He worked as a doctor in Virginia but wasn't content in his work. He wanted something more. He badly wanted to be NEEDED as a doctor. One day he heard of a hospital in Tokyo which closed for want of a doctor who could make it a going concern. This intrigued him and so he applied to become a doctor to Tokyo. Upon acceptance, he together with his wife, without knowing a word of Japanese, set out to become a doctor of that hospital.
Instead of immediately reopening the hospital he set out to build the trust of the people. He did this by opening small clinics on opposite sides of the city. People slowly learned they could trust this foreign doctor. All the money he could save he set aside for reopening the hospital.
When he finally reopened the hospital in 1902 he had painted that old dilapidated building and added new beds, colour, nice windows and more. Everything in the reopened hosptial was clean and spotless. The hospital was now a success.
The hospital was called st. Luke's Hospital and everyone who came there heard the gospel of Christ.. Prayers, bible teaching bible reading... it all happened in the waiting room while people waited to see the doctor.
His hospital become known all over Japan. New buildings were erected, nurses were trained, financial gifts to the hospital started to happen, Dr. Teusler wanted to make his hospital "a great international medical center".
Disaster struck in the form of an earthquake. The hospital was destroyed by the earthquake and the fires that came after it, but the patients were saved. All this happened while Dr. Teusler was on a much needed vacation in the States. He used his time while on vacation to work out some emergency measures... getting a field hospital tents from the army, St. Luke's ran out of those tents until the new hospital could be built. He established a nurses training college, a ward for sick children and a solidly Christian hospital.
He unfortunately died of heart disease just before the rebuilt hospital was to be dedicated.
Sources
Book: missionary heros
st. luke's
Wikipedia