Join our family as together with a crew of 400, we serve the coastal cities of West Africa as volunteers with
Mercy Ships aboard the Africa Mercy. We seek to bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor through healthcare, community development and church empowerment.
We are currently in Monrovia, Liberia.
This blog represents our own views and is not an official Mercy Ships site.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Pure Gold.
We’ve been in Liberia on and off since 2005. There is one, very posh grocery store, that carries Haagen-Dazs and in 2005 the going rate was an outrageous $11 USD.
This week it’s an unbelievable $25!! A bag of rice costs $50, so I’m wondering who’s buying the ice cream? Maybe its
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Mercy is.
Mercy Ships is...
tough love and tenderness
skill ‘neath surgeon’s glove
rugged hope through gentle hands
empowering from Above.
Paula Kirby
used with permission
Thursday, June 5, 2008
N.P.O.
Blessing is N.P.O. tonight. I was with her on the ward a couple of hours ago when the the yellow, “regular diet” tag over her bed was removed and the bright red “NPO” tag was slapped up in its place. She had just finished her dinner of rice and sauce when she saw the switch; she immediately
Monday, June 2, 2008
A Room With a View.
This is our view from our cabin aboard the Africa Mercy in the Freeport of Monrovia. For the last year we have watched these men slowly chipping away at the pier for scrap metal. They do this from sun up to sun down, seven days a week. When they get enough to make a bundle they lower it
Monday, May 26, 2008
Picking Up Starfish.
We have a friend, Keith Thomson, who likes to tell the story about the boy on a beach early one morning throwing washed up starfish back into the sea. It was an impossible task; the starfish stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. As the story goes, an older and presumably
Friday, May 16, 2008
Another Day at the Office.
Last night, as Gary and I were walking on the dock, we met 22 year old Alimou as he arrived from up-country Guinea. This three kilo tumor began to grow eight years ago. The physical and emotional suffering that he must have endured is hard for me to comprehend. As we introduced ourselves
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Reflections on the Atonement.
Below is a paper I (Susan) wrote, for a Medieval Theology class, on two 11th/12th century theologians’ different views of the Atonement. Both perspectives have been influential in forming the way we currently think about the meaning of the cross and yet have often been misunderstood.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
"Liberia Welcomes Mercy Ships."
It is always an honor to receive H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf aboard one of our Mercy Ships and today was no exception. Just two days before she is to host President Bush in country, Madam Johnson Sirleaf took time out to come and speak to our crew. A gifted orator she exudes warmth and
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Gebelah.
Meet our “adopted” son, Gebelah.
Carys actually met Gebelah first. A couple of years ago, we were asked by the principal of his grade school to consider covering the tuition for Gebelah and Washington--two boys who excelled academically but for various reasons (like 80%unemployment)
