In honor of Mother’s Day, let me tell you about a special moment of mercy onboard our hospital ship, the Africa Mercy.

Eye Team volunteer Kim Strauss describes the amazing change in children who had free surgeries to remove congenital cataracts

One morning, a barber named Henry McHenry was taking his first customer – a former military policeman named Michael Cade.  A woman who worked next door stopped by to say hello.  She had once told him about her abusive husband, saying, “If you ever see a guy pull up in an F-150 pickup, he’s coming for me.”

Georgette came to our hospital ship for treatment of a childbirth injury.  But Dr. Sherriff discovered another problem. 

Their homes are made of palm trees, and the floors are hard-packed earth.  Electricity and running water are far-fetched dreams.  This typical Madagascar village is swept and tidy – and it’s crammed full of life!  But there’s a problem:  the children are eager to learn, but the parents can’t afford to send them to school.

New Zealand nurse Nicholas Booth decided to vacation in Madagascar … and witnessed a great example of mercy. 

When thirteen-year-old Memouna arrived onboard our hospital ship for surgery, she was scared.  For years she had been teased about the tumor on her face.  People even said she was cursed.  A free surgery onboard our Africa Mercy changed her forever. Listen to Mercy Ships ward nurse Lynne White’s story

Zakael can run like the wind.  The seven-year-old says, “I want to be a soldier, just like my grandfather.”  But something stood in his way . . . a tennis ball-sized cyst that had been slowly growing since birth

Ngaire (Ni-ree) volunteers in her church’s second-hand clothing store in Auckland, New Zealand.  Every week, more little teddy bears arrive for resale than they can possibly sell.  God gave Ngaire an idea – turn the cuddly toys into pint-sized Prayer Bears.

Dr. Lindsay Sherriff, a volunteer doctor from Australia, shares the story of a patient who suffered from a childbirth injury called obstetric fistula or VVF.