Alumni Newsletter November 2011

Posted by Mercy Ships staff on Oct 26, 2011 at 08:53 am

We are honored to conclude the guest column of Dr. Andrew Clark, Director of Organizational Development, in this month's edition of the Mercy Ships Alumni Newsletter! Please read the second part of his message below.

"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."

~ Margaret Mead, American Anthropologist

Last month I wrote about the starfish thrower who believed he could make a big difference for the few starfish he could save.  Mother Teresa had the same attitude when she noted, “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. Just one. One. One.”

She went on to say, “I pick up one person - maybe if I didn't pick up that one person I wouldn't have picked up 42,000. The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if I didn't put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. Same thing for you. Same thing for your family. Same thing in the church where you go. Just begin. One. One. One.”

I have to admit that sometimes I’ve been so overwhelmed by the enormity of need, that I have ignored the significance of the little that I can do.  I mentioned this to someone recently, and they quipped that if I thought I was too small to have an impact, I should try going to bed with a mosquito in the room!  Never underestimate the significance of what you are able to do.  The clergyman and author Edward Everett Hale challenged us in this regard. "I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.  And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

What is the ‘something’ that you can do, and more importantly what can you do today to start doing ‘that something’.  Once you have decided what that is, just begin!

THE MERCY ORHANAGE - Emmanuel Shaw spent six years as a translator, deckhand and cook on the Anastasis, where he met Shola, his future wife, who was working in the dining room. In the late 1990s, the Sierra Leone civil war was finally over, allowing the couple to go to the country on their days off. There they saw many children whose parents had been killed by rebels during the war. “We started to pray about it – my wife and the crew,” said Emmanuel.

THE NEW ORLEANS CONNECTION - Read about Dr. Peter Meade, a surgeon at the training faculty of Tulane University Medical Center and LSU Health Sciences Center, and Mary Jackson, who works as an ER nurse at Interim LSU Public Hospital after they served onboard the Africa Mercy, where they were able to help some of the poorest people in the world.

ALUMNI HAPPENINGS: Do you suspect that there are more Mercyshippers in your town? You are probably right! There might be a whole group of people in your town that have served with Mercy Ships before! Would you like to help us organize a reunion of the Alumni in your area for a cup of coffee or a potluck dinner? See how others have done it and find out more about upcoming events, like our meet-up planned for Seattle, WA right HERE!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Captain Kathy Shankle originally joined Mercy Ships in 1986 as 3rd Officer on the Anastasis where she worked her way up to Chief Officer before departing in 1992.  In 1997 she rejoined Mercy Ships onboard the Caribbean Mercy as 2nd Officer.  She assumed the rank of Captain in 2003.  Since leaving Mercy Ships in 2005, she has been living in the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina.  During the summers she sails as an instructor for the California Maritime Academy aboard their training ship Golden Bear.

FACEBOOK! Stay connected with Mercy Ships via our Alumni Facebook Page! Click HERE and remember to 'LIKE' our page to get instant updates to your own feed.

CONNECTIONS! What does it take to keep Mercy Ships moving on the ground? Jeremy Garcia, Mercy Ships Transportation Manager, answers that question in this month’s Connections. Patient Services Coordinator, Dan Bergman, offers insight about having a family onboard while serving on the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy. Click HERE to watch this month's episode.

DID YOU KNOW?  Did you know that about 75% of our volunteers hear about Mercy Ships from you (our alumni)?   Thanks for helping us get the word out!!

Time for our popular ALUMNI COMPETITION. Last month's winner is Melinda Wilson from Richmond, IN! Congratulations Melinda, your box of goodies is on its way to you. This month you can win a Mercy Ships Alumni Baseball cap, 4 different Christian mucic CD's sponsored by Integrity Music and a Mercy Ships mug! Click HERE to enter!

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