Kentucky Doctor In Siberia

Dr. Bill Becknell is a general surgeon by trade and hails from the American state of Kentucky. Or at least, that’s where Dr. Becknell’s practice used to be. These days you’re more likely to find him treating reindeer herders out on the vast, frozen Siberian tundra of Russia’s far north.

Dr. Becknell’s calling came early in life and under tragic circumstances. At the age of fourteen he accidentally flew his model airplane into high voltage power lines and was badly hurt.

He recalls the incident saying, "It left me completely paralyzed at the moment, and I was unable to breathe. And the electrical spark also set the grass on fire, and so I lay there in a bed of flames completely unable to move. My mother, who heard the loud crack when the electricity grounded through me, ran over and pulled me from the fire. And after she dropped me on the ground, I began to breathe a little bit, but during that time, I thought I was going to die, and I promised God that if he would let me live, that I would go anywhere he wanted me to go and do anything he wanted me to do."

But Dr. Becknell would reach midlife before he would receive a specific call from God. In the late 1980’s, as the Soviet Union began to dissolve, Dr. Becknell found the plight of the Russian people weighing ever more heavily on his heart. Finally, in 1989, he responded to God’s call by selling his extensive property and practice, determined to move to Russia, permanently. He packed all his remaining possessions into thirteen suitcases and bought a plane ticket for Moscow. He had no plan, spoke no Russian, and no one was awaiting his arrival.

He remembers this frightening journey saying, "I did a lot of research into trying to find out how to survive because I’d never been there, and so I carefully packed six months of peanut butter and a sleeping bag that was rated to 30’ below zero because I didn’t know if I’d have to sleep in the street or what. When Abraham went to a faraway country, he did not know where he would live, how he would live, what he would eat, the customs of this foreign land…whatever. But he did know one thing. And that was that God was going to go with him. I was pretty much in the same boat. It didn’t matter to me as long as God was with me."

Dr. Becknell not only survived, but also thrived under God’s direction. He now heads a successful medical mission providing health clinics to remote regions of the country, primarily in Siberia. Dr. Becknell is the first physician many of his patients have ever seen and the medications he provides the first they’ve ever taken. But like Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, Dr. Becknell’s real mission is to provide a far more potent cure.

He explains his thoughts by noting, "Penicillin doesn’t change anything for eternity. It only changes things for a few years in a person’s life. So we are a big believer that if you are going to do medical help to people, then you need to provide the gospel because that’s the one thing that changes life for eternity. The penicillin is strictly an instrument by which we are able to share the gospel. It opens the door of opportunity for us to do that."

Dr. Becknell’s impromptu sermons are usually well received, but on one memorable occasion an outspoken skeptic disrupted his message. Henry was a Russian prison inmate serving time for murder. He attended Dr. Becknell’s after clinic Bible studies only to practice his English. He voiced his unbelief loudly and often even though he had never read the Bible. As he left the prison grounds one day, Dr. Becknell challenged Henry to read the Messiah’s Sermon on the Mount or stop attending the lectures.

He remembers, "Well, I walked out and came back six weeks later, and there, standing at the gate when we came, was Henry. I was not a happy camper! Because I just knew that he was going to be there to cause problems again. As we walked through the gate, Henry greeted us, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll beat him to the punch.’ So I said, "Henry! Did you read those three chapters that I asked you to read?" And Henry replied, "Yes, sir. I read all three chapters. Not only that, but I read the entire New Testament since you’ve been gone, and I have given my life to Christ. I have decided to have baptism next week." You see, God can change a life. His word is what changes, his word is powerful. Not the things that we do or say. We’re just instruments, just like penicillin is."

One of Dr. Becknell’s favorite assignments is traveling for hours by snow machine to visit with the nomadic tribes that roam Siberia caring for vast herds of reindeer. He has become especially attached to a people group known as the Nenet.

It may be home for the Nenet, but for visitors Siberia is a frozen nightmare; flat, featureless, ice covered tundra where the horizon is lost in the gray haze of snow, fog and overcast skies. The Nenet live in portable teepees that look exactly like those seen in old western movies. They wonder endlessly across Siberia behind their grazing reindeer. Dr. Becknell began providing medical care to the tribe after being introduced to a young Nenet man named Elya, a recent Christian convert.

He introduces Elya by explaining, "He is a young boy who would come to the local town. It’s kind of like an outpost up there. They have these outposts on the tundra. And so he would come to this town about once a month. He would bring reindeer that his family had raised. So they would slaughter them on the tundra, and he brings fresh meat into town. And while he was there, he met a pastor of a church. This man continued to work with Elya, and Elya became a believer. So now, he rides his snowmobile across the tundra. (I don’t know how he knows where he’s going. Nothing up there…it all looks the same!) He would ride his snowmobile and he’s reading his Bible, and he’s just really growing in the Lord. He’s a young boy, and he tells people about his belief and his faith, and been able to win some converts to Christianity, even in this remote place."

Dr. Becknell enjoys his time with these warm and generous people, but the conditions can be challenging.

He describes a typical visit by recalling, "What I remember is that everything had reindeer hair on it, everywhere. Your tea had reindeer hair in the tea. Your reindeer stew had hair in the stew. Everywhere, all over your clothes, everywhere, because that’s their main contact is with these reindeer. They raised them, and then they skin them, and take their hides and use them to make teepees with; they make clothes with them and everything. So reindeer hair is everywhere! And I remember the bed they gave me to sleep on was one of the nicest beds I’d ever slept on. I had about six or eight reindeer furs piled up on the floor, and it was soft and comfortable and warm. And even though it was 20’ below zero, I was perfectly comfortable. They had a little stove inside of this teepee, which they used to cook with. They don’t normally use it to heat their teepee, but they use it to cook with. And they cooked all their reindeer meat. We didn’t have many vegetables. Mostly we had reindeer meat and bread and butter and tea to eat while I was there."

So what would motivate a middle aged American doctor with a comfortable thriving practice to sell everything to roam the wilds of Siberia? Dr. Becknell draws his inspiration from the second chapter of the Bible book called Galatians. (chapter 2, verse 20)

He recites the passage from memory, "‘For I have been crucified with Christ, and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives within me in my new life I have as a result of trusting in the Son of God.’ Paul basically is saying we don’t have a right to our own lives. God has bought us. He has redeemed us. He has created us. He has given us life. What more can we do but to say to God, ‘Lord, I am yours, and you have a right to my body, you have a right to my life. And you can do anything you want to with it that’s pleasing to you that brings you glory and brings you honor. So that verse has been particularly meaningful to me.

Medical missionary Dr. Bill Becknell, bringing healing for both body and soul to the people of Siberia…a life well-lived!

Would you like to:

• ...see a photo of Dr. Becknell?

• ...see him treating a Nenet patient?

• ...see a typical Nenet "teepee"?

• ...see a Nenet snow machine convoy?

• ...see a Nenet village on the tundra?

• ...visit Dr. Becknell's web page?

(Photos courtesy of the Christian ministry Agape Unlimited)

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