Odorifous: John Sowers

Posted by Troy | Filed under Odorifous

A while back I shared some thoughts on Donald Miller’s book To Own a Dragon (recently re-released as Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation). His introspective look at growing up without a father uncovered some startling statistics about fatherlessness in America, and Don set out to do something about it.

Since then he’s founded The Mentoring Project, a non-profit organization responding to the American crisis of fatherlessness by inspiring and equipping faith communities to mentor fatherless boys. Having spent much of my adult life working for (or on behalf of) non-profits, I can tell that this effort is extremely well run and positioned to actually make real change happen. It is focused and the plan of action is clear.

These folks know what they are doing.

At the helm of the organization is John Sowers. He was appointed as President of The Mentoring Project about a year ago and is especially suited for the job. John grew up fatherless himself, and it was a man who entered his life as a mentor to whom John credits much of his character as an adult.

(he also just happened to write his doctoral thesis on the fatherless crisis in America)

“Crisis” may seem like a strong word, but consider the following:

30 million children in America grow up in Fatherless homes.
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
80% of all prison inmates grew up in fatherless homes.
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.

The issue is being addressed on a national level too, as the President’s own fatherless youth has compelled him to create the Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative, an “effort to impact father absence in America through partnerships with fatherhood and family-serving groups and role models around the country.”

I feel like I can’t really give the emphasis to The Mentoring Project that I’d like to via a blog post. Maybe if I type in all caps?

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. PLEASE GET INVOLVED. TELL OTHERS. CONTACT TMP. BECOME A CHURCH PARTNER.

How’s that?

When something is so big and about to get much bigger, sometimes it’s easy to forget there are real human beings behind it. Thanks, John for sharing a little of your human side and thanks to everyone involved with TMP. You are making a difference.

Tell us one of your favorite odors.

I usually don’t think of odor as being a good thing. I think of good “scents.” In my backyard where we grew up were honeysuckle vines… and in the spring you could take the flowers and pull “honey” out of the back of them.

What is it about that particular smell?

The honeysuckles smelled fresh and alive. Spring is ripe with expectation. The winter is over. A new day is come.

What experience makes you feel alive?

Writing. Riding really fast on my bicycle. Singing to God. Laughing and being with my wife.

What fears do you have?

I want my life to count, to make sure that I am doing all that I need to do, to indeed, in the words of Henry David Thoreau: “suck the marrow out of life” by fulfilling the calling that has been given to me.

What have you learned about yourself over the past year?

I am learning a lot about leading, as The Mentoring Project has really forced me to focus, prioritize my time and energy, and stay on target, which is mentoring fatherless boys.

Are you working on anything cool right now?

I actually just finished a book called, Fatherless Generation: Redeeming the Story that Zondervan is releasing in September. It chronicles my story growing up fatherless and the story of our generation. I didn’t realize how much of my heart I put into it until I did a book reading at a church last weekend. I read chapter one, and by the end of it, I was crying and so was most of the church. It is heavy, but in a good way.

Do you find your creative work a spiritual experience? In what way?

Absolutely. This book was born out of the story that was written into my life and it came to fruition through the compassion that God has given me for my generation. The inspiration for writing it came from God, from start to finish. And I think that creative spirituality, that burden or tugging on our hearts from God, demands that we pour our souls into the task. One good model of this is the singer Ray LaMontagne [editorial note: somewhere my wife just swooned], who really performs open-heart surgery on himself every time he sings. He gets to the blood and guts of the thing. That is what people want to see, the deep truth, and be called to deep by it. Soul-less art is cheap and people don’t trust it.

What tunes have you been hooked on lately?

Along with Ray, I have listened to my buddy Josh Garrels a little bit. He wrote a song called “Don’t Wait for Me” that really sticks with me. [Check it out in the playlist]

More The Mentoring Project

Follow on Twitter
“Like” on Facebook
Become a Mentor or Partner Church
John Sowers on Twitter
Donald Miller’s Blog

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Tags: donald miller, interview, the mentoring project

Permalink | July 8th, 2010

3 Responses to “Odorifous: John Sowers”

Devin Says:
July 8th, 2010 at 11:34 am
I really appreciate this article. John and TMP are saying something that desperately needs to be heard. And I’m really looking forward to reading that book but it is not on the mentoring project website. How do I get it?
Troy Says:
July 8th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I did find a copy of John’s book on Amazon, but since he mentioned a fall release I did not link to it because the new edition may be one he’d rather folks check out.
Jason Says:
July 10th, 2010 at 9:40 am
Really enjoyed this! Thanks.