Have RV, Will Serve: SOWERS for the Kingdom
The key to partners in ministry
By Sandy Anderson, Missionary, American Indian Field with Rachel Elwood, Support Staff
April-June 2015
It’s 8:00 a.m. on a crisp December morning on the Southwest Indian Ministries Center campus in Peoria, Arizona, and Jerry and Tina shut the door to their RV and head to their worksite. Today, they’re tackling a new coat of paint on one of the buildings, and later, they’ll help prep a space for an open house for the local community.
Jerry and Tina are SOWERS—Servants On Wheels Ever Ready to Serve. These men and women are retired or semi-retired and travel around North America in RVs, helping Christian ministries, churches, schools, and camps with various work projects. Jerry is the current president of SOWERS. In the 11 years they have served with the organization, they have worked on approximately 50 projects.
“It blesses our hearts to hear how much money is saved by ministries when volunteers are able to care for much of the repairs and maintenance,” Tina said. “Knowing we’re making a difference makes it all worthwhile.”
SOWERS do a variety of things depending on their skills and the needs of each project. They help with painting, office work, sewing, teaching, tutoring, cooking, and lots and lots of maintenance, repair, and construction projects.
Most projects are a three-week assignment, and SOWERS have set work hours when they volunteer. In return, they are given free RV hook-ups for four weeks, with the last week to allow volunteers to sightsee or to rest and relax. Volunteers choose how many projects per year they do.
SOWERS have been volunteering at SIMC for many years and have greatly helped maintain the campus. We couldn’t reach out to Native Americans as effectively if we didn’t have these wonderful volunteers to help us out.
According to the team who stayed during December 2014, it’s so much better than sitting at home in retirement! One lady shared, “Don’t be afraid to try! Just go ahead and do it. You are able to travel and help out. There is a great need for more people to get involved and many ministries that need the help!”
MORE: Do you like traveling around in your RV? Want to do some good while you’re seeing the country? Go to www.sowerministry.org for more information about how you can join the SOWERS team.
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