saw a great need for young men to be taught a better way
to provide for their families. Their God-given vision was a
boarding school for boys. By teaching the boys farming and
a good work ethic, they were immediately introducing yet
another path to cultural change.
They purchased 800 acres of land, with only one acre
cleared. Putting their hand to the plow, they never looked
back, but began the boys farm school called, El Sembrador,
which means “the sower.”
The boys attended school half the day and worked the
farm half the day. In exchange for working on the farm, boys
received room, board, and their education. They learned
about the love of Jesus, and since it was a boarding school,
they had the opportunity to watch a Christian family in
action.
So, what happened? Jesus began using this interactive
Christian education to do a work in the hearts and minds
of those boys. As they grew up and went out into the
Honduran culture, things began to change. For sixty-two
years now, El Sembrador has been educating in Honduras
with the Gospel. It has expanded to a 2,000-acre farm, with
over 7,000 boys having gone through the program. Don and
Twana Hawk have gone on to their eternal reward, but their
children carry on the work with World Gospel Mission. El
Sembrador is now led by qualified Hondurans. Their son,
David, is now the Country Director for WGM in Honduras.
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The following dialogue with David Hawk shares his
story of how our God is unlimited, all-powerful, and
culture changing, and education is a powerful tool He uses
to do the changing.
Q: What were some of the ways you saw the light of the
Gospel penetrating the culture?
A: Probably one of the best ways to see the light of the Gospel
penetrating the culture in Honduras was observing how the
students who left El Sembrador impacted their families
and communities. Many times they were leaders in their
churches and certainly influenced their families. In some
cases, they went on to further their education. It is neat
to see how some of those graduates have now duplicated
ministries that are somewhat like El Sembrador. We have
examples of orphanages, street kids’ ministries, ministries
within churches, and other ministries that have been initi-
ated as a result of the experiences young people had in their
early years at El Sembrador.
It’s also unique to see how people recognize that it is the
Gospel that sets El Sembrador apart from other institutions
of help in Honduras. On one occasion, the President of
Honduras’ wife was asked why other organizations couldn’t
do what we do at El Sembrador. Her response was that the
difference is they do it with love, and you don’t get that same
response from government institutions.