Retreat!

Close your eyes and picture a beachside retreat.

Wait!  On second thought, don’t close your eyes because you’re supposed to be reading this. So keep your eyes open and picture a beachside retreat. Are you imagining a tranquil scene? 

Last weekend, Rachel and Brandy attended a retreat at the beach. Was it tranquil? Perhaps, if your tranquility bar is set very low. Maybe tranquil is the wrong word, but it was spiritually uplifting. 

The Honduran Fellowship of Missionaries and Ministries generally puts on two retreats per year and Brandy and Rachel try to attend at least one of those. This year, that meant loading up Nathan, Michael, and Levi into their vehicle and driving 4-5 hours to San Pedro Sula one day, in order to break up the travel time. The family checked into an Airbnb for a night. 

Unfortunately, the evening of relaxation didn’t go exactly as planned. Nathan had an accidental encounter with the glass shower door and it broke on top of him. Startled and scared by the sight of broken glass, he ran through all of the broken pieces! A trip to the hospital was in order. Thankfully, the family is on Brandy’s military health insurance. After Google Maps pointed them in the right direction, they arrived at the nearest military hospital. Nathan’s injury was clean and the deep cut on top of his foot only required a single stitch! His run across the broken glass hadn’t sliced the soles of his feet. The worst part of this as far as Nathan was concerned was that he wasn’t able to go into the swimming pool or into the water at the beach. Rachel says he was a trooper, though!

The following day, the family piled back into their vehicle and drove another 4-5 hours to the beach. More than 100 adult missionaries were in attendance and around 60 missionary kids. Rachel and Brandy are very appreciative of the volunteers that traveled to lead worship, speak at workshops, and… drumroll, please!... provide childcare so the parents could enjoy participating in worship, workshops and sessions!

As usual, there were a lot of new faces in attendance. If your main exposure to missionaries is the Sowers family, you may not realize that most missionaries don’t stay on the mission field for decades! While it’s difficult to know the exact number, it is estimated that 50% of missionaries leave by the end of their first two years. Most people make a commitment to stay for two years, but some don’t make it that long. There were also a lot of “old timers” in attendance–people who have been there for 10, 15, or 20 years. 

For Rachel, Brandy, and the other missionaries in attendance, the retreat was a time to get away, disconnect, and focus on spiritual health. Rachel and Brandy made the long drive home in a single day. When asked if she came back feeling refreshed or exhausted, Rachel’s response was, “Yes! Let’s just say that I came back feeling physically exhausted but spiritually uplifted.”

 - posted by Christi

Nice Little Vacation

At the end of March, the Sowers family had a little adventure–the good kind of adventure, not the kidnappy kind. Boo was able to visit Honduras for about ten days, so Allen and Trish took full advantage of having four of their children and six grandchildren present (including Boo’s bun in the oven). The family took a four-day trip to a place Allen described as “a farm meets a wooded camping area meets a lake.” It was a great place to take a break after the busy team season and everything else that’s going on.

When the family arrived at the camp ground, the first thing they saw was a fountain made especially for water buffaloes to enjoy. Also, water buffaloes in the water fountain. Allen is pretty sure that there aren’t a lot of water buffaloes sitting in the middle of fountains in the States. The man who runs the site has a love of old cars and tractors and has decorated them by using the rusted out shells as planters for flowers.

The adults got to relax a bit while watching the grandchildren spend a lot of time swimming in weather that was slightly cooler than ideal swimming conditions. (Considering this is the hot/dry season in Honduras, the family agreed this was a very nice alternative.) The family also enjoyed pony rides (presumably just the grandchildren), kayaking, and a trolley ride. Oh, and there was a rodeo. (For the sake of authenticity, please read rodeo with the Spanish pronunciation, rroh-deh-oh!)

The cabins where they stayed were nice, although maybe not up to US standards concerning the level of repair - only one cabin had hot water, while the rest had tepid (missionaries don't complain about tepid water, though). Aunt Boo had packed a lot of craft supplies and the kids spent time painting and assembling wooden projects. RJ made a boat, Nathan made a car, and Abby made an adorable little pink-roofed house. The babies were held almost constantly and got passed around from one adult to another.

And there were donkeys and ponies to pet! Lots and lots of them! The donkeys had free reign of the place and were allowed to roam freely, even around the pool area. The animals were all well behaved and there was no fear of them biting a child. There were also massive horses for the rodeo. (Spanish accent, please!) The dressage horses performed their fancy footwork for the guests' entertainment. There were only about 100 people at the rodeo, so each attendee was able to pet the horses through the fence after they finished prancing. (That is to say, after the horses finished prancing. Attendees were not required to prance.)

The family also went to a zoo and saw big cats (including two white tigers), ostriches, foxes, a giraffe, hippos, and more monkeys than you could shake a banana at. There were also lots of tropical birds, including peacocks, macaws, and parrots. The grandchildren each got $1.50 worth of lettuce, carrots, and corn to feed to the lettuce, carrot, and corn-eating animals. It was the best trip the family had ever had to the zoo. Even though it’s officially the hot/dry season, the weather was cool and overcast. It even sprinkled just a bit - Brandy and Rachel had taken their boys to this zoo before, and noted that it has been melt-your-socks-off hot other times, but very pleasant this time.

Allen did sneak in a trip to the Bible Bookstore, since it was nearby. He picked up a truckload of Bibles from the Mennonite-run store. Aside from that relatively quick errand, the rest of Thursday-Sunday was spent making family memories. 

It was a fun and relaxing getaway–something that was well-deserved and very much enjoyed!!

- posted by Christi

Allen and Trish Plan a Vacation (We'll Believe It When We See It)

Do you know how long it has been since Allen and Trish had a good and proper vacation together--the kind where you get on a plane, go someplace, and then don’t work? It’s likely the reservations for that long ago and far away trip were made using a rotary phone. There’s a good chance that it didn’t require a plane and that their send-off involved driving away with tin cans tied to their bumper and “Just Married” written across their windshield. At any rate, it has been a while.

Oh, sure, they have those super-relaxing backpack trips to the U.S. where they get to drive across the country in a rented box truck, make a million stops, speak at churches and schools, and load containers. Shockingly, those trips aren’t as relaxing as you might imagine. 

They’ve also taken a few days away in Honduras on rare occasions. By the time they stop having a steady stream of ministry concerns flowing through their heads, it’s time to go back home.

So Allen and Trish have decided to do something wildly spontaneous. They are planning their spontaneity to take place sometime around March or April of 2021. Baby steps, people. Baby steps. 

This vacation is expected to last for a few weeks and the timing is auspicious. 2021 marks their 20th anniversary in the ministry. They moved their family to Honduras in 2001. It will also be Allen’s 60th birthday. 

Where will they go? While they’re not quite ready to start throwing darts at a map to choose their destination, they are open to suggestions.

Currently, the Holy Land is a front-runner, which seems fitting. Ireland and Scotland have also been mentioned, just because. They also love the idea of an Alaskan cruise.

If you have any ideas, please throw them their way. They are more flexible than they are spontaneous! Trish has promised to keep us posted as they figure out more details.

-posted by Christi. 

Dolphins and Sharks and Sloths - Oh My!

The Sowers family works so hard for the vast majority of the year that it’s nice when they are able to take a bit of well-earned vacation time. Last week, Allen, Russell, Iris, RJ, Abby, Kelsea, and Iris’s cousin, Tania, enjoyed a week on Roatan. Kirstin even flew in from Florida to join them on the adventure.

You may notice that Trish and Ben’s names were missing from the list of travelers. Somebody needed to hold down the homefront, but they still enjoyed a little bit of R & R before Ben starts school in a week and a half. Don’t worry, there was plenty of security on hand at home for the week.

You probably remember that the Sowerses lived on the island of Guanaja for years when they first moved to Honduras. The next island over from Guanaja is Roatan. Unlike Guanaja, Roatan is a popular destination for cruise ships, and boasts lots of family-friendly activities.

A little bit of cold, rainy weather didn’t prevent them from having a wonderful time. There was scuba diving for Allen, Russell, Kirstin, and Kelsea. The whole group was able to swim with dolphins. Some of the more intrepid of the group even swam with sharks. Presumably, they weren’t the “kill-y” kind of sharks because everyone still has all of their original limbs.

If swimming with sharks doesn’t make you wish you had been there, maybe some sloth hugging will. When Trish asked RJ if the sloths were a little boring, he replied with an emphatic, “No! They hug you and they look at you!” They also saw bird attractions, but opted out of a trip to the iguana park. Trish said that iguanas don’t hold much allure after years of living in Central America. They’re just not that special anymore!

This is the second year the family has been able to take an excursion to Roatan. Hopefully, this means it’s a new annual tradition. No one can deny that they were very deserving of some time to refresh. It was particularly nice for RJ and Abby to get to enjoy some uninterrupted family time.

In order for this week of vacation to take place, the week prior to the trip was filled with all of the planning that goes along with preparing to deliver backpacks - because the travelers arrived home at about 10:00 pm on Sunday and hit the ground running at 6:00 am on Monday. Hold onto the memories, guys!

 - posted by Christi

Downtime, Sowers Style

For those of you who worry that the Sowers family never gets any downtime, you’ll be delighted to know that this past week they were lounging around sipping pineapple juice from glasses with little paper umbrellas in them. Hahaha! I crack myself up.

Really, they’re doing things like buying new tires and having their vehicles serviced while they have a momentary lull between teams. I’m pretty sure they don’t even own any little paper umbrellas. Seriously though, Russell and Iris did head to the beach in Tela Honduras for two days while the Hall family and Kelsea headed back to the States to renew their visas.

It is nice they have time to be sure the vehicles are in good working order. Trish and Allen joked that the mechanics love them. The official Sowers4Pastors vehicles are expected to go on roads few vehicles dare to travel. It is their goal to keep the vehicles dependable enough to drive gringos around when teams are in town.

While Russell and his family were traveling back and forth to the beach, they also made good use of the trip by stopping off to purchase the next batch of Sunday school curriculum for use in the sponsorship centers. Trish brought up an interesting point that it is difficult for those of us who have not visited those centers to understand what it’s really like.

Sunday school class in a village in the mountains

Up until very recently, the Sunday schools in most Honduran churches had no materials at all. Sunday school consisted of an untrained person with minimal education standing in front of kids with a Bible and possibly a storybook. There were no separate classrooms. Sunday school meant everyone from newborns to 18-yr-olds were hearing the exact same Bible lesson. That makes the flannelgraph lessons of my childhood look positively cutting edge!

The curriculum for sponsorship centers is revolutionizing Sunday school for many of the churches in the area. Pastors are starting to separate the children into different levels for classes. They can only do that when there are enough separate spaces and enough teachers to make that possible. That’s something the sponsorship centers have helped make possible.

RJ posing in front of the display of Honduras-specific Sunday School curriculum
at the store in San Pedro Sula

They are using a curriculum created by a Honduran for use in Honduras, which is way more revolutionary than it might sound. When North American curriculum is used, lessons invariably make cultural references the children do not understand. Something as simple as an object lesson involving playing baseball or missing the school bus must be explained to the children. This curriculum offers relatable object lessons for Honduran children--such as having a chicken walk through the house, or grinding the corn you grew, to make tortillas.

Each child receives his or her own consumable curriculum, specific to their age/grade level, which is a very big deal. Even at school, these children often do not have workbooks of their own. Now, they are able to study their lessons and color the pictures in their own books. And that is why Sowers4Pastors has already put in an order for a bunch more curriculum. Who needs little paper umbrellas when you have the satisfaction of changing lives?




 - posted by Christi

A romantic get-away

Allen and I just celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary, by taking a little vacation, without the kids, in the pretty little tourist town of Copan Ruinas. This is where we generally go for our get-away trips. We don't visit the Mayan ruins, because we've done that tour so many times, with visiting teams. Instead, we just go to the nearby town (named after the ruins), to enjoy the nice hotels, tourist restaurants, and the opportunity to just get away from home and work for a bit.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Rustic outdoor dining. This place has great steaks!

The atrium at our hotel

A view from our hotel

Another view - notice the cobbled streets