Though the Darkness: Medicine, Missions, and Meeting God in Nepal

by Rebecca Martin

“Holy, Holy, Holy, Though the Darkness Hide Thee”
The path to growth often leads through suffering — yet that is where God, intimately present in pain, is met and known. Though the Darkness tells of one doctor’s journey to serve others through missions, only to be brought to the end of herself — and there, to meet God anew. In this memoir spanning two years of medicine, culture, and life in Nepal, Rebecca Martin offers an unflinching look into the beauty and challenge of medical ministry. She shares the realities of illness, death, poverty, and loss while serving as a physician in a cross-cultural context, as well as the experience of enduring Nepal’s earthquakes in 2015 and their aftermath. This book takes the reader on a spiritual journey rife with suffering, yet one where Christ is encountered more deeply. It is for anyone striving to serve in challenging spaces or coming up against apparent failure. Ultimately she bears witness to a God who, in love, wrestles us to the end of ourselves — only to bring us near.

314 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2023

About the author

Dr. Rebecca McAteer Martin, M.D. is a Palliative Medicine consultant and Clinical Associate Professor, board certified in Family Medicine. Her published works of narrative non-fiction and poetry have appeared in journals including Academic Medicine, Narrateur, The Intima, and an anthology of poetry. From 2013-2015, she served as a volunteer physician at Tansen Mission Hospital in the Annapurna Himalayan foothills of central Nepal. She and her husband Ryan live in New York’s lower Hudson Valley with their cat, Turtle. This is her first book.

Reviews

[Brenda Albrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book kept me interested all the way through. The author was honest about her struggles and challenges. She told the lessons she learned from working as a physician in Nepal for two years. Even though our goal is to please God, we still struggle with our responses to difficult people, tough challenges in our work, not enough sleep, etc. And Rebecca admits that she still struggles with "self." Don't we all!

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

American doctor Rebcca Martin has written a memoir about her time at Tansen hospital in Nepal, from 2013-2015. It is an interesting tale especially for me as I visited Tansen some years back to visit friends working there. Her time also coincided with the tragic Nepal earthquake. She is very honest about her perfectionism and her failings. Her time in Nepal was certainly full of personal challenges, culture shocks and struggles, with many lessons learned. I would be interested to read a follow up story regarding her return home.

[Terence · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book!

Dr. Rebecca Martin takes us with her on a trip to Nepal. A trip where her physician training, confidence, and faith are challenged.

Dr. Martin intertwines her thoughts, feelings, and actual events in a masterful fashion, which makes it hard to believe this is her debut book.

Highly Recommend!