First Day!

We have safely arrived in San Pedro Sula-- travels were smooth. We landed around 2pm (we are two hours behind eastern standard time). Ruth Castro (executive director of CURE Honduras) and Alejandro (short-term trip coordinator) picked us up in the shiny new CURE van. Not a hint of political unrest.

The hospital compound is a short 15 minute drive from the airport. Waiting for us there were two medical students (Gary from Penn State and Jared from Vanderbilt), Cindy and Bill DeMuth (pediatrician and orthopedic surgeon from Hershey), Sally Green (anethesiologist from Atlanta), and Warren Terry (pediatric orthopedic surgeon whom I actually met in Kijabe, Kenya in 1997!). We all had lunch of rice, tortillas, chicken stew with corn, peas, and potatoes, pico de gallo, and watermelon-- and then had a briefing about the week ahead.

After lunch, Ruth took some of us downtown to do some grocery shopping. San Pedro Sula is the economic center of the country-- very cosmopolitan. Lots of Western chain restaurants-- and I

counted four Chinese restaurants. The city is nestled at the base of forrested hills-- with a Coca-cola sign on the mountainside. There is a cook who will prepare our lunches and dinners, so we were only shopping for snacks and for the fun of it all.

It was really great to see the city-- especially tonight with all the excitement from a World Cup qualifying soccer game in San Pedro Sula between the US and Honduras.

We are staying within the hospital compound which is protected by a high stone wall with barbed wire and two armed guards who are here night and day. Upstairs from the clinic and hospital, there is a large living area for short and long term missionaries. There is a large room with a big TV with cable, some exercise equipment, and a large table.

Two parrots who speak Spanish are also in residence in the big room. Here are the girls with med student Gary. The girls are so pleased to have lots of grown-ups with whom to play.

Coming off the big room are five suites of various sizes-- each with beds and bathrooms. The Bridgeman family room has five bunkbeds, two showers, two toilets, and two sinks. Lots of room for us to spread out. Our girls were ecstatic with the living arrangements. But, although they were immediately up the ladders and sitting on the top bunks, they are banned from being up there without grown-up supervision.

There is a small kitchen as well where we will take our breakfasts. This is Bill and Cindy and Ruth.

We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner and had dinner all together as a team. The girls tooks their showers and fell asleep soon afterward.

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Tomorrow morning there are 30 patients coming to the clinic to be evaluated for surgery this week. Jay, Bill, and Warren will make the surgery schedule for the week according to what they see in clinic. The girls and I will visit with patients and play while they wait for their appointments.

We are very excited about our week here-- and the girls are having a great time already.

Ready to Go!

We borrowed a book from the library about Honduras. Abigail enjoyed reading about the country, the people, and the food-- and seeing photos. She took the book to school on Thursday to share with her class. And now she's very excited to go. She's packing her backpack as we speak.






We've packed four large suitcases, and we're ready to drive to DC tonight so we can catch an early Saturday morning flight to San Pedro Sula (via Miami) that will arrive at 2pm.

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