Engage your church with Mercy Ships
Mercy Ships was founded on Christian faith, and churches have supported the work since 1978.
A congregation can offer something an individual cannot: sustained commitment, and people who send each other.
Giving as a congregation
Some churches give through a mission budget or a regular commitment. Some adopt a particular part of the work - a surgical specialty, a training programme, or a field service in one country - and follow it over several years.
A church that commits for three years is doing something an individual donor rarely can, because it lets us plan against it.
Praying for the work
Many congregations pray for the ships, the crew and the patients, and receive updates so they can pray specifically rather than generally.
Crew consistently say this is the support they are most aware of while they are serving, which is worth knowing if your church wonders whether it counts as doing something.
Sending people
Congregations also send volunteers. A church that supports one of its own members through a year of service - practically, financially and by staying in touch - is doing something no individual donation replaces.
If someone in your church is considering serving, the most useful thing you can offer is often the conversation about how the year would be funded.
Hearing from people who have served
Volunteers and staff speak in churches about what the work involves. A first-hand account from someone who has stood in the operating room does more than any material we could send you.
The Mercy Ships office in your country can arrange this, and usually needs a few weeks notice.
Faith, and how it is practised on board
Mercy Ships is a Christian organisation and does not treat that as background information. Crew worship together, faith is openly part of daily life on the ships, and many volunteers describe their service as a calling rather than a job.
Care itself is given without condition. Patients are treated according to medical need, whatever they believe, and are never required to take part in anything religious in order to receive surgery. Host nations invite us on that basis, and it is not negotiable.
Working in countries of many faiths
Mercy Ships serves nations with large Muslim populations, large Christian populations, and many traditional beliefs. Being explicit about our own foundation while treating everyone the same is not a contradiction - it is the arrangement that makes the work possible.
Getting started
Speak to the Mercy Ships office in your country. They can help shape something that fits your congregation - its size, its budget cycle, and what it already supports - rather than offering a fixed programme.
Questions churches ask
Is Mercy Ships a Christian organisation?
Yes. Mercy Ships was founded on Christian faith and remains explicitly Christian. Crew worship together and faith is openly part of life on board.
Do patients have to be Christian to be treated?
No. Patients are selected on medical need alone, whatever they believe, and are never required to take part in anything religious to receive surgery. Mercy Ships works in nations of many faiths, at the invitation of their governments, on exactly that basis.
Do volunteers have to be Christian?
Requirements differ by role and are set out during recruitment. The Mercy Ships office in your country can explain exactly what applies to the role someone is considering, which is a better answer than a general one.
Can someone come and speak at our church?
Usually yes. Volunteers and staff speak in churches regularly. Contact your national Mercy Ships office with the date and the size of the gathering, ideally a few weeks ahead.
Can our church support a specific volunteer?
Yes, and it is one of the most useful things a congregation can do. Crew are unpaid and usually contribute towards their own costs, so a church that funds a member's year of service directly enables that placement.
Can we receive prayer updates?
Yes. Your national office can arrange updates from the field so that a congregation can pray for named situations rather than in general terms.
