Solar Oven Partners

05/23/2026

Check out SOP's upcoming mission trips. If you'd like to live the mission trip experience--and make a positive difference in your life and the lives of others--consider becoming a part of a Solar Oven Partners Volunteer in Mission team.

Here's where we're headed next:
June 22-29 Dominican Republic
July 11-17 Four Corners Native American Ministry, New Mexico
March 2027 Sierra Leone, West Africa (Specific dates yet to be determined)

For more information about any of these mission trips contact SOP Director Randy Harwood at 701-361-2378 or email [email protected].

05/04/2026

Giving Can Be a Gift!

May 10th is Mother's Day. Are you struggling to come up with a gift that best celebrates that special woman in your life? Or perhaps you want to honor or give a memorial to a woman who impacted you in a profound way.

Consider giving a gift to Solar Oven Partners in her name. You will be helping put a solar oven into the hands of a mother in the Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone, or the Navajo Nation. It means she can feed her family without the lung-damaging smoke from charcoal or wood fires. Without the cost of expensive charcoal or propane, she'll have more funds available for her children's school supplies. When trees aren't cut down to produce charcoal or firewood, she'll have a positive impact on the environment.

Giving a gift to Solar Oven Partners truly can be a gift--and a gift that keeps on giving! Give online at https://solarovenpartners.org/donate/

04/10/2026

Look at the great story and video UMNews posted this week about Solar Oven Partners. Noting our start in Haiti, the story hightlights our current partnerships in the Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone and the Four Corners Native American Ministries in Shiprock, NM.

Oven components are fabricated by Dakotas Conference volunteers at workshops in Rapid City, Montrose and Gary, SD. Pastor Erasme Figaro Kelly (Iglesia Evangelica Dominica), Rev. Joe Edward Pormai (The United Methodist Church of Sierra Leone) and Rev. Debra A. Yazzie (Four Corners Native American Ministry-Shiprock) work as ministry site coordinators.

Randy Harwood is the Director of Solar Oven Partners. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐎𝐏@𝐝𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐜.𝐨𝐫𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐀𝐙.

We support this ministry online through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Solar Oven Partners is Advance # 418812. Mail checks to Solar Oven Partners, C/O Dakotas Conference Office, P.O. Box 460,, 1331 University Ave.
Mitchell, SD 57301-0460.

United Methodist Solar Oven Partners promotes renewable energy and improves health in vulnerable communities in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone and the Navajo Nation.

04/03/2026

We're so excited about the Sierra Leone oven building and distribution mission that we're sharing some of new photos now.

Director Randy Harwood and Volunteer in MIssion Paul Hilgedick brought home a cache of pictures and video from their Sierra Leone trip. They be publishing a report here soon. Please stay tuned for more photos, captions and oven reports.

03/27/2026

Thanks for interest and all those hours of potholder making. Please keep the potholders coming.

Our web page went dark for a while last week, the light is on again! Please use this link if you need a potholder pattern:

03/13/2026

Hey, potholder stitchers! We need your creations.

With ovens being built and delivered in Sierra Leone this week and spring and summe trips scheduled, we need lots and lots of potholders sewn by our potholder partners. You know what to do.

03/12/2026

03/12/2026

Randy Harwood reports from Sierra Leone:

Paul Hilgedick (seen here preparing) and I have made it safely to Freetown and will head out on our oven distribution adventure tomorrow. It is good to be back here and see familiar faces. Joe Pormai sends his regards.

We are traveling to the northern part of the country where we have not been before. Joe estimates that we will distribute between 130 and 150 ovens on this trip at our 4 different stops in Kono, Magboruka, Taken and Taiama. Please pray for a safe and successful trip.

Paul and I are returning on March 27th. I will be sending pictures to our Comm Team throughout our trip.

Peace and Blessings,
Randy

03/02/2026

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒: 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟔 - 𝟏𝟐𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟏 - 𝟏𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐎𝐏 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐯. 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚 𝐀. 𝐘𝐚𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐞, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐬.

Consider this your invitation to work with fellow United Methodists in Navajo Country and to experience the fantastic landscapes of the Shiprock, New Mexico area. Stay tuned for details on costs and activities.

01/09/2026

Watch a You Tube interview from some months ago with Randy Harwood, our SOP director, and Luther Krueger, who has been collecting, designing, and promoting solar cookers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA since 2004.

Learn more about SOP You Tube access soon.

Link to https://solarovenpartners.org/ for more information!For more information on solar cooking, link to solarcooking.fandom.comTo join 10K+ solar cooks ar...