal living expenses. Even when they had a houseful of children, Allen would work for several months (usually involving some kind of construction) to raise the money they would need throughout the year. In church circles, this is known as “tent making” because it’s the method used by the Apostle Paul when he made tents to cover his own cost of living while working in missions. 

In recent years, Allen and Trish have scaled back on the tent making and they now rely on support from donors to cover most of their own living expenses. Allen also receives a very small salary from the ministry, for doing the job of CEO. A few different factors brought about these change, including: 1) tent making takes a lot of time and more and more Allen’s time has been taken up by annual backpack trips, and 2) Allen has always done highly physical jobs and that has become more challenging with age. Of course, over time, their personal expenses have decreased, as they are no longer supporting a large family.

 Esdras, with a team of painters

Alejandro, preaching

The funding situation is different for Sowers4Pastors' Honduran staff. These individuals have chosen to join S4P because of their strong Christian commitment and their desire to be involved in missions work. They aren’t just in it for the job. They could almost certainly have found easier, higher paying jobs elsewhere.

Honduran Christians are not generally familiar with the concept of deputation. The Protestant churches do not have a long history of supporting missionaries financially while they are on the field - though this is likely because of the limited financial resources of the churches. Sowers4Pastors is aware that it would be extremely difficult for a Honduran to raise the funds needed, for them to work as a traditional missionary! For this reason, Sowers4Pastors is raising funds from outside of Honduras, to pay salaries to the Honduran staff members, instead of expecting them to raise their own support. Basically, the ministry is doing the "deputation" for the Honduran missionaries. 

Secia, distributing curriculum

Alejandro and Secia, with kids at sponsorship program

S4P is thrilled to have this opportunity - because the Honduran missionaries are a terrific asset to the ministry. While a US missionary raises their own support, it can take months or even years to achieve, plus the US missionaries generally arrive still needing to learn the language, the culture, and all the aspects of managing life in Honduras. At a time when S4P was badly in need of additional staff, the Honduran missionaries were able to hit the ground running!

Esdra, loving on kids

Would you be interested in helping a Honduran missionary do the work God has called them to do? You can get involved in supporting the Honduran missionaries on the S4P staff, by donating through the Sowers4Pastors website to help cover the Honduran staff members’ salaries. (Click here to go to DONATION PAGE.) You can request for your donation to be earmarked to help provide for the salaries of the Honduran missionaries who are working so hard for the Kingdom! 

 - posted by Christi