Engage your church with Mercy Ships
Get the Church PackPut faith into action. Together.
Your church can be part of bringing hope and healing to people across Africa. Pray together. Give together. Send people to serve. However your church chooses to get involved, you can help make life-changing surgery possible while living out Christ's call to love and serve others.
Your church can be part of the mission
When your church comes together behind a shared purpose, its impact can reach far beyond its walls. Together with Mercy Ships, your congregation can help make life-changing surgery possible and strengthen healthcare for the future.
- Help make surgery possible: Support patients in accessing the safe surgical care they need.
- Strengthen care for the future: Help healthcare professionals strengthen their skills and expertise.
- Be part of something bigger: Join a global community of churches, volunteers, supporters, and partners bringing hope and healing in Jesus' name.
Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Pray. Give. Send.
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Pray
Bring patients, volunteers, healthcare professionals and the work of Mercy Ships into the prayer life of your church.
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Give
Bring your congregation together through an offering, fundraising initiative or ongoing church partnership that helps make surgery and healthcare training possible.
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Send
Could someone in your church be called to serve? Encourage members to bring their medical, maritime, technical, or professional skills on board, and support them as they go.
"Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly." - Micah 6:8
When your church partners with Mercy Ships, that calling becomes visible in patients receiving life-changing surgery, healthcare professionals strengthening their skills, and volunteers using their gifts in service of others. This is faith in action, and your congregation can be part of it.
Faith in action on board our ships
Mercy Ships is a Christian organization inspired by the model of Jesus. Prayer, worship, and Christian community are part of life on board, while care is offered to people of all faiths and backgrounds, based on medical need and without discrimination.
Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier
See what your giving can make possible
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£150
A gift of £150 could pay for a nurse training course.
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£300
A gift of £300 can help provide a week’s supply of sanitation products like gloves, gowns, bed sheets, and antiseptic cleaners.
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£600
A gift of £600 could remove a tumour, saving and transforming a life like little Houleye’s. Or, £50 per month for one surgery per year.
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£1,000
A gift of £1,000 could pay to sponsor an operating theatre for one day’s surgeries.
Bring the mission to your church
Invite a Mercy Ships speaker to share firsthand stories of faith, service, and life on board our hospital ships with your congregation. Hear how volunteers live out their calling, discover stories of lives transformed through surgery, and explore how your church can become part of bringing hope and healing.
Become a church partner
Build a deeper relationship with Mercy Ships and bring your congregation together around prayer, giving, and service.
Resources for your church
Ready to explore what this could look like for your church?
You don't need to have a plan. Tell us a little about your church and what you're interested in, and our team will help you explore what could work for your congregation.
Church team
FAQ
How can our church support the mission?
Churches support Mercy Ships through prayer, financial giving (collections, offerings, or a dedicated giving Sunday), and by sharing patient and volunteer stories with their congregation.
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.
Can we invite a speaker to our church?
Yes. We can arrange a Mercy Ships speaker — staff, volunteer crew, or a patient ambassador where available — to share firsthand stories in person or online.
Are there resources for church leaders?
Yes. We offer a free Church Pack with sermon notes, prayer points, and service ideas, plus bulletin inserts, a prayer calendar, and video resources.
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 our members volunteer?
Absolutely. Members with medical, technical, or hospitality skills can explore volunteering onboard — we're happy to walk them through what that looks like.
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.
