On a Mission Trip to Guatemala in 2017, Dr. John Ahn, D.O. became inspired by the medical services rendered to the poor, primarily of Mayan decent, people who live in and around the city of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

While the care provided by the general practitioner was delivered with passion, and seemed to be backed by strong medical training, there was a lack of diagnostic equipment. As a gastroenterologist, Dr. Ahn was interested to learn there was one piece of equipment available in this city of 600,000 which would permit or an endoscopy or colonoscopy procedure. Research and history have demonstrated these are two procedures which can be utilized to dramatically reduce the impact of potential cancers of the digestive tract.

It became Dr. Ahn’s goal to seek to provide the endoscopy scope, tower and training to physicians operating in underdeveloped countries, so they may provide these life savings procedures to their patients. Bethesda Siloam Medical Mission Inc. (BSMM) is incorporated in the State of Florida on January 16, 2018 to provide the organizational structure to accomplish this goal.

BSMM is organized  exclusively for charitable purposes, specifically the making of distributions of equipment to perform gastroenterological procedures to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) of the Internal Revenue Code.