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

A Gigantic Small Step

It’s the time of year when Sowers4Pastors updates the registration rolls for the kids in the sponsorship programs. Just like every year, a lot of new youngsters are entering the program and a lot of kids are leaving it. Understandably, it can be upsetting for a sponsor to see a child leaving the program. It is not uncommon for those sponsors to ask, “Why are children leaving school at such young ages?” It’s a complex question with some complex answers. Today, Allen and Trish want to address those concerns. 

Let’s begin with the things most of us already know about the cycle of poverty and how that affects education. 1)  People in poverty often struggle to keep their kids in school. 2) In some cultures, kids leave school to go to work and help earn money for their families. 3) It’s also fairly common for some cultures to educate boys and not girls. 

Now we’re going to move on to the things that are more unique about the area served by S4P. Because the ministry serves a variety of economic levels, Allen and Trish are trying to speak in averages. Most of the areas served by S4P are incredibly insulated–they are far from paved roads. The residents of those insulated villages don’t see the opportunities that are available in other areas. 

The farther a child lives from the road, the greater the likelihood that his or her parents never attended school at all. It wasn’t a matter of not prioritizing education. School simply wasn’t an option for those parents because there were no schools near them. None. Zip. Nada. Even when the Sowers family arrived on the scene 16 years ago, many of the communities had a lot of kids and not a school in sight. 

Given that cultural perspective, sixth grade graduation is a big deal. There are caps & gowns, pomp & circumstance, and great rejoicing. In the U.S., high school graduation is seen as a minimum expectation. In the areas surrounding Gracias, graduating from the sixth grade is met with the same level of enthusiasm we tend to reserve for graduate school. It means the child has exceeded expectations! Trish said, “There is absolutely no way to place U.S. expectations on these families and expect it to make sense to them. If a child learns to read, write, and do basic math competently, they are better off than previous generations of their families.”

Allen shared, “Many of the coffee harvesters we hire can’t sign their own names. They either sign with an ‘X’ or they have one of their kids sign for them. It’s not weird here. It is seen as the norm.”

Trish explained the complex emotions she personally feels surrounding this issue. She said, “I feel bad when I see a sponsor upset and grieving because a child has left school. At the same time, I know the child's family is ecstatic - and it’s important to celebrate with the families. When a child can read and write, that is thrilling to their families! We want to celebrate the successes and encourage more. We’re trying to get municipalities to build more middle schools. As more children graduate from the sixth grade, this becomes more likely. And even if we have kids that didn’t finish the sixth grade, more did than ever before. If we used the U.S. standard to judge our success rate, we would… quit! We can’t judge things that way in this culture.”

“In many locations where we work, the population attending elementary schools has doubled since we started our program,” Allen chimed in. And gradually, more and more children are continuing on to higher grades!

,

“That is both gigantic and a small step,” Trish said. “We recognize that.” Sponsors look at one child. Sowers4Pastors must look at education as a community-wide thing. She added, “From our point of view, looking at the big picture, the program has been super successful. But it's understandable that sponsors are disappointed when their children leave the program."

The program has been so successful that other communities are taking notice. Talgua is a municipality that has some of the sponsorship programs within its boundaries. The school board from Talgua went to S4P and asked them to start programs in all of their schools, which would have included about 13 additional elementary schools. S4P had to turn them down because the ministry does not currently have the resources or manpower to handle that many more schools. If you know Allen and Trish, you know what a difficult decision that was. 

Allen said, “Talgua wants the kids to go to school. So do we! If a church comes along and wants to start a program at some of these schools, maybe we can make that happen. But we will still need more staff–particularly more North American staff. We’re praying that God would raise up another missionary couple or two who want to settle in and work with us for the long-term. If you are seriously interested in this, we would love to talk with you about the possibilities!"

Let's end with some prayer requests:

• Please pray for the sponsors who have lost sponsored children, and for the children who have left school
• Please pray that the impact of the sponsorship programs would impact these entire communities and help them recognize the value of higher levels of education.
• Please pray that the Pastors running these programs will impact these children and these communities with the Gospel!
• Please pray that God would provide the staffing and resources needed, so that S4P can help even more children attend school and hear the Bible lessons!

  - posted by Christi

A Youth Group for Manna 4 Lempira

6th Grade Graduate!

Manna 4 Lempira is growing up! When the program started, back in 2015, the majority of the children registered into the program were in early elementary school. In the rural villages around Gracias, it's still very common for children to drop out of school before they reach middle school, and the program was designed to encourage these children and their families to set (and achieve) higher educational goals.

Today, we can see definite progress in this - each year, greater numbers of children in the program continue on into middle school and even high school! This is fabulous news . . . and it has also created a need for some new developments in the program. The activities and events planned to appeal to the younger children aren't that appealing to the same children as they enter their teens. Sowers4Pastors has recognized the need for tweaking, in order to meet the needs of these older children.

There are two main reasons Kim Hall, director of the Manna sponsorship program, is working diligently to make new, youth-oriented events happen:

Reason #1

Some of the older kids have been dropping out of the program because it’s not cool to hang with the little kids. They are still in Sunday school, but they don’t want to attend the Manna events.

The goal is to create an environment of discipleship to help the youth feel more like they belong. While Kim and her husband, Jonathan, have good relationships with the older kids, they recognize the need to have a Honduran step in and take over the role of youth minister.

Solid youth involvement is needed to create an environment where the kids are encouraged to continue their education.

Reason #2

9th Grade Graduate!

Churches need leaders! A youth program is an ideal place to train up the future leaders of the church. Now is the time to start this new aspect of the program, because the kids are going back to school shortly. Kim said, “We don’t want to wait until sometime down the road when we’ve lost kids.”

Raising leaders isn't an aspect of the Manna program that the Halls or the Sowers had considered initially, but it is vital for what they want to accomplish.

And for those who ask, "How does a sponsorship program fit in with the Sowers4Pastors goal of empowering Honduran pastors?" here is part of the answer! In order to grow their churches, pastors need individuals who are prepared to take on leadership tasks.

Too Cool for School? Not Deep Down!

Whenever Kim and Jonathan pay a visit to a Manna center, the younger kids excitedly rush to greet them, while the older kids act in a way that Kim calls “too cool for school”. The older kids often hang back and tease the younger ones as they pose for pictures and wait excitedly for letters from their sponsors. At Christmas time, one of the “too cool for school” crowd had been sort of heckling the little kids. But, when it was time for Joe Cool to receive a letter from his sponsor and turn in his mail for his sponsor, the 15-year-old boy pulled out a letter in an envelope cut into a big heart shape, complete with glitter that said, “I love you!”

Kim said, “That is a good picture of what we’re trying to do. The kids have a heart for the program, but culturally, it isn’t cool. We need to change that.”

 - posted by Christi

From Backpack Recipients to Graduates!

The end of the calendar year also means the end of the school year in Honduras. The end of November and the first part of December is graduation time for children finishing kindergarten, sixth grade, ninth grade, and high school. The completion of each level is a big deal, and Kim Hall (director of the Manna 4 Lempira sponsorship program) and her family were delighted to share in the joy of the students graduating from the community of Mercedes.

It wasn’t possible to attend the ceremonies for each of the approximately thirty different communities served by Manna 4 Lempira and Sowers4Pastors (more info about these programs can be found here), so for their first year as residents of Honduras, Kim and Jonathan decided to go to the home of the first Manna program. Graduation ceremonies are long, elaborate affairs and the Halls saw three ceremonies in Mercedes, plus 2 high school graduations in the city of Gracias for the students in the Tablon schools (another community served by Manna 4 Lempira).

Even though the official Honduran government statement is that primary education for kids between the ages of six and twelve is compulsory, we know that far too many kids fall through the educational cracks because their families can’t afford to keep them in school. That’s why the backpack program and Manna 4 Lempira are so vital for the improved future of Lempira.

Kim shared how wonderful it was to watch the children graduate, knowing the stories of so many of them. One high school graduate in Mercedes has a father in prison and a mom forced to raise five children on her own. This mom moved her entire family to town from a more rural area, in order to help her kids succeed. She has three more children in the Manna 4 Lempira program. She believes in it.



“It takes the parents, the sponsors, the missionaries, the pastors, and the kids themselves to create this success,” Kim said. “It’s like the parable of the talents. Some kids will receive a backpack and bury it in the sand. Others will receive a backpack and multiply the gift.” Kim continued, “There are a lot of kids who continue on with school and a lot that can’t or don’t. We expect to see more kids graduate each year. Last year, there was one high school graduate involved in Manna. This year, there were at least six. That number will probably double next year. At minimum, we have doubled their average education level.”

While at a ceremony in Mercedes, the school principal walked over to the Halls. As the only gringos in attendance, Kim and Jonathan weren’t hard to pick out of the crowd. The principal told them that the students involved with Manna 4 Lempira are the best kids. The high school graduates in Mercedes who were rewarded for academic excellence were all Manna kids.They stand out academically and socially. Kim described the Manna students as “articulate, intelligent and motivated.” And she said, “We have our church partners to thank for that.”

Two young women involved with Manna were among the high school graduates. In a culture where girls often become mothers as early teens, this is new in their culture. “We would like for these girls to have opportunities. They are studying subjects like information technology, and acquiring job skills. This program is bearing fruit, and changing the future for these children, their families, and their communities” Kim said.

 - posted by Christi

RJ the Scholar

“Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.”
~ Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to know I Learned in Kindergarten

Just like the little seed in the Styrofoam cup, RJ is sprouting up. He’s a kindergartener now. Let the adventure commence!

Even though new situations can be scary, RJ has an extraordinary support system at his bilingual school in Gracias. RJ’s teacher, Miss Amy, is the wife of Danny, Sowers4Pastors ministry photographer, as well as the sister of Quito, the ministry videographer. His music teacher is his uncle, Iris’s brother. Two of RJ’s three cousins are students at the school. Kim and Jonathon Hall’s three children attend the school. A number of the people who work as translators for Sowers4Pastors (or who translate letters for Manna 4 Lempira) are current high school students at the school, or recent graduates. Ben used to attend there, too.

Trish laughed and pointed out, “Nobody worries too much about RJ falling through the cracks!”

Normally, a bilingual school means the children come in speaking Spanish and learn to speak English while they are there. In this school, a smattering of children come in speaking only English and have to learn Spanish. The children of other members of the missionary community attend there, though Trish doesn't think any of them are in kindergarten. RJ is unique because he already speaks English and Spanish, though his English is stronger. Nana, er, Trish thinks RJ’s teacher may have a challenge on her hands because he in coming well prepared!

Kindergarten for RJ is a classy affair. The kids wear nice dress clothes to school, so RJ dons a tie each day instead of the typical 5-yr-old boy attire. Once a week, students get to wear a sports uniform for PE day.

The school also has an impressive backdrop. The buildings are tucked up against the tallest mountain in Honduras. The school grounds are beautifully landscaped. At recess, the well-dressed youngsters can be seen running around and playing hard--dress clothes and all.

So far, things seem to be going great. I’m sure Trish will be available to give us periodic updates.

 - posted by Christi

A Vision for Guacutao

The Sister Church sponsorship programs - there are currently five of these - are run a bit differently than the general Manna4Lempira program. The next five posts, starting with this one, will spotlight one of the sister church locations. As an introduction, here's a bit of general information about how these programs are different from the Manna program, and also a map of the locations of these sponsorship centers.

With only one exception (Camalote), the sister church programs are run out of the local public schools, rather then meeting in a church. This means that every child who is registered to go to school in that location is also registered into the sponsorship program. The local pastors teach the Bible lessons at the school, as part of the weekly scheduled classes, and the meals are cooked and distributed as a school lunch program.

Because of the rugged terrain and lack of roads and vehicles in some areas, most of the elementary schools in Lempira are small, and the sister church programs tend to grow by adding additional schools from the same community into the program, gradually encompassing a small network of schools and pastors at each program location.

Now, we'll turn the spotlight onto the program in Guacutao!

When you want to learn more about the Sister Church program at Guacutao, Michelle Spanos is a great person to call. That’s why Trish suggested I do just that. Michelle is a member of Edgewater Alliance Church in Edgewater, Florida, which serves as the stateside big sister to Guacutao.

The relationship between Edgewater Alliance and Guacutao began in 2016 when a team from Edgewater went down to hand out backpacks and provide a medical clinic. Edgewater’s goal is to send 2-3 teams per year and to be sure each of the children receives an annual checkup.

Michelle said, “Our heart is to come alongside Pastor Lorenzo, who heads up the program in Guacutao, and help him reach the children with the Gospel. We were recently able to help him get a motorcycle to use in his ministry, and we’ve assisted in two church roof projects and helped with painting some churches.”

Pastor Lorenzo with Michelle Spanos

The sponsorship program at Guacutao is made up of four “feeder schools” in the area. Leading the program at each school will either be Pastor Lorenzo, or the pastor of a church he's planted. You see, Pastor Lorenzo has planted five churches in the area, and supervises a total of around fifteen churches. Pastor Lorenzo has already graduated from Pastor Training School. Edgewater wants to make sure the people who come alongside him in church plants get training, as well.

Michelle was just there with a team in January. The children in Honduras hadn’t started the school year. The team noticed a group of people clearing an area behind one of the schools. At another site, they noticed adobe bricks drying in the sun. The most recent team to visit reported back that a new restroom had been built at one of the schools and there is now a new junior high school building!

Three years ago, only one out of five Guacutao kindergarteners would have been expected to complete the sixth grade. Now there are very different expectations. Thanks to the Sister Church Program, getting an education is a reality. Previously, there would not have been the need for a junior high school in this area. Michelle pointed out that the school with the new building is the poorest of the four schools associated with Guacutao.

Michelle also talked about how much fun the teams from Edgewater have building relationships with the children. In January, they were able to introduce the children to the fun of playing with a frisbee. When the next team visited, they took a few more frisbees for the kids. Michelle is now considering taking a frisbee golf set on her next trip. She was quick to point out that she would be giving it to Pastor Lorenzo and allowing him to use it with the children. She understands the importance of the relationship he is building with the children in his local community. Michelle also talked about the possibility of one day helping Pastor Lorenzo build a field for sports (mostly soccer, of course), if that would be a benefit to his ministry.

And, as Michelle said, “Lord willing, it would be great if the school system could put in a high school  in this area, at some point in the future.” Currently, any local students who wish to attend high school have to hitch a ride to a neighboring town, or move to that town, to attend school. When pondering why the emphasis on education is so important she said, “We want to get these kids reading so they don’t take our word for it. They can read the Word for themselves.”

 - posted by Christi

A Backpack Carol

Backpacks being filled in Colorado!

In a sense, it is always backpack season with Sowers4Pastors. You might say, they talk about backpacks the same way Buddy the Elf talks about Christmas--with a whole lot of love and enthusiasm! If there were backpack carols, they would be singing them! If they could string strands of lights shaped like little backpacks… Well, they’d probably forego the little lights because they’re too busy to hang them, but you get the idea. They are bonkers for backpacks. And their sincere hope is that you are bonkers for backpacks, too.

This is a particularly exciting time because Allen spent the last few weeks ordering and sending out massive amounts of empty backpacks just waiting to be filled. It’s also time for the Back-to-School sales to stock up on backpack filling supplies. Well, hot diggity!

Filled backpacks in Mississippi

If you and your church are not involved in filling backpacks, it is not too late. Allen insists there is still time for him to send out a bulk shipment of empty backpacks to any group wishing to fill them.

Why would you do this? Um, so little Honduran children can go to school! If you’ve been paying any attention to this blog, you know that the cost of school supplies is enough to prevent many Honduran children from receiving an education. That’s a huge problem with a simple fix. When you donate a backpack filled with school supplies, parents in Honduras are able to afford to send their children to school.

Supplies purchased in bulk, to fill backpacks in Seattle

So, if you haven’t already done so, head out to the Back-to-School sales. And, just because someone had to write the first backpack carol, here’s a little something to motivate you while you shop. Sing it to the tune of Jingle Bells. Oh, no need to thank me!

Dashing through Walmart

With a slightly wonky cart.

Through the aisles we go

Shopping yo-ho-ho!

Notebooks are a deal.

Pencils are a steal.

Buy in bulk and save a ton.

We have backpacks to fill! 

 - posted by Christi

The View from Kelsea: Regarding the Backpack Project

A backpack: what a simple thing. I remember the first time I was exposed to the Sowers4Pastors backpack program - I was helping to load filled and ready-to-go backpacks into a minivan at Lighthouse Church in Maryland.  I knew that they were specially packed for certain children by their sponsors, but that was about as much thought as I had given to them. After all, it’s just a backpack, right?

Fast forward three months. I found myself in a van bumping along the roads of rural Honduras on my way to distribute backpacks for the first time. As I looked out my window, I saw a variety of houses. Some were more strongly built: a shell made of mud bricks that were neatly stuccoed on the outside, concrete floors, actual windows or doors, a mostly intact roof, small enough to have only one room and a kitchen, and wired primitively for electricity.

Then there were the other houses: a partial frame of mud bricks supplemented by worn metal roofing, dirt floors, and very small with no windows or doors. I saw children walking to school in clean but used school uniforms that were usually either too small or too large on their small, thin frames. And on the same stretch of road, I saw other children who looked like they hadn’t bathed in weeks sitting in front of their houses wearing dusty, torn clothing, silently watching us drive by.

Something about what I was seeing didn’t sit well with me and being the problem solver that I am, I began thinking immediately about what could be done differently to change the scene I was witnessing. As I asked questions, it became clear. The main need in rural Honduras is education. Yes, well-rounded meals, better housing, clean water, medical services, bridges, churches etc. are important and much needed, but the way to truly eliminate the poverty of these areas is through educating the people.

Many in these areas don’t make it past the sixth grade, and as a result are unable to get steady jobs so they cannot afford the supplies to put their children through school.  This sets the children up to repeat the cycle and they end up in the same situation as their parents.

So, when we arrived at the church and began to hand out backpacks, I no longer saw just a simple backpack full of random school supplies. I saw an opportunity for each one of these children to stay in school another year, and in doing so, take one more step toward changing their communities. It’s a huge goal, a long and difficult process, and a cycle that will take a couple generations to change, but it can be done and it begins with a backpack.

 - posted by Kelsea