1 Thessalonians 5:16
There is never a better time to change how we look at life, than when we are told. Over the last 18 months, life has changed, priorities have changed, and God' purpose for me has become more clear. I began a loose association with Mission of Mercy www.missionofmercy.org in November of 2004, taking a medical team to Cambodia, and have made 8 trips there since. The relationship with Mission of Mercy is now formal, and more countries have been added, visited, and planned for.
Things have been moving at a pretty brisk pace over the last few weeks. Many of you have either participated or have declared a desire in your heart to be a member of the medical team that serves the “Forgotten Children” in countries served by Mission of Mercy.
I resigned as Medical Director and Division Chief of Pediatric Critical Care at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in order to follow God’s command to serve in counties where medical care is lacking. I am blessed to be a part of Mission of Mercy serving as their Medical Director, assessing, coordinating, implementing, and delivering medical care to the countries and children they serve. I am still working full time as an intensivist at PCH, but my time off clinical service gives me the opportunity needed to travel. The schedule is hectic, but purpose driven. Since we have started doing our medical trips, you and I have made 8 trips to Cambodia in a year and a half, and have cared for over 10,000 patients. Most importantly, over 10,000 people have witnessed Christ through our work. Our work continues.
Let me go over who the key players are. There are 2 people at MOM who I work with and who support our mission: Jack Eans and Wayde Goodall. Both are passionate about our work, and are excited about what we do. Don Christensen is our “benefactor”, finding funds for us when we need them the most, and working by our side as a member of the medical team. Dr. Troy Nelson is my brother in Christ, having served with me on every single medical trip so far. Kelly Ramsland is my right hand person: she is the “administrative” side of the ministry. All of you have served in some capacity on each team and for that I am thankful.
I have also made several assessment trips this year to countries in need of medical care: Jordan, Gaza, Ethiopia, Egypt and Swaziland. As a result we have identified and begun medical intervention programs in several of those countries:
Egypt: in Cairo, there is a “garbage city” that has a 4 story school house in the middle of it; I identified a floor that we will be building into a medical clinic with exam rooms, a small lab, etc. This will be available for our team when we go there.
Ethiopia: in Addis Ababa there is a medical clinic that will be established for the care of over 2000 MOM children. This should be available for our team when we go there.
Swaziland: we will be starting construction on a medical clinic this month. This should be available for our team when we go there.
Cambodia: we built a medical clinic in the Salaa Hope School in Battambang.
As a result of the assessment trips, I have identified dates for medical teams to those countries. I have also several more assessment trips that I will do next year to add to our list of countries that need help. The table below gives you the dates for the assessment rips, the medical trips and the training trip. I am showing you the whole picture so you can get an idea of the vast scope of the project.
Training trip: Aug 3 2006-Aug 12 2006 Swaziland
Medical trip: Oct 5 2006-Oct 15 2006 Swaziland
Medical trip: Feb 9 2007-Feb 18 2007 Egypt
Medical trip: Mar 23 2007-April 4 2007 Swaziland
Assessment trip: April 16 2007-April 22 2007 Bangladesh
Assessment trip: May 5 2007-May 13 2007 Kenya
Medical trip: May 11 2007-May 20 2007 Ethiopia
Assessment trip: June 4 2007-June 12 2007 India
Assessment trip: July 26 2007-Aug 5 2007 Romania, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon
Medical trip: Oct 19 2007-Oct 28 2007 Cambodia (Dr. Troy Nelson to lead this team)
Medical trip: Oct 19 2007-Oct 28 2007 Swaziland
As you can see, there will be 6 medical trips, one of which is already filled. We are going to have 3 trips to Swaziland since there are over 3000 children there that need our help. Cairo will be interesting as well, with children living in garbage piles who need medical care, and Ethiopia will be in the heart of Africa with over 2000 children who need to be seen. Please let me know and Kelly Ramsland as well which trips you would like to go on. The costs will be between $2200 and $3000 per trip depending on where we go. Kelly should have more details as we move forward. We are using Cain Travel (Lori) as our travel agency. Kelly will be responsible for all administrative stuff: travel, arrangements, etc. She can be reached at 480-250-7183 and at Kellyrams@cox.net.
I thank you all for your dedication, your commitment, and your Christ driven purpose. We will move in the direction He sends us, doing what we can, knowing that we are simply His servants. Please call me, email me, or see me if you have any questions.
In all things give thanks,
David
Our mission is to help The Forgotten Children reach their God-given potential by creating opportunities for spiritual, social, mental and emotional development, by ensuring that their physical well being is optimized. David H. Beyda, MD Medical Director, Medical Mercy
- David H. Beyda, M.D.
- Phoenix, Arizona
- I am a pediatric critical care specialist working at Phoenix Children's Hospital. I was the Medical Director and Division Chief of Pediatric Critical Care for 23 years, and stepped down to become Medical Director for Misson of Mercy.I am responsible for the medical care of 40,000 children that Misson of Mercy cares for in 22 countries. I grew up overseas (Africa, Southeast Asia) from the time I was 7 years old until I went to college. My father was a career US diplomat. I started my third world medical involvement when I was 15 years old working with medical groups in Laos, and learned to fly riding with Air America pilots in Laos and have been a pilot for over 30 years. My first formal medical mission as a doctor was in 1979 when I served as director of pediatrics in a refugee camp on the Thailand-Cambodia boarder (Khao I Dang) at the age of 27 years old, still in my pedicatric residency. My heart is in third world countries caring for the Forgotten Children.