Welcome! Thank you for checking out our first post. We are so excited to share this journey with you. Before getting married, Alejandra and I both looked for ways to help others. One of the reasons we felt called to get married is that we had a similar priority: desiring to love and serve others well. Throughout our marriage, we have been able to help others in a variety of ways.
God has opened doors to allow us to better serve and love others through Sembrando Esperanza. We did not need a nonprofit organization to help others; however, we can now do more than before! We did not believe we would open a nonprofit any time soon, but God had other plans. In September of this year, 2021, we received a letter from the IRS stating that we are a verified nonprofit! Now, friends and family can support in ways that they were not able to before.
What is Sembrando Esperanza and its mission?
Sembrando Esperanza translates to sowing hope in English. Alejandra came up with the name, and it is so fitting. My home church in Iowa is named New Hope. We currently live near a town called La Esperanza (Esperazna means Hope). Sembrando Esperanza, or SE for short, is all about developing the whole person: their mind, body, and heart. SE's mission is to provide educational resources to those who would otherwise not have access.
Activities and projects will vary, but all have the same purpose: to develop the whole person. These can look like tutoring and mentoring opportunities for students, hosting workshops and training for students and adults, and providing resources to local teachers. We also have a fund specifically to help those in emergencies, such as delivering groceries or medicine for families who lost their sole-wage earner to those going through severe illnesses.
All of what we do through SE is through a Kingdom Mindset. We seek to love and serve others in such a way that they see God's love reflected in them. We believe that the most effective way to reach others, show, and teach the Gospel, is through relationships. The relationships built through all that we do serve as the doorway to share the Gospel authentically.
It is our hope and prayer that you join us in this new journey. Whether through prayer, reaching out and asking how we are doing, visiting us here in Honduras or when we visit the States, or financially, we want you to be a part of what we do. Sembrando Esperanza is not an "Austin and Ale thing." Sembrando Esperanza is God's. As Solomon writes in Psalm 127 verse 1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain…." We want to be obedient and faithful to what God has put before us. We would love to have you along the ride, both to encourage and to hold us accountable!
For more information and to stay up to date, subscribe to our newsletter! You can subscribe by emailing office@sow-hope.org or by going to our website https://sow-hope.org.
Written by Austin Hudson