MaritimeMercy.com

The Elementary First Aid course is designed to provide the trainee with basic instruction to take immediate action upon encountering an accident or other medical emergency. The students learn how to access the situation, raise the alarm, administer CPR, and how to care for an injured person.

Today was the BFF practical of the Basic Safety Training. Nineteen students received instruction that enable them to react in a correct manner in the event of an outbreak of fire. The learned to take appropriate measures for the safety of personnel and of the ship, and the use of appliances correctly.

If you did not have a chance to watch, last Sunday evening, Mercy Ships was featured in a segment produced by CBS television broadcast news 60 Minutes. Click here to watch the 60 Minutes video . It was a well done program showing how Mercy Ships’ volunteers reach the millions with the message of hope and healing for the forgotten poor. As a result of the program so far there have been more than 49,000 new visits to the Mercy Ships web site. This is a wonderful opportunity to share how Mercy Ships show God’s through a medical hospital. Our hope is that many will continue seeing the segment on the web and will partner with us.

There is something unique about sport celebrities. They have an aura of excitement and anticipation that follows them wherever they go. On February 11 in Conakry, Guinea, the crew and patients of the Africa Mercy were surprised by the unexpected visit of Joseph S. Blatter, president of FIFA, the football’s (soccer) international governing body. Click here to read press release.   President Blatter is in a four-country tour in Africa said he was “deeply impressed” by the work the work Mercy Ships does. After the visit he posted in his twitter account: “just visited @ Mercy Ships in Conakry. Impressed by this initiative which provides surgery to the most needy in Africa." Pic.twitter.com/sJuyDxla ( https://twitter.com/SeppBlatter) .

Steeping out beyond borders is becoming commonplace in the effort to help the poorest of the poor. After 20 years working in West Africa Mercy Ships is reaching out further to embrace Congo-Brazzaville. The Africa Mercy, the world’s largest nongovernmental hospital ship will provide medical care free of charge while docked in the Port of Pointe Noire for ten months (August 2013 to June 2014). Click here  to see full press release.

There was a positive and rewarding story this week on the  News and on the Internet about a family who received a discount in a restaurant for their well-behaved children. The owner of an Italian restaurant in Kingston, Washington was so impressed with the children behavior and their polite manners that she added a well behaved kids discount to the family bill. In an age when kids are targeted by ill taste reality shows where bad behavior equals notoriety; it is refreshing to hear news praising kids’ good behavior in a public place.  It is evident that the education of those children ages 8, 3, and 2 began at home where the mother works on the kid’s dinner manner. These parents expect the family to behave outside home the same way they behave at home. Safety training stresses what behavioral experts call “muscles memory”, which means that people act in an emergency the same way they practice for an emergency. Therefore you should practice the same way you want to do a pa...

From time to time God in his infinity wisdom seems to open spiritual windows to give mortal man a glimpse of what He is doing. Most of the time we don’t have a clue of what is going on around us, like Elisha’s servant who needed his master to pray for his eyes to be open for him to see what was happening in the spiritual helm. Paul Baloche’s song “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you”, says it all. We need Divine help to see beyond the physical limitations of this material world. Last Sunday was one of those memorable moments that will be cherished for a long time. As I shared two posts before, connecting was a hallmark in this trip to Hawaii. One of those connections, or re-connection, was with David de Carvalho the pastor, Kahu, of Mokuaikaua Church of Kailua-Kona, the first Christian church established in Hawaii. Like me, David grew up in Rio de Janeiro and both are fruit of the same youth revival called Clubes Biblico. This youth movement produced pastors, missionaries...

What I most love about the Grassroots News International Summit is helping people grow and develop toward God’s intention for their lives. I help this by bringing the group in a process of discovering where they are and how to align their objectives to the bigger picture of the task ahead. In the process of defining mission, goals and objectives with the group there was a positive unintended consequence which a very effective team building.