History
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The Medical Missionaries of Divine Mercy (MMDM) began in 2000 with the vision of our founder Cordell St Cyr. His dream became a reality in 2002 with MMDM’s first mission to Tamasopo, Mexico.
Cordell, along with a few other St. Laurence parishioners, gathered their time and resources and headed off to Tamasopo with approximately twenty-five volunteers. The Mexico mission trips continued until 2008 when the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese deemed it unsafe to travel to this area. The MMDM's Board of Directors decided to move our mission just slightly to the north of the border, to Laredo, Texas.
Since 2009, in conjunction with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Laredo, MMDM has provided dental, medical, vision, chiropractic and most importantly spiritual services to an average of 1,000 patients each year in November. Our brothers and sisters in Laredo anticipate our yearly visit and begin lining up for services early on Monday morning after our arrival.
In 2014, MMDM's Board of Directors approved a second mission trip to Costa Rica. A team traveled to Grano de Oro, Costa Rica and met with the St. Bryce mission team to plan the details of our mission in conjunction with the help of the local Health Ministry. In early May, over thirty medical, dental, vision, chiropractic, spiritual and lay team members left St. Laurence parish and headed to Grano de Oro to provide services to the local Costa Ricans as well as to the indigenous Cabecar Indians who live in the surrounding reserves. The Cabecars travel many days, either by foot or on horseback, to receive the needed services. We provides services annually to an average of 800 people in Grano de Oro.
In 2023, we began another mission. MMDM embraced an existing medical mission, Mother of Divine Mercy, into the organization and thereby expanded their services to the people of The Philippines. Mother of Divine Mercy had been offering medical services in Pampanga along with a traditional Procession of our Lady of Lourdes dating back decades. Within two years, under the leadership of Dr Maria Argao, we added several different communities, touching the lives of an average of 1500 people each year with the help of local professionals joining MMDM in their efforts. Much has been accomplished to serve the needs of the poor.
Most recently, in 2024, MMDM delivered on a promise made, and took a small team of medical professionals and lay people to the Dominican Republic. There, we served several small communities which included a total of approximately 700 people.
Over the years, MMDM has provided services to over 30,000 patients, in five countries. We continue with four mission trips: The Philippines and Costa Rica in the spring, and Laredo and Dominican Republic in the fall.Jesus, We trust in You!
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