Why India

Thanks so much for finding your way to this site. Many of you may have just received an email from me letting you know that I will be traveling to India in April and May to work in Duncan Hospital in rural Bihar in the north of India. Here is a little information [1] about Bihar and the hospital where I will be working.

Bihar is located in the eastern part of the country (between 83°-30' to 88°-00' longitude). It is an entirely land–locked state, although the outlet to the sea through the port of Kolkata is not far away. Bihar lies mid-way between the humid West Bengal in the east and the sub humid Uttar Pradesh in the west which provides it with a transitional position in respect of climate, economy and culture. It is bounded by Nepal in the north and by Jharkhand in the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two unequal halves by the river Ganga which flows through the middle from west to east.

Major State Indicators

• The name Bihar is derived from the word ‘vihara’, meaning monastery. Bihar was a great religious center for Buddhists. It was at Bodhgaya in Bihar that Buddha attained enlightenment. Nearby Nalanda was a world famous Buddhist university in the 5th century AD.
• Despite its ancient religious links it is the poorest and least developed of Indian states today.
• Notorious for caste related conflicts, kidnappings and Naxalite activity.
• Population of 82 million; approximately 87% of the population in Bihar resides in rural areas, isolated from information, services, and supplies, which support survival.
• 57% of the population is below the poverty line
• Has the lowest literacy rate – 47%.
• In rural Bihar, the infant mortality rate is 63 deaths per 1000 live births, under 5 mortality rate is 105 and the maternal mortality ratio is 451 deaths per 100,000 live births. (in the US, the maternal mortality rate is 11 per 100,000 live births.) [2]

Reading through these statistics may seem heartbreaking, it may seem overwhelming, or maybe just banal due to our constant beratement with such statistics. For me, this seems like a calling. One that I often wish that I didn't have because it would be easier just not to care, but one that I pursue nonetheless. I believe in going to Bihar I will experience once again the stench of poverty and depravity and see my own poverty and depravity more acutely. I would like to invite you over the next several months to follow along at this blog and will appreciate your support through prayer and encouragement. 

1-http://www.eha-health.org/eha-in-bihar

2-Maternal Mortality in 2005, accessed on 08-30-2008

Photo from flickr.com/photos/22247320@N04/2279396517 taken by Uwe Wildermuth

Support Letter

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried. G.K. Chesteron

Dear Friends and Family,

 Six years ago I stood in front of many of you and announced publically that I felt God had called me to become a medical missionary. As I stood there, hands shaking and heart jumping, I had no idea that I would find myself where I am today. I have been deeply moved several times lately reflecting on the great gift of the education that the Lord has given me. I find it very humbling that the Lord has deemed me fit to be given the skills that he has and believe it has only been possible thanks to many of your prayers and support over the last six years.  One scripture that the Lord has impressed upon my heart is James 1 where he opens “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.” If I had to summarize what God has taught me in the last couple years it would be the G.K Chesterton quote found above and the call to let steadfastness have its full effect that God desires. Eventually, I began to see the events of medical school not as discouraging burdens of life, but as a sculptor’s chisel that was forming me into the man God desired. When I began school 4 years ago, I recorded in my journal that it would be a miracle if I could graduate with the same passion that I had when I began. Thankfully, the Lord has not left me with simply the same unbridled passion that I had, but he has matured that passion into what I hope is a skill set that will be used for a lifetime of humble submission to the cause of making his name great and making the world a better place. I am convinced that the preserving power that I have known over the last 6 years has been fueled by the prayers of many of you and for that I am deeply grateful.

As it stands now I am pursuing a career in Obstetrics and Gynecology as a means for combining primary care and surgical skill for the purpose of mercy ministries. I have completed all of my medical school requirements and have chosen, after much prayer and consideration, to pursue an additional degree in Public Health Leadership at the UNC School of Global Public Health. While I was in Ghana working with the International Mission Board in 2007 the Lord impressed upon me, very heavily, the need for medical education overseas. What I saw in working with the native Ghanaians was a potential and capability that needed to be nurtured and equipped. When I look at the world I see two things: a widespread tendency away from seeking satisfaction in God irrespective of culture and grave health care disparities leading to death from childbirth in up to 10% of the women coupled with 26,000 children that die every day of preventable disease. I don’t believe that development and truly global access to health care will be accomplished through the good intentioned efforts of foreign doctors, but rather by a fresh generation that can be identified, trained, and inspired to love their homelands in response to knowing God’s great love for us.

The next step in the process for me will be to travel to northern India to work with national and foreign physicians on my public health practicum experience where I will work on issues related to maternal-child health and education. In Bihar, 1/100 childbirths ends either in the death of the woman or the infant. The Lord opened the door for me to travel to India after closing several other doors, and I am very grateful that he did. India has always been on my mind as a place of rich cultural and spiritual diversity that I have wanted to experience in order to consider it as a place to invest in the future. I will be working at Duncan Hospital which is part of the Emmanuel Hospital Association, a network of mission hospitals that are run by Indian nationals. Through this trip I hope to accomplish several things including:

• Begin working on my Masters Thesis regarding the implications of external-fetal monitoring in the developing world.
• Working in a very busy, rural, impoverished hospital gaining experience that will propel me into residency and a career of working in resource-poor areas.
• Gain understanding of the Hindu religion and consider how effective partnerships between spoken word and working faith may help to penetrate their darkness.

 I will be in-country for the months of April and May and would appreciate your prayers both as I prepare and while I am away.  If any of you would be interested in supporting me financially please contact me directly.  For more information about where I am going see the link below. 

Peace in Christ,

David Goodman

Emmanuel Hospital Association: http://www.eha-health.org/contactus/41-hospitalcontact/5-duncan

Contact me: davidmgoodman@gmail.com