Lisa and I first met back in 2000 on one of the Mercy Ships. The M/V Anastasis was on her way to Benin for a medical field service. The “Annie” was a beautiful streamlined ship. Once an elegant Italian cruise liner, she was later renovated into the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world with three operating rooms and a 25 bed ward. After sailing the seas for 50 years, she’s now retired and replaced with a larger flagship, the M/V Africa Mercy (pictured above).
When I, Steve, first joined Mercy Ships in 1995, I began as a 3rd and 4th grade teacher in the International Christian School on board. While with Mercy Ships, I served in a variety of different capacities. I was involved in advance work where I made preparations in Germany and The Gambia for our ship’s arrival. I established the Mercy Ministry Coordinator position on the ship in 1999 and then worked as the coordinator in South Africa, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo and Benin.
Lisa spent four years with Mercy Ships. She first joined in 1994 and worked as a dental hygienist in land based clinics. After three years back in the States she returned as dental coordinator where she managed a team of about 20 professionals consisting of dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and interpreters in serving the dental health needs of the poor in West Africa. She also enjoyed going into the local primary and secondary schools to teach dental health. There, she was known as “Mrs. Tooth.” She would dress up as a giant tooth and use drama to teach oral hygiene. Her Sierra Leone interpreter, Joseph Dumbuya, would accompany her. Joseph later went on to dental school. The picture below shows Mrs. Tooth and Joseph in action.
After getting married in 2001 in New Mexico, we returned to West Africa to serve together. We came back to the States in 2003. In 2006, Lisa and I became the proud parents of two beautiful children. During our time in the United States, I, Steve, earned a Master’s degree in International Development and Children-at-Risk. Currently, with plans of returning to Mercy Ships, Lisa and I feel more and more like we are returning home.
Below are some photographs from our early days of serving with Mercy Ships throughout Africa.
Lisa and I with colleague, Dr. Desmond in the crew dental clinic on board the Anastasis. Notice the port holes behind us. Over my shoulder is the puppet named Abubakar which Lisa used when teaching preschool children in Guinea about dental health.
Lisa and I worked for nearly a year as follow-up coordinators for Mercy Ships in The Gambia after the ship sailed on to another country. We were responsible for monitoring and evaluating development projects started by Mercy Ships. These projects included water and sanitation training for rural farmers, training trainers in primary health care education, and micro-enterprise development for women. Above is Hawa, one of the women involved in our training who started a small business making and selling mosquito nets in her village. During one of our weekly visits to her home, she gave us a live chicken as a token of her thanks which you can see pictured. I am holding it by its feet.
This is the day Lisa said YES to marrying me! We spent part of the day on this boat in a stilt village called Ganvie which was located in the middle of the Nokoue River in Benin.
Lisa loves learning how to cook ethnic foods. Here she is learning how to cook a spicy African sauce from her Beninese friend, Christine.
Pictured above is a village Lisa passed in her dug out canoe along the way to another stilt village where she taught dental health.
This is a typical scene found in Africa: the outdoor marketplace.
Here I am in Madagascar. This small group of 17 villagers grew to 200 people in a few short months as I spent every week teaching them about what it meant to follow Jesus.
Lisa and I partnered with a team from India working in The Gambia. One of our responsibilities was to help them adjust to living in a small rural village across the Gambia River. Our dear friend and co-worker, Buba, is squatting down on the left. He helped us with the follow-up of several community development projects. Next to Lisa is my mom who flew from New York to The Gambia to visit us.
My colleague Brian and I took turns leading this weekly study on the life of Jesus among this group of men in a notorious voodoo area in Benin. The man on my left is a follower of Jesus and assisted as our interpreter.
Lisa and colleague Dominique with friends and fellow co-workers in Benin.
Along with my friend Brian, we shared the joy of preaching to this small congregation every Sunday morning for months in Cotonou, Benin. I’m standing in the back with the turquoise shirt.
See Mercy Ships in action by clicking HERE.