SOWER Ministry Newsletter March 2024 |
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Dear Friends,
March - in like a lion, out like a lamb, so they say. The days are beginning to get just a little bit longer and even though we lost an hour last weekend (and I’m still kind of missing it), it’s still lovely to watch the sunset just a little bit later each day! Slowly but surely those spring flowers are popping through the snow. Right? Right!
Many of you are halfway through your final winter project of the "season" before beginning the long trek home. I'm sure all of your project hosts have said thank you again and again but speaking for the SOWER Ministry, I'd like to add our heartfelt thanks for a wonderful season of service. Many tiles have been laid, nails hammered, rooms cleaned, walls painted - well, the list could go on and on. Ministries have been blessed, and I trust you have been blessed as well! Let's remember that even though our busiest season is drawing to a close, there are still so very many opportunities to serve throughout the year - and many are even close to home! Check out a project in your home state (or neighboring one) this summer and be blessed! If life's circumstances have kept you on the sidelines this winter, I hope you have found your ministry niche. May you continue to feel our Lord's arms wrapped tightly around you. We've missed you and hope to see you down the road!
Before the next newsletter comes out we will share in a time of special reflection - Resurrection Sunday. Yet as believers, we celebrate our Lord's Resurrection and His perfect gift of Life each and every day. My prayer is that you will indeed be renewed as you embrace the wonder of the Resurrection!
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Resting in His grace,
Stephanie
Stephanie Conrad #2509
Editor
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On Friday morning, March 1st, the Board of Trustees (via Zoom) and many other SOWERs (both alumni and active) who were in the area, came together for a surprise celebration for Ray and Alean Arthur, who are retiring from the SOWER office after sixteen years of faithful service. For the past three months, the ministry has been collecting a love gift from SOWER members for the Arthurs, and Dave Pincus, our SOWER President, presented them with a check that reflected the many thanks of our members. They were overwhelmed with the surprise party and with the expression of love. We gave them lots of suggestions on how to spend the gift, and we are looking forward to seeing pictures of whatever they choose! In their 16 years of service, the ministry has gone from snail-mail sign-ups to almost all functions being accomplished by email and online. Many advances have been made in the day-to-day operations and within the next 2 months we will all see how diligently they have worked on the new and improved member site. Thank you, Ray & Alean, we appreciate your dedication to the SOWER Ministry!
Gail Fieler #3187
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Coming Soon –
New SOWER Member Website
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Member website changes are coming to keep up with the times…yes, it’s true. A BIG change is coming to the SOWER Ministry Member website!
The SOWER Member website is in development and will roll out in April. An exact date is yet to be determined.
Now that the secret is out, how does this affect the SOWER membership?
Instead of the weekly PLS, members will have access to real-time search for all ministry projects, their needs and more. A simple button push will allow members to request a ministry project for any given month. (No need to create an email to the SOWER ministry office, although that is still acceptable.)
Additionally, each member (couple) will have personal login credentials with an unique password and editable access to their personal profile and skill sheet. At the touch of a button, members will see all of their projects, upcoming and in the past.
Group Leader reports will be easily accessible, downloadable, and fillable for sending to the office after a project is completed. There are more exciting improvements coming in future releases, yet the April release allows a LOT more functionality for all members.
Here’s a peak at the “home” screen after signing into the Member portal from the public site:
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The SOWER team members working with GroupM7 in Tyler, TX, for the last several months to provide this incredible update are: Ray Arthur, Ron Hoyt and Janelle Jorgenson. |
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Progress at the new SOWER Building in Lindale! |
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As you can see by the pictures below, a lot of progress has been made on the building since the last update. On the inside, the drywall is finished and painted, and cabinets are being installed. On the outside, the siding, soffits, and fascia is nearing completion. But the unseen progress has also moved along. The well tank is all moved into the new building and connected, the septic connections are complete to the new building, and they are in the process of completing lights and receptacles. Thank you to great February and March Crews.
Wendell Ramaker (3411)
Project Manager
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The kitchen's coming right along! |
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Exterior's almost complete. |
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TRUSTEE Nominations continue!
It is time for the election of Trustees. We need to elect three Trustees for a three-year term. SOWER Ministry Manual, Bylaw Section 3.2 states that a candidate must be a member in good standing of the organization, have basic computer skills, have served 12 total project months with 8 being different, and have been the group leader at least 3 times.
- Any SOWER member meeting these criteria may be nominated unless that member is just completing a sixth consecutive year as a Trustee.
- Each member individually can nominate one person. i.e. The husband can nominate one person and the wife can nominate a different person. But the husband (or wife) cannot nominate two people.
- You must secure the nominee’s permission before submitting his/her name.
- Nomination forms can be downloaded from our Member site.
All nominations must be postmarked by April 15, 2024.
Please contact the office if you have any questions.
Thank you!
903-882-8070
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2024 Florida Reunion Recap |
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With a theme of "Staying Strong in Today's World", the three days of the reunion were filled with inspiration, sweet fellowship, and (of course) some delicious food! There were several SOWERs there who had worked at well over 100 projects, and two couples who were on their way to their first! Some of the comments from those who attended (many for the first time)-
- It was a very sweet time, we love how we are getting to know our Sower family and growing closer to OUR LORD, this was our first reunion- and the bar was set pretty high- Thanks to ALL that made it happen! THANK YOU FATHER GOD!
- We had such a good time!!!
- My first time here and I plan on coming back every year. Lord willing. It was a great revival for my soul with some great women to pray with and serve with.
- It was sooo much fun - and an enjoyable 3 days of fellowship.
Many thanks to the committee and all the folks who helped make this such a memorable event!
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Friendly Cornhole competition |
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And then there's always this one guy... |
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Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
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We just finished our first SOWER project and it was such a joy! We were greeted upon arrival by GL's Tim and Linda Nelsen. They were very welcoming and a wealth of information. Rob and Vicki Schildroth joined us later that evening. On Friday Tim and Linda gave us a tour of the facility and what to expect on Monday morning.
Monday morning we met the Ranchers at prayer circle. It was a very special time of seeing Ranchers with a wide variety of developmental challenges worshiping and praying to the Lord.
Some of the projects the men worked on were building walls and tearing down walls, painting and building yet another wall. They laid flooring and took out old flooring. Always busy and always appreciated.
The ladies worked in the weaving room and worked in the greenhouse. We stained chairs and gliders. One of the highlights was helping the Ranchers decorate masks for the Masquerade party coming up in March.
It was special each morning to be greeted by a Rancher who had saved a special place just for you to join them as we focused our day and asked the Lord to be with us. After a morning of serving, we knew when we arrived at the Palmer Center for lunch there would be a place for us to sit next to a special Rancher.
It was great to be able to help in some small way but what really blessed me were the Ranchers at Rainbow Acres. They trust, they care and they love. It was a privilege to spend time with them. I can’t imagine a better first project.
Nick & Lolretta Tillery #4024
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Do you have a testimony about how you've been blessed on a SOWER project? Or a favorite project you'd like to highlight? Whether you're new to the SOWER family or have been part of the gang for many years, we'd love to hear from you! Send your SOWER testimonies to Stephanie@rvthereyet.org.
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Area Representative Needs
An Area Representative is a SOWER (Active or Alumni) who checks in with a certain set of projects annually (in person or by phone), investigates any project-related concerns, and welcomes new SOWERs that are in their area. Essentially, they are the SOWER “boots on the ground” for their assigned projects and are a vital part of our ministry.
If you have an interest in becoming an Area Representative in the future, please contact Gail Fieler for more information.
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We currently need an AR for the following Mid-Atlantic projects -
If you would like more information about helping with this vital part of our ministry please contact Brad Smith.
Attention ALUMNI - Becoming an Area Rep as an Alumnus is a great way to continue to serve in our ministry! So if you've hung up the tools, but still want to serve, consider becoming an Area Representative for projects in your area!
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Getting the SOWER Word Out!
Your Promotion & Publicity Committee is working hard to get our SOWER Ministry better known!
Last month (February 28th), SOWERs had a great spur-of-the-moment outreach at the Rocky Mountain Regional Rally in Westcliffe, Colorado. Bill & Wendy Houth (#3776) volunteered to work a SOWER booth there for us. There were 45 different camps coming to this Rally from Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. A big shout out to the Houths for their willingness to help get the SOWER Ministry in the limelight. They reported that many brochures were handed out and are expecting great success from their endeavor.
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SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN!
Forty-two couples who worked six or more projects last year were gifted with a set of magnetic signs to be delivered to them in April. Thank you for your commitment to SOWERs and for helping promote our ministry. No greater way to advertise; people see and people ask! Hallelujah!
Floyd Adcock (3748)
Brad Smith (3482)
Alean Arthur (2810)
Promotion & Publicity Committee
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T-Shirts, logo patches, brochures, business cards, decals and magnets can all be ordered through the SOWER Member site, or by contacting the SOWER office!
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Underserved Project Update |
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Have you checked the Underserved Project List lately? The office has put together an updated list of ministries that have received six or fewer SOWER couples in the last 24 months. Check the PLS to see where you can serve or contact the office to get any clarification about these underserved projects.
Updated 1/25/24
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Let's try to shorten up that Underserved Project List! Send in highlights about your favorite project on the UPL along with a couple of pictures to stephanie@rvthereyet.org to help get it OFF the list! |
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Seen recently on Facebook |
Have you stopped by our Facebook Group lately? Please use caution and respect when posting. This is a PRIVATE group (only members can see posts and add posts), but it is still good Facebook etiquette to get permission before you post someone's picture. Thanks!
If you're a member of Facebook but haven't joined the SOWER Group click on the icon to join the family! Just enter your member number in the question, and an Administrator will approve you.
Since the SOWER Facebook group is a ‘private’ group, we try to limit our members to folks who are SOWER members or project hosts, and couples who are interested in joining our ministry.
If you invite other interested folks to join our Facebook group, they will still need to answer the membership question. Thanks!
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Thank you to everyone who has given our SOWER Facebook Page a "Like." We're well over 1600 "likes"! If you haven't already given it your thumbs-up, head over there now! It's a great way to spread the word about our ministry.
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While the SOWER Facebook Group is for sharing SOWER stories (and is something that you join), the SOWER Facebook Page is where the ministry shares information and works to generate interest in our ministry (and is something that you 'like').
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Don't forget to check out your favorite ministries on Facebook. Many of our partner ministry locations have a Facebook page, and it's a great way to stay up-to-date on the places you love to serve! |
Clicking on the Clover above will take you to the Members' Page, the February/March SOWERGRAM, and the latest updates to our Project Listings (PLS)
(updated weekly).
The April/May SOWERGRAM will be on the website starting March 25th.
903-882-8070
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This month there are 150 SOWER couples (or singles) serving at 48 different ministries around the country. Praise God for all the work that's being accomplished! Check the PLS for openings in the months ahead! |
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SOWER Blog Roll
See what other SOWERs are doing around the country!
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Ed & Patty Soltes #1864
Gary & Stephanie Conrad #2509
Bruce & Katie Gay #3659
Terry & Alice Burnett #3071
John & Connie Nicholas #3322
Jim and Cathy Fry #3564
John & Druann Bauer #3521
Conrad & Pam Popp #3652
Burneall & Ann Ekberg #3702
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Dennis & Lorree Johnson #3658
Sondra Smith #3779
Spencer & Lorraine Saints #3574
Mark & Jeanette Sheler #3782
Doug & Laurie Schneider #3704
Dave & Robyn Koppin #3847
Ken & Pebble Williams #3870
Paul & Juanita Alton #2766
Do YOU have a Blog you'd like to share?
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Terry & Donna Mascho (3660)-bottom left, Ken & Brenda Diller (3475)-bottom right, Wes & Cheryl Lapp (3793)-1st step, Debbie & Jim Snyder (3807)-2nd step, Jeannette McMahon (3760)-3rd step, Jay & Laurie Johnson (4053)-top step, Phil McMahon (3760) top right. Photo by Donna Mascho.
Header Photo - Some of the parking at the 2024 SOWER Florida Reunion (held at Florida Youth Baptist Camp (FL-143)).
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Dear Sam and Sally,
At the beginning of each project, we read in the “Welcome SOWERs” that – “Men work six hours per day, four days per week for three consecutive weeks, cooperating with the host’s work schedule. If work is missed, it should be discussed with the GL, and time made up when possible and safe.” Can you give a bit of clarification on that?
Signed,
Just a bit confused
Dear Confused,
Excellent question! Hopefully, we all come to a project with the expectation of being able to fulfill our SOWER commitment without any problems. But life happens (remember that COVID thing?), and there are times when it becomes impossible to complete your working hours within the normal framework. If you become ill during a project, please stay in your rig until you are better. Do not feel obligated to work if you are sick. When you recover, and if there is time before the end of the project, here are some ideas on how to ‘make up your time’.
· You could make up time by taking a shorter lunch, working extra each day, working Fridays, or working during the travel week. You would want to make sure those hours work with the host’s schedule and the GL feels it is safe for you to work alone.
· If appointments are needed, try to schedule them for after working hours or during our long weekend.
While never optimum, you may arrive on a project knowing that you will not be able to work the expected hours/days due to some previous commitments. In that case, you should alert the Group Leader when you first arrive (or contact him before the project begins) about your adjusted schedule. If at all possible, making up that missed time in the ways suggested above would be appropriate.
When our project hosts get word that SOWER volunteers are coming they start planning what work they would like to get done. Many of our partner ministries rely heavily on SOWER assistance, and we always like to fulfill our obligations to them.
"Hear ye the Master's call - Give Him your best!
In Him,
Sam & Sally
Do you have a SOWER etiquette question? Or maybe you'd like some clarification about a policy or rule. Sam and Sally would love to hear from you! Contact them at - samandsally@sowerministry.org.
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To send in a prayer request or praise item-
To contact the office -
903-882-8070
To submit a SOWER story or a photo to the newsletter, send it to
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