My life journey to and through medical school has shown me that with God, “delay” and “deny” are definitely not synonymous.

It was the summer of 2015, and I was in tears in a restroom stall of my science and physics building at my university. It had become clear I would not be prepared in time to take the MCAT with the rest of my classmates before graduation. It was unavoidable; I would have to take a gap year after receiving my bachelor’s degree and apply to medical school while my friends had their first day as incoming medical students. This was the first in a succession of delays that were devastating in the moment and did not make sense at the time yet were a part of a divine plan that later was revealed to me.

Discouraged but determined, I decided to spend part of my gap year abroad volunteering in Tanzania. While working to save money for this trip, I was given a book about the work of Seventh-day Adventist mission doctor JAMES ERIC APPEL ’00. I had always dreamed about having such adventures, and little did I know God was already orchestrating a way for our paths to cross. But this plan involved not one, but two more delays in my scholastic journey.

After passing the MCAT, at 22 years old I set off for the adventure of a lifetime. I traveled solo 8,000 miles from home without an organization or even a picture of who would pick me up at the airport. I stepped off a plane into the dense green mountains and fields of Arusha, Tanzania, where I was hit by a wave of humid air, jolted out of my Western comfort zone and into my life’s purpose. Hearing about missionaries as a young child had sparked my interest in global missions, and while I can’t pin down the exact moment I decided to be a mission doctor, I remember being 15 and tasked with a school assignment of writing a letter to my future self 10 years down the line. I penned the words, “Hi, I hope you are a mission doctor when you read this!”

Fast forward seven years from that high school exercise and this trip to Tanzania was my first chance to fully immerse myself in my global service passions. For three months I volunteered independently at an orphanage and nursery school. I developed curriculum, instituted a drinking water

purification policy, installed sinks for hand washing, and oversaw the construction of a dental hygiene room where children learned to care for their teeth. I learned that God can equip the unqualified because I never dreamed that in two months’ time I would be bargaining in Swahili in the industrial market for sinks and hiring a plumber!

While in Tanzania I found out that there was another delay—I had not been immediately accepted into Loma Linda University School of Medicine (LLUSM). Instead, I was invited to the Master of Medical Science (MMS) program in biomedical sciences where one enrolls in five of the six blocks taken by first-year medical students. If at the conclusion of one year, and classes were completed with high marks, then I would be able to begin the first year of medical school.

I was able to successfully complete the program and was officially accepted to LLUSM in 2018. The additional year delay of participating in the MMS program caused the completion of my official first year of medical school to coincide perfectly with the first LLU Mission Doctor Boot Camp. There, in 2019 in Carrefour, Haiti; I was thrilled to meet and work with mission doctors including Dr. Appel and his wife, Sarah, whom I had first read about in that gifted book in 2017! Not only did I gain inspiration from meeting people who were living out my dream, I had my book signed by them, and we developed a lasting friendship. But because God wasn’t yet done with this connection. That summer after Haiti I again flew to Tanzania, this time with the goal of building a playground for a local nursery school in two weeks. The day of my flight I was gratified to see the hard work pay off as I heard squeals of unbridled glee as children sped down a slide with a grin or pushed their giggling friends on a swing set for the first time in their lives.

My second year of medical school went quite smoothly, except…for one class. I fought hard to improve that grade while keeping up with nonprofit projects. While buying cows 8,000 miles away via text for a needy family during a break between my genetics and microbiology classes did make for a unique medical school journey, I wouldn’t have it any other way. When final grades were released, I opened every class’s final score report and exhaled a sigh of relief with each “pass” that graced my computer screen. I saved this intense class for last and with hopeful trepidation clicked on the words “Final grade.” My stomach instantly clenched and sank. I had missed passing by ONE percent. I flopped back on my bed in utter disbelief, broken and bitterly disappointed. This would be my biggest and hardest delay yet. Subsequently, I would have to repeat the entire second year of medical school and would not be continuing with my classmates, again. However, this repeated year taught me grit and resilience and broadened my clinical knowledge across all subjects. Years down the line, I now see even more of its purpose and significance.

I dusted myself off and again flew to Tanzania, this time with the goal of providing safe transport for the school children. This involved fundraising to purchase and refurbish a 15-seater van. This was a much-needed replacement of the current method which involved 15 kids in a car with only five seats! It was after this summer of 2018 that I officially launched my 501(c)(3) nonprofit From Hearts 2 Hands Inc [fromhearts2hands.org]. This nonprofit has the guiding mission to “transform the goodwill of our hearts into action for children in need in Tanzania.”

During COVID and the period after when travel was not feasible, several projects were completed from afar! From Hearts 2 Hands’ Mind Investor Sponsorship Program grew, transferring children from crowded government schools with ratios of 100 students to 1 teacher, to private schools with great classroom ratios and resources. The 2021 Tanga Wheelchair Initiative provided 10 paralyzed children with new wheelchairs. Using only an iPhone as communication, the 2022 Kwamkono Handicap Accessible Bathroom Project came to fruition, and I virtually oversaw the construction of ten handicap-accessible bathrooms equipped with support rails, showers, and height-adjusted sinks for children at an orphanage for the disabled. Creating tangible change in a short time lit a fire in me and executing these projects from conception to idealization has brought me the deepest fulfillment.

In my fourth year of medical school, I chose to do mission electives and traveled across the continent of Africa to learn and volunteer at hospitals in Liberia, Chad, and Tanzania. Those eight weeks were some of the most amazing experiences of my life. I helped care for children with limb deformities that were being corrected through orthopaedic surgery in Liberia, while surfing turquoise waves with the locals on weekends. I journeyed to Chad, a country in central Africa where only 4% of the population has access to electricity and the death rates in children under 5 are some of the highest on the continent. I traveled ten bumpy hours on sandy roads by bus, then hopped on a motorcycle for two more hours, passing hippos and snaking through herds of cows to reach Béré Adventist Hospital. There I learned how to treat malaria and typhoid, delivered babies, and worked to ensure the entire maternity ward had mosquito nets for patients and babies. When I fell ill with a parasite and malaria, I gained a level of empathy for my patients that could only be attained through this firsthand shared life experience. I ended my trip back in Tanzania at a government hospital learning to make casts, treat burns, and navigate the social work system of another country. After working in the hospital for two weeks I transitioned to working on From Hearts 2 Hands’ latest projects. In two weeks I oversaw the construction and completion of a science and physics lab for an Adventist high school. The other big project involved the fabrication and distribution of reusable sanitary pads to over 400 girls with no access to feminine hygiene products (Kwamkono Feminine Hygiene Product Project).

Looking back now I can see that without the initial MCAT delay in 2016, I wouldn’t have had the gap year journey halfway across the world that would define my purpose and govern my life trajectory. Without the delay of the preparatory MMS program in 2017 I would have never gone to Mission Doctor Boot Camp in Haiti and met the Appels. Neither would I have started my nonprofit which has raised over $55,000 to date that has gone directly into numerous projects in Tanzania to benefit children in need. Without the delay of having to repeat my second year of medical school in 2020, my senior year where mission elective weeks are available would have fallen too close to the COVID pandemic. I would not have been able to freely travel to all these countries for such a long period of time with all the strict protocols that existed at that time. In addition, I was delighted my path crossed again with Dr. Appel and his family during my travels in Liberia. Our God is masterful in surprises and in making great out of seemingly bad situations.

Just a few weeks ago, I spent a week working as a volunteer physician with Loma Linda University in Bugema, Uganda. I saw over 50 pediatric patients a day in a tent pitched outside. Repeatedly I heard, “Dr. Greene, can you help?” What a privilege and honor to finally be able to say, “Yes! Send the patient my way! Bring that baby over here please.” While there, I delivered a sermon to a crowd of 350 high school students encouraging them to stay on the path toward their dreams regardless of setbacks. I told them, “With God, delayed does not mean denied.” He delivers on His promises.

In 2026 when I finish pediatric residency, I plan to move to Africa to work full-time as a mission physician, and while I hope there are no more delays in the near future, I know that delays or not God has a great plan bigger than my wildest dreams. I’m excited to join Him on the absolute adventure of a lifetime providing care for the needy in impoverished situations.

My life is a testimony, truly, that with God delayed does not mean denied. One never knows what destiny is waiting on the other side of a seemingly futile delay, but our God does.