Category: Blog

MercyMed Family,

We are excited to introduce a collaborative opportunity with our friends at All Good Things Collective. The origins of this effort came about from brainstorming with our neighbor and friend, Helen Brooks. She was helping us come up with ideas to honor our donors with a gift. Helen said “What if we created a devotional? MercyMed patients, donors, board members, and staff can write it. It can be a book about hurting and healing, and how God draws you near to Himself through the process. It can be the book you take with you when you go visit someone in the hospital.”

What a joy it would be for us to create a book for caretakers and friends to read to understand what the suffering need, and for the suffering to read and be comforted!

We believe in the importance of community. The tribe of faithful supporters we have has been so generous over the years. We are calling on that community now to join this effort. We want to strengthen our community (patients, donors, volunteers, staff, board, etc) by working together on this project.

We invite you to join us by submitting a devotional, poem, or prayer that answers a response to the question: “What has God revealed to you about Himself through trial and through suffering?” If you want to participate, here are some guidelines for you to remember:

• We are accepting submissions through February 15.
• Word limit is 500 words.
• Email it to billy@mercymedcolumbus.comin the form of a PDF

We look forward to reading about how the Lord will speak to each one of you through this process.

by Dr. Grant Scarborough

Three employees, an old empty bank and lots of friends – that was the complete make up of MercyMed six years ago. It is easy to forget how far we have come. Today we work out of three locations: a brand new building, a school, and the ground floor of the Baptist Association building. When I look around and see dentists, counselors, subspecialists, 6 full time providers, it is easy to forget that 6 years ago there were only three employees. Micah Carver was our office manager, front desk specialist, fund-raiser, and construction assistant. Karen Hobbs was our nurse, triage Medical Assistant, lab specialist, and mother of Micah and myself. I was the Doctor – but I also answered phones, worked up my own patients, cleaned the building and trimmed the hedges.

In November 2011, we purchased the building and started demolition. Hal Averett walked through the building and drew up some basic plans for the changes on a piece of used paper. He counted ceiling tile squares and looked under floor tiles and convinced us to keep marble flooring. A large group of friends, helped with the demolition to the entire building one November Saturday. They wore masks as dust flew up as the tile peeled off the floors. Dust flew down as sledgehammers brought walls down. There was a jack hammer going in the front of the building. We had a large group of military friends that started helping that day and some have never stopped helping. Bill Foss helped pull it all back together. Bill, Micah, and I worked through nights with minimal lights paying ourselves BBQ sandwiches along the way. Lucy Jones brought color and life to the building. We opened up January 19, 2012 with a waiting room that had blue floors, multi-colored chairs and a painting that I hung upside down because I liked it better that way. Many people in the community thought we were still a bank and so they brought in their money to make deposits, but this was a bank no more. We were a new building with the same purpose as the bank, to serve the community.

We opened up on January 19, 2012. We started off seeing one patient a day. We raised money to keep the door open. We soon had a volunteer nurse named Jordan, whose husband was in the military. As the word got out that we were open for business, the phone started to ring. We brought on another volunteer, Cheryl. Our first volunteer though was Janet Coppage who has stayed with us all six years. She can testify to our small beginning only six years ago. I did not even have an office. I had a chair in the morning, but when Janet showed up during office hours, she commandeered the chair and I was left with a wood board over the water fountain in the hallway to work.

Over these six years, we have had victories and tragedies. It has not been easy. It has increased my faith. I testify, the only way to watch your faith grow is to put yourself in the position where you have to totally trust God. We have prayed for money. We have prayed for staff. We have prayed God will bring us through conflict. All this was for one goal – to remember the heart of God who desires to care for the least of these. All the struggle has been worth it to see us live out caring for the poor. I celebrate today all the greatness and failures, because God’s heart goes forward through us.

Come that first February we had our open house. We had a great list of speakers that morning, but more important to me than the speakers were the volunteers. We had a young man show up that desired to volunteer because he wanted to go to medical school. His wife called me and I agreed as a favor to her. So I invited that young man to help direct traffic and park cars for our open house. A glorious beginning for my new friend. He had cars parked alphabetically, by year, make and model. Everything was straight and in order. I liked it so much I asked him to come back around, and he never left. Tony Nguyen answered phones, did EKGs, Spirometry, worked patients up, assisted with procedures. Soon he became our volunteer office manager and now he is in charge of operations for the whole organization. Bob Rosa was there as well volunteering. It was not a day of volunteering for him, it was the beginning of 4 years of volunteering as he and his wife cleaned the building weekly over that time period.

Since then we have had many come and go that helped advance the mission of MercyMed. Heather Kersey started much the same way as Tony and then took on the role as Director of Development. She has moved on to Atlanta where she is a fundraiser for Emory. Emily Kaltz came along out of college and worked the front desk. She is now in residency program at Emory with a desire to be a physician that cares for the poor, maybe here at MercyMed. Our first Physician Assistant was Sarah Mabini. We all still here desire to be more like Sarah. Many of our patients still miss her. She has moved on with her military husband to Seattle. We hope she returns one day. About the same time in winter of 2012, Meghan Brooks started. She desired to be an overseas missionary, but a broken foot kept her stateside. I have never been so thankful for a fractured foot. Cole Phillips, another college graduate, took Emily’s place in the front desk. He now has gone on to medical school with a desire to care for the poor as well, hopefully at MercyMed.

I could go on all the way up to 2018 telling stories of Caroline Osborne, Monique Jones, Sarah Crider, Will Finnell, and many many more. But the big picture for me today is the amazing bounty of God. He has done more than I could possibly imagine. The pain and struggle of fighting for this dream seem so small now as I look at the fruit. Patients have been changed, I have been changed. Out of necessity and a desire to reach more people, our clinic has grown. We have gone from a staff of 3 to 31. From 1 full time provider to 6 providers.  God’s hands, reaching through us, now extend to many more patients and their families. People are hearing and seeing the love of Christ go forward. He is being exalted daily among our staff. I rejoice and praise God for these six years. May we continue to have His heart as we push forward His kingdom into this community.

Happy Birthday MercyMed. Happy Birthday.

Thank you Hal Averett. Thank you Robert Gipson and Ryan Crider, my military friends. Thank you Karen Hobbs. Thank you Jannet Coppage. Thank you Bill Foss. Without all of you, we would not be here today. Thank you Hal Brady. Thank you Lucy Jones. Thank You Sarah Mabini. You all make up the fabric of MercyMed. We thank God for you today.

Thank you Lord for keeping us together and moving us forward with a desire to love your people. Thank you for sustaining us. Thank you. May you receive all glory and honor and praise. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and glory – forever and forever – Amen.

Dr. Grant Scarborough

My oldest daughter, Jane, knows what Elvis looks like. She did from an early age. See, she grew up in Memphis, the home of Elvis. Everywhere you looked you saw him. Pictures of Elvis, young and old, were in restaurants, buildings, walls – Elvis singing on the streets – Elvis was alive and well in Memphis. Jane was only 4 or 5 back then, but every picture I saw of Elvis – I would point it out to her – “Jane, who is that?” “Elvis” she would reply. Such a brilliant child! I actually showed this off to my friends who had children not as bright as mine. Their kids could not identify Elvis.

Then one day I saw a picture of Jesus, well, not really Jesus. This was a white skinned, blue eyed, blonde hair Jesus that you see in picture books, but that looks nothing like the middle eastern Jesus in the Bible. I pointed this picture out to Jane as well. Knowing her visual acuity and her ability to recognize faces like Elvis, I said, “Jane, who is that?”

“Elvis” was her reply. “hmmm.” I thought. “Maybe she only knows the middle eastern Jesus.”

I realized at that moment I had taught my child a trick. Whenever I pointed to any picture, her response was Elvis. It could have been George Washington, Martin Luther King, or even herself – she would always say Elvis. Well I couldn’t let my friends know about this, so I always made sure I found an Elvis picture when I asked Jane the question – “Jane who is this?”

Jane is not the only person I know that has a picture association problem. If you hold up a picture of Santa Claus, I would yell “Christmas!” If you hold up a picture of a Christmas tree I would yell “Christmas!” If you hold up a picture of shopping and presents I would yell “Christmas!” If you hold up a picture of Jesus, I would yell “Elvis!” or maybe “Easter!” I feel like Christmas is getting hijacked by our culture and I am fully on board.

Christmas has turned into a holiday of making ourselves happy. Whether by getting presents or giving them, as long as we are happy, then Merry Christmas to all. I want my wife and kids happy from the presents they get, and I have joy by making them happy. If you only knew how much thought I put into finding the perfect presents to get my kids. Listen, I am not against happy – I am actually really really for it! But we have settled for less than happy. We have settled for presents from an earthly daddy. 1 John 3:1 reads, “Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” John adds exclamation points and reaffirms his statement with “And that is what we are!” It is as if, John himself does not think we will believe this statement.

Christmas is about a heavenly Father who breaks into our little galaxy to give the greatest joy he could – himself in the form of a baby. He crashed down from heaven on a rescue mission for you. He is born to a 13, 14, or 15-year-old girl living in a poor area of ancient Isreal. The universe explodes with angels singing, wise men traveling, stars glowing, and priest praising. He is born, so that we cannot just be rescued, but renamed. He came for us, so that we can be called sons and daughters of God. Our greatest joy is not from an earthly dad giving us a few trinkets, but our heavenly father giving us the gift of being His child.

Oh, I pray, we will reclaim Christmas this year. Hold out for the best present. Hold out for Jesus. I pray you know this Joy!

by Dr. Grant Scarborough

Often during morning devotion with our staff, I start a verse and make the staff try to finish it. Like this verse from John, “By this my Father is glorified……” Now you fill in the blank.

I read this verse while riding back from a Missions Conference where I had the chance to interact with people doing work in Iraq, Afghanistan, and pretty much every nation. To see the courage of these men and women was overwhelming. They sacrificed everything so that the good news of Jesus would be carried to the ends of the world. I met one young man, whose grandfather died with a missionary named Jim Elliot on the side of a river attempting to share the gospel with an unreached people group. Jim Elliot once said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” These men and women I met were giving what they could not keep (their very own lives) to gain what they could not lose (eternal life).

I was overwhelmed. How can a small ministry in Columbus, GA be involved with overseas missions? What does that look like? “Lord, it is too much for me!” I doubt myself and my abilities. I doubt MercyMed’s capacity. “Lord, it is too much!” Then I read the verse. “By this my Father is glorified……” I am still overwhelmed, I still have doubts, I still have no idea what MercyMed and overseas missions could look like – but I know what MercyMed is supposed to do. And I know what all believers are supposed to do.

“By this my Father is glorified, that we bear much fruit.” Bearing fruit brings God our Father glory. We are meant to bear fruit – to bear MUCH fruit. I still do not know if we will go overseas, but I do know we will put our efforts into bearing fruit. Fruit can look different for everyone. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Fruit can also be feeding the hungry, visiting prisoners, or caring for orphans. Fruit can be encouraging the weak, loving the lonely, and introducing individuals to Jesus.

The more I thought about fruit bearing the more I realized it was not individual fruit bearing. It is a church, or a team, or a community’s work. Some have to plant, some water, some pick the fruit. Every part is essential. MercyMed’s fruit bearing is not from one doctor, but the community around us. We have doctors giving a day a week to help us in Cardiology, Orthopedics, and more. We have dentists donating time on Fridays to care for teeth. We have individuals working hard and giving money to provide services. We have board members giving time and direction for the ministry. MercyMed has had the ability to bear fruit because of you. We acknowledge we could not do it alone.

We are grateful for your involvement. You are a part of the MercyMed team. You are bearing fruit. At the same time, we desire to bear much fruit, so that our Father is glorified. We desire to give more away, serve more, and love more. Thank you for your kindness toward MercyMed. My prayer this coming year is that together we will bear much fruit, knowing that whatever we do, we do it all for the glory of God. We are all missionaries. “By this my Father is glorified, that we bear much fruit.”