Who we are
Mercy Ships utilises surgery ships as a platform to transform lives and serve nations in Africa.
We seek to follow the model of Jesus, bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor.
For more than 40 years we have been providing free surgeries and humanitarian care for people without access to the health care services they need.
Our focus
On the African continent, 93% of the population does not have access to safe or affordable surgery when they need it. Globally, each year 18.6 million people die from the lack of surgical care. Mercy Ships is dedicated to strengthening countries’ health care capacity through training, as well as meeting individual immediate needs.
The Mercy Ships’ field of service is West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa and Madagascar, and extending service to East Africa in the years to come.
Our hospital ship strategy
Our ships bring a whole hospital of experienced volunteer professionals directly to where healthcare needs are greatest.
In the low-income countries Mercy Ships serves, clean water, electricity and surgical facilities are limited or non-existent. This significantly impacts the safe and robust provision of land-based surgery and medical care.
Our history
Don & Deyon Stephens founded Mercy Ships in 1978 with the purchase of our first vessel Anastasis, which visited 275 ports during its service in 23 nations.
An overheard prayer, the birth of their special needs son, and a conversation with Mother Theresa were pivotal in hearing the call of God to follow the model of Jesus, bringing hope and healing to the world’s poor.
