Honduras recap

We had another great trip serving in Honduras. We are just happy to use our skills and talents to help others. Bryan served in the clinic at Loma de Luz 3 days a week and also did overnight call for any emergencies that came in while he was trying to sleep. I had the opportunity to help out the IT missionary, Dave Fields, with a few projects, some of which I am still completing. I spent most of my time updating the charge sheet that is used for every clinic visit. I met with lots of different people at the clinic to get their changes and input. I completed a few revisions of the Costas de Clinica form with some help from Bryan too. By the time we left, they had an updated version that will be ready to use soon.

My highlights from the trip are sharing meals with friends/missionaries, serving at the dump in the city and watching my boys make friends with kids in Honduras. We forgot to take any pictures of our meals and the people that we shared the table. I will try to do better at this next time. Those are truly the memories I cherish. Helping with Lisa Bradley's ministry at the dump in the nearest large city, La Ceiba, is always a favorite activity of mine. We walked around and checked in with a variety of families in need of help. Then we served a meal to the kids including bread, beans, rice and milk. There is a feeding program that provides a meal twice a week to the kids who live near the dump. Even though it is only twice a week, it is decreasing the malnutrition seen there. I loved watching the boys play with missionary kids and Honduran kids. We got a few pictures of the boys playing and I hope that their new friends will still be remembered the next time we travel to Honduras.

I love that Jaden and Clay wanted to share about Honduras with their classes at school. They each took in a DVD of pictures and video clips, showed a few toys they bought in Honduras and shared some Honduran candy. This was a great opportunity for them to talk about what they do in Honduras and why we go there. Jaden started to get this a little more just recently. He came home and explained to me what dad did in Honduras and how he showed love by playing with the foster kids. I loved his explanation of this. I really hope and pray that he wants to help others because of our example as parents.

Here is a link to our pictures. Enjoy!

A few of my favorite memories...
Here the boys are playing Skip-bo with Matthew (visiting medical student) and Tammy. They played many games together during our 2 weeks. We also shared a few meals around this table.

Below is a picture near the entrance to the dump. Lots of garbage around and the houses are made mostly of found materials.

Here the boys are playing soccer with 3 of the foster boys. I love the goal made with wooden posts and often the Hondurans play barefoot. Two of my nephews (3 and 5 years old) donated some of their money for us to buy 2 soccer balls that we left with the foster kids.

Bryan's summary of Honduras

Honduras is a beautiful country filled with mountains, jungles, monkeys, toucans and friendly Honduran people.  It is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and has all the things that you would expect for a country struggling in this way.  The crime rate is through the roof, roads are often not repaired or just gravel, electricity goes in and out often, cellular reception is hit or miss, the teachers are often on strike because the government doesn’t pay them, many children don’t go to school past the 6th grade, if at all, and there are limited job prospects.

There are remote areas that still have mud huts with thatched roofs, no clean drinking water and people who don’t know or understand that bacteria from water, plants or other sick people cause disease.  The need is great and that is exactly why God placed a hospital called Loma de Luz in one of those remote areas off the northern coast of Honduras.  My wife, Raquel, my 8 year old son, Jaden, my 6 year old son, Clay and I try to travel down there every year to help the missionaries serve the people in Honduras, supply them with resources, and bring them encouragement that what they are doing is making a difference for the people they serve and for God’s kingdom.

This year was another great adventure.  The adventure started out a little rough because when we arrived at the airport to check our baggage at 3:30 AM, and found out Clay’s passport expired in 87 days and Honduras requires 90 days.  Too bad they didn’t tell us that when I put the passport information in when we bought the tickets or even when I put it in again when I checked in online the day before.  Oh well, we loaded all the supplies back up and the next day we got an emergency passport and headed off to Honduras.  When we arrived we met our driver that took us from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba, got some groceries and headed on the dirt road out to the hospital.  It was a pleasant surprise to find that all the rivers to get there now have bridges so we didn’t have to drive the truck through the rivers. 

Raquel was her usual friendly, hospitable, and computer-savvy self.  She had tons of missionaries over to our place, treated them all to delicious home cooked meals, and gave encouragement to all the amazing missionaries working at Loma de Luz. She also helped with a lot of IT projects on the computer including making a new form for ordering/billing for the entire hospital and updating the internal hospital website.

Jaden and Clay played with the Honduran kids and befriended three foster boys from the Children’s Center named Luis, Manuel and Ever. It is great to see Jaden and Clay share their toys with the boys and love them so much while we are there.

The day after we arrived I jumped into work at the clinic.  I saw the normal patients with high blood pressure, headaches, diabetes, arthritis, abdominal pain, diarrhea, skin infections, and broken bones.  We have basic labs, an EKG machine, an x-ray machine and even a new ultrasound machine.  I fix the things I can, educate the patients in a way they can understand, and pray with some of the patients when I am prompted. All of the patients meet with a pastor after we are done and the whole community knows this place is all about showing God’s love to them as we follow Jesus. One major difference from here is that Honduran culture does not separate the physical from the spiritual. You can talk about both aspects together. Everyone there knows they affect each other and are both important.

I also had medical mystery patients including a man who had his skin peeling off for the last 3 months all over his body (likely autoimmune or some strange bug bite according to a dermatologist in the US), a pregnant woman with abdominal pain and jaundice that was likely from a common bile duct stone, and a lady with atypical chest pain.  The lady with the chest pain, we will call her Maria, was 62 years old and had a left sided chest pain that sounded like reflux or arthritis in the joints of the chest when she first described it.  Her EKG was normal and we did not have anyone to do an ECHO or a treadmill stress test. I was going to let her go home with more reflux medicine and Tylenol. This was her 3^rd time to the clinic for this and she was scared about the pain. We prayed about it and while praying I got, or was given, the idea to try to do a stress test. I thought this would be negative and I could give her more reassurance. I had her walk down to the gate and back up the large hill as fast as she could and I asked our Honduran tech, Tomas, to do another EKG right after she came back when her heart was still racing. When she got back she had all her chest pain and said she felt like she was going to die. Tomas strapped on the EKG and sure enough there were new large ST depressions in the lateral leads on the EKG suggesting this pain really was from blocked arteries in her heart. After a few minutes the chest pain went away and she started to feel better. We got her started on all the right heart medications, blood pressure medications and cholesterol medications this time and I am hopeful we can treat this medically now that we know what it is.  After treating her I was thinking back to when I was taking time to pray with her.  It struck me how prayer not only gives us a chance to talk to God, but it also makes us take a moment and let him talk back to us.  I am so grateful that I have a God who cares so much about an elderly lady on the remote coast of Honduras that he makes me change my mind and come up with a new way to get the test she really needed.  I love being a part of God’s work! 

I also had the chance to take some great pictures of a toucan and monkeys on this trip! This was my first time capturing a toucan picture.

Bryan

Home from Honduras

We are home but getting home injured my attitude. Yesterday morning I had a bad attitude and a negative perspective that lasted all day. I'd like to think it was justified but really it wasn't. We left our hotel at 4:45am to arrive 2 hours before our flight, so I was tired which was a bad start. On the up side we were ready to be going home. We had a great time serving and helping in Honduras but were spent and ready to get back to our routine of life.

At the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, I requested bag tags and had to wait. I wasn't sure the attendant heard my request or cared about it but I knew it was important because they have tagged our bags wrong on past flights. After taking her time she got me tags for me to fill out. Then she was ready to check our bags but there weren't tags on them yet so we were already at risk of someone taking them before they were ready. I had the first one tagged and the luggage handler grabbed the bag. I gave the workers a frustrated look because it wasn't tagged with the airline bar code yet. I told Bryan to not let them take the bags until they were tagged. He helped. After the bar code tags were all printed, the same female attendant went to tag our bags and grabbed the wrong bag behind her. I let out a frustrated sigh and rolled my eyes. I corrected her and was thankful that we chose to stand there and watch. Our bags would have been tagged wrong again. She didn't even care that she almost tagged the wrong bag. It seems as though they don't care if they lose anyone's luggage. They need better customer service in Honduras and respect for people's stuff.

I know I overreacted but my day was already headed in the wrong direction. Our ticket had the wrong gate number on it so we waited in the wrong boarding line to get on our plane. Thankfully our plane was still boarding but it is so frustrating to not have any signs telling you which gate is going where. Then while waiting nicely in line we were rudely told to wait in a straight line "like this!" which we were already doing. I wanted to respond with, "Americans know how to wait in lines," implying Hondurans are the ones that need to work that. I am glad I bit my tongue but the thought was already released in my head. I needed to start letting stuff go but instead of doing that, I just felt like I was ready to be back in the U.S. even more.

My attitude was poor and I didn't change it. I can make excuses of being tired, exhausted, spent from working hard for 2 weeks but in the end I am a messed up person who makes bad choices. People may think highly of the work our family does in Honduras but we are no better than anyone else. We still screw up and are rude to people and say things we regret. I know deeply that I need God's forgiveness. He is the only one that can refresh and renew me. I thank Him often for his grace and his many many chances at trying to live a life that is full of love.

I am so happy to be home, more than I can ever remember in the past. I needed the comforts of home today. My boys needed the comfort of routine. I needed rest and sleep and a break from a few projects.

Our work in Honduras was worth the extra effort but it truly was extra effort at times. We love investing in people there. We enjoy helping out the missionaries and making new friendships with Hondurans. We gave of our time and efforts and used our talents. We will do it again and again. We will go back next year. But right now I am appreciating life in my home in Bloomington.

Honduran friends

Today we finally made it to the beach for the first time and we leave Honduras in 2 days. I am not sure we will make it to the beach again before we leave which is sad. Our time is going by so fast and there is always more we want to enjoy here.

My two boys wanted some friends to come with us, particularly one boy, Louise. He lives at the Sanctuary House Children's Center near the hospital. The McKenzie family are the Scottish missionaries that are the founders and directors of the Children's Center and have some of the biggest hearts around. They are truly inspirational people. We ended up having 3 boys come with us to the beach. Angel, Ever and Louise were able to join us in walking through the sand, jumping waves, fighting over floaties, swinging on vines and lots of laughter. After we had enough sun and suspected a sunburn coming (and it did later), we began heading back and decided to invite the boys over to our place for some playing. We stopped by the house to get permission and ended up with a new threesome of boys, Manuel, Ever and Louise. I knew that Bryan was on-call for the hospital and I needed to get some food ready for our potluck dinner soon at the Thursday night Fellowship with all the missionaries. I was hoping that Bryan didn't get called in and that the 5 boys could play nicely together with little interaction from me if Bryan had to leave. I was a little concerned about taking on this endeavor of 5 boys for the afternoon but hoped that it would work out for the best. All 5 of the boys were happy to extend their time together.

Bryan did not get called in for any emergencies and the 5 boys turned into 6 + 3 grown boys. I think all the boys had fun. There were lots of snacks and jugo (juice) consumed and there was lots of running. I checked in on them once in awhile as I was preparing food and saw them playing soccer, bean bag toss, tag and some other running game with teams. They all had a blast together. Each of them helped me carry food over to the chapel. This was a new experience for at least 2 of them to get to be part of the Missionary Fellowship on Thursday night. I knew that the McKenzie family was planning to meet us there and they would take the boys home that night. Everything couldn't have went smoother. The 5+ boys even sat through singing, a short sermon and prayer time. I was very proud of them despite my 2 boys asking "How much longer?" about 100 times.

I love that Jaden and Clay always seem to make friends when we come to Honduras. In the past, the friends were usually missionary kids, but this time the friends they will remember will be Honduran. I love that they found a connection with some boys that have very different lives than we live in Minnesota.

Wonderful Easter in Honduras

 We had one of the best Easter's ever and it was in Honduras. I wasn't sure how much it would feel like Easter because of being in another country and not knowing if any traditions would still be celebrated. Things all came together at the last minute. I brought down a few toys to hide for the boys to find in their Easter baskets (bags) hiding around our temporary housing. They had a great time searching for them and eventually found them tied to a tree and buried in a bush. Then we were off to church with the missionary families. Bryan was on call in the hospital/ER and was tending to people off and on all day but was able to enjoy church with our family. They had a guest speaker who is here with a mission group from Tennessee and he told a very powerful story relating to Jesus' scars that remind us of his sacrifice for us. The missionaries have a tradition here of putting flowers on a woven cross as a symbol of the life that is found from the cross of Jesus. Everyone enjoyed doing this and seeing the beautiful transformation of the brown cross to one full of life and color.

 After church we shared a meal with our sponsor family, Rimas and Abby Miknaitis and their 2 kids. I prepared au gratin potatoes and ham and they were delicious. I will definitely be making them again in the U.S. I have a tradition of making carrot cake for Easter. I love it but eat too much of it if I make it more often. The carrot cake was an effort of love by many people. It is not easy to get all of the ingredients or items necessary to make a cake here so many people came together to make this happen. I had most of the ingredients but got cream cheese and powdered sugar from the Tumlison family. I needed additional powdered sugar which I got from the visiting Woodley family. I also didn't have a hand mixer which I borrowed from another neighbor family. I eventually found two round cake pans (with Bryan's help) after borrowing one from that neighbor. I was happy to share the cake with all of the people that helped. There was more than enough cake to go around and I think everyone enjoyed the reward for their contribution.

 

After lunch 5 of the families here had planned an Easter egg hunt for our kids. There were 10 kids and after adding up everyone's contributions we had 130 stuffed plastic eggs. This made for quite a nice egg hunt. The kids all had a blast finding eggs and enjoying the treats and toys after opening them. Then in the evening, our friends the Tumlisons invited everyone over for a bonfire. This was a nice treat because the temperature was not too hot to enjoy it. We sat around and went through the Resurrection Eggs and talked about the Easter story with the kids. There was also some singing around the fire and Jaden kept requesting more songs although he didn't know any of the words to sing along. We had an amazing day filled with fun and friends, celebrating a holiday that means so much to us.

  

daily life in Honduras

Here is our life in pictures and a little description of the common things in our lives over the last few days at Loma de Luz, near Balfate, Colon, Honduras.

Lots of time for the boys to sit and play in the hammocks. This is their favorite activity. A close second is Uno or Skip-bo card games.

 There has been lots of time for soccer with other kids.

 Much time is spent in our little apartment. Here is our family bedroom with the much requested fan. The temperatures this time have been much more mild in the mid 70's and 80's.

Here is our kitchen and dining room and main living space. You can see our small Honduran fridge. Our food in bags and containers on the counter to protect from bugs, mice and gecko poop.

 The essential bathroom in our apartment. Crosses are found here in unusual places but why not put one in the shower. It is a good place to think about the cross. More time than is wanted is spent on the toilet right now. The ever present garbage can by the toilet, required for disposal of all toilet paper. Reminds me how much I appreciate our sewer system in the U.S.

  Bryan took this amazing picture of a toucan right beside our apartment. There is lots of wildlife nearby. We have seen a few toucans this trip but have only gotten to hear the monkeys from a distance so far.

 This is one of the general living spaces which comes in very handy for some active boys. Today the soccer ball was taken away after breaking a ceiling fan and will not be returning to this room.

 We have been doing lots of walking...to the Children's Center, to the Bilingual School and even once to the pool. We have avoided the beaches nearby so far but will make a trip there soon. The beaches here get busy during Semana Santa or Holy Week before Easter. This week will be calmer at the beach and I am sure we will visit a few times.

back in Honduras

We arrived in Honduras 2 days later than our original plans but were happy to make finally make it here! We   were picked up by a van taxi driver to take us to the hospital and were pleasantly surprised by his large van and all of the space we had despite our 16 pieces of luggage. We drove through some heavy downpours. There were many flooded houses along the roadway and lots of water on the road. We weren't sure if we were going to make it to the hospital. Our driver lived in the city and at the last minute decided he didn't want to drive us all the way. We thought we might have to stay in a hotel in the nearby city (1.5 hours away from the hospital) when our host missionary, Dr. Abby, was able to work out a ride for us with another missionary family. The rain had lessened by this point and there are now bridges over all the rivers that we used to have to drive through to get to the hospital. It was quite an uneventful drive with enjoyable conversation.

Since arriving last night, Bryan got to work in the clinic today. I took a walk with the boys and visited the Children's Home and reconnected with some missionary friends. We made our first dinner meal tonight and shared it with new friends.

I am happy to be in Honduras. But I am also challenged by lots of little things...the bugs, dirt, lack of lighting, bleaching fruits and veggies, itching skin (from mosquito bites) but the majority of me is enjoying our life here. The boys are happy and playing and fighting. Just living into their normal routine with each other. I love seeing them enjoy being here. They were so excited when we arrived to the staff housing building (our hotel) that they ran inside and immediately checked out all of the common spaces. I got to enjoy their happy laughter and excitement in exploration of our new home for the next 12 days while we unpacked our bags.

Donation Blessing

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to many friends and family that donated to our Honduras trip. We are so encouraged by you and that you are choosing to put your money toward something that we care deeply about. Bryan and I have been talking and praying about what we should do with all of the donation money. In the past we have used it to cover our expenses for airfare, housing and food and used some of it to bless the missionaries and hospital with requested items. This time around we really want the money to go to Loma de Luz (the place where we serve) and meet a larger request for them. We are not sure what that larger item(s) will be yet. One idea is to purchase a refrigerator for staff housing and temporary guest housing. Here is the short list of requested items that are in consideration for purchasing while we are in Honduras.
     - medium sized chest freezer for storing chicken & goat meat raised at the farm, 15-20 cu. ft.
     - 2 dorm size fridges
     - 5 new or newer refrigerators
     - 2 new or newer stoves/ovens

If you are interested in donating to a great cause and supporting the work we do alongside many other missionaries, you can go here to donate to us through World Medical Mission/Samaritan's Purse. You need to enter "Jarabek" in the text box labeled Find Dr/Medical Professional. We will be notified of your donation and add it to the group purchase. Thank you so much for your support!

If you want to see more of Loma de Luz, here are 3 of the best videos:
Loma de Luz with the founder, created by Samaritan's Purse
Children's Center
Loma de Luz Hospital with a few of the missionaries

Minneapolis layover to Honduras

We should be on our way in an airplane to Honduras right now, but instead we are having a "layover" in our house. We got somewhere between 4 and 6 hours of sleep last night to leave our house at 3am this morning. We headed to the airport for a 5:15am flight to Houston and then were to catch our connecting flight to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. All the details were set. We had a ride from the airport to Hospital Loma de Luz and our groceries were being purchased today. All of that changed at around 3:50am when we were at the computer kiosk to check-in to our flight. A United airlines agent helped scan our passports and a warning came up when Clay's passport was scanned in the computer. Travel not permitted for Clay Jarabek. Ugh! Enter sinking feeling in gut. What did we do? What did we miss?

The agent kindly explained that Clay's passport was about to expire...in 87 days and he can not travel to Honduras unless he has 90 days until his passport expires. My first reaction was that Bryan and Jaden should just go and Clay and I can get this fixed and meet them there to save us some money. Then Bryan responded that we will all go together. It is safer that way. Clay burst into tears. He thought we may leave him. I comforted him. Bryan got a little upset but was still relatively calm for the average person. He talked and investigated and talked some more. Was there any way to fix this or get around this? No. We would have to get his passport extended or get a new passport for him and rebook our tickets.

We worked with 2 kind-hearted, gracious ticket agents at United airlines. They were calm when Bryan did not want to be calm. They understood what we were going to do in Honduras and that we were carrying a lot medical supplies with us. One agent kept referring to Bryan as "doctor." The other agent willingly rebooked our tickets and did not charge us change fees or the additional cost of the new flight times! We believe God is always with us and sometimes He works things out to make our lives easier.

Today we will be watching more college basketball and trying to enjoy our somewhat relaxing day. The boys are enjoying some additional computer time today. Clay will be getting new passport photos today too. So our new plans include a trip to to the passport office in Minneapolis on Monday morning. Too bad they are closed on Sundays but at least this does not require a trip to Chicago any more. Then we are off to Houston on Monday afternoon. We will stay in a hotel near the airport and then will be on our way to Honduras on Tuesday morning, March 26th. Everything for us in Honduras will start 2 days later than planned but we are still going and I'm sure it will still be an unforgettable trip.

My arms have gotten quite the workout in the last 8 hours. I hauled all of our bags inside the airport (with some help from 2 amazing boys) while Bryan parked our car. Then we moved them back out to our car as we left the airport. Here is our total luggage count...not a record but still quite a load: 1 large suitcase with items for our family and missionaries, 7 large luggage bags (6 with medical supplies and 1 with toys for the foster kids at the Children's Center), 4 carry-on suitcases (with our clothes) and 4 backpacks (with education and entertainment). All of that got loaded back into our Mazda 5. And, yes, Bryan has all the seats moved as far forward as possible. Still amazing that we all fit in there with our luggage. This picture is missing the backpacks on our laps.

supplies for Honduras

Here is a little more information about our upcoming trip to Honduras and how you can help us fill our suitcases.

This picture was taken of our family on our last trip to Honduras in May 2011. This is one of the many interesting ways that we get from place to place in Honduras.

We are returning to Honduras in a few short weeks! Our family of 4 will be serving there in a variety of ways. Dr. Bryan (as he is called there) will be serving in the clinic and hospital. I will be helping with some projects on their computers with the IT missionary. The boys and I are planning to help in the eye clinic and be at the Children's Center (group home for foster care) as much as possible.

We are filling as many suitcases as possible with donated medical supplies and other requested items to take with us on our trip. If you would like to help us fill our bags, we would be happy to take donations of any of the items listed below. Please try to get the items to us by March 20th so we can get everything packed. If you would rather have us purchase the requested items with your monetary donation, we would be happy to do that too. You can donate to us through Samaritan's Purse if you would like a tax deductible receipt or give the money directly to us. Here is the donation website:http://www.samaritanspurse.org/medical/wmm-doctors/ and you will need to scroll down and enter Jarabek in the little search box and an old picture of our family will show up.

Thank you for wanting to partner with us in this adventure as we continue to use the gifts and skills God has given us. We would love it if you would remember us in prayer while we are in Honduras. We leave Sunday, March 24th and return Sunday, April 7th for our two week mission trip with our two boys: Jaden (8) and Clay (6).

If you are ever interested in going to Honduras with us, please let us know. There are a multitude of things you could do there to help. There truly is something for everyone and your skills will be put to use. You can read more about where we go in Honduras at http://www.crstone.org/

Thank you,

Raquel (& Bryan) Jarabek

Requested Items:
- White washcloths
- Claritin/Loratadine (4 bottles wanted) – 10mg, 365 tablets for $12.99 at Costco (best price)
- Allegra/Fexofenadine (2 bottles) – 180 mg, 120 tablets for $30.99 at Costco (best price)
- Bandaids – kids or adult
- Antibiotic ointment or bacitracin
- Children’s Tylenol/Acetaminophen
- Children’s Advil/Ibuprofen
- Children’s Benedryl/Diphenhydramine HCl
- Children's cough medicines
- Swimsuits for 2-3 year old girls and floaties for them
- Bob Books (any sets)
- Big Books for guided reading in Kindergarten and First Grade
- Battery operated pencil sharpener
- Washable paint and paint cups
- Stickers
- White card stock paper
- Washable stamp pads
- Small towels for everyday cleaning of the school
- Rubber balls for recess playtime- New or gently used knee or ankle braces
- New or gently used prescription glasses
- New or gently used reading glasses (1.75 is needed most)
- Children’s or Adult sunglasses
- Travel size toothpaste
- Zinc oxide ointment (Balmex or similar)
- Cetaphil lotion and cream (or generic), Lubriderm, etc
- Adult: Benadryl/Diphenhydramine/Calamine (topical liquid preferred)
- Adult: Combo of antihistamine/decongestant
- Adult: Combo of antihistamine/decongestant/dextromethorphan
- Adult: Cough medicines like Dextromethorphan or Guafenisin (preferably not combined)
- Foam hand sanitizer
- Hot water bottles
- Adult scissors, all types
- Physical Therapy equipment: 1, 2, & 3 lb weights, floor mats, pulleys, resistance bands, wedges for elevating extremities

Honduras, here we come, again!

We leave for Honduras in 5 short weeks! After taking a year off from our travel there while doing foster care, we are excited to be going there to help again. Bryan will be using his doctor skills in the clinic and hospital at Loma de Luz and I will be using any skills I can to take care of our two boys and help in any way possible. I will probably help in the eye clinic, on the computer, with a feeding program and hangout with kids at the Children's Center (for foster care). The boys will tag along and help whenever they are able.

This is our fourth trip to Honduras and we are so gratified that we can serve God and others in this way. We are leaving on March 24th and will return April 7th after a two week adventure in the countryside. There are many challenges that come with living in Honduras and I look forward to sharing those with anyone who will read or listen. We love that we have friends and family who care about us and what we are doing. Thank you for your care and concern.

Each time we have traveled to Honduras, we have given friends and family the opportunity to join us on our adventure. Some family members have joined us in serving in Honduras, while many others have supported us with prayer and finances. We are again giving you the opportunity to partner with us in the work that we do in Honduras. Please let us know if you are interested in traveling with us on a future trip. As for this trip, we would greatly appreciate your prayers for safety, usefulness, flexibility and pointing people to God, who is the reason that we do this. If you would like to give to us financially, we thank you so much for caring to invest in us. You can do that by going to Samaritan's Purse and typing Jarabek in the text box. You will see Bryan's name pop up and an old picture of our family taken before our first trip to Honduras in 2008. Our boys are much older now, Jaden is 8 and Clay is 6. We really do consider you a partner in our trip and our work in Honduras if you are reading this. We appreciate your prayers and financial gifts. They help us serve others.

100% of your financial donations will get passed on to our family for our trip. That money will be used for a variety of things but here is some idea of what you are helping make happen. We will be taking 6 large bags/suitcases with us that are full of medical supplies. We get most of the items donated but there are always some very useful things that we like to purchase to help the clinic/hospital. Your money will allow us to purchase those medical items. We will also be taking 1 large bag/suitcase with toys and clothing for children at the foster care center. Your contribution will allow us to purchase some of those items needed for the care of those children. We also have baggage fees in order to take all of these donations with us. Half of our bags will be free but we plan to have to pay about $160 for checked baggage. Your donation may also go to purchase supplies for a feeding program for impoverished children who live at the city dump.

Thank you so much for your donations. We will definitely put you money to good use. Know that you are a partner in all that we do in Honduras whether you are praying or giving or reading. Thank you. I look forward to writing more about our preparations and our trip.