Mercy Ships is wonderful. Check em out! I went to the Canaries to work on the ship while it was in dry dock. I felt that I was in one big happy family that loved to work hard together serving those in need.
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I volunteered as a carpenter and was assigned to housecleaning which made me want to jump overboard. The captain of the ship saw me looking over the railing one night and invited me to his cabin if I ever wanted to talk. The next night I went to go talk with the captain about wanting to jump off and swim home. When I got to his luxurious cabin I found it filled with people who had also been invited to the captain's cabin. I made some good friends that night and finished out my six weeks of service with joy!
Feels like doing it again.
Mercy Ships had this campaign where they showed you what it cost to operate a blind person in Africa on their hospital ship. It was a affordable donation and with the following up you could see how happy this people are after their operations and this made me doing it again and again.
As a family we even joined them for 2 years and they inspire me to continue a life of giving check them out at www.mercyships.org.
Review from #MyGivingStory
I am on my way to volunteer for the third time with mercy ships! The Africa Mercy serves the poor in Africa with the highest quality healthcare on board the largest nongovernmental hospital ship.
My first service aboard Mercy Ships was in 2013 in Conakry, Guinea. I am blessed to have the professional skills to volunteer in the hospital. Mercy Ships has had a huge impact on my life and my spiritual connection with God. I arrived last January a "broken woman" and knew as I walked on board my life would be forever changed. The ministries available are endless and empowering, the crew members helped in my healing process and experienced the powerful effect of being prayed over.
I am returning to the Africa Mercy in Pointe Noire, Congo in January 2014. I am fortunate to extend my stay to a month and very excited to experience all that God has planned for me.
I have had two opportunities to volunteer as an orthopaedic surgeon with Mercy Ships. Not only are you given a chance to serve, but perhaps more importantly they have the structure and the capabilities to make one's time very productive and fulfilling. You are part of a floating hospital! I have only positive recommendations for anyone wishing to support or volunteer with Mercy Ships.
I have known of Mercy Ships for many years, and had the opportunity to serve on the Africa Mercy in Togo several years ago. It was truely life changing, and my experience with this organization was absolutely wonderful. Mercy Ships is an organization that lives up to it's aim of bringing hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor. I saw this being lived out in the people I served alongside with, and on the faces of the patients who received state- of- the- art health care. This organization is one that offers free health care to people of Africa who otherwise would not be able to receive it, and I am so proud to have been a part of it.
I was a short term volunteer with Mercy Ships repeatedly for several years. It was an experience that changed my life. Serving others, especially the needy in 3rd world countries is a humbling experience. It made me grateful for all I have been given and I know it is only by the grace of God that I have been so blessed. "There but for the grace of God go I". It is pure joy to see the face of someone whose eyesight has been restored. And it is a true blessing to be amongst like believers. Much of my experiences with Mercy Ships defy description in a way that can be conveyed to someone who has not experienced the joy of serving others and making a difference in their lives. Two thumbs for the whole Mercy Ships organization and their many ministries to the needy.
My husband and I served with Mercy ships as Crew from 1984 until 2002. We actually met on board and raised our three kids there until we moved stateside. We worked in a variety of departments over the years and travelled to many nations serving the poor and needy. We were volunteers who raised support so that we could pay our crew fees which covered our "room and board". So yes, we paid for the privilege of working!! It was an investment of our lives and finances that we have never regretted. We got to be the "hands" that healed, and hugged, and worked to make a difference in the lives of others. I know this ministry very well!!! I have nothing but love and respect for the leaders and the HEART of this ministry.
Mercy Ships is an organization which takes the love of God shared through its staff and volunteers and gives it to those who need it most: the forgotten poor of this world. Giving hope to the people it serves through the gifts, skills, time, and grace of people who serve in this wonderful organization - it's God's ship.
Mercy Ships is an excellent organization, in my opinion, in that it truly utilizes the most sustainable, longest lasting, most efficient, and effective methods to help the poor of Africa. Not only are they doing this through physical healing, but also in the emotional and spiritual arena's as well.
As a way of explanation, in 2008, Mercy Ships legal home moved from California to Texas. As a result, a new charity was formed and a new application for charitable status was filed and approved by the IRS. All assets, liabilities and operations were merged from the old Mercy Ships into the new entity. This was necessitated by the inability of the IRS to move a registered charity between states. As you review this Guidestar entry for Mercy Ships, please keep in mind that it ceased to exist at the end of 2008. For recent activity, please see the Mercy Ships records for EIN 26-2414132
Review from Guidestar