22 September 2009

Dear Friends and Family—

As you know, it has been our call and fervent hope that we will someday serve overseas as a family. To that end, we have been pursuing medical education for the last eleven years—and we were both finally finished with our formal training in August 2008! We are very grateful to God for His provision and continued guidance through those wilderness years.

Our hopes and plans are still intact. We have taken full and part-time positions as academic physicians at Penn State in Hershey while we finish up a few important things— paying off the last bit of our school loans and Jay completing his orthopedic and hand surgery board certifications. We also continue to “practice” for the mission field through our involvement as sponsors of the medical student Christian fellowship and as members serving at our local church.

Through the years, we have remained in contact with various missions agencies. In particular, we have been very impressed that our vision and skills line up well with that of CURE International. Our first contact with CURE was in Kenya in 2001 at which time Jay did a medical school rotation at their hospital in Kijabe. Jay had another opportunity in September 2006 to work at their hospital in Honduras as a resident with one of his professors. CURE International is a sending mission agency primarily for physicians doing reconstructive surgery on children in the third world. In certain settings, they have also utilized pediatricians and family practitioners. They have hospitals all over the world—and are still expanding.

After meeting with the CURE director in January, we were encouraged to consider San Pedro Sula, Honduras as a site for our future mission. Jay’s professor Ned Schwentker and his wife Bunny have been serving at this hospital for one year. They have been eager for us to visit as a family for a long time—to consider if this as possibly place to serve as missionaries. Now armed with the time and resources, we are ready to make a scouting trip this October.

We will be in Honduras from October 10-17th with our daughters as well as Bill and Cindy DeMuth. Bill is a general orthopedic surgeon in private practice in Harrisburg—and Cindy is a pediatrician who works in the same inner-city clinic as I do. With their youngest child off to college this fall, they wanted to do a short –term trip to help the Schwentkers—so we made plans to go together. Bill and Jay are looking forward to operating together for a week. Cindy and I are going to be flexible—ready to practice medicine or help in any other useful way. We also have plans to visit potential schools for the girls, specifically investigating what resources would be available for Lillian’s special needs. Abigail’s 6th birthday happens to fall during our trip, so we will also be having a piñata party with the hospital staff on that day.

God has blessed us with financial provisions for the trip, but we are coveting your prayers.

• The political situation in Honduras has been shaky over the last few months, but we are still planning to go as the unrest is not in the area where we will be traveling. Pray for wisdom in the case that the situation changes; we will be flexible to postpone our plans if necessary. Pray for our safety.


• Ned and Bunny will be state-side during our trip due to unforeseen circumstances. Thus, Jay and Bill will be providing some needed surgical help during Ned’s absence. The Honduran chaplains Danny and Ruth will serve as our hosts instead—and we look forward to getting to know them better.


• Pray for the surgical and medical care that we give during this time—for excellence in our practice and good outcomes for the patients. For steady hands, sharp minds, and servants’ hearts.
  
• Pray for our witness as believers. Our medicine and surgery are only the means to the end of sharing Jesus Christ with individuals who do not yet know Him. We also pray that we will have a chance to share as a family with our girls.


• Pray for guidance as we scope out the situation for our family. Pray for opportunities to gather information about schools and housing that will be useful for our planning. And pray for leading about whether this is where God would have us serve in the future.

If you do desire to contribute financially, you can make a donation to CURE International. Any monies received will go toward offsetting the costs of the surgeries performed during our stay.We are grateful for your love and support in so many ways. We thank you in advance for your prayers and concern.

Love, Jay, Pauline, Abigail, and Lillian