Mercy Ships is an organization that I remember dreaming about serving with back when I was still a teenager. I used to pore over literature I’d gotten from them, thinking that someday I might volunteer with them. In fact, one of the ladies in my church had actually returned from serving as a nurse, and her story is what got me interested in the first place.  Mercy Ships actually started back in 1978, when a couple, Don and Deyon Stephens, had a dream of serving the poor around the world, via a hospital ship. The Anastasis, transformed from a passenger ship into a hospital ship, became the first hospital ship and would be used for 30 years. When the Anastasis was retired in 2007, the Africa Mercy became the new hospital ship. The volunteer crew is dedicated to bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor. Don serves as the President of Mercy Ships, while his wife, Deyon, a registered nurse, oversees the Ship’s Watchmen program and is the Director of Training. You might have heard Don on the radio for a daily broadcast called the Mercy Minute.Mercy Ships is involved in helping people with various medical issues. We sometimes take for granted the medical care we receive here in the United States for seemingly non-serious issues, but in developing countries, these smaller problems can lead into huge problems for patients who cannot get the care they need. That’s where Mercy Ships comes in. They perform free surgeries and provide care for patients suffering with tumors, cleft lip/palate, deformities, congenital abnormalities, burns and leprosy, corneal growths and crossed eyes, blindness, injuries, etc.
In Africa, they perform surgeries on women who have experience birth injuries, or “fistulas.” Often times, these women die in childbirth because of the obstruction to labor, and if they survive, the child may not. After birth, they suffer from incontinence, which can lead to rejection by their husbands and villages, without the necessary surgical intervention they need to fix the problem. Surgical teams with Mercy Ships are able to help these patients recover their lives back, celebrating with them afterwards with a special dress ceremony.
Mercy Ships also helps to provide dental care to patients. Not only does Mercy Ships provide medical care, but they seek to help the communities they minister to by providing training to national doctors/nurses, providing medical supplies where they are needed, help to renovate or construct medical facilities, provide community health education (as in hygiene, first aid, prevention of HIV/AIDS, etc.), work with agencies in different communities to help provide agricultural education, help in training people to provide clean water/sanitation, and leadership training.
Mercy Ships has mobilized a disaster response team to Haiti, and there are opportunities to serve there.
They not only have their own teams on the ground in Haiti through Mercy Teams, but they also are working together with other organizations who are there, as well. You can actually read more about their Haiti relief efforts on the Mercy Ships Blog.
Of course, you can also make a financial contribution to the work of Mercy Ships. You might even get your place of work involved. Mercy Ships has many corporate partners, including Starbucks. You can give a gift towards the work of Mercy Ships, you can support a crew member, or you can even order from the gift catalog. You can also help the Haiti earthquake victims.
You can follow Mercy Ships via Facebook and Twitter. You can also view more photos on Flickr. You can watch many videos from Mercy Ships on Youtube, videos including a tour of the Africa Mercy.
(Photos & Logo used with permission of Mercy Ships.)
