Thank You in Any Language

Do you remember the old song by Sandi Patty, “Love in Any Language”? It’s time for a “Thank You in Any Language” blog post. The end of a year is always a good opportunity to say, “Gracias for your support!” Or as Allen said, “Thank you for all of the ways you help us do what we do.”

Thanks to everyone who prays for Sowers4Pastors. And, in case any of you speak Norwegian, “Takk skal du ha!” Your continued prayers are a blessing and a comfort. 2022 was a hard but good year for S4P. They made a conscious decision to be sure they were “making the main thing the main thing.” That meant examining and reexamining every aspect of the ministry. 

Here are just a few of the ministry highlights for the year:

• S4P brought on four indigenous staff members to help meet the needs of the communities they serve.
• A new sister church has joined in with Sowers4Pastors, and another new sister church is getting ready to start soon!
• Pastor Training School started back up again (after being closed for Covid).
• Pastors in more communities are coming in to ask for food.

Because of a growing need for food in communities that were previously more food secure, S4P believes there will be more feeding centers on the horizon. This is the perfect time to say “Toda,” (Thank you in Hebrew) to everyone supporting the ministry financially. With a $23K matching fund in place for Allen’s birthday to raise money earmarked for shipping food containers, your generous support can stretch further than usual. At the time of this writing, more than $5K has already been matched. That’s a great response since those gifts were given during the busy week before Christmas! The fundraiser will continue at least through Allen’s birthday on January 12th, so you still have time to get involved. (You can give through the FB donation page, or on the S4P website. THANK YOU!) 

Another organization is expressing interest in helping the ministry obtain food. Allen is hoping they can iron out the details soon. Due to shipping restrictions in Honduras, the group will have to package the food slightly differently than the way they currently package it for other countries. Please pray for this potential new food source, to supplement the food supply coming in from the original organization.

As you pray for the ministry, please remember to say a special prayer for Trish and her upcoming travels. She is scheduled to fly to the States on December 30th. This is the happiest of occasions because she will finally get to meet her newest grandson, Stephen. Stephen was born more than four months ago, but he probably still has that new baby smell! Trish will be flying into Miami, where she will have a connecting flight into Tampa. Then she will be driving to Boo’s house in Virginia. From there, Trish, Boo, and Stephen will drive to Maryland for a visit. Trish doesn’t like to complain, but she hasn’t been feeling great for more than a month. She is dealing with the same respiratory gunk that often hits her hard. Please pray for her health and endurance. Also, she knows that there’s a chance of flight schedule disruptions, as well as slippery roads, due to the whole winter weather mess the US has been facing. 

For all you’ve done to support Sowers4Pastors in the past, and for all you will do in the future… Merci! Grazie! Danke! Salamat! Asante sana! Thank you in every language, including those with characters that would require too much effort to include in this post! 

 

 - posted by Christi

The "Thank You" Speech

Did you know that the 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929? Did you further know that the Oscars have been televised since 1953? You may be asking what that has to do with a missions blog. Well, not a whole lot, really. But that’s sort of a shame because everyone deserves a chance to stand up in front of the world and say “Thank you,” to the people who “made it all possible.” So, let’s pretend that someone in formalwear just called Sowers4Pastors to a stage and Allen & Trish are rushing to a podium with shocked looks on their faces, with a list of people to thank that’s as long as their arms.

Their speech goes something like this:

We feel so blessed by God that He has set us up in this location. We have no doubt that God helped us choose this place. It’s a place with plenty of work to do–a place where we can be productive. We have seen numerous souls being saved as people turn to Jesus. It’s a nice place, but it isn’t without its hardships. The roads are rough and there was that pesky kidnapping incident a few years ago.

We would like to thank everyone who has ever prayed for us. Some of you have been praying for us regularly since the time we first moved our family to Honduras. Some of you pray for us each week when you pull up the blog and see our latest needs and concerns. And, of course, hundreds of thousands of people prayed during the aforementioned pesky kidnapping incident. We feel blessed beyond measure.

Thank you to all of the people who are a part of our ministry, both in the States and in Honduras. This is a massive endeavor and we couldn’t do what we do without you. Thanks to the people who help us pack backpacks and containers. Thank you to the people who give up a lot of space in their homes when filling backpacks. Your sacrifice is noticed and appreciated. Thank you to all of the people who work to pack and load the containers in Maryland and Florida. Thanks to everyone who works to repackage shoes. Thanks to our translators and Honduran staff. And a big shout out to the people contributing financially to the general fund, motorcycle ministry, construction projects, pastors training school, and the Bible book store. Thank you all!

Of course, we must thank the sister churches that sponsor kids and all of the Manna sponsors. You are changing lives while making it possible for kids to go to school and receive nutritious meals. Thank you to the group Food for Kidz for repeatedly giving us food for just the cost of shipping. And thanks to the many people who packed food for us during the early months of COVID-19.

We are profoundly grateful to everyone who has put us up over the years when we travel in the States. We also appreciate all of the churches that have allowed us the opportunity to speak and share about the ministry.

No Sowers4Pastors speech would be complete without thanking the indigenous pastors working to spread the Gospel out in the mountains - because without them, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing. We are seeing their ministries grow as they develop Sunday school teachers and church leadership. We were recently able to have almost 100 Sunday school teachers attend a training program put on by a developer of Sunday school curriculum. Another training program will be coming up soon. Thank you to the groups who have rented or loaned spaces to hold events.

As with most thank you speeches, we have undoubtedly neglected to mention someone. Please know that our momentary lapse doesn’t mean that you aren’t loved and valued. Thank you. We feel blessed by God to have this opportunity to minister and to everyone involved in this ministry, we thank you one and all.

-posted by Christi.