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I was moved by the Easter celebration on board the Africa Mercy this morning. It was a beautiful sight the African sun rise while we sung praises and worshiped God on Deck 8. Then we moved to the International Lounge to continue the Easter service that concluded with crew members from all over the world saying “Christ is risen” in their own native language. Easter is a special time for us. The unsuccessful first attempt to have a ship was the death of a vision that was resurrected with the first Mercy Ships, the Anastasis , which means resurrection in Greek. The resurrection story began in the heart of a loving God that in order to provide redemption for fallen men send his son to die for the sins of humanity. The Apostle John says that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not parish but have eternal life.” May the resurrection power restore every aspect of your life! Happy Easter! Christ is risen indeed.

We demonstrate that we truly value human life by acts of generosity, kindness, concern, and compassion to others, whether they are in needy or not. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves because he knows that we are selfish by nature. The parable of the Good Samaritan was told in response to a second question from a teacher of the law to Jesus. The first question was about what one could do to inherit eternal life? Which Jesus turned the question back to the questioner who answered his own question. Not satisfied with his own answer, the teacher of the law asked a second question, but this time he changed from what to whom. Who is my neighbor? Through the Good Samaritan parable, Jesus taught that our neighbor is the one who needs mercy. For Jesus love is not love until it is demonstrated. When love is demonstrated, it creates a deep sense of gratitude in the one who received mercy. This week I saw two old ladies who received cataract surgery on the Africa Mercy hosp

I come to the Africa Mercy regularly, and an integral part of my enjoyment is to see first-hand those who received life change surgeries. Last week 15 children had their cataract surgically removed by the eye surgeon. I can’t imagine what is to be blind and then to see. This is what happened to those fifteen little patients who had their eyes patches removed yesterday. A crew member described a little girl who saw for the first time here shadow and wanted to touch it. See children who returned for their post op below.

In the article entitled The Next Agenda: The War to Develop Talent , Jeff Schwartz offers a description of the current shortage of qualified works (talent) in the business world. He says: “The concern is not about the availability of workers; it is, rather, about the shortage of critical skills, experiences and specialized capabilities of leaders, managers, creators and producers required in changing industries.” For Schwartz the real issue is not a lack of workers, but a lack of workers with the necessary skills to succeed in a changing market place.  This reality is not different for a non-profit organization like Mercy Ships. We are constantly seeking talented seafarers to meet the demand for qualified crew in our ship. Our recruiters attend job fair and recruitment venue looking for Deck and Engineer Officers, Able Seafarers and Ratings, but the reality is there is a worldwide shortage of qualified ships workers, and shipping companies who can pay big salaries are also looking for

I enjoy the Friday morning Program’s report on the Africa Mercy. Today the report was given by Eliphaz Essah, Mercy Ships Agriculture Facilitator, on the agricultural “Food for Life” program.I was surprised to know that some of the vegetables being served on board come from gardens developed by students of the Food for Life classes, lettuce, eggplant, watermelon and others. Mercy Ships agriculture program desires to promote health and well-being through nutritious food supply, and to educate individuals and communities in sustainable food production. In Guinea the Food for Life program has trained 18 participants in organic agriculture. Ali Camara, a graduate from the program, has arranged to train 500 students from a local school. Eliphaz Essah said: “This project has a great future of continuing training long after the ship left. People in the community have seen what has happened here… they have seen and wanted to learn, it doesn’t stop here.” Food for Life is a vivid example of

I like to travel light: one carry-on and one suitcase with plenty space to bring things back if necessary. Coming to the Africa Mercy I was asked to bring a suitcase with supplies for the hospital. Soon after the bag was delivered to my office I was told that it would be replaced as there was an urgent need of supplies for the eyes surgeries. The bag was delivered to the hospital without any problem. At breakfast the next morning I met Dr. Abram Wodome from Togo who was trained by the ship’s doctors on the cataract surgery techniques used by Mercy Ships. He told me that without the supplies I brought they could not perform the scheduled surgeries that day. It seems that I saved the day and helped to bring sight to the blind.