Motorcycles, Mountains, and the Mission: Empowering Pastors Through Mobility

 What do motorcycles have to do with fulfilling the Great Commission?

 Surprisingly—quite a lot!

Very soon, Sowers4Pastors will hand over the keys to sixteen motorcycles — each one a powerful tool in the hands of local pastors committed to reaching remote communities with the gospel.

This isn’t the first time we’ve shared about the motorcycle ministry, and it won’t be the last. The impact is simply too great to keep quiet. This week, Brandy spent time digging into Scripture to reflect on the biblical foundation of this part of the ministry. Naturally, he started with the Great Commission:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

 — Mark 16:15–16 (NKJV)

But that’s not the only scriptural support for this work. Brandy also pointed to verses about sowing and reaping — like Galatians 6:7-8 and Jesus’s parable of the sower in Matthew 13 — as a meaningful connection to the ministry’s mission.

“These verses about sowing and harvesting apply to a lot of things,” Brandy explained. “If you sow corn, you harvest corn. If you sow into ministry, your harvest is treasure in heaven. When people invest in this work, the harvest isn’t for worldly gain — it’s for God’s kingdom.”

That investment makes it possible to fulfill the Great Commission and the mission of Sowers4Pastors: empowering pastors. In this case, it’s quite literal. A motorcycle gives a pastor the ability to reach remote mountain communities, places where travel is difficult, where few others are willing to go.

“This kind of work isn’t comfortable or convenient,” Brandy said. “But with help from donors, we can equip these pastors to go where they’re needed most.”

Sowers4Pastors is already making calls to coordinate the upcoming motorcycle distribution. This time, a team from the Honda dealership will join the event to provide a practical training session. Pastors will learn about their bike’s warranty and get a crash course in basic maintenance and care. As always, there will also be a time of worship and fellowship, plus plenty of coffee and conversation.

“When we do this, God is with us,” Brandy shared. “We believe that each motorcycle is not just a gift — it’s an answer to someone’s prayer.”

We invite you to pray for the pastors who will receive motorcycles. Pray for their protection, their strength, and their ministries. And please continue to pray for the work of Sowers4Pastors.

“When we ask God, we receive,” Brandy said. “Invest in the Kingdom. The harvest is eternal.”

*   *   *   *   * 

Would you like to invest in the Kingdom by helping provide motorcycles for pastors? 

Here's the link where you can donate:   

https://sowers4pastors.reachapp.co/donations/new 

Thank you so much for your partnership in ministry!!!

 - posted by Christi

Motorcycles incoming!

If middle school writing class taught me anything, it’s that when you don’t know how to begin a paper, try starting with the phrase, “According to Webster’s” and a definition of a word. Let’s see if that little trick works for blog posts, too.

According to Webster’s, motorcycle is defined as:  

mo·​tor·​cy·​cle (ˈmō-tər-ˌsī-kəl)

:an automotive vehicle with two in-line wheels 

Since this isn’t middle school, I’m adding in the following:

See also: a blessing

Okay, you probably already knew what a motorcycle is before enlisting the help of an online dictionary. But have you ever stopped to think about how a motorcycle can be a blessing? Esdras recently had the chance to talk with a pastor who received a motorcycle through the Sowers4Pastors in a previous year. This pastor lives two to three hours from Gracias. Before he received his motorcycle, he and his family walked six hours to get to church. This wasn’t some easy-breezy walk in the park, either. It was a six-hour hike on bad roads and rugged mountainous terrain. Contrary to the old song by The Commodores, there was nothing easy about that pastor’s Sunday mornings! FYI, six hours is long enough to fly from Miami to Honduras and back with enough time to grab a Cinnabon in the airport! 

The pastor wanted the motorcycle to have a shorter time to travel to church. He got more than he bargained for. One time when someone was sick, the pastor gave the person a ride to the hospital. The patient credits that act with saving his life. The pastor has also been able to help out by giving people rides to church. Today, that motorcycle is still going strong and is being used to grow the Kingdom of God. Now that he isn’t hiking six hours to church, the pastor has more time to prepare sermons, enjoy time with his family, and be at church. In fact, he is now the pastor of three churches! 

If you’ve been acquainted with S4P for long, you probably remember that the recipients of the motorcycles are required to pay for 50% of the cost, with the remaining 50% coming from donations. The reason Sowers4Pastors doesn’t pay the full amount is because the pastors appreciate their motorcycles more when they partner with the ministry. It also insures that the pastor will be able to find the resources to actually maintain the motorcycle and purchase fuel. This method also means the ministry is able to help twice as many people.

The next batch of motorcycles should be distributed sometime in June. It takes a couple of months to receive them after the order is placed. That’s because the ministry buys a specific model that is good for mountains and bad roads. Esdras is already looking forward to the day the pastors will receive their motorcycles. He shared, “You have no idea what the emotions are like on the faces of the pastors. They are like kids with candy!”

Esdras continued, “It’s a fantastic time with the pastors. After they receive their motorcycles, we share a devotional with them. It’s a unique opportunity for these pastors to meet together. We talk about how important their lives and their ministries are. Sometimes the pastors think they are working alone. We want to tell them, ‘God is with you and we are with you. You are so important. That is emotional.”

Please pray about making a donation to the motorcycle ministry. And pray about the impact these automotive vehicles with two in-line wheels will make! 

- posted by Christi

Revving up for Motorcycles

Vroom, vroom! It’s time to rev up to talk about motorcycles. Helping pastors get motorcycles is nothing new for Sowers4Pastors but Brandy provided some new insight about this branch of the ministry. 

Why are Motorcycles So Important?

“I’ve been in different places that are difficult to get to. You can get there by motorcycle or by horse. And not a pretty horse because the horse could easily break an ankle,” Brandy shared with a laugh. 

With a motorcycle, a pastor can travel to different places to preach, reach brothers and sisters in Christ, and help the community. Less travel time means they can visit their church plants more often, plant more churches in more remote areas, and preach more.

What is the Application Process Like?

The applications are pretty straight forward. Brandy explained that applicants “ share about their call to the ministry. They talk about their vision for their ministry.”  

The pastors also record how often they need to spend the night away from home when visiting their church plants. Brandy said, “Some pastors have to spend a week away from home when planting churches. The locations are in the mountains and there are no buses or taxis to those areas. Getting there by walking takes a lot of time. We consider all of those factors when selecting the pastors who have the greatest need.”

How Many Applications Has S4P Received this Go Around?

Right now there are about 20 applications. Next week, S4P will begin the process of reading all of the documents and selecting the pastors with the most need. 

“We would love to give motorcycles to them all but there isn’t enough money for that. We want to give around 15, this time.”

Describe the Motorcycles

“We help provide two different sizes of motorcycles. One has a 125cc engine. The other has a 150cc engine. Pastors who live and work in easier terrain can get by with a 125 engine while people in difficult areas need a 150 engine.

“One pastor currently has a 125 engine and his church has moved him to a more difficult area. It’s hard for that motorcycle to go up the mountain carrying his wife and their two children. He must ride in 1st gear the whole way. He has asked if he can apply to upgrade. When that happens, we ask the pastor if he can find another pastor to give or sell his current motorcycle to. If he can’t find someone, we will take the motorcycle and sell it to another pastor cheaply. This pastor has said he’s planning to give it to another pastor when he can save the money to apply for the 150 engine,” Brandy said.

Wait! Say What? The Motorcycle is Carrying a Whole Family?

Yes, motorcycles in Honduras are frequently used in the same way we might use a family vehicle. Rachel shared, “We’ve been thinking about making a BINGO card for our teams to fill in as they travel around. Spotting an entire family on a motorcycle is one of the things we’d put on the card! I once spotted a mother nursing a baby while riding on a motorcycle. I don’t recommend that, but there she was!”

Brandy has seen a father, mother, and their four children all riding on a single motorcycle!

What Percentage of Motorcycle Cost is Provided by Sowers4Pastors?

As Allen has shared many times in the past, pastors are expected to provide a percentage of the cost before receiving a motorcycle. S4P provides 50% of the cost for a 125 engine and 35% for the 150 engine.

“The pastors earn little money so it is difficult for them to save enough money. Pastors work other jobs where they might earn about $8 a day. With that $8, they must support their families, send their kids to school, and cover other expenses. It isn’t easy for them to get their portion. We know the need so we try to help them. For them, it’s the equivalent of buying a new truck or car,” Brandy said.

How Can You Help?

Donations can be made through the Sowers4Pastors website. On the Donate page, there is a dropdown menu that allows you to select where you would like the money to go. Click on the down arrow under Purpose and you will find the listing for Motorcycles and Horses for Pastors. 

 - posted by Christi

Motorcycles for Pastors - Come along for the ride

Think about a time you’ve volunteered to help out in a ministry. Maybe it was working in your church’s nursery, teaching Sunday school, or running the audio-visual equipment on Sunday morning. Maybe it was in an area where no one ever saw you–like folding bulletins or preparing the Communion trays. Do you have something in mind?

Now, get totally honest and see if you can remember a time when that ministry task felt like a bit of a burden. It could be that you had to get to church a little early on a day when you would have preferred to sleep in later. Or maybe you just felt like no one even noticed how hard you were working and the sacrifices you were making. 

Imagine how your attitude would shift if someone came up to you from out of the blue and said, “I see you. I see how hard you’re working and the sacrifices you make, and I would like to help.” That person might offer to work in the nursery on alternate weeks so you could have a little time to sit in “big people church.” Or maybe they want to be trained in running PowerPoint to ease your burden in the audio-visual side of things. That would feel pretty good, right?

That’s exactly what it’s like when people donate to help Sowers4Pastors get a motorcycle to a pastor. It’s like telling a hard-working, humble pastor, who is getting no real benefits in this world, that they are seen and appreciated. It offers encouragement and helps the pastor carry his load. That recently became a reality for twenty deserving pastors who each received a new motorcycle.

Trish was thinking back to a day a few years ago when she and Allen were in Maryland. They were driving through a part of the state that is rich in history that has been carefully maintained. As they drove through farmland dotted with historic farmhouses and barns, Trish felt a sense of what it would have been like to live in a simpler era, surrounded by community and family.

But as they drove on, they got to a place where the road crosses over the Monocacy River. The Monocacy is not an insignificant body of water. It spans a distance of 58.5 miles and at this point the river is rather broad. The modern road is completely flat and if you aren’t paying attention, you could cross the river and not even notice the river was there at all. But crossing the Monocacy surely looked much different before Biggs Ford Road was built. It would have involved taking risks instead of sitting in a climate-controlled vehicle listening to music or podcasts. Trish pointed out, “As North Americans, our world has been built in a way that we don’t even realize the conveniences we have.”

All that reminded Trish of when teams visit Honduras. They are struck by the simple lifestyle–being connected to the land and surrounded by family & lots and lots of extended family. It’s enough to cause a little lifestyle envy. 

Any feelings of envy tend to go away when teams take their focus off of the positive side of things and consider how difficult it was to get to that village in the first place! Often, teams leave the unpaved roads and hoof it to a location with no road at all. 

Getting motorcycles to pastors is an opportunity to help them spread the Gospel throughout their communities. It is giving them the gift of time. Instead of spending an hour and a half walking five miles, they can get to where they’re going quickly and efficiently. And, it’s like the people who donate to help make that possible are riding along in an invisible sidecar whispering, “I see you. I believe in you. I support you on this journey.”

If you'd like to help support a pastor in this way, please click this link to the Sowers4Pastors donation page. Thank you so much!

 - posted by Christi

Medical Mercy for Families in Leadership

Most of the time when we talk about Medical Mercy projects with Sowers4Pastors, they involve children from the sponsorship programs or feeding centers. Occasionally, this involves a family member of one of the children. Today, we’re talking about three examples of how the medical mercy branch of the ministry is involved with helping leaders in the programs. 

Katherine with therapist

Pastor Marvin leads the sponsorship program in Arenales (sister church of Life Community Church). Pastor Marvin’s six-year-old daughter, Katherine, has been diagnosed as severely autistic. She is unable to communicate or take care of herself in the simplest of ways. Allen described the child as being “terrified of life.” She doesn’t understand what is going on around her, which causes her to be in a perpetual state of panic. Because of her constant agitation, caring for her requires a 100% time commitment, making it almost impossible for a caretaker to do other tasks in addition to watching over her. 

Where does the medical mercy part come in? Working with Life Community Church, S4P wants to do what they can to help Katherine, which in turn will be helpful to the family. One aspect is providing the medicines prescribed to help ease her anxiety. Alexandro and Cesia (S4P staff) found a special needs therapist to work with Katherine. The therapy visits will require a 3 - 4 hour bus trip each way. The prayer is that therapy can help her better understand her surroundings and be calmer. Please pray for Pastor Marvin's family.

Alejandro and Cesia, taking Katherine and her mom 
to the first therapy session

Pastor Lorenzo lives in Guacutao, and oversees the sister church with Edgewater Alliance Church. Shortly before the start of COVID lockdowns, Pastor Lorenzo’s grandson, Isais, was born. The child was born without an anus. In the States, that would involve a series of surgical procedures shortly after the birth to repair the birth defect. Pastor Lorenzo’s grandson immediately had a colostomy surgery, to keep him alive, but COVID restrictions meant that additional surgeries needed to actually correct the problem were delayed. Additionally complicating the situation is the distance to the missionary hospital where the surgeries are being done, an eight-hour drive from their home. Private transportation must be arranged for the ride home because a post-op bumpy bus ride is out of the question. Members of Edgewater Alliance are helping with funds for this project.

The third project involved Profesor Celio of the Escuela Lemanal (part of the Crucitas program with Lighthouse Church). The Profesor had a motorcycle accident, and his ankle was badly broken. There was talk about putting in a metal plate to physically reconnect the bones. Surgery was delayed until the plate needed could be located. In the end, Profesor Celio decided to not have that surgery. He is currently recuperating, and S4P and Lighthouse will continue to partner in helping with medical expenses. There is some concern that he chose a less-than-ideal path to avoid having the more complicated surgery. He is hopeful that he will be up and about fully in six months. Time will tell, and prayers are certainly appreciated!

Allen and Trish stressed that it is a blessing to them, when Sowers4Pastors is able to be of assistance with these kinds of needs. They wish to thank the supporters who provide funds to make such assistance possible. Please pray for each of these situations. For Pastor Lorenzo’s grandson, there is an expected resolution before too long. Profesor Celio may require more assistance down the road if the ankle doesn’t heal properly. In the case of Pastor Marvin’s family, the situation will likely continue for many years into the future. 

 - posted by Christi

Picture It: A Pastors' Conference, 2023

A special note for readers: Hopefully some of you were fans of the 1980s TV show, The Golden Girls: Please begin reading the introductory paragraph in the same tone Sophia might have used when saying, “Picture it: Sicily 1922…” Much like Sophia Petrillo regaled Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche with stories of her youth, the following blog post is written in the present tense. And, much like Sophia’s stories, the quotes are not 100% accurate, but they do convey the gist of what happened. Ready? 

Picture it: Honduras 2023. It’s Saturday, January 14th and Sowers4Pastors is hosting a pastors' conference at Hotel Guancascos. If you’ve ever been a part of an S4P team visit, you shouldn’t have any difficulty picturing the hotel and restaurant, as well as the beautiful gardens If you haven’t visited Gracias, just do your best with the information you have been given. 

It is a relatively brief event that serves a big purpose. Twenty-five pastors serving as denominational supervisors are in attendance. Multiple denominations are represented. Some of the supervisors oversee as many as fifty different communities. Some of the pastors are old friends, having worked with S4P since the Sowers family first moved to Gracias. Others are new to S4P – known only by reputation. 

The pastors gather at 10:00 AM and are introduced to the newer staff members with Sowers4Pastors. Some of the people in attendance haven’t before met Brandy & Rachel, Alejandro & Secia, and Esdras. Introductions are made. There is a time of praise and worship.

Everyone listens as speakers go over the projects S4P does and the resources the ministry offers. Alejandro & Secia present information to the crowd. Alejandro, who was previously an associate pastor in charge of 500 people is in his element. Once a public speaker, always a public speaker. Brandy also addresses the group and does a great job. 

They talk about the schedule of when projects take place. This is especially useful information because pastors often ask questions like, “When are you taking motorcycle applications?” Now the supervisors in attendance know that applications are accepted twice a year and will be able to share the specific application windows with the pastors they serve.

The pastors are given the following directive: “If you know of a pastor who is of the highest moral fiber – someone in need of resources – please send him our way. If you know of a pastor who is less than upstanding – someone not utilizing resources properly – please forget we were ever here. We ask that you not send shifty people our way.” (Remember that poetic license has been taken! No one at S4P would ever be so blunt!)

At noon, the conference-y portion of the conference concludes. Let the lunch and fellowship commence! The conference is a success and beneficial to all concerned. 

As one pastor said prior to the meeting, “I’m so busy. I don’t have time to come but I’m going to make time!” 

To that, S4P responds by saying, “Thank you for being a friend" . . . and more importantly, "Thank you for prioritizing spreading the Good News!"

To everyone who supports Sowers4Pastors in the work of empowering pastors in western Honduras, so that the Gospel can be preached more effectively in this part of the world - "Thank YOU for being a friend of the ministry!"

 - posted by Christi

Matching Funds Update!

Calling all of you numbers/math people out there! This post is for you. And in case you’re not a numbers/math person, it’s also for you. But you’ll want to make some mental adjustments. If you don’t like numbers, please replace each number with something you do like. Like puppies. Or unicorns. It doesn’t really matter what you choose as a number replacement as long it doesn’t make you break out in a cold sweat. Ready? Okay, let’s talk about the matching funds update. 

Motorcycles:

Sowers4Pastors received a large number of applications for motorcycles. After sorting through those applications, they accepted 24. That means that the ministry’s expense will be $24,000. (That’s a lot of puppies or unicorns for you non-math people.) Fortunately, some generous donors have agreed to match any number up to $12,000. At the time of this writing, $5,000 has been donated. But remember that the $5,000 is already being matched. To make things very simple, Sowers4Pastors needs an additional $7,000 in donations. That $7,000 will be matched, bringing the total up to the needed $24,000 (or 24,000 puppies or unicorns).

Church Roofs:

More than thirty applications were received for new church roofs. Sowers4Pastors has accepted twenty of those. The total ministry expense will be $40,000. Since generous donors have also agreed to match funds donated to build this batch of church roofs, the ministry only needs to collect $20,000 through other donations earmarked for this cause. So far, Sowers4Pastors has received $7,000 in donations. With matching funds, that’s $14,000. The ministry needs an additional $13,000 for church roofs. With the amount of already committed matching funds, that will bring the total to $40,000. That’s very doable! 

So let’s talk about why these donations are important. Allen likes to remind people that a donation of 14 cents toward a motorcycle saves a pastor 14 miles of walking. Now, what about those church roofs? Well, when a church moves into a church building, there is a consistent increase in the number of attendees. People no longer have to crowd into houses or stand outside of doorways to hear a Bible lesson. The matching funds have already been committed and Sowers4Pastors doesn’t want to leave a dime sitting on the table. There has never been a better time to stretch your donation dollars!

One last thing - the team at Sowers4Pastors wants to say THANK YOU to everyone who has already donated toward these projects! 

 - posted by Christi

Pastors Training School is an Apple, not a BlackBerry

If you look closely at any successful long-term organization, you will find that it has an ability to adapt to changes. Think about it. BlackBerry devices were all the rage until the company refused to accept that people wanted to have touch screens instead of keypads. Then it was bye-bye BlackBerry and hello Apple iPhone! Or what about the infamous decision of Blockbuster to not buy Netflix - what are the chances that streaming will be the next big thing? Obviously, the need to adapt is as important for missions organizations as it is with Fortune 500 companies. Adaptability is what has kept Pastor Training School up and running.

When training school began, it was led by Dr. Julio for many years, but than he had to move on to other things. Then for several years after that, Clay Powell administrated it. A few years ago he and his family had to move back to the States and then COVID hit, causing the school to have to switch to intermittent sessions. Thankfully, COVID restrictions have eased up a lot, and the school is starting to meet regularly again! Clay is still helping from afar, but the indigenous pastors have taken over the responsibility of running the program. Remember that the ultimate goal of Sowers4Pastors is to empower indigenous pastors. As Allen says, “Empowering indigenous pastors is one of our core beliefs.” 

This year, Pastor Training School is teaching 1st and 2nd year students. The 2nd-year students arrived first. About twenty 2nd-year students are being trained by 3rd and 4th year students. Then, a couple of the 2nd-year students will be staying behind to help the 3rd and 4th year students teach the 1st-year students. This is excellent news! It demonstrates a new level of sustainability for the program. If anything happens and gringo missionaries leave the country, the program can still continue. The pastors are being trained in the Bible and they are being trained in how to train other pastors. Pastors training school can be an Apple instead of a BlackBerry. 

Allen uses the term “indigenous pastors” very deliberately. Most of the pastors are primarily of Native American descent. They speak Spanish, but their ancestry is from various tribes. Most of these pastors will be in Honduras for the rest of their lives. They live in the communities and often have extended family within those communities. Indigenous pastors don’t have the cultural inadequacies of gringos. They don’t have to raise funds in order to stay in the country. It is their country! 

Pastor Training School and helping pastors get Bibles are at the top of the Sower4Pastors priority list. Working with teams, distributing backpacks, and even feeding children ultimately goes back to a desire to empower pastors. Allen places training school at a higher priority than the motorcycle ministry or putting on new church roofs. Having a church building is great, but it is not everything. As long as there are people trained and eager to spread the Gospel, the Gospel will spread. 

When Clay was serving as the school’s director, he started the system of having monthly gatherings, where someone goes out into the villages to meet with the pastors and have a mentoring session. That has continued, but it is also being run by indigenous pastors. The school’s current director and co-director are both Honduran, as are the administrator and each of the teachers. There are more than 2000 villages without a Bible-based church in the area. The most effective way to reach them is through evangelism done within the culture.

Sowers4Pastors asks for your prayer for the financial support of Pastors Training School. As it currently stands, North Americans are largely funding Pastor Training School. The students are giving up 3-5 days of work, covering the cost of their transportation, and giving a small amount toward part of the schooling. As costs continue to rise, Sowers4Pastors share in this worthwhile endeavor has increased. Pray that God will continue to provide the resources necessary to keep this program up and running!

-posted by Christi.

The Right Time for Motorcycles

Never underestimate the importance of good timing. Timing matters in baking, comedy, baseball, and the Sowers4Pastors motorcycle ministry. When it comes to the motorcycle ministry, there has never been a better time to join the cause. That’s because there is currently a matching fund offer on the table. Why are motorcycles so important to pastors? Thank you for asking. 

Close your eyes and imagine that you are a pastor in Western Honduras. (Oops! Open your eyes because you will never be able to read the rest of this post with your eyes closed.) As with most pastors of rural congregations in Honduras, you have no automated means of transportation. If you want to go somewhere, you walk. You recently started planting a church that’s about five miles down the road from you. Occasionally, you’re able to catch a ride in the back of a pickup truck to visit the new church, but usually you hoof it. 

Now, with your eyes open, imagine that someone helps you purchase a motorcycle. The motorcycle means that you are able to care for your first church and the church plant much more efficiently. You feel like you have gained many hours in your week. In fact, you have so much “free time” that you’ve decided to plant another church that will be five miles away in the opposite direction. This scenario really does play out time and again.

To date, Sowers4Pastors and its supporters have helped 334 pastors purchase motorcycles. The motorcycle ministry pays $1000 toward the purchase of each motorcycle, with individual pastors paying the remaining purchase price. If you’ve been paying attention to previous discussions, you know that there are several reasons pastors are expected to contribute. 

Here are a few such reasons: 

•  It shows that a pastor is serious about obtaining a motorcycle.

•  It prevents pastors from developing the mentality of sitting back and waiting for someone else to take care of them financially. 

• It demonstrates a pastor’s ability to be able to maintain a motorcycle and purchase gas.

A ministry donation of $1000 comes out to about 2 cents per mile over the lifetime of a motorcycle. Now, with the matching funds being offered, a donation toward the motorcycle ministry will help a pastor go down the road for a penny a mile. There has never been a better time to donate. Motorcycle prices are supposed to jump $200 next month. By next year, it is not unreasonable to assume that each motorcycle could cost $400 more. Timing may not be everything, but it certainly is something to consider! 

 - posted by Christi

Transportation for Pastors

 (This post is part of a series on S4P's mission statement. Here's a link to introduce you to the series.)

We’ve been talking about all of the branches of the Sowers4Pastors ministry, and today we’re focusing on Transportation for Pastors. It is often referred to as the motorcycle ministry, but it does include horses and mules, too. This week, we’re going to hold the horses, but it is time for the latest batch of motorcycle distributions - and the current one is a doozy!

Motorcycles arriving at the S4P compound by truck - there was also a third truck that had already dropped off its load!

In 2006, Sowers4Pastors was approached by a group wanting to know if they’d be interested in distributing a few motorcycles to pastors. At the time, they had no idea what a huge blessing that would be.

It’s no secret that Allen is a big believer in giving a hand up instead of a hand out. That’s why, in order to be good stewards of their funds, Sowers4Pastors requires that the pastors who receive a motorcycle, horse, or mule pay for a portion of the total cost. Depending on the size of the motorcycle, a pastor might pay anywhere from 40-55%. Essentially, they are showing that they will be able to maintain a motorcycle and pay for the cost of fuel. Plus, this system allows Sowers4Pastors to help almost twice the number of pastors obtain transportation. 

This week, they handed out 33 motorcycles! This batch will bring the ministry’s total up to 328 motorcycles and 71 horses or mules. The motorcycles and four-legged modes of transportation are changing the lives of pastors and the communities they serve. In case you’re wondering why horses/mules are ever preferable, it’s because some pastors live and work in areas where the terrain is too rough for a motorcycle, even the ones that tend to be more like dirt bikes.

A single motorcycle lasts a pastor an average of 10 years and keeps him from walking 50,000 miles. Sowers4Pastors sees a lot of pastors who are able to go on and plant another church or two during that 10-year period. Let that sink in. For part of the cost of a motorcycle, your contributions to Sowers4Pastors can have a hand in planting a new church. 

Carter handing out helmets, while Russell does paperwork

Allen said, “Thank those people who have partnered with us! What a blessing it is. People don’t realize that in a place where most everybody walks everywhere that the motorcycle makes it possible for them to do so much more. They are like the circuit pastors in pioneer days who would ride around and teach in different towns. Some of these pastors do that on a weekly basis. With a motorcycle, they are able to reach another village or two. It has been very impactful. It is a blessing to pastors and to the communities who receive the benefit of having a pastor.”

Most of the motorcycles are going to denominational supervisors, church planters, evangelists, and some church leaders. A single supervisor can oversee 20 churches. On foot, they couldn’t reasonably visit each church more than once a month. Now, they know they can be wherever they are most needed on any given day. 

One of the things COVID changed is that a lot of pastors have put new emphasis on home visitations. Reliable transportation to visit members allows them to make sure needs are being met.

-posted by Christi.

The Bible Bookstore and Gifts for Gracias

 (This post is part of a series on S4P's mission statement. Here's a link to introduce you to the series.)

If you go to the homepage on the Sowers4Pastors website and click on the drop down tab labeled “What We Do,” you will see a lot of really cool branches of the ministry. But you’re not seeing everything. It’s like going to a music concert where everyone is singing along with the Top 40 hits, but only the hard core fans are still singing the lesser known songs. It’s not that the lesser known songs aren’t as good. They just never got as much air time and publicity. Today, it’s time to talk about a couple of ministry branches that are every bit as worthwhile as the ones that make it onto the Sowers4Pastors’ Greatest Hits album. Let’s hear it for the Bible bookstore and Gifts for Gracias. Feel free to mouth the words or hum along if you’re a long-time fan and you know what’s coming!

The Bible Bookstore

When Allen and Russell go out to visit churches, they often ask the question, “Who here has a Bible?” Depending on the location, there might be three raised hands. Then they ask to see the pastor’s Bible. Again, depending on the location, it might be a plain Bible with no concordance, footnotes, etc.

All books are expensive in Honduras and the purchase of books isn’t generally a high priority for a family struggling to survive. A typical study Bible in Honduras would cost about $80. That’s not pocket change for most of us, but it’s about a month’s wages for the average Honduran family.

Allen found a supplier who sells him Spanish Bibles and study materials wholesale. Sowers4Pastors then sells the materials with no markup. Through the Bible bookstore, pastors and anyone else have the opportunity to purchase a beautiful study Bible for $20. That’s still a week’s wages, but it’s quite an improvement. The bookstore contains study Bibles, other study materials, Bible Dictionaries, and concordances. There are even materials to help pastors learn how to minister. Since its inception over 14 years ago, more than 40,000 Bibles and study materials have been sold or given away through this humble bookstore.

Gifts for Gracias

Another ministry that doesn't frequently get the spotlight (at least, not anymore) is Gifts for Gracias, and it comes with a brief history lesson. Some of you might recall Gifts for Guanaja. Allen and Trish started Gifts for Guanaja back when their family lived on the island. Gifts for Guanaja started as a shoebox ministry. Churches in the States would send shoeboxes for kids filled with toys, socks, toiletries, etc. You know the type. Guanaja is a small island and Allen and Trish were able to distribute shoeboxes to all of the children in their town. Being the forward thinkers they are, when they moved to Gracias, a name change seemed in order. When they moved from Guanaja to Gracias, they brought about 800 filled shoeboxes with them. Now that they weren't on an island, the communities were a lot bigger and there wasn’t nearly enough to distribute to everyone, so Allen began reaching out to pastors. He went from town to town, seeking out pastors and leaving shoeboxes for their children, which helped him meet a lot of pastors in a short time. 

Eventually, this program changed. The shoeboxes grew into Home Depot boxes filled with donated clothing and household goods. If you’ve ever filled a box of backpacks, you know that Sowers4Pastors asks that used clothing donations be packed around the backpacks to utilize every fraction of an inch of shipping space. Those donations find their way to Gifts for Gracias, along with plates, pots, sheets, and other miscellaneous household items. These are the ministry’s Christmas gifts to the pastors and their families (though the scheduling works out that they get the presents in April and May, go figure), so Sowers4Pastors makes a point of giving them the nicest donations they have.

Supervisors of the various denominations give Allen lists of the pastors working under them. Right now, that number is up to about 300. Each of the pastors' children also receive filled backpacks. Many of the pastors in the area are 2nd generation church leaders. The idea here is the same as with the backpacks the kids in the sponsorship program receive. The hope is the more kids have access to school supplies their families might otherwise be unable to afford, the longer these kids stay in school. With so many kids growing up to follow in a pastor parent’s footsteps, it’s extra important for these next generation pastors to receive as much education as possible. The Sowers feel blessed to be a part of helping improve that cycle.

- posted by Christi

Pastor Training School: Part of this Complete Mission Statement

(This post is part of a series on S4P's mission statement. Here's a link to introduce you to the series.)

When you were growing up, how many times did you beg your mother to purchase the latest sugary cereal? She may have ignored your cries of, “But, Mom, it’s part of a complete breakfast! It said so on TV!” Sowers4Pastors is a lot like a “complete breakfast.” Some parts are a little flashier than others, but it all works together to support their mission statement.

Pastor training school is a key component in the Sowers4Pastors mission to empower pastors. It doesn’t have the “wow factor” of delivering backpacks. The pictures probably don’t spark the same warm fuzzy feeling you get when you see pictures of kids in feeding centers. But it is “nutrient rich” and absolutely essential. Before settling on a ministry “menu,” Allen and Trish spent plenty of time seeking advice from other missionaries. The big question was, “What’s the most needed thing?” They didn’t want to move into town and offer the missionary equivalent of a big bowl of Crunchy Sugar Loops since the area undoubtedly needed something more substantial. One of the answers they received was, “training for pastors.”

Allen saw that the pastors in the area had a love of Jesus, but they didn’t have a lot of training. Sending the pastors off to seminaries would have been cost prohibitive and it would have meant the pastors would be abandoning their flocks. Plus, few of the pastors in the area have enough education to waltz right into a seminary. But they don’t need seminary degrees to establish a stronger foundation of biblical knowledge. A local training school seemed like the answer, but Allen’s gifts aren’t in teaching.

As it turned out, one of the indigenous missionaries the family spoke to before deciding to settle in Gracias was Dr. Julio. Dr. Julio, a Honduran-born medical doctor, was preparing to go to Peru to begin a pastor training school there. When that opportunity didn’t come to fruition, Dr. Julio was available to take on the teaching role of a training school while Allen handled the administrative side of things.

The students would arrive for three days of training, once a month, so they would not be kept from their livelihoods or their flocks for too long. They received 16-20 hours of classroom training in eight sessions per year. Training school operates from March-October, allowing the pastors to work the coffee harvest.  

To date, 125 pastors have graduated for the three-year program. Fifteen pastors have gone on to complete a fourth year. Over time, the school developed a mentoring system, with the second-year students assist in teaching the first-year students, and the third-year students assist in teaching the second-year students.

The results of this program, according to Allen, have been remarkable. Many of pastors have gone on to become district supervisors for their denomination. The congregations are benefiting from improved teaching, as well. Pastors were sticking to very basic teaching before - mostly the Gospel message and some passages of the New Testament. The teaching the pastors have received at the training school have enabled them to expand their preaching to include more difficult topics in the New Testament, and the relationship between the Old Testament and the New.

For several reasons, the school has been closed down for most of 2020. Obviously, COVID-19 was one reason. The school has not been able to reopen due to the ongoing lock-down in Honduras (which is slowly starting to ease), but, thanks to the trickle-down method of educating, local pastors who have completed more training are able to share their knowledge with pastors who aren’t as far along in their training.

In the meantime, Clay Powell, the head teacher of the program, had to return to the States with his family. He will not be able to return for several years. This leaves the school without a seminary trained teacher.

Allen has requested that people add this to their prayer list, that once the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted a teacher with the right training and temperament might hear the calling to join the ministry. Please join the crew at Sowers4Pastors in praying that this need might be filled.

- posted by Christi.

Still Chugging Along Down Here in Honduras

In the world of feeding centers and sponsorship programs, Sowers4Pastors (with their Manna 4 Lempira sponsorship program) is sort of like the Little Engine That Could. Though they’re not exactly small, they’re also not the biggest program out there. The way they have structured their ministry has allowed them to keep chug-chug-chugging up that hill.

When Allen and Trish chose which pastors would head up feeding and sponsorship centers, they based their decision on which pastors were already fully committed to helping people in their community, and were already working with the children in that community. Sowers4Pastors came along and said, “We can help you help them more!”

72 children are still available for
sponsorship through Manna 4 Lempira.
Click here to see them!

Sadly, the two largest sponsorship programs in Honduras (and you would know their names, if we mentioned them) have shut down operations for the foreseeable future. Employees within Honduras have been laid off and no help is getting through to the sponsored children or communities. 

Meanwhile, pastors working with the Manna 4 Lempira program (and the sister church programs) are more motivated than ever. They were never in this for a paycheck. They do this because they are personally invested in the lives of the kids and their families. Even with the current restrictions, the pastors are still out there identifying the people with the greatest needs and bringing them to the attention of Sowers4Pastors. 

When people thought planning a backpack trip was impossible this year, Allen said, “I think I can. I think I can.” Well, he probably said something more like, “Watch me! These kids deserve an education!”

When no one knew how they were going to keep up with the increased need for food, Sowers4Pastors asked people to step up to help. And you did! Sowers4Pastors’ regular food suppliers agreed to donate one more container of food this year. People in Maryland agreed to pack food to be shipped. And people have stepped up donations to be able to cover shipping and customs costs, as well as the cost of purchasing additional food for this emergency.

Pastors receiving food supplies for their communities.
Click here to donate toward the purchase of emergency food.

Sowers4Pastors is still in Honduras. They are still working. Their commitment has never wavered. With perseverance, hard work, and the power of God, they will keep chugging along and changing lives.

 - posted by Christi

More Motorcycles for Pastors, plus Church Construction

After a two day “break” from the church construction project at Quelecasque, Allen, Russell, and some of the crew were back on the job site, when I spoke with Trish on Wednesday. Trish used the word “break” when describing the two- day gap in building, but the word definitely needs quotation marks around it. The reason for the brief halt on the building project was that they were falling behind on work on the coffee farm. 

Allen and Russell hired a few local guys with the necessary skills to come in and help out around the farm for a while. With the increased number of men on the coffee crew, the building crew was free to return to Quelecasque.

You may recall that the project involves adding a second floor to the existing church building. The 2nd floor was divided into six sections. The concrete flooring has been poured in four of those sections. [Note: Please read the next sentence in your best infomercial voice.] But wait, there’s more! (See? Aren’t you glad you did the infomercial voice?) They have already started putting up walls on the sections with flooring. Things are coming together.

It’s also time for the motorcycle ministry to help provide another batch of motorcycles to deserving pastors. The first stage in the process is identifying the pastors who will be recipients. Sowers4Pastors has a donor who partners with them to help fund this project. This donor requests information on the pastors being considered. There is a questionnaire for each pastor to complete. As with so many things, this process became a little more complicated due to current travel restrictions. 

Why can’t all of the information be easily gathered by phone? Well, if you’ve ever tried to have a phone conversation with Allen or Russell when they are out and about in Honduras, then you know that cell reception is spotty, at best. It’s slightly better than using two tin cans and a reeeally long piece of string. But only slightly. 

Sowers4Pastors put Melvin in charge of collecting the information they needed from prospective motorcycle recipients. Sometimes he couldn’t reach the pastors. In those cases, Melvin relayed the questions, by phone, to the pastors’ supervisors. The supervisors then communicated with the pastors and relayed the answers to Melvin, again by phone. The information was then translated into English and given to Trish, who entered the information into the application forms. Finally, the forms were sent along to the donor. 

Even though the process was convoluted, it was effective. Hopefully, 12-14 pastors will have motorcycles fairly soon. 

 - posted by Christi