April 17, 2000
Volunteers needed to build 50 homes in Honduras
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___Texas Baptist volunteers are needed to build 50 homes in Honduras between mid-May and the end of the year.
___The 25 volunteer crews will be part of the next phase of ongoing Texas Baptist ministry in the Central American nation, according to Jim Furgerson, executive director-treasurer of Texas Baptist Men.
___Baptists in Texas provided immediate disaster relief for the people of Honduras after Hurricane Mitch hit in October 1998. Volunteers delivered medicine, food and water for people displaced by the storm that killed 11,000 and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
___Last year, 306 Texas Baptist Men built 106 homes in the San Pedro Sula, El Progresso and Port of Cortez areas of Honduras.
___"Living in those sturdy block homes gives the people a sense of security and pride they've never known before," Furgerson said.
___About 150 volunteers will be needed over the next six months to build two homes per week in Llanga. Currently, area residents who lost their homes in the hurricane live in partitioned barn-like structures, with each family occupying a 10-foot stall.
___Total cost for the one-week missions experience is $700 per person. For more information, call (214) 828-5318.
___Volunteers will live and work among the people of Honduras in often rugged conditions, according to Dick Talley, logistics coordinator for the project.
___"We're there to build relationships in Jesus' name. Out of that, homes also will be built. But the relationships come first," Talley said.
___Talley and Furgerson traveled to Honduras recently to plan the project with the Honduras Baptists and Southern Baptist International Mission Board representatives.
___When they visited the area where Texans built houses last year, they met a woman standing outside her new home. Once she learned who the men were, she began sobbing.
___Seeking to comfort her, Furgerson said, "I'm so glad we could help you. I'm so glad you have a new home."
___"Oh," she said, "I have much more than that. A man named Finley (Brian Finley of Kerrville) introduced me to Jesus. Now I have a new life."
___
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