Sowing Hope is a project under the organization Sowers4Pastors, Inc. (S4P). S4P’s primary goal is to glorify God and win disciples for him; our stated mission is to achieve this goal by empowering Honduran missionaries, church leaders and pastors to reach the lost in the rural mountain villages of Honduras. 

Benefits to the children in the Sowing Hope program:

Access to the gospel of Jesus!

Bible lessons

Nutritious meals

Backpack of school supplies

School shoes

Medical care in select cases

Incentive to continue education

Building relationships with sponsors

Building relationship with local church

A new Bible every 3rd year

Sowing Hope is a sponsorship project open to the public, designed to help Honduran pastors and missionaries reach the lost for Christ. It works by connecting a child in Honduras with a sponsor. The sponsor is responsible for paying the sponsorship cost and praying for their child. The sponsor is encouraged to write letters to the child to build a relationship. The child is required to write letters to their sponsor and to maintain attendance at school, where they receive nutritious meals provided as part of the program. The teachers, pastors and church members in the child’s community teach Bible lessons to the child with materials provided by Sowers4Pastors, and the child is encouraged to build a relationship with their local church community. The children receive a backpack of school supplies and a pair of shoes annually to help ensure they aren’t hindered from finishing their education by a physical need. Sowers4Pastors also facilitates medical care for the children in select cases, such as glasses, hearing aids, as well as medical appointments and health care for various health problems. 

The purpose of this project is multifaceted:

1. First, to win converts for Christ, through relationships and Bible lessons. Sowing Hope is designed so that the pastors and church leaders are better able to connect with the children in the classroom, giving them better access to share the gospel. 

2. Second, the children in the Sowing Hope program receive physical benefits. They receive school supplies, such as backpacks, notebooks, writing and coloring implements. They are given access to nutritious meals to combat malnutrition common in the impoverished rural villages of Honduras. 

3. Third, empowerment of Honduran pastors. Once the children (both sponsored and unsponsored) have received their promised benefits, and the expenses of the project have been met, any remaining funds are used for pastor empowerment projects, such as funding for church roofs, motorcycles for pastors to further spread the gospel, and pastor-run feeding projects in other villages. This amount usually represents about 20% of donated funds, but varies year to year, based on factors like how many of the children are sponsored, and changing costs related to the program (like food, shipping, fuel, etc).

FOR SPONSORS:

1. Inappropriate attitudes or behaviors will result in permanent removal from the program. Sowers4Pastors reserves the right to remove anyone from the program for any reason. This especially includes inappropriate behavior towards the children, as well as inappropriate behavior towards other sponsors or S4P staff. While non-Christians will not be kept from sponsoring in the program, please note that the primary purpose of this program is to spread the gospel of Christ, so what constitutes inappropriate behavior will be judged by Biblical standards. 

2. Sponsors will pay their sponsorship fees on time. Failure to do so will be counted as a desire to no longer continue in the program. In the event of financial hardship on the part of the sponsor, a grace period may be offered on a case by case basis, not to exceed a period of three months. A pattern of defaulting on payment repeatedly will result in permanent removal from the program. 

3. Sponsors will keep their contact details up to date within the Sowers4Pastors’ database, either through the website or by email (denise@sowers4pastors.com).

4. A sponsor will not sponsor more than 10 children at a time. This limit can and will be set lower on a case by case basis if a sponsor demonstrates an inability to pay sponsorship fees promptly. 

5. Sponsors will always communicate in their letters to the children in a safe, appropriate, respectful, and healthy way. Sowers4Pastors takes the children’s safety very seriously and reserves the right to remove an individual from the program for any reason. 

6. Sponsors will be respectful of the child’s situation and family. Sponsors will not refer to their sponsored child as “my son” or “my daughter.” They are not to be treated as “adopted” children, regardless of their family situation. Unless the sponsor has legally adopted the child, they will not refer to themselves as the child’s “parent.”

7. Communication with the sponsored family through social media is discouraged, as S4P cannot ensure the safety and appropriateness of communication carried out in this manner. Please note, safety concerns work in both directions, both for the child and their family, and for the sponsor as well! 

8. Sponsors will not send money to their sponsored child, including wire transfers, cash or money transfer apps. This is to prevent the child’s family from taking advantage of the sponsor. If a medical or financial problem is brought to the attention of a sponsor, they may request that S4P investigate the problem’s veracity and what the needed resources are for a solution. Because of S4P’s connections with various resources, often S4P can get the problem fixed cheaper than the family can. S4P reserves the right to reject a request. 

9. Sponsors will understand that Sowers4Pastors cannot prevent children from leaving the program. Families may move to other cities and other countries. Parents may decide to pull their children from the program to work the farm. If a child leaves the program, sponsors will be notified and the sponsorship cancelled as soon as possible. 

10. Sponsors will understand that while Sowers4Pastors will strive to maintain all stated benefits for the children, Honduras is a developing country and access to resources can shift unexpectedly. S4P will strive to keep sponsors up to date on any changes or delays to the program’s benefits. 

11. Sponsors will understand that Sowers4Pastors reserves the right to raise the price of sponsorship fees at any time. Sowers4Pastors will communicate by email with sponsors in advance prior to any increase. 

FOR CHILDREN IN THE PROGRAM:

1. Children in the SH program will maintain attendance in school. Failure to do so will result in removal from the program.

2. Children in the SH program will write letters to their sponsors throughout the year. Failure to do so will result in removal from the program.

You may see pictures of S4P staff wearing Yo Soy t-shirts. Yo Soy is what the kids in Honduras call the Sowing Hope and Sister church sponsorship programs. “Yo Soy” means “I am” in Spanish. First, this is meant to draw attention to God, the great I AM, but it is also meant to help the kids learn about their identity in Christ - “I am saved, I am loved, I am valued, I am victorious in Christ!”