Finding Every Child: The Next Step in the Backpack Process

The last backpack team may have packed up and headed home, but if you think that means backpack season 2025 is officially in the books — think again! There’s still plenty of work to do.

This past Thursday, March 20th, the Honduran staff of Sowers4Pastors hit the road once again, circling back to each area to track down kids who missed their distribution day. And this year, that’s a longer list than usual. Why? Because the coffee harvest was later than normal, and when backpacks were being handed out, many children were busy working alongside their families, picking coffee. Now, the hope is that these kids are planning to return to school — and that staff can find each and every one of them.

This follow-up also provides a chance to register new students in the program. In the past, new kids were signed up during the main backpack distribution events. That may have been faster, but it had some challenges. Occasionally, children would show up to receive a backpack and shoes… but never actually attend school. Imagine the disappointment of a sponsor who chose a child’s profile, only to learn weeks later that the child wasn’t in class and thus was not available for sponsorship. Understandably, that was discouraging for everyone involved.

So, S4P has fine-tuned the process. Now, they wait for official government-issued enrollment papers from each school, detailing the number of students in every grade and their ages. These documents provide a much more accurate, up-to-date picture. And conveniently, they are available just as the second round of backpack distributions begins!

With Mary Faith now on board, the goal is to update and create student profiles almost in real time. Each day, as staff return from their trips, they hand off registration forms and child photos to Mary Faith. By the next day, she’ll have those profiles created or updated—just in time for the next batch to arrive. If all goes according to plan, this entire process will be wrapped up in two weeks, allowing sister churches in the States to hold their events for sponsoring new children without delay.

Please keep everyone in your prayers as staff members revisit communities and Mary Faith works on the profiles. Brandy specifically asked for “prayers for safety and that we will be the light of God in those communities.”

Let’s make it happen!

 - posted by Christi

Before the Backpacks

Sowers4Pastors officially started backpack distribution, but so much work goes into prepping for this important event, we should talk about it to give some recognition to the S4P staff for all the hard work they do prepping for teams.

Alejandro shared, “It’s a new year, and our hearts are full to be able to bring a seed of hope to all the children. This fills us with joy because we know God is helping us to share the Gospel with them. As we’ve mentioned before, the children are the future of our country. But not just our country—they are the future of the Gospel.”

The Weeks Leading Up

Behind the scenes at Sowers4Pastors, the staff had to work tirelessly to prepare for the arrival of the backpack distribution teams. Everyone has a role to play:

• Secia worked on the logistics—finalizing lists of children, preparing letters, communicating with teachers, and ensuring that there would be enough supplies such as registration sheets, clipboards, pens, gospel tracts, and everything else a large project like this might need.

• Nicki was focused on the backpacks themselves, ensuring they were ready to go and organizing shoes for distribution.

• Rene was helping Nicki while juggling errand running and trying to finish up the 2024 ledgers.

• Brandy, Kirstin, and Alejandro spent time coordinating with teachers and schools while tackling anything else that needs attention, such as writing schedules, talking to hotels, talking to teachers, talking to team leaders. They also had to prep for projects that some of the teams would be doing on the ground, such as playground construction or repair projects. Finally, they also had to order and pickup Bibles for distribution - every third year the kids in the sponsorship program get Bibles as a gift, and this is the year!!

“There are many things to do, and everything requires extra effort from the entire staff,” Alejandro explained. “We want to give our best to our brothers and sisters from the States and to each child and teacher. When we are handing out backpacks, it doesn’t matter how tired we are at the end of the day. Seeing the children happy and smiling because they’re starting school, and seeing the parents relieved because these backpacks make it possible for their kids to attend—it makes it all worth it.”

A Special Connection

Backpack season is more than just distributing school supplies. It’s an opportunity for the staff to connect with the pastors and Sunday school teachers involved in the program. These pastors don’t only preach in their churches; they also deliver the Gospel message to kids in the schools. It’s a chance to celebrate the partnerships that make this work possible and renew the shared mission of showing Christ’s love to every child.

How You Can Help

Please join us in praying for the staff, the teams, and the children, parents, teachers, and pastors. Prayers for safety are always appreciated, for everyone. Prayers for the vehicles are also appreciated, as this season of ministry tends to take one or two of them out of commission! Finally, and most importantly, please pray that the efforts of S4P staff, the teams, the teachers, and the church leaders will serve to advance God's kingdom. Or, as Alejandro put it, “Pray that we can show the love of Christ to each of the villages and schools.”

-posted by Christi

Happy Busy New Year from Sowers4Pastors!

As we ring in 2025, there’s a good chance you’re still shaking off a holiday cheese coma, but the Sowers4Pastors team has wasted no time diving headfirst into the new year. Let’s catch you up on all the excitement happening in Honduras!

Backpacks

The elves at S4P (otherwise known as the hardworking staff) are in full swing organizing more than 2,000 backpacks for distribution. Each bag is being meticulously checked to ensure it’s filled with school essentials—like notebooks, pencils, and erasers—and then topped off with toothpaste (added on-site thanks to customs regulations). It’s a massive operation, but the team’s pace could rival Santa’s workshop during peak season!

It's not the North Pole, but our elves are feeling the need to bundle up!

Trucks

Keeping things rolling—literally—is a top priority. Brandy’s trusted mechanic friend is arriving from Tegucigalpa to ensure every S4P truck is in tip-top shape for the heavy-duty work ahead. With parts already on order, the team is determined to keep these vehicles running smoothly for the busy season.

Coffee

The coffee harvest this year is nothing short of monumental. In the words of Rachel, “We are drowning in coffee!”

After a few years of bouncing back from the coffee blight (and the fire), the S4P farm is experiencing a harvest of epic proportions. What normally takes two weeks has stretched into weeks of continuous work, compounded by the holiday interruptions of Christmas and New Year.

Last week alone, about 80 pickers filled five large Ford trucks with coffee in a single day—on what would normally be a three-truck day! The drying patios are maxed out, and the team has even had to purchase additional tarps to handle the overflow.

It’s a blessing of abundance, but it’s also keeping everyone on their toes!

Teams

The first visiting team of the year, from Lighthouse Church, is set to arrive in about ten days. With the coffee harvest still in full swing, their timing is perfect to dive into the action.

Rachel & Brandy’s New Home

Progress on Rachel and Brandy’s new home has slowed down amidst the holiday hustle and the coffee chaos. Rachel laughed as she shared, “One more month. Maybe. Every month, we keep saying, ‘one more month!’” The finishing touches will have to wait until the whirlwind settles down.

Prayer Request

As the team juggles coffee, backpacks, vehicles, and visiting groups, your prayers mean the world. Brandy shared, “We are happy and not complaining, but we need endurance! The first team arrives in ten days, and it’s a lot. We’re so excited to have our teams coming, but we ask for prayers that God gives us endurance and health. God is sending us a lot of blessings to bless other people.”

So, as 2025 gets underway, please keep the S4P team in your prayers. It’s a year brimming with blessings, and they’re ready to tackle it all with faith, hard work, and maybe just a little extra coffee!

 - posted by Christi

Sowers4Pastors is All Smiles: A Big Thank You to Our Amazing Supporters!

The team at Sowers4Pastors is beaming with gratitude and flashing their brightest Colgate smiles as they extend a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who played a part in the successful arrival of their most recent shipping container. Whether you packed a backpack, donated items, prayed for safe transport, or helped load the container, your efforts made a tremendous impact.

This year’s container journey came with lessons learned from last year’s, um, toothpaste debacle. You might remember how, in 2023, a customs inspection turned into a chaotic scene when officials discovered 20 expired tubes of toothpaste. The entire container was pulled apart, leaving its contents scattered and disorganized. Let’s just say, that wasn’t the kind of fresh start anyone was hoping for!

This time around, the team worked smarter — and prayed harder — to ensure a smoother process.

Lessons Learned and Prayers Answered

Brandy shared how this year’s preparations involved extra steps, including meticulous paperwork and additional help from U.S.-based coordinators. “We prayed — a lot — and asked people for prayers,” he said. “And we didn’t have any problems with this container!”

The team also asked coordinators to take on a new challenge: removing toothpaste from backpacks and packing it into separate boxes, clearly labeled with expiration dates. It was time-consuming, but the effort paid off. Honduran customs officials inspected just 5 of the 24 toothpaste boxes, confirmed the expiration dates, and left the rest untouched — a far cry from last year’s floor-spread fiasco.

Smooth Sailing and Speedy Unloading

When the container arrived, the S4P team got to work bright and early. By 6:30 AM, they were unloading, and thanks to the meticulous organization, the entire container was emptied and sorted in just an hour and a half.

“Everything looked like no one had touched it!” Brandy marveled. “It was easy to take out the boxes and get them organized onto trucks. The people helping us did a great job.” By 10:00 AM, every item was neatly stored in the bodega, categorized by program.

The team’s speedy work even surprised themselves. They had planned to provide lunch for the workers but finished so quickly that coffee and cookies were the perfect celebratory treat instead.

Grateful Hearts and Organized Backpacks

This year’s success felt like nothing short of divine intervention. Reflecting on the process, Brandy said, “We can tell that God provided and helped us through the whole process. We’ve already thanked God and started thanking people, but, really, there are no words.”

Now, with everything unpacked and backpacks already being sorted by program, the team is ready to dive into the next steps.

And that’s definitely something to smile about.

- posted by Christi

A Slice of Sowers4Pastors: A Sampler of Ministry Updates

 This week’s blog is like a cheesecake sampler – a little bit of everything for everyone! Let’s dig into the sweet (and sometimes bittersweet) highlights from Sowers4Pastors.

Goats and Gratitude

Brandy recently received a thoughtful gift of two goats from a pastor supervisor as a token of thanks for the ministry’s support. One goat, a pregnant female, gave birth to twins, but complications sadly claimed her life and that of one baby. That left a tiny, orphaned baby goat in need of care. Brandy and Rachel, welcomed little Canela (Cinnamon in English) into their family. For a time, Rachel was managing four “kids” in diapers – three human and one goat! Thankfully, Canela is thriving, and bringing joy to everyone.

Tropical Storm Sara

Tropical Storm Sara hit Honduras hard, particularly on the northern coast, where some areas experienced up to 30 inches of rain. The devastation has included road and bridge washouts and damage to homes. Meanwhile, in Gracias, the storm brought several days of steady rain, a blessing for the ministry’s coffee farm and others in the area. Please pray for those dealing with severe damage and for the missionaries assisting these communities.

Citizenship Steps

Rachel, Brandy, and their kids (minus the goat!) spent a chunk of the past week in Tegucigalpa, taking steps toward U.S. citizenship for their children. Due to the time Rachel has lived in Honduras (and thus not in the US), the process is far from straightforward. They’ve started with the application for “automatic citizenship for a child born abroad,” knowing it will be denied as part of the process. The next phase will involve lots of paperwork. The final step is a trip to the US. Just as with Nathan’s citizenship journey, Trish will accompany them when the time comes.

Backpacks in Record Time

In Maryland, the backpack container was loaded at lightning speed by Fredericktowne Baptist Church volunteers. The experienced team finished in just two hours, thanks to great weather and even better teamwork.

Dispensa and Container Updates

To ship the backpacks duty-free, the ministry must file a dispensa, an itemized breakdown of container contents. Timing is critical, as filing too early risks expiration. All the necessary paperwork was approved just in time for the shipping of the container!

Meanwhile, a separate food container is on its way, with goods sent from Minnesota to New Orleans before heading to Honduras. Pray that both containers clear Customs and the Honduran FDA quickly and intact. Trish humorously noted, “Toothpaste gives them fits!” Also, pray that storage fees don’t pile up if there are delays at the port.

Seeing Clearly: Eyeglasses for Kids

Through the ministry, a new batch of over 20 kids have received eye exams and are now set to receive new glasses. A generous ophthalmologist is volunteering to ensure every pair fits perfectly. Clear vision will help these children thrive in their studies and daily lives.

Future Home Sweet Home

Rachel and Brandy’s new home is nearing completion! Allen, despite his back issues, has been overseeing the grading of the yard. After Thanksgiving, an electrician friend from the U.S. will be coming to finish off the electrical work, ensuring that everything meets U.S. standards. The hope is to move in before “team season” kicks off in January. It’s a race against the clock, but everyone is hopeful! Your prayers for on-time completion are appreciated! 

 - posted by Christi

Bodega Prep: Organizing for the Backpack Container

Organizing the bodega for the arrival of the backpack container is a lot like getting your pantry in order after a Costco haul. Imagine you’ve somehow ended up with 72 cans of creamed corn (don’t ask why!). You wouldn’t stack those in front of the 18 cans you already have, right? No, you’d push the older cans forward and tuck the new ones in behind them. It’s just good pantry sense. And while this metaphor doesn’t quite explain your creamed corn obsession, it’s the perfect analogy for what’s happening now at Sowers4Pastors.

The bodega is being prepped for the upcoming shipment of backpacks that will arrive in a couple of months, and it’s a dusty place (because, well, Honduras). Over the course of several days, a team of 8-10 people will be busy moving things around, taking inventory, and making sure everything is ready for those backpack boxes. And yes, the dust will be a challenge, but nothing a few brooms and dust rags can’t handle!

But here’s where things get tricky. In previous years, the ministry would bring down boxes of shoes from the States, and it’s not as simple as hitting up Amazon for exactly the right sizes. It's more like ordering for a whole shoe store. You get a range of sizes in each set, but S4P tends to need a whole lot of size 4 shoes for girls and size 6 for boys. That leaves them with extra-large and extra-small sizes that aren’t in high demand.

So, instead of repeating this cycle and ending up with stacks of shoes in sizes no one needs, S4P has teamed up with a local cobbler to custom make the sizes they’re short on. The cobbler recently visited the bodega to check out the current shoe inventory. His shoes are top quality, and while they cost a little more per pair, it’s more cost-effective than being stuck with a bunch of shoes that don’t fit anyone.

And just like with the shoes, the older stock gets pushed to the front while the new shoes coming in will be organized in the back.

It’s not just shoes, either. The bodega also has some supply of clothing, baby dolls, soccer balls, and other toys that need to be organized. So, there’s plenty of heavy lifting and strategic arranging ahead for the team. They’re working hard to make room for all the new boxes and still keep everything accessible for distribution.

On top of all that, the bodega is also home to the solar energy system that powers Kirstin’s house and the office. Allen is planning to rework the system to connect to Brandy and Rachel’s new home, which is still under construction. When a friend from the States comes next month to help with the electrical work, the team will need to have a clear space for him to get to work.

In the meantime, please pray for the safe and timely arrival of the container and for the paperwork to go through smoothly. Pray that there are no delays caused by dock worker strikes or hurricanes! S4P is hoping to get the container with backpacks shipped before the holidays, with a food container scheduled for the beginning of the year.

 - posted by Christi

Backpacks, Backpacks ! And a Smooth Collection Trip

It's time to talk about this year’s backpack collection trip!

This year’s trip was completed thanks to the efforts of Sowers4Pastors staff members Kirstin, Esdras, and Mary Faith, with a helping hand from J.R., a pastor from Life Community Church in Ohio (one of the sister churches). J.R. traveled from Ohio to Maryland to lend a hand and just flew back home last night. Esdras and Mary Faith were part of the collection journey from Mississippi to Florida to Maryland, while Kirstin is still in the States, gearing up for one last speaking engagement at an AWANA program tonight.

Now, this is usually the part where we share the dramatic side of the trip — outrunning hurricanes, or a Penske rental truck getting a flat tire. But this year? Well, let’s just say, the most "dramatic" moment came when a rental truck got a little lost for a bit. According to Kirstin, “Nothing bad happened!” — we’re calling that a win!

Though we don't have official backpack collection numbers yet, we’ll be sure to let you know once every last backpack has been counted.

In the meantime, there are a few prayer requests we’d love your help with as we prepare for the next phase:

The port workers strike along the East Coast of the U.S. is affecting shipments. Although the strike has been delayed, it can still affect future shipments.

Pray for no problems with getting the duty-free shipping from the Honduran government.

Pray for safe shipment, arrival, and release of the containers, which can sometimes face challenges at customs in Honduras.

Last year, you may recall, one of our containers was unpacked by officials, leading to some personal items going missing. We’re praying this year goes smoothly and that everything arrives safe, sound, and on time.

From Rachel: "The first backpack distribution team is scheduled to come to Honduras to help pass out backpacks at the end of January. Ideally, we like to ship the container at the end of October, which gets the containers to Honduras by early December, giving us enough time to prepare for distribution. If they arrive by early January, we’ll be fine. Even mid-January should work. But after that, we might run into a situation where our team shows up, and…no backpacks!"

So, let’s get to praying, all you backpack enthusiasts! The kids are counting on these backpacks!

 - 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

Alejandro Talks Backpacks

When Alejandro and Sesia moved to Gracias to work with Sowers4Pastors in August 2022, they weren’t sure what to expect in regard to backpack distribution. They had heard things–things about how difficult it was to lug huge boxes of backpacks and shoes from one school to the other. The warnings were enough to cause Alejandro a little concern.

Alejandro said, “At our last job, my wife and I worked in an office. It was a big deal just to change the paper in the printer. So when the guys told me about the big boxes and heavy, hard work, I thought, ‘I’m not in the condition to do that sort of work!’”

The physical challenges proved to be worthwhile, though. Alejandro quickly discovered how much the backpacks mean–not just to the children, but to their families. He said, “Handing out the backpacks was amazing to us, but we had never thought about how amazing it was for the families. With the backpacks, they can send the kids to school. Each backpack that is filled with school supplies the families wouldn’t be able to afford to purchase helps a child, a family, and a community.”

Besides a good workout, there was another side benefit Alejandro hadn’t expected to receive. Working with the visiting teams made Alejandro and Secia feel that they now have new families within each of the churches. He spoke of his new families at Edgewater Alliance, Life Community Church, Lighthouse Church, and more. Alejandro said, “We were expecting to work with the teams but now we have families.”

He shared, “Something we discovered was the big hearts the people in the States who come here have. We have amazing people in Honduras, too. But the teams come from the States to work and work and work. They come to help the kids. People in their seventies have come to work side by side with us. If they are told to do this or that, they never say they are too tired. They say, ‘Let’s go!’ They are here loving the kids. It’s amazing the hearts they have.”

Now that Alejandro knows better the good that will come out of the next backpack collection, he said, “I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to work and serve in this ministry. No matter what is in each backpack–whether it is full of extras or if it holds the basics– every item is a big blessing to the families.”

- posted by Christi

Backpacks! Backpacks!

As far as recurring blog topics go, backpack collection trips rank pretty high for Sowers4Pastors. That’s because backpacks are an important part of helping the ministry achieve its ultimate goal of empowering pastors. But, wait! Aren’t backpacks all about sending kids to school? Today, let’s begin by talking about how the single act of filling a backpack can help on multiple levels. 

Level 1

Each S4P backpack filled with school supplies that makes its way into the hands of a child means that a child will be attending school. It’s not that some of the recipients wouldn’t have attended anyway, but it does lighten the load for those families. A large percentage of the kids who receive backpacks truly wouldn’t be attending school without the gift of school supplies and a new pair of shoes, however.

Level 2

The backpacks, distributed as part of a sponsorship program or feeding center program, give local pastors an ongoing opportunity to share the Gospel with the children.  It’s not a once and done thing. 

Level 3

The education systems in several communities have been transformed by the impact of backpacks. More and more kids are attending school well beyond what was previously the norm in their rural communities. Some areas have built new schools to accommodate these changes. 

Level 4

From the very beginning, Sowers4Pastors had the goal that all sponsorship programs would serve a dual purpose. They have always provided the things they said they would provide, such as backpacks, shoes, nutritious food, and sharing the Gospel. Those are amazing benefits for the low cost of sponsorship. But… they also knew that if they were careful and frugal with the money, they would also be able to use some of the funds from these programs to empower pastors in that area to spread the Gospel to a larger degree. In fact, if the sponsorships didn’t also serve to empower pastors, Sowers4Pastors wouldn’t do sponsorship programs. Not because the programs are a bad idea, but because the ministry focus is now, and has always been, empowering pastors. 

Most of the sister churches are fully committed to providing a backpack to every child in their program, whether or not the child has a sponsor. They do this even though S4P has already promised to provide a backpack for each child in the program. The reason these churches have made this commitment is because they want to help Sowers4Pastors stretch their funds to empower pastors – through things like pastors training school and church building projects. This is accomplished through careful management and not wasting a penny of what has been entrusted to the ministry.

Get Involved with the 2023 Backpack Collection Trip

This year’s backpack road trip is scheduled to officially kick off on September 7th. Allen will begin the trip in Indiana and will collect backpacks through multiple states to get to Maryland before driving down the East Coast, Texas, and back to Florida. This means that there’s still time for you to get involved. If you are along the route (or suspect you might be), contact Kirstin (kay@sowers4pastors.com) to see about getting added to the pickup schedule. Even if you are filling a couple of backpacks and not a couple of hundred, they will try to make it work if you are along the route. 

A lot of people enjoy packing a personalized backpack for their sponsored child. It’s an opportunity, not an obligation. If you are a sponsor, your monthly donation means that your child will receive a backpack from S4P if you do not fill one yourself. If you want to give a child some special things, then go for it! 

Naturally, non-sponsors are also invited to fill backpacks. It’s a fun way to help a child and empower pastors at the same time. 

Stay tuned for future updates about the trip. The zig-zag drive across the US is expected to wrap up around October 15th, though the journey of the backpacks will be just beginning. They will still need to make it onto shipping containers, travel by sea to Honduras, and be sorted before being handed out to the waiting children.

 - posted by Christi

Additional SERIOUS Prayer Requests

It seems like Sowers4Pastors has been putting out some very significant requests for prayer this year . . . and today a few more of those are coming your way. The importance of shipping items from the US to Honduras, to the work done by S4P, is well known. You may or may not be aware of how much of the work in some of the sponsorship programs is done through the schools - but the prayer concern about the schools (below) is central to those programs. Please read through these situations and PRAY that God would show his power and glory, by making it possible for Sowers4Pastors - and other ministries in Honduras - to continue to help the people of this country and share the Gospel with them in these ways!

Food and Backpack Containers

Wherever you live in the world, when there are changes within the government, there are changes to various rules and regulations – new ways of doing business, as it were. Currently, the government in Honduras is cracking down on the way they deal with containers under duty-free regulations. That makes sense because there are people scamming the system by bringing in items under the duty-free label and then turning around and selling those items. Even though Sowers4Pastors doesn’t do that, the ministry is still swept up in the changes. They have been working to get duty-free shipping on a food container since November.  As a result of this lengthy process, the ministry is running out of the food it gets from the States. Right now, they aren’t even seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and they have no idea how soon they'll be able to get that food. This means that all of the S4P programs that involve feeding people are at risk.

As things already stood, the cost of shipping had increased exponentially in the past few years. But if the ministry has to rely on food purchased in Honduras, they will probably be looking at paying 6 times more than that! That would make it incredibly difficult to continue doing what they do in terms of food.

A second concern is that they may encounter similar issues when they ship backpacks. As Trish acknowledged, “It’s not like we have any real control over life but sometimes we see a way to move forward by putting in extra effort. In this situation, the only thing we can do is to apply earlier. We’re looking to apply for shipping backpack containers within the next two weeks. Last year, we got our paperwork filed in July and had to turn away donations of items that were offered after the paperwork had been submitted . . . for a container shipping (hopefully) in November. Although we can put some items (like backpacks and food for the feeding centers) on the paperwork this early, there’s no way we can predict other donations that might be offered to us between now and November. We may have to reject very useful donations, for that reason."

Clearly, this is a very important matter for prayer. 

Schools

The education situation is another matter involving the government. Several years ago, there was a push to improve the quality of education in Honduras by changing regulations. Previously, teachers in public schools were only required to have a high school diploma. Schools in the more remote areas routinely accepted people with the minimum qualifications. The change in regulations meant that everyone teaching within the public school system was required to have a teaching degree from a university. The government extended a multi-year grace period to existing teachers to allow them time to meet the new requirements. The grace period has ended and now there is a massive shortage of teachers. The teachers who completed their teaching degrees can have a higher standard of living in cities. The rural schools are struggling to find people willing to accept lower pay to teach in areas with no roads. The teachers may have student loans to pay off and they are understandably asking themselves, “Why would I go to all of that trouble if I’m not going to earn enough to live?” Therefore, rural schools are struggling to stay open. 

Remember that some of the ministry’s sponsorship programs are run through the public schools. If the schools stop offering classes, some of the sponsorship programs may have to be canceled. If the schools close, S4P can’t help children go to school. The results could be catastrophic. 

*Note from Trish: Since my phone call with Christi yesterday, I have learned that even well-established schools in the major cities are having to shut down classes because of the lack of teachers. The problem is more widespread that I had previously realized! Even beyond the concerns of our ministry work, there is a crisis in education throughout all of Honduras. The public schools only reopened for in-person classes this February, after being closed since the beginning of the school year in 2020 . . . and now many of them are unable to continue providing classes because of the lack of teachers. Many children are losing their chance of getting any education at all!

Here are some links (from the news) about student protests, demanding that the government send teachers so their schools can open:

(1) GRT Honduras - #GRTNOTICIAS//¡CONTINÚA PROTESTA! Alumnos del... | Facebook

(2) GRT Honduras - #GRTNoticias // Tomada amanece la escuela de El... | Facebook

Please pray for God’s intervention. Allen and Trish don’t know how else to pray.

Coffee Farm

While it’s not technically the rainy season yet, it is the time of year when Gracias is starting to get some sporadic rains. Things are starting to blossom and it’s possible to better assess how much of the coffee farm was lost to the blight that hit every coffee farm in the area. Allen has had several experts over to scope out the situation. Frankly, it’s not good. The consensus is that the farm took a hard hit.

In order to reestablish the farm and get things going again, they will be looking at one year of no harvest, followed by a year with an extremely minimal harvest. This will require a lot of trimming back and a lot of extra manpower, in addition to extensive treatments with fertilizers and such.

As it is, there is a manpower shortage. For the past two or three years, it has been necessary to travel an hour away to pick up people for harvesting. The money offered for harvesting coffee is much higher than what is paid for general farm labor the rest of the year.  The fact that there was still a scramble to find coffee harvesters does not bode well for the prospect of hiring people to save the farm.

This raises all kinds of questions from Allen, Trish, and the others working directly with the ministry. “How can we get people to come and do the work to cut 100,000 trees back to 2-feet tall from their existing average heights of 6 to 7 feet? Do we invest in the future of the coffee farm? Do we attempt to reclaim part of it? (Perhaps just 4 or 5 acres to begin with?) Is it even possible - or prudent - for us to take this on?”

In an ideal world, Allen estimates that they would need 10 full-time workers. They currently have three. They have been trying to get more people but have been unsuccessful so far. The farm itself was only showing a small profit before the blight. In 2013, when they started the coffee farm, it blessed the community with jobs and income. Manpower was available and jobs were needed. But that has changed.

Allen and Trish are asking for prayers for direction as they make some difficult decisions. Trish said, “We need leading from God. We have decisions to make, but if we can’t get manpower then we can’t get manpower. If we continue, it will be a leap of faith. We don’t want to be foolish but we also don’t want to be faithless.”

Thank you so much for reading through this very long post, and for praying with Sowers4Pastors as God leads them through this time of difficulties.

- posted by Christi