Zachariah Schar (left), Alex Hess, Terry Bocka, Keith Geiser, Ryan Hess, Drew Hess, Linda Geiser, Janet Bocka, Gavin Schar and Traci Schar work on sending out sponsorship letters requesting donations for their day of service at Wooster, Ohio, resident Betty Zehe’s home on Saturday. From landscaping to construction the group will be serving Zehe, a widow, and her family while using donations collected to serve orphans. (Thomas Doohan photo)
Darrin and Heidi Hess, members of Grace Church, a Grace Brethren congregation in Wooster, Ohio (Bob Fetterhoff, pastor) were recently featured in the Wooster, Ohio, Daily Record. They told the story of their community ministry — S.O.W.N. Together ministry. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
WOOSTER-BASED SERVICE MINISTRY, S.O.W.N. TOGETHER, REACHING OUT TO WIDOWS, ORPHANS
WOOSTER — Thirty volunteers from churches in the Wayne County area will be picking up shovels and hammers and donning gloves and boots on Saturday as they converge on Wooster resident Betty Zehe’s home.
The volunteers will be there as part of the S.O.W.N Together ministry, which stands for Serving Orphans’ & Widows’ Needs Together.
Darrin Hess, who started the group with his wife, Heidi, said Zehe’s husband, Christopher, was killed in February in a car accident involving a drunk driver. Hess said the S.O.W.N. Together group will be doing any kind of home maintenance jobs she might have trouble getting done by herself as she raises three children.
He listed landscaping as one of the major jobs the group will be undertaking. However, this home is just the first of many service days like this to come as the group tries to carry out its mission — to serve widows and children.
It all started, Hess said, due to his and his wife’s personal experience with adoption. While the couple have three boys of their own, he said they felt they were being called by the Lord to adopt a child from Haiti.
“International adoptions are very expensive,” Hess said, adding there is a lot of paperwork that is involved in the process as well.
With costs ranging from $30,000-$35,000, he said he and his wife started saving money and fundraising in order to make the international adoption affordable. The money, Hess said, came in quickly.
“We were just so blown away with God’s faithfulness,” he said.
Not only did they get enough funds for their adoption, he said they had extra funds and that prompted the couple to find other ways to use the money. He said they wanted to take God’s generosity and “pay it forward.”
Click here to read the complete article.
