The Way We Work

 If you have offspring of a certain age, there’s a good chance that you are familiar with the 1988 children’s book The Way Things Work. It is described as an entertaining introduction to the way machines work. The book is atrociously heavy and it contains diagrams of mechanical stuff in terms that make me certain I am not smarter than a fifth grader. This is sort of The Way Sowers4Pastors Works blog post. It’s a hopefully entertaining introduction to the way they operate, minus any diagrams and talk of levers and the like.

Sometimes people have the misconception that Sowers4Pastors focuses on giving resources to one group. You may think that visiting teams go to the same areas and provide VBS programs to the same children over and over again. That would be a big nopety-nope. Honestly, that is the way some ministries operate. Fifteen visiting teams would mean that the same children were traipsing off to VBS fifteen times. Teams show up with goodies and that church gets blessed and blessed and blessed while the church down the road receives no attention. That’s just not Sowers4Pastors way. 

They only do VBS programs in locations where no one else is working. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with sharing the Gospel to the same people more than once, there’s a reason we say, “spread the Gospel” and not “clump the Gospel in a big Gospel pile while ignoring others with needs.” Fifteen visiting teams are able to put on about 40 VBS programs at 40 unique sites. SPREADING not CLUMPING. 

This is a very intentional decision. As Trish said, “We try to avoid negative things. When we see things that could cause harm, we avoid those things.” 

You may be saying to yourself, “I understand the need to spread and not clump, but is clumping actually harmful to the recipient.” (If this blogpost did have diagrams, one would go right about here.)

Thank you for the thoughtful question you were mumbling under your breath. The short answer is that clumping can indeed be harmful to the recipients. But I’ve never been one for short answers, so hang on for the longer one.

During their twenty years as full-time missionaries, Allen and Trish have seen the danger of people getting to the point where they say, “I just count on the gringos to do things for me.”

Trish said, “We saw it on the island after Hurricane Mitch. We moved there a few years after the hurricane, and lived there for five years. There were people with the money to build a house who were still living in shacks built from debris. They were just waiting for the next team of gringos to come and build their houses. It’s one thing for that mentality to take over after a big hurricane. It’s another thing to set that up as a lifestyle for Christians. We don’t want to encourage the mentality that we’re here to do everything for you.”

This is not a new sentiment. You’ve heard it in relation to church construction projects, motorcycles for pastors, and everything else Sowers4Pastors does. Teams may visit the same Manna program to see how things operate or to see their sponsored children, but not to do a VBS. If teams are a part of the sister church program, they start there. If a location isn’t in the  sister church program, they are set up with non sister church teams. 

Some missionaries have one pastor and congregation that they help over and over again. The pastors become so Americanized that they are not as effective in serving the people of Honduras. Allen told a story of gringos who paid for a Honduran pastor to travel with his family for training in the States. When the pastor and his family came back, they couldn’t live as Hondurans. Now, that pastor spends most of his time fundraising to support his family’s Americanized tastes. Obviously, this was not the intention of the missionaries. They sent him to the States because he was an on-fire pastor and evangelist - but they made him ineffective in the long run. 

Allen closed by saying, “We try to be wise in the way we’re sharing resources. We never want to be seen as favoring one pastor over the others.” 

And, there you have it. That’s the way Sowers4Pastors works.

-posted by Christi

Kids getting blessed with mattresses

Little Fires and Fire Extinguishers

When you think about the characteristics needed to be a successful missionary, you might think of things like a love of God, a desire to serve, and an ability to put up with the occasional possum in the kitchen. While those characteristics are necessary, they don’t tell the whole story. To be a successful missionary in a developing country, you need to know when to put out little fires and when to hand someone else a fire extinguisher. (Clever turn of phrase complements of Allen.)

Just this week, a stranger showed up to talk to Allen about a pressing need. The stranger had been to see the county commissioner, and the county commissioner had suggested he see Allen.

The stranger's “little fire” is actually quite significant. He was there because of a serious situation affecting about ten thousand people. There is a water system that feeds into ten communities. The source of water is high in the mountains. The pipe bringing that water down from the mountain crosses a stream and was lying in the stream bed - until a recent storm broke the pipe. While the water line has been patched, it's the rainy season, and another big rainfall can - and likely will - just take it out again. The pipe needs to be elevated out of the stream bed and a small bridge/aqueduct needs to be built to hold it up there.

Allen, Russell, and Trish have been trying to figure out if they can find the time to help with this particular “little fire.” While they don’t really have time to spare, due to other obligations including visiting teams, they aren’t going to leave thousands of people with no reliable source of running water. They are planning to help with a donation of some cable (for the bridge), and by supplying simplified design ideas so the communities can do the work themselves.

Allen said, “There are always fires needing to be put out in a developing country like Honduras. If you’re not careful, you'll spend all of your time dealing with the immediate problems and you will never get around to the larger problems - like helping kids get a better education. Education is a long-term solution! We have to constantly ask ourselves if a particular problem is a fire the community can put out, if we give them a fire extinguisher and an ax to fight it! We’re trying to stay focused on the big picture. We have the constant need to evaluate where we should get involved. In some cases, we can give a little help and then also encourage fire prevention, in the future.”

Trish also pointed out that many of these problem situations would not seem so overwhelming if the community was able to be more on top of things in life. It’s difficult to handle the next little fire when you’re doing all you can just to feed your family and handle the most basic of life’s needs. It's also difficult to come up with solutions to technical problems like this water project issue, when the general level of education in the community is low.

I’m not sure who said this, because Allen and Trish were sort of finishing each other’s sentences at this point, but someone said, “This is the type of problem these communities could potentially resolve for themselves; they shouldn't need to rely on the North Americans for help. Through the long-term efforts to encourage higher levels of education and general health, we’re trying to help these communities get to that place.”

The goal of Sowers4Pastors is to focus on the long-term solutions to problems, and not be constantly sucked into fighting the little fires. Sometimes it's about achieving a balance between what they can do and what the community can do.

 - posted by Christi

Why Sponsor a Child Through Manna 4 Lempira?

One of the things I (Trish) like most about our  ministry - and one of the most frustrating things, as well - is that Allen likes to "go deep." When he sees a problem, and he looks for a solution, he generally doesn't jump on the most obvious possibility. Instead, he thinks through the ramifications of implementing a potential solution, and he also considers whether the idea is sustainable in the long term.

An example of this would be feeding malnourished children. We could set up a feeding center in one location, and go there regularly to personally prepare the food and attempt to give Bible lessons (with our imperfect Spanish) . . . but this would limit us to feeding the children in just a couple of locations each week! We wouldn't have time to go to additional locations, and we wouldn't have the time in each location to really get involved in the lives of all the children. This solution would leave too many unmet needs in our part of Honduras!

So, instead, we created a system where local pastors in needy communities run the feeding centers. They involve volunteers from their congregations to help with the cooking and serving, they are able to give the Bible lessons in the exact same local version of Spanish that the children use, and they live where the children are - placing them in an ideal situation to get to know the children and their families, and to lead them to God.

With this set-up, instead of running a small number of feeding centers ourselves, we now oversee 150 feeding centers throughout western Honduras - with the partnership of our generous donors! The pastors are delighted that we give them the food for free, which they can use to reach and serve their communities - none of them expect or receive any compensation for this.

I think this is wonderful - it makes so much sense to analyze what has been done in the past (by our ministry or by others), consider the outcomes, and make adjustments as needed, to do the best possible job we can!

However, it is frustrating for me, because I feel compelled to explain why we do things in the way that we do . . . and, oftentimes people aren't all that interested in reading about each part of the ministry in that much depth!

We're attempting to solve this problem by creating videos. The short video I'm introducing today gives a partial explanation of how the Manna 4 Lempira sponsorship program works to help the children in our part of Honduras. Maybe another time I'll make a video to show all the work that happens behind the scenes to keep the program running - there's a lot of spreadsheet work, regular oversight, measuring feet, and traveling (collecting backpacks from across the U.S. and delivering them to collection locations for shipping)  . . . but we'll save that for another day and another video!

This video specifically focuses on how the program helps the sponsored children - and how we serve the sponsors, as well.

If you're seeing this post by email, here is the link to view the video:  

Why Sponsor Through Manna 4 Lempira? 

  - posted by Trish

The Balancing Act

When Allen says he wants to discuss “the balancing act,” you know it’s not going to be about The Cat in the Hat holding up the cup and the milk and the cake and the fish on the rake all while standing on a ball. (Though I would dearly love to see Allen attempt that.) But, alas, when Allen talks about the balancing act, he’s talking about how Sowers4Pastors distributes its resources.

Taking Stock

You might think it’s a simple matter of taking stock of resources and giving a hand out to anyone who asks. That is not the case. When an indigenous pastor approaches Sowers4Pastors to ask for assistance, Allen and Russell carefully examine the pastor’s other available resources. Specifically, Allen asks, “Does he have other North American connections who may already be providing help? Does this pastor have some guys in his church who are doing well financially (probably through coffee) and would be able to help?”

As Allen explained, “We’re trying to help guys who don’t have those connections.”

Sowers4Pastors also looks at what each pastor is producing, by asking some other tough questions, “Are they replicators? Are they sending out church planters? Are they taking advantage of Pastors’ Training School? Are they interested in becoming better educated on the Word of God?”

Allen knows you can’t base the final decision solely on how fast a church is growing. He understands a pastor may be ministering in an area that is resistant to hearing the Gospel. In the long haul, those people may be won over, however.

Essentially, it’s about being mindful of Sowers4Pastors limited resources and whether or not a specific pastor will use those resources well.

Helping without Hurting

“This is a constant, ongoing struggle we have--trying to utilize our resources well. We don’t want to give too much to one pastor, who then becomes entitled,” Allen stressed. He continued, “When that happens, the pastor can ask, ‘Why do I have to work hard to produce anything?’ It takes the focus off of relationship with God and onto what we can provide him.”

This can be particularly true among pastors who speak English and serve as translators. “As they build relationships with the visitors, they frequently start asking the gringos for things. It can create a monster, if we’re not careful. After a while, the pastor is not producing and is spending more to improve his personal lifestyle (above that of his community), using funds which could have been spent on his ministry. It can basically become a job for the pastor - mooching off the gringos,” Allen contemplated, "and the pastor can gradually become unable to live and work in community with the poor."

He discussed the age old problem of “rice Christians” - people who accept Christianity as a means for monetary gain or other benefits.

“We don’t want to bring up Christians who are in it for the money. Certainly not pastors who are in it for the money,” Allen emphatically said.

He also discussed the problem that can happen when missionaries focus on helping just one church. That missionary may bring down eight or ten teams a year, with all of the help going to one church. The minute the North American missionary leaves, this type of church frequently falls apart.

Sowers4Pastors’ goal is to use funds where it will make the highest impact. To make his point, Allen said, “We would rather take 1000 pastors and give them $50 each than to take one pastor and give him $50,000. If $50 helps a pastor out significantly, then that is a better choice.”

It’s all about balance.

 - posted by Christi

Lessons from the Sowers and Colonel Sanders

Talking about good stewardship with a Sowers is like talking to Colonel Sanders about fried chicken. They know their stuff and have definite opinions on the subject. Just for kicks, I looked up quotes by Colonel Sanders and found that what I intended to be a bit of wittiness to grab your attention was a better analogy than I thought. So, I’ve decided to season this post with a couple of quotes from the Colonel himself. Why? Because I can, people. Because I can!

“No hours, nor amount of labor, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best there was in me.” ~ Harland Sanders

I was able to talk to Allen about how Sowers 4 Pastors encourages others to give the best there is in them. Unlike many other organizations you might encounter, you won’t catch Sowers 4 Pastors swooping in and building an elaborate church structure for one congregation in one community. They much prefer to spread the resources with which they have been entrusted by assisting multiple congregations in the building of multiple churches for multiple communities.

It’s that “sweat equity” Allen believes in so strongly. He wants the indigenous pastors they assist, and their congregations, to feel the pride of ownership that comes from working for something. When an outside group comes in and builds a church for a community, it can build unrealistic expectations. When the roof needs repair, the congregation may expect the builders to come back and do the work. However, when an outside group works side by side with the congregation to build the structure, or simply offers partial funding, the people of that church are infinitely more likely to keep the building in good repair. It matters more to them because they have more invested in it.

“Do all you can and do it the best you can. It’s the only way you ever get that feeling of accomplishing something.” ~ Harland Sanders

When it comes to spending financial resources, Allen, Trish, and Russell are a lot like three very experienced and frugal homemakers making out their shopping list for the week. You know the type of homemaker I mean--the type who plans meals around that week’s sales circulars, checks out which stores have the best deals, and clips coupons when it makes sense to do so. They’re all about stretching the ministry’s bucks by utilizing indigenous pastors.

They operate the way they do because they are in a country where there is a good, indigenous, Christian base. They are not starting from scratch in a country where Christianity is forbidden. There are Christians for Sowers 4 Pastors to partner with. Think of it as the difference between planting one seed and blowing on a dandelion puff and watching the wind take hold of the tiny seeds and scatter them in all directions.

Rather than planting one church, it makes sense to build up the indigenous pastors and prepare them to scatter the gospel throughout the mountains of Western Honduras. In conclusion, I leave you with one final quote from the Colonel. It sounds an awful like a Sowers’ philosophy, too.

“There’s no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can’t do any business from there.” ~ Harland Sanders

- posted by Christi

Storytime with Allen: The Biggest Bang for the Buck

When describing Sowers4Pastors’ operating procedures, Allen likes to toss around a couple of terms: “sweat equity” and “skin in the game”. Just to make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the meaning of those terms, let’s go over the definitions.

For a definition of sweat equity, I’m going to turn to the organization that is probably the United States’ biggest proponents of the term. Habitat for Humanity has defined sweat equity as “the ownership interest, or increase in value, that is created as a direct result of hard work by the owner(s).”

Skin in the game is a term frequently used in sports and business. It is often used to refer to a situation in which high-ranking insiders use their own money to buy stock

in the company they’re running. A more general meaning simply means someone is personally invested in something.

Basically, when Allen talks about sweat equity and skin in the game, he’s talking about why Sowers4Pastors doesn’t give things away for free. I’ve heard him speak on this before, but he just gave me two stories that really drive his points home. So, sit back. It’s storytime!

The Medicine Story

A group traveled to Honduras to operate a medical clinic. People would show up and ask for medicine and the good people running the clinic would give them the medicine free of charge. They were seeing a lot of people, but the staff began noticing much of the medicine was being dropped on the ground outside the clinic.

One day, a doctor stepped outside and witnessed a man throwing his newly acquired medicine on the ground. When the doctor asked why he was tossing it aside like garbage, the man replied, “The medicine must not be any good. You gave them away for free.”

The group reevaluated their procedures and began selling the meds for a fraction of their actual cost. They didn’t charge much, but it was enough for people to believe the medicine had value.

The Bible Story

When another visiting group arrived with good intentions and a large supply of Bibles to give away, Allen wisely suggested they charge people a stipend for each Bible. He thought a quarter would be a good amount. The group, however, felt strongly that the Bibles should be given away for free. Now, I’m sure we can all understand why the group felt that way, but Allen understood some things about the Honduran culture that the group did not. The group continued handing out the Bibles.

About a week and half later, Allen was out and about when he paid a visit to an outhouse. That’s when he saw it--a Bible, with pages torn out of it. People were using the free Bibles for toilet paper! If they had purchased the Bibles, they would have seen them as things of value. Plus, only people who truly wanted a Bible would have paid for and received one!

The Story of Sowers4Pastors

When people have to work and sacrifice to gain something that is beneficial, they value and care for it more. The Sowers try to never give anything away for free. They know that people will accept anything that is free, even if they have no use for that item. If it’s something of monetary value, the recipients will often turn around and sell it. The Sowers try to make sure the ministry’s limited resources go into the hands of people that will advance the Kingdom. Trish pointed out they use the method they do because they believe in “skin in the game,” plus giving is simply a bad choice in so many instances.

Because Sowers4Pastors operates with a sweat equity/skin in the game philosophy, they are able to stretch their resources. Here are some examples:

• If they had purchased land, supplied labor and materials, and built church buildings from the ground up, they would have helped ten churches. Instead, they took that money and helped 120 churches get new roofs!

• Instead of giving 110 pastors new motorcycles, they have been able to help 180 pastors buy a motorcycle. (Plus, each pastor has demonstrated he can afford to maintain a motorcycle.)

• Sowers4Pastors could have purchased horses or mules for 35 pastors, if they had been responsible for the entire cost. Instead, they helped 70 pastors by paying for half of the cost.

• If they were personally running the feeding centers, Allen, Trish, and Russell might be able to run three centers, which provide meals twice a week. That would seriously cut in on the other work they do. Rather, they help 140 pastors operate feeding centers!

• Perhaps the most impressive number has to do with planting churches. If Allen and Trish had decided to become church planters, they could have planted one church in the ten year period they’ve been in western Honduras. That church would be a “gringo” church and, if the Sowers ever leave, there would be concern that the church would shut down. Instead, they have helped 50 pastors a year plant churches. That is 500 church plants in the ten year period they’ve been there!

This is the part where someone would normally say, “The End,” but where this storytime is concerned, this is more like, “The Beginning.”

- posted by Christi

The Benefits of Indigenous Pastors - part two

Part one can be found here. 

When we left off, Allen was enlightening us with his thoughts on indigenous pastors and the best ways to reach the unreached people in the remote villages of Honduras. In doing this, he made some necessary comparisons between North American missionaries and indigenous pastors.

Here are a few more of those thoughts:

North American Missionaries Are Better Educated.

This is true. The average missionary arrives from North America with a college degree, and, most likely, a seminary degree. The indigenous pastors of Honduras are most definitely not as well educated. Of course, neither are the congregations. Allen is a proponent of providing training and education for the indigenous pastors. As he said, “It is NOT okay for indigenous pastors to have faulty theology. So we teach them.” Maybe we don’t need extra baggage to minister to people with a 3rd grade education.

Everything doesn’t have to be complicated. Allen points out that he is seeing a shift among many U.S. churches, as well. He’s seeing churches that are returning to the basics. There’s a trend to not get bogged down over whether someone is a premillennialist, postmillennialist, or amillennialist. As Allen put it so simply, “God loves us. Do we love Him? Do we love our neighbor?”

Utilizing Indigenous Pastors Is Economical.

It is standard practice for a North American missionary to raise support for living expenses. By the time you figure in things such as insurance and a retirement plan, it is expected for a gringo missionary to require $3,000-$5,000 per month in support. That’s not to imply they are living an extravagant lifestyle, but let’s compare that to indigenous pastors.

It is customary, in the mountain villages, for each pastor’s congregation to provide him with a stipend. $5 per month is typical. Just as the apostle Paul earned his own way through tent making, these pastors work in local fields to provide for their families.

While many well-known charities pay their indigenous pastors, teachers, and feeding center cooks, Sowers4Pastors does not hire and pay the people who work in their feeding centers. Allen compared paying the teachers and cooks to a U.S. church paying its Sunday school teachers. They work because they want to help their community.

Let’s Look at Success Rates.

Pastor Omar preaching, playing, and delighting
his congregation!

Did you know that when foreign missionaries plant new churches, there is only about a 50% success rate? In a church plant in the mountains of Honduras, it is unrealistic to think a foreign missionary pastor will be there indefinitely . . . and when a missionary leaves, for whatever reason--furlough, illness, to raise support, etc…--the newly planted churches tend to fall apart.

On the other hand, the success rate of churches started by indigenous pastors is much higher than 50%. Even when that pastor moves on, the odds of long-term success are much great than for churches started by a gringo. With an indigenous pastor, the congregation has a sense of ownership. It is their church rather than the gringo missionary’s church.

Ministering to the Needs

When an indigenous person goes to a gringo for counseling, there is a tendency for the person in need to begin seeing the pastor as their source of help - a “little god.” Allen feels that may be because the gringo is often more highly educated and better funded. At any rate, he is often placed at an elevated status.

When an indigenous person approaches an indigenous pastor with a problem, the pastor is seen as “one of their own,” resulting in less hero worship. The person in need can more clearly see that their hope is in Christ.

Recap

As mentioned in a previous post, Allen is not criticizing the work done by North American missionaries. He is one, after all! He would simply like for people to consider the best way to reach the most people with the resources available.  

The Benefits of Indigenous Pastors - part one

When it comes to motivational speaking, Zig Ziglar and Norman Vincent Peale had nothing on Allen Sowers! If you don’t believe me, try spending some time talking to him on the phone. You don’t even have to talk. In fact, it’s probably better if you just listen and soak up the motivation! Since you may not have the opportunity to chat with Allen on a regular basis, I’m going to pass on some of the content from our most recent fairly one-sided conversation. Today, Zig, er, Allen, was speaking about the benefits and problems of indigenous pastors versus foreign missionaries. (In order to get the full effect, you’ll need to read this at warp speed because that is how Allen talks!)

Village People

It is believed there are 2000 villages in the mountains of Western Honduras, which don’t have a Bible based church. Just let that sink in for a moment. TWO THOUSAND VILLAGES! How many people might that be? Now those villages aren’t accessible from main roads. Often, they aren’t accessible from any roads!

The North American mentality tends to be, “Well, we should send missionaries to Honduras to plant churches.” On the surface, that sounds like a great plan. After all, it’s the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion. Right? But does the Great Commission mean that we, as American Christians, need to place a missionary in each of the estimated 2000 villages in one portion of Honduras? Or is there perhaps a way to accomplish more while being better stewards with the money God has provided? The Great Commission must be completed, but how do we go about that?

A Different Way

A gringo missionary family might say, “We’re going to live in a place that’s an hour and a half to two hour walk from the nearest road. We’ll park our car at the edge of the road and hike to our new home. Oh, sure, that means we won’t have electricity, internet, or easy access to the outside world, but… Great Commission and all that. We’ll homeschool our kids with books we’ve brought with us and hauled on our backs. We'll have to bring in our food, as the local diet isn't sufficient to stave off malnutrition. And, if the kids get sick… well, we won’t think about that.” Some might be willing to make that sacrifice, but does that mean it’s the best way? One missionary family who starts a church plant might reach several hundred people. What if, instead of planting a church, that missionary family works to empower Honduran pastors?

Sowers4Pastors thinks it’s important to utilize indigenous pastors as a way of reaching the masses. By working with indigenous pastors, there can be exponential growth. The Sowers have worked with maybe 1000 pastors. Each of those pastors has ministered to their communities . That means that, through the pastors who have a relationship with Sowers4Pastors, approximately 100,000-120,000 people have been reached with the Gospel, and are now plugged into local churches in their communities!

Instead of foreign missionaries each planting one church, they could help indigenous pastors plant twenty-five churches. This idea isn’t simply about cost effectiveness. It’s about soul effectiveness!

Allen stresses that this approach would not work in all countries. In a Muslim country, for instance, there would not be a group of indigenous Christian pastors ready to assume responsibility for ministering. He most assuredly is not disparaging missionaries who take a different approach, though he questions the need for most missionaries in Honduras to be from North America. He is offering food for thought. In fact, he is offering so much food for thought that it will need to be continued in another post! Stay tuned!

- posted by Christi