May 1, 2009

Dear Friends,

God is faithful! It seems everyone really needs to hear that right now. Our family continues to work, content that we are where God wants us to be, doing what He would have us do, and, in spite of the troubles brewing around the world, we know that God is still in control. We pray that God will bring you peace, as well, whatever your situation might be. Here is a report on how God is working (through us, with your help) in Lempira these days.

The monthly sessions resumed in March, with about fifty five students attending each month. Enthusiasm for the school has remained high, and local pastors and denominational supervisors have stepped in to help with much of the planning and teaching work. This is wonderful both from the aspect of our time being freed up for other ministries, and in that the school is "owned" more by the Hondurans than by us. Just fyi, we have never had regular donations to help with the cost of running the school, so we continue to pay for the expenses (facility rental, food, transportation costs - it comes to just under $1000 per month) out of our personal support. Please pray with us that, as money gets tighter and tighter, we will be able to continue to run the school to train the pastors.

In the steep mountains surrounding Gracias, there are hundreds of tiny villages. The people living in these villages depend on the resources in the larger cities for medical care, banking, essential shopping for food and farming needs, etc. During the dry season of the year, most of the rivers of this area can be forded, but once rainy season starts, many of these villages are cut off from the rest of civilization, for months at a time. Building bridges where fords are in use (and replacing current bridges which are unsafe) is a tangible way for us to help the poor of Lempira.

Bridge projects take a lot of upfront preparation time, before we actually see any results. Donors have sent us cable, Allen has had many meetings with government officials and other charitable organizations, Allen and Alan Hayes have designed and drawn plans, and now, finally, we are starting to see actual bridges! (More on those plans - Allen and Alan have been working to come up with a standardized plan that would result in safe bridges, in spite of the lack of technical expertise in basically everyone involved in the actual construction process, including the government "engineers!" Some of this involves certain essential structural parts being created and welded here, and then sent to the construction sites to be installed by the work crews.) Lots of pictures of new bridges, and of bridges currently under construction, can be found on our website, at www.sowers4pastors.com/bridge_construction.htm.

We want to thank everyone who was involved in the Gifts for Gracias Christmas project. This year, we distributed gifts to approximately 300 pastors and their families, plus children at 12 orphanages (about 600 children). In conjunction with the gift distribution, we had pastors fill out and return a questionnaire, so that we can develop a record of the evangelization and church planting in Western Honduras. This updated the information we compiled in 2006.

In the three years we have worked out of the city of Gracias, our ministry has expanded beyond the confines of the department of Lempira (of which Gracias is the capital city). Quite a bit of the work is now in the departments of Santa Barbara, Intibuca, Copan, and Ocotepeque. This is an area approximately the size of 1/3 of West Virginia, with rougher topography, and more than 1,000,000 inhabitants.

We are very excited about the continuing growth of the church in Western Honduras. Of course, with growth comes additional needs - for church buildings, additional pastors, pastor training, Bibles and study materials, transportation, etc. Because of the extreme poverty in this area, the churches are unable to pay their pastors a sufficient salary, let alone buy many of the "helps" we take for granted. Please pray with us that God would be faithful to meet the needs of the growing church in Western Honduras.

In March, we were blessed by the opportunity to take Christopher to get his tonsils taken out, by a group of ENT doctors who were working on the north coast of Honduras. They drove for seven hours, spent the night, had the operation in the morning, Chris spent the night at the hospital, and they drove seven hours home the next morning. Poor Chris has needed this operation for several years, and we are hopeful that his health will improve now. While they were there, the doctors also decided to remove and biopsy a spot on Allen’s ear and one on his neck, and we are waiting for the results of those tests. Please pray with us that there are no major problems found.

Of course, everyone has been hearing about the worldwide economic problems - and many of you are experiencing them. This is hitting us here, as well. The poor people in the mountains, already living at or near a subsistance level, are not able to purchase food to round out their diet of corn tortillas from home-grown corn. This results in severe malnutrition and numerous physical and mental deficiencies, especially in children. Those ministries which have, in the past, supplied us with nutrient-enriched food and other items to distribute to the poor are being hit by rising costs, lower donations and increased demand. Transportation costs (as we pay to ship donated items to Honduras) continue to rise, as well. Those who have donated funds to our ministry to help us with all of our expenses are having a hard time donating to the level they have given in the past - let alone meeting the greater expenses we are experiencing. Okay, that was a depressing paragraph, but now you know specifically how to pray for the people with whom we work, and for us. Of course, God can provide, and we will trust in Him.

From the family's point of view, this is the most exciting thing going on right now. We are just a few months away from moving into buildings on the ministry center property! The team house - a dormitory building for housing groups - and the bodega - a large warehouse structure - should both be closed in and secure by this summer. Our family plans to move into these buildings, and camp out, while construction goes forward on other buildings on the property. Eventually, we intend to run the monthly pastor school from this facility, as well as hosting teams and camps. We expect that living on the property will decrease our living expenses - certainly a wonderful blessing right now! Growing some of our own food, and keeping a few cows, chickens, maybe a pig, are all in the works, once we've moved out of town. Since we can garden pretty much year around here (provided we have a water source during the dry season), any excess food from the garden can help with providing the meals for the monthly sessions of the Bible school.

Honduras is not prepared to deal with a serious outbreak of sickness. We will certainly be involved in helping with this, should the flu become a major problem here. The Honduran government has already stated that they have no help to offer, to fight against or ward off this sickness. Please pray for the people of our area, who will certainly suffer greatly in the event of a serious outbreak - and pray for us as we attempt to both help others and keep our own family safe.

As always, you have our sincere gratitude for the part you play, through prayer and funding, in this ministry to evangelize the unreached and strengthen the churches in western Honduras, and to help these exceptionally poor people with their physical needs.

Blessings,

Allen, Trish, Kirstin, Russell, Rachel, Chris, Bethany, and David Sowers

(Don’t forget to check in regularly on our blog: www.sowers4pastors.blogspot.com)

Donations should be sent to:

Missionary Ventures International
PO Box 593550
Orlando, Florida 32859-3550