There were a few concerned blog watchers who became worried as to our where-abouts.  We were away for all of last week, with not much chance to be on-line. 

The rest of the time with the Furrow Family Team went great.  They got the walls almost up, which is a big accomplishment in the time they had here.  We send our thanks to all who came and worked so hard! 



After the team left, Jason, his father, and I went on a trip around Honduras.  Our first stop was by Lake Yojoa.  There we met with Chet Thomas, who has been working in Honduras for 35 years now.  What an amazing man!  I have no idea how he manages half the projects he does.  A lot of his work involves agricultural projects and micro-loans all over southern and western Honduras, but it is as varied as running an orphanage, a butterfly museum, and a national park.  We learned a lot of valuable things about working in the country.  He also took us to the orphanage for a full tour.  Anytime we can learn from someone with experience like this, we jump for the chance.  There is no manual on how to start a children’s home here, so everything is left up to experience — basically what someone has learned the hard way, whether you or someone who’s been here longer than you.

Then we drove over to Copan Ruinas, home to fabulous Mayan ruins, a beautiful little town, and lots of coffee plantations.  This is one of our favorite get-away spots.  We hiked the ruins, relaxed a bit, and talked coffee with a grower there.  We’ve started a project is to sell coffee as a fundraiser for Give Hope 2 Kids, as another way to work towards self-sustainability.  It was really fun visiting a company there that showed us the process for coffee from off the plant to roasted and in your cup.

Then we drove north to Omoa for a day on the beach.  That was nice.

For our weekend we dropped Jason’s Dad off at the airport in San Pedro Sula, drove our pick-up back to La Ceiba while the work truck had it’s oil changed, slept, rode the bus back to San Pedro, picked up the work truck, and drove home.  That was 11 hours on the road between the two days (and you don’t drive for relaxation in Honduras).  Anyways, we’re really excited to have our pick-up back home with its brand new engine.

Now we’re settling in for the work week.  One goal Jason is working on this week is getting electricity to the property.  I am the substitute English and Art teacher for two weeks at Instituto el Rey, so that is keeping me busy.  Plus there are all the normal things to work on.  We will be busy as always.

Well, when you work in another country you often learn that things don’t always run smoothly.  The time building the house has really gone well and everyone has enjoyed themselves, but we’ve had the hiccups too.

We lost half of Tuesday to rain.  Wednesday the group worked in the rain a bit, while I (Sarah), my Mom, and my Aunt Jean waited for four hours for a bus that never came, and we never got our load of blocks.  Thursday there was a strike in La Ceiba which kept the blocks delayed another day.  That however is just life here.  You learn to go with the flow.  Here people aren’t too worried about today because whatever you were going to do today, you can do tomorrow. 

It’s been really great to have family here on this trip.  I personally had never seen so many Furrows in one place, being that I have yet to go to a family reunion.  It’s been nice for me to get to know the individuals and the family as a whole (you should hear the Furrows sing).  Jason has really appreciated having more time with his cousins than a couple hours a year.  Most importantly for both of us it has been a great honor to have our family be a part of our ministry.  Thanks you guys!

Well today we were suprised by rain.  This is supposed to be the “Summer” season, when we get very little rain, but around noon it started to rain, and 10 hours later, it is still going.  Because of the rain we were able to enjoy some other suprises as well.  As school let out across the street from our house, Ruby and Roxana came by to say hi and pick up a bag of food.  We were able to spend some time with them, and because we weren’t able to work at the property, we invited them all over for dinner.  It was a great time having them meet so many of my relatives.  Malvin did a few traditional Native American dances, and the girls loved it. 

Before it started raining at noon, we were able to finish the back wall of the house.  In the pictures above you see Harold and Ralph wrapping up the back wall of the house.  The next picture is my dad (Paul Furrow) and my cousin (Jerry Wayne Hawks) working on some of the scaffolding we are making to help the block-layers.  The final picture is Josh Cumming helping everyone get into the truck for our trip up to the job site.

 I want to share a very personal thought with you and ask for your prayer.  Tonight as we dropped off the girls at their house, I was struck by the fact that these six little girls are going back to spend the night all by themselves.  It was cold (for the tropics) and raining, and they didn’t have anyone to protect them or take care of them.  Please pray that God helps us to provide a place for them to be safe and secure and loved.