Faith Persuades Tyler Native To Join Mercy Ships Crew

Posted by Mercy Ships staff on Aug 25, 2011 at 08:44 am

Editor's Note: The following copyrighted article appeared in the Tyler Morning Telegraph  and is reposted with permission, Please do not re-post without permission.

Faith Persuades Tyler Native To Join Mercy Ships Crew
By REBECCA HOEFFNER
Staff Writer


When a volunteer joins a Mercy Ships' crew, they often are agreeing to completely change their life for a while. Listening to John Harwood talk at a local coffee shop about his life in the past few years, you have to wonder whether change is something he's used to.

 Harwood, 29, is a Tyler native who left to serve on Mercy Ships' vessel on Tuesday. Harwood received a degree in communications from Texas Christian University, worked as an outdoor guide and in private money management before getting a Psychology/Counseling Studies Certification from the University of California in Los Angeles.

"I'm just really interested in working with people," he said.

Mercy Ships is a global charity that has operated hospital ships in developing nations in Central and South America, the Caribbean and Africa since 1978. The organization has performed services valued more than $834 million for almost 3 million people since its beginning.

Mercy Ships' fourth commissioned ship since its beginning, the Africa Mercy, is docked in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Several friends who work and volunteer with Mercy Ships convinced Harwood to go, he said.

"I'm in a very fortunate position to be able to go," Harwood said. "It's all about what you do with what you've got."

Volunteers and staff with Mercy Ships have performed more than 56,000 operations free of charge, such as cleft lip and palate correction, cataract removal, straightening of crossed eyes, and orthopedic and facial reconstruction.

Harwood will be on a team doing eye operations and likely will counsel people coming out of surgery how to maintain their health.

Harwood will serve as a field eye coordinator. He will be responsible for screening for cataracts, scheduling surgeries with patients, and teaching them how to do post-op maintenance, which he will be trained to do when he arrives, said Claire Bufe, marketing manager for Mercy Ships.

"We just need hands to help with that," she said.

It's work that Harwood is excited about, he said.

"Many of these people will be able to see for the first time," Harwood said with a smile.

Harwood was raised in a Christian home, and his family often took Safari trips to Africa, where he saw first-hand the harsh conditions for the people there. Both inspired him to join Mercy Ships, he said.

"Being (Christ's) example is really what Mercy Ships does," Harwood said. "You spread the Word from there. That's how people get it and see it. That's how you show them there's a plan for each person on this Earth."

Harwood will be in Sierra Leone for 11 weeks, until Nov. 5. After hearing story after story from his friends, he was excited to go.

"It's just miraculous to see those things firsthand every day," Harwood said. "You never know what you're going to see. That's what is so intriguing. ... You can go to school, but you can't really learn about the world that way."

Visit www.mercyships.org to learn more or to donate.

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