Imagine This!

Imagine two churches: 

one is in a rural mountain village in western Honduras,

the other looks, more or less, like your church.

Now imagine:

that a family from your church . . .

sponsors a child - or several - though a program which
the Honduran church runs as a ministry to their community;
helping with the nutritional, educational
and spiritual needs of at-risk children.

And NOW imagine what would happen:

if families and individuals from your church were to sponsor all of the children in that particular Honduran church's sponsorship program!

 What if:

we found a way to combine our efforts?

Can you imagine it?

The bond that would be created between your church, and a dynamic, young church in Honduras, which is committed to reaching their community for Christ? The things you could accomplish for Christ, in partnership?

• Praying for one another. 

• Assisting one another. 

• Encouraging one another.

The Sister Church Sponsorship Program: reaching the uttermost parts of the earth, together!

More information, on how your church can become a part of this exciting new program, click here!

Exciting New Thing #4: Sister Church Sponsorship Program

Earlier this year, I wrote about some exciting new things that were happening in our ministry. I even made a logo for the three posts, as that clearly shows that I am taking these things seriously, right? See? --->

But, out of the blue, we find ourselves developing an additional new ministry project! If you missed the earlier posts, you can find those at these links:

#1 Manna 4 Lempira
#2 Sustainability 4 Pastors
#3 Restarting Pastor Training School

Today I am announcing the new Sister Church Sponsorship Program, which is another opportunity for people who aren't called to come and live in Honduras to participate in ministry with us here! This is actually a spin-off of the Manna 4 Lempira Sponsorship program. It came into being when a friend of the ministry thought it would be great to get his whole church involved in sponsoring children . . . leading to the thought that his church could potentially sponsor all of the children in one specific location where we have a feeding program . . . which led to choosing a church . . . and that particular church is in a location which desperately needs a bridge to be built . . . so perhaps the church in Florida could send down a team to do a bridge-in-a-week construction project . . .

Well, I think you get the idea. This is more of a general idea than a set-in-stone "here's how we do it" ministry program. In a sister-church relationship, the opportunities to serve would be varied, based on the needs of the church (and its community) and the ability of the other church to help. I believe all of the Honduran churches in the program will be set up with child sponsorship opportunities. Other ways of potentially helping a sister church might include

- helping the pastor attend pastor training school
- financing (or coming down as a team to help with) construction projects for the church
- helping the church acquire instruments and/or a sound system
- helping the church develop ministries to reach out to their community
- helping church members develop children's programs

It is our goal that this be a project which will build up the young churches in the mountains of western Honduras, helping them to grow, expand, and minister to the people around them.

Pastor and congregation outside their church in San Miguelito

I will say this here, to avoid misunderstandings . . . there are going to be some limits on what kind of help, and in what quantity, we will encourage churches to give. We have seen, over the years, that a relationship between a wealthy church or organization and a significantly less wealthy pastor or church can create problems. We don't ever want to set up a dependency situation, and we always desire to point people toward God, as their source of help . . . not rich(er) churches! This can be awkward, tricky, and complicated. It will be an important aspect of this program, that the churches involved be willing to trust our knowledge and experience here, to guide them in making wise choices in this process.

Will we make some mistakes along the way? Oh, yes, I imagine so. Does this have the potential to be something really great? I think it does!

If you'd be interested in hearing more about this new ministry opportunity, to develop a sister-church relationship with a congregation in western Honduras, we'd love to chat with you about it. Contact us at trish @ sowers4pastors.com and we'll talk!

We run a bookstore! Who knew?

Our little Bible bookstore has been a part of our ministry for almost ten years now - but it is rarely mentioned on the blog or website. It's not especially glamorous or exciting, but it has been quietly serving the community here all this time.

The store consists of about four large bookshelves, sitting in the front room of Russell and Iris' house. Casual businesses being run out of homes are very common here, so we fit right in with all the small household shops. The store is open when someone is home, and closed when they are not. Most often, Iris is the one manning the store.

The stock includes multiple versions and style of Bibles, study Bibles, commentaries, and a small collection of other Bible study materials. We price the books to cover the cost of purchasing them, so basically wholesale. Since there are no salaries or overhead involved, the money which comes in from the book sales is simply used to purchase more books . . . so this has become a more-or-less self sustaining aspect of our ministry.

Books are a rare, expensive luxury item in our part of Honduras. Many of the books we sell for around $20 are priced at $80 - $100 in the bookstores in the cities. Even at $20, one book could easily cost a pastor from a mountain village an entire week's wages, so we're delighted to have the ability to make these books available to them!

In the past, we have offered discounts on purchases at the store to pastors who attended the pastor training school or the occasional pastor training conferences which we have held. This year, the pastors who complete the school will receive, for free, several of the hefty "pastor's library" volumes which will be used as part of their school materials.

This little-known, not-especially-exciting part of our ministry is actually a valuable piece of the whole!

If you didn't know about it before . . . well, now you know.

You can sponsor a child for $15 per month!

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Information coming soon!

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

An update on our recent situation

We had such an amazing response to the most recent blog post, about the need for funding for additional feeding centers. It was a bit overwhelming - but in a good way! While I didn't suggest creating sponsorships for particular pastors and their centers, a number of people gave money specifically in this way . . . which is great!

Here is the list of pastors, copied from the previous post. The ones printed in red have already been sponsored: 

 - Pastor Edgar Lopez, in El Cedro, feeding 22 children - $44 per year

 - Pastor Jose Chavez, in El Paraiso Copan, feeding 31 children - $62
 - Pastor Rene Arita, in El Paraiso Copan, feeding 131 children - $262
 - Pastor Gonzalo Contreras, in El Jardin, feeding 56 children - $112
 - Pastor Genero Contreras, in Monte Cristo, feeding 56 children - $112
 - Pastor Luis Leiva, in Pimienta, feeding 31 children - $62 per year
 - Pastor Mario Herrera, in El Naranjito, feeding 89 children - $178
 - Pastor Jesus Garcia, in El Manacal, feeding 51 children - $102 per year
 - Pastor Oscar Menocal, in Alto Colon, feeding 31 children - $62
 - Pastor Manuel Contreras, in El Limon, feeding 62 children - $124
 - Pastor Saul Palma, in La Laguna, feeding 37 children - $74 per year
 - Pastor Herminio Diaz, in Santa Cruz, feeding 36 children - $72 per year
 - Pastor Lorenzo Ramirez, in El Paraiso, feeding 24 children - $48
 - Pastor Adin Hernandez, in El Manguito, feeding 41 children - $82
 - Pastor Santos Gutierres, in El Rosario, feeding 47 children - $94

Additionally, several people sent funds to use for this purpose, without specifying a particular pastor. $230 was donated by people gave in this way, and let us know how much they were sending. Several people also told us that they were donating, but we don't yet know the amounts. 

Thank you all so very much for helping us with this need! With your donations, going through our hands (to acquire the food and distribute it to the pastors), these pastors have the resources they need to serve the needy in their communities, in the name of Christ. It's an exciting example of how the body of Christ can work together to meet needs! 

If anyone would like to be a part of this outpouring, the donation information can be found here. We've been hoping and praying that we would have the funds to expand this program for several years. We're excited to see God moving in the hearts of His people NOW! 

A point of crisis, in our feeding center program

This morning, we faced a dilemma.

We can purchase meals for starving or malnourished children, for 2 cents per meal. It seems like we should have so many people jumping on board to help us with this, but in fact, that's not been the case. We struggle to pay for the food needed to feed the children currently enrolled in the program, and we have not been able to expand the program for almost 5 years, despite the fact that we have had to turn away pastors who come to us requesting food to help the children in yet another struggling village.

Currently, Honduras is experiencing a serious drought. Every day, more children are suffering from malnutrition and starvation. Pastors of churches are coming to us regularly, asking for the resources to begin feeding programs through their churches, to help their communities during this time of hardship.

This morning Allen and I were in the middle of writing an email, attempting to line up a partnership with a new food supply organization, when Russell called to tell us that, at that moment, another new pastor was at his house, requesting food assistance.

This situation was somewhat unusual. A group of fifteen pastors had pooled their resources to arrange for one of them to make the ten hour round trip to Gracias, driving a pickup truck, in the hope that we would be able to send back food for their 15 churches to feed the starving children in their needy communities. We just didn't have the heart to send that truck back empty . . . so, in faith, we have now enrolled these 15 new churches in the program.

We always attempt to make the best use of the money and other resources we receive, and we also try to be careful not to bankrupt the ministry by promising more than we are certain we can deliver. Occasionally, the question comes up: "Are we trusting God enough, in our endeavors, or are we carefully using business principles to protect ourselves and the ministry?"

Today, our actions clearly fell on the side of trusting God, even though we don't have the resources in hand to continue to feed the children we've now committed to helping. We are, of course, praying that God will supply the food which is so desperately needed! 

If you would like to pray for these pastors personally, here is a list of their names, their locations, how many children each pastor has registered to feed, and how much it will cost to purchase the food for that particular feeding center, for an entire year.  If you'd like to be a part of how God supplies this need, donation information can be found here.

 - Pastor Edgar Lopez, in El Cedro, feeding 22 children - $44 per year

 - Pastor Jose Chavez, in El Paraiso Copan, feeding 31 children - $62
 - Pastor Rene Arita, in El Paraiso Copan, feeding 131 children - $262
 - Pastor Gonzalo Contreras, in El Jardin, feeding 56 children - $112
 - Pastor Genero Contreras, in Monte Cristo, feeding 56 children - $112
 - Pastor Luis Leiva, in Pimienta, feeding 31 children - $62 per year
 - Pastor Mario Herrera, in El Naranjito, feeding 89 children - $178
 - Pastor Jesus Garcia, in El Manacal, feeding 51 children - $102 per year
 - Pastor Oscar Menocal, in Alto Colon, feeding 31 children - $62
 - Pastor Manuel Contreras, in El Limon, feeding 62 children - $124
 - Pastor Saul Palma, in La Laguna, feeding 37 children - $74 per year
 - Pastor Herminio Diaz, in Santa Cruz, feeding 36 children - $72 per year
 - Pastor Lorenzo Ramirez, in El Paraiso, feeding 24 children - $48
 - Pastor Adin Hernandez, in El Manguito, feeding 41 children - $82
 - Pastor Santos Gutierres, in El Rosario, feeding 47 children - $94

Follow this link for complete information on how to donate to the Sowers4pastors Feeding Program, and how the program works. 

Did you know?

Did you know that you can search my blog by category? I mentioned that to someone the other day, and they had never noticed before . . . so I figured I should mention it here.

Scroll down the right margin . . . past the fundraising thermometer, past the "Facebook" button, keep going past the archive and my profile information . . . and there you will find the list of "Labels."

Almost all of my posts have been given at least one label. I even have a label named "I've got no category for this!"

You can look for posts on a specific topic, by clicking on the corresponding label. For instance, if you're interested in finding out more about our Bridge Construction Projects, there's a label for that. Want to know what everyday life has been like for us, over the course of the almost 10 years I've been blogging? There are 215 (!) posts in that category! There are only 4 posts labeled "Things I Never Saw in the Suburbs" . . . a testament to how seldom I remember to carry a camera with me, more than anything else.

There are currently 62 categories - I just counted! Why not check it out and see what you can find that you haven't seen before? Maybe you'd enjoy our photos of the amazing Lempira Day parade (in the "holidays" category). Or perhaps you'd be interested in our adventures in butchering? in installing and using solar power? our time living on the island of Guanaja? my 141 posts about plants and bugs?

Have fun! I hope this helps you navigate the blog in the future!

What does the coyote say?

This morning, I drove to Gracias, dropped Ben off for school, and picked up Iris, her cousin Cruzita, and RJ (Russellito), as they are spending the day at our house.

RJ and I have an ongoing conversation, which we continue whenever we have the opportunity, on the subject of animal sounds. We are not yet at the point in our discourse where he will reply with the sound when I name the specific animal, but we have achieved a unity of mind on this topic such that he will repeat the sounds after me.

Today, while I was driving, we reviewed some points from previous conversations - mooo, woof, meow, and quack. Then I decided that it was time to forge ahead into new conversational territory, so I introduced the sound of the coyote. For the rest of the trip, RJ and I took turns joyously throwing our heads back and howling to the moon-less sky.

Being a grandmother kind of rocks.

Buds, to Blooms, to Beans . . . COFFEE BEANS!

Our coffee plants are blooming! About ten days ago, Russell sent me pictures of the buds forming, and I was impressed at the large number of buds.

Today, he took some more pictures, now that the buds have turned to blooms. Coffee flowers may not rank up there with the most beautiful flowers in the world, but we are obviously delighted with them! 

Honduras is having serious drought problems just now, but in spite of that we're having these terrific results, with some manual watering to get us through the dry season of the year. See the bee, in the photo to the left? That's encouraging, too!

Our coffee farm is still in the earliest phase, so we are not expecting a full harvest this year. Based on the blooms, however, Russell anticipates that we should harvest a couple thousand pounds of coffee beans this year. 

Next year, at the end of 2017, our first plants (which went into the ground in 2014) will be mature enough for a significant harvest. Each year after that, the number of mature plants will increase, and all of the plants will continue to grow in size, increasing their output. It's so exciting to see this project coming to fruition! Remember that the profits from the sale of this coffee will be used to expand our ministry in Honduras. To God be the glory!

And as always, thanks so much for your prayers for this ministry!

Manna 4 Lempira - see who it's helping

This weekend was spent distributing backpacks and school supplies to children in the Manna 4 Lempira sponsorship program. Here are a few of the children who have received their back-to-school gifts so far. 

If you would like to sponsor a child through the Manna 4 Lempira program, 

here is the info you'll need to get started. 

If you'd told us, back then . . .

Preparing to head off to Honduras, as construction missionaries,
in 2000

As many of you know, fifteen years ago, in 2001, our family left the United States, thinking we would be in Honduras for 2 - 3 years completing one construction project - and you have heard how that worked out! If anyone had told us, back then, that we would find ourselves still here in 2016, feeding 12,000 children regularly, we would likely have laughed! If they'd suggested we would build bridges of the sizes we have now built, and in the quantity we have done - well, I don't know that we would have considered that very likely, either. The idea that we'd be working with a huge network of pastors to spread the gospel to remote villages in unevangelized areas of the mountains of western Honduras would have seemed preposterous, too. God has taken our willingness to serve, and created something much larger than we had ever envisioned!

What you may not know is that Allen and I had intended to head to the mission field much earlier than we did. When we married, in 1984, we had a plan. Allen would enter the military and learn to fly, and when his military commitment was over we would sign on to do missionary aviation work. It was a very nice plan . . . it just didn't work out. Allen has some very minor physical deficiencies which precluded him from flying for the military, and after 8 weeks of officer training school, we made the decision together that he would not accept his commission.

That was a scary time for us, as we were newlyweds with all of our plans wrapped up in being in the military - job, housing, health care, etc. Suddenly we were newlyweds with nothing! We looked into the possibility of paying for private flight training, but we couldn't afford it. We couldn't really afford anything, just then, so Allen and I each got jobs. We saved up to buy a house near our work, within a few years the children started arriving . . . and we lost sight of our original goal of serving God as missionaries.

The phrase we use to describe that time in our lives is a phrase we hear frequently from other people: "Life got in the way." Usually, when people say this, they are speaking about something they had planned to do, but they never got around to doing it because of the demands of everyday life. At some point, "life" became just about getting through the day, or about "living the American dream."

We are so glad that God turned us around, after we'd been married for 16 years, and pointed us back in the direction of serving Him full-time as foreign missionaries. What amazing blessings we would have missed, if we hadn't listened to the still small voice, encouraging us to return to our original calling!

Are you letting life get in the way of what God wants you to do? It isn't necessarily something as all-encompassing as living for decades in a foreign country, but we've found that, when we put serving God first, the other parts of life fall into place, alongside the main goal. It isn't an either/or situation.

It's exciting to see what God can do with people who are willing to step out and do something crazy, just because He asked them to do it. I encourage you to not let life get in the way of the blessings He has in store for you.

Making the connection!

You want to help a child who lives in poverty? You want to have a direct connection - a relationship? Take a look at this:

Deb R. and Yorlin, in 2015

This is Deb R., from Washington state. She has chosen to sponsor a child through our Manna 4 Lempira sponsorship program. That's Yorlin, her sponsored child, in a photo from when they met last year.

For $15 per month, Deb provides Yorlin with two highly nutritious meals per week, plus school supplies (including new shoes) at the beginning of the school year . . . and more (follow this link for more info).

Deb and Yorlin also have the opportunity to exchange letters through the program, and, at certain times, Deb can send Yorlin personal gifts. Our annual shipping container provided one of those opportunities!

Deb purchased a Spanish Bible and a doll for Yorlin, and personalized a backpack for her. These items were mailed to Georgia, where they were packed in large boxes to be shipped, along with the rest of the Manna 4 Lempira items, to Maryland, and then on to Honduras.

Loading up the Manna 4 Lempira boxes in Georgia

Loading the container in Maryland

Luis unloads a Manna 4 Lempira box,
upon arrival at our home in Gracias Lempira

The Manna 4 Lempira boxes,
after what appears to have
been a rather rough journey

With all of the Manna 4 Lempira boxes here, Russell went through the boxes and the list to make sure that we had the shoes and school supplies we needed for the children in the program at the Mercedes center. On Saturday, Feb. 28th -- which also happened to be Yorlin's birthday -- our crew headed out to hand out the back-to-school gifts to the children!

Organizing the backpacks for distribution . . . 

Organizing shoes, as well . . . 

Eventually, each child in the program (including those children who are not currently matched with a sponsor) received their shoes, backpack, and school supplies. Here is Yorlin, all set for school, with her personal gifts from Deb!

Everyone involved in this program is a volunteer, so that we can stretch each donated dollar as far a possible (each sponsorship also helps feed up to 60 other children, in our general feeding program)! Would you like to be a part of it? Check out the Manna 4 Lempira Facebook page, to find out how! We will be registering new children, for inclusion in the program, later this week. 

You can feed a malnourished child, for TWO CENTS per meal!

To go directly to
donation information,
follow the arrows!

The Problem:

We deal with a significant number of children with severe, chronic malnutrition in the mountain villages around Gracias. This malnutrition often causes the children to have stunted growth, impaired mental development, and weakened immune systems that make them unable to fight off illnesses. Usually, the problem is not that they don't get enough food, but that the limited diet available doesn't provide them with the vitamins and minerals needed for good health.

The Solution:

For just 2 cents, we can provide a child with a vitamin-enriched, nourishing meal. If we provide that child two such meals each week, we can stave off malnutrition. This means that the cost of saving one child from malnutrition for an entire year is just $2.08!!!!!

How we do it:

Networks of volunteers make this amazing result possible. Churches and other groups in the US donate time and money to pack specially designed foods for export. We receive this food at no cost beyond the shipping and customs fees to bring the food to Honduras. We then distribute the food to over 100 pastors in Western Honduras, where members of their congregations volunteer to cook the food and run the feeding centers, to aid those in need in their own communities. We provide oversight and accountability for each center.

This networking system places the local pastors in a position from which they can effectively minister to the children in the program, both physically and spiritually. 

Each shipment of food contains 286,000 adult-sized meals, which equals approximately 400,000 child sized meals (depending on the size of the child). The cost to ship a container, divided by the number of meals, comes to slightly less than 2 cents per meal.

Donation information: 

1.  To Donate Online:

Use this link to go to The Foundation for Missions donation page, and scroll down to the section which says "Donate to a Missionary/Ambassador." From the drop down menu, select "Allen and Trish Sowers" (we're way near the bottom). In the field labeled "Any additional specifics?" you should type in: Sowers Feeding Program

Please note: If you want your donations to go specifically to one of the Sowers4pastors projects, do not use the section of the page labeled "Donate to a program or project." The office may not know you want the money to go specifically to a Sowers4pastors project unless you go through the "Donate to a Missionary" section and select our name. Just make sure to put the project name in the "additional specifics" field of this section, as well. 

2. To Donate by mail, send checks to:

The Foundation

PO Box 560233

Orlando, Florida 32856-0233

- Make check payable to "The Foundation" 

- Write "preferenced for Allen Sowers Ministry - feeding program" on an enclosed paper 

3.   As you give, remember these facts:

 - $2.08 will feed one child two highly-enriched meals each week, for an entire year!

 - $20.80 will feed 10 children for the year.

 - $104.00 feeds 50 children for the year!      

 - If you give $20.80 per month, you can be responsible for feeding 120 children!

4.  Feel free to ask questions in the comments section. Should you wish, you can send us your phone number, and Allen will happily call to discuss the program with you personally, in greater detail. (If you put your name and phone number in a comment, we will receive it and it will not be posted online.) 

Thank you so much for helping us help the people of Western Honduras!

Here's what a "missionary vacation" looks like!

Dining al fresco, in Copan Ruinas with my sweetie

Allen and I are on a short vacation . . . which means that we've physically removed ourselves from the ministry for a few days, so that we can rest and refresh. It also invariably means that we take some time to step back and look at the ministry from a fresh perspective.

This get-away is going to be over abruptly, and probably quite soon, as we're expecting a call any day or any minute, saying that our shipping container full of donations has been released by the port and is on the way to our house. When we get that news, we'll be packing up and heading home (we're just 2.5 hours away from home, and the driving time from the port, for the tractor trailer with the container, is around 16 hours, plus the time the driver spends sleeping overnight sometime along the way).

This is definitely a working vacation, as Allen has spent several hours today on phone calls, and we've passed a few hours hosting a discussion, with some online friends, about how to improve our communications and what we can do to encourage people who are intrigued or interested by our posts, to actually take the next step to becoming partners with us. I'm mostly talking about financial partnership here - because so much of what our ministry does, including feeding children, building churches, training pastors, Gifts for Gracias, etc., requires money, to make it happen!

One of the things that has been bothering us recently is that we're not making it easy enough for people to donate. There are some aspects of this which are not in our control, but one thing to which I am committing myself, is the creation of a complete - and as brief as possible - blog post about each of our ministry projects which depends on donations. Hopefully this will be something that people can check, when they are interested in donating, and have all the info they need in one place . . . and it will also give people a package of information that they can easily share with others.

My grilled chicken.  I'm a bad food blogger - I took
a bite (several, actually) before I took a photo!

So, though I am on "vacation" now, I am starting to work on a series of posts, each of which will cover one aspect of our ministry, hopefully in enough detail for donors. Now, these posts will, quite probably, leave some questions in your mind - because I can't explain every detail and still keep it brief. Feel free to ask those questions in the comments, as that way the answers to the questions will be available to others who visit the page! That will be helpful to everyone!

As is common in Honduras, our hotel features a central
courtyard garden. My favorite aspect of this garden is that,
instead of a fountain in the center, there's the WiFi router,
on a pole, cleverly camouflaged with greenery.
I'm a BIG fan of a strong WiFi signal.  

See it? 

I'll start off with quick pages about how to get involved, financially, with our general feeding center program, as well as with our child sponsorship program (which is amazingly efficient in the use of the funds, because EVERYONE involved is a volunteer).

Watch for those blog posts coming soon . . . but not right away.

I AM on vacation, you know.