Faith in Action
After spending his teenage years in Zimbabwe, Joff Williams discovered what it looks like to put your faith in action. This realization formed his adult years and caused he and his wife to seriously ask what they wanted to do with their lives to live out their faith. A chance meeting with Mercy Ships volunteer surgeon, Dr. Gary Parker at a wedding reception led Joff and his wife to apply as volunteers with Mercy Ships as a family.
After serving for over 5 years at the International Support Center in Texas, Joff and his family are now aboard the Global Mercy, serving as the Managing Director of the vessel.
In this episode, Joff shares his joy in witnessing the Global Mercy doing what she was created to do — serving the people of Africa. He talks of life’s challenges that prepare us for something greater, answered prayers, as well as the power of community and rich relationships.
Get ready to be blessed by this Godly leader.
Looking for a way to join our mission of bringing hope and healing? Partner with us through a gift, volunteering with us, or by joining us in prayer.
New Mercies Podcast Transcript
Welcome to the New Mercies, a podcast by Mercy Ships, where we’ll take you behind the scenes and on board our incredible hospital ships that are transforming lives all over the world. We invite you to join us each week as we sit down with our crew, patients, volunteers, and partners to hear their stories of life-changing hope and healing.
After spending his teenage years in Zimbabwe, Joff Williams discovered what it looked like to put his faith in action. Now with his whole family, Joff continues to put his faith in action by volunteering as the Managing Director on board the Global Mercy. Get ready to be inspired by this Godly man. Here is my interview with Joff Williams.
Raeanne Newquist:
Joff Williams, welcome to New Mercies.
Joff Williams:
Thank you, Raeanne, pleasure to be with you today.
Raeanne:
Joff, you are the Managing Director of our new ship the Global Mercy, I can only imagine that that may be a big weight, if you will, to be the very first Managing Director of the new vessel. But before we get into that, currently you are in Dakar, Senegal. So tell us what’s it like in Dakar today?
Joff:
I can’t tell you right now and how good it is to have this ship and field service in Africa, where it was made to be and where it belongs. A lot of people in this organization and those who support the organization have invested so much to get this Global Mercy vessel where it is right now today. It feels so good to have our patients coming and going from the ship to be working with a local training partners to see what God’s doing in the nation. It’s where it needs to be. And it’s a privilege to be here.
Raeanne:
I know that passage in scripture that says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But a longing fulfilled is the tree of life.” And I can only imagine that you all are feeling that as a crew. And really, we’re feeling that as an organization now that as you mentioned, the ship is in service, patients are coming and going, we are finally having that dream fulfilled.
Joff:
it’s funny, you bring up that proverb, that’s actually part of my story as well, in a time when my wife and I were waiting to come and join the Global Mercy. You see that tree of life, you see abundant life, and now here today, the same thing that Jesus promises to us is if we put the kingdom first, everything else gets sorted out. I’ve seen that true time and time over and over again.
Raeanne:
I love that. Well, great segue, why don’t you go ahead and kick us off by telling us how did your Mercy Ships adventure come about? What was it that first drew you and your family to this and tell us how you ended up where you are?
Joff:
Sure. It starts quite a long time ago, I ended up in Africa quite early in my life. I was born in the UK. So British parents, Welsh father, English mother, they were working with the Salvation Army. And so I grew up in a family that from the very beginning put faith in action together, you know, you read the book of James, and you come away from reading that letter, with the impression that those two things just can’t be separated. They have to go together, your faith impacts what you do, but it has to be driven by who you are and who God calls us to be and our identity is found in him. My parents showed me that from an early age, and I’m very grateful for that. And so we moved from the UK, as a teenager, I moved to Zimbabwe, and I got to see firsthand and really live and experience Africa. And it was also in the height of the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe at the time as well. And I saw an awful lot of pain and suffering there. As a result, economic crisis was hitting the country as well. And so it was a very difficult time for the people of Zimbabwe. Some points where my dad was doing funerals multiple weekends in a row of people that he knew. AIDS was hitting the country hard and the economic situation was bad for people there. And you get to realize how people live. But you also get to see the richness.
I mean, you want to have a conversation about what poverty really is — when I moved to Zimbabwe, I felt the richness that I had not seen before, what it meant to be welcomed into someone’s home, what it meant to be treated as a foreigner and yet appreciated and valued and respected. The people are so warm and welcoming. We feel that air in Senegal as well, the spirit we call it Teraanga. Here in Senegal, that welcoming hospitable spirit, even people who materially may not have much, are so rich in relationship. And I left that and I went back to the UK to go to university after I’d finished school in Zimbabwe and I felt something different. There was a loss. Honestly, there was a poverty of relationship in many ways. While there was material wealth, I felt like I was missing some of the things that I loved and learned in Africa. And so while I was at University in the UK, my brother who was in the United States said, Hey, why don’t you come over here for your summer? You can come work at summer camp and just do something different for a while and that sounded great. I did that for a few years and then eventually emigrated to the United States. And one thing led to another. I was working there with the Salvation Army for a while. While I was there, I met my wife, and my wife Carrie is a nurse. She was in nursing school at the time. And there’s more to that story. But I’ll share one story at a time.
So my wife and I were talking, what do we want to do with our lives? I had seen Africa, I had experience Africa, I had a heart for International Development and faith in action, putting those things together. And she loved nursing and missions and had a passion for that as well. We talked about something like Mercy Ships, and we said, what if we do something like that someday, that’d be fun. And we thought, okay, maybe when the children leave their home, and we’ve got some more time to ourselves and go do something like Mercy Ships. And then we had a divine appointment with Dr. Gary Parker. Probably featured in a number of stories here. We went to a friend’s wedding out in the middle of nowhere in North Idaho. Our friend knew our passions, they knew what we cared about. And they pointed out a gentleman who was there at the wedding. Yeah, he was just staying at the home of the wedding venue. And he said that gentleman sitting on the porch over there is Dr. Gary Parker, he’s the Chief Medical Officer of the Africa Mercy, you should go and talk with him. And so we were the worst friends and worst wedding guests in the world. We did not go for the cake. We did not go for a dance, nothing. We just talked to Dr. Gary on the porch the whole time. That kind of changed the trajectory of our lives. After we left that we realized, oh, people do this with families. And this guy even had his family aboard on for many, many years. People do this with families, what are we waiting for? Why not go now? And so we left that wedding and we decided, okay, we’ll put our applications then. We were ready to go serve on the Africa Mercy. We put our applications in. And we got the response back saying no, thanks. We don’t need you for the role you applied for. In our spirits, we were ready and we weren’t anticipating that, but they just filled the role that I had applied for. And so instead, I was asked if I would come to Texas and work at the ISC, the International Support Center, which is Mercy Ships headquarters. And my first answer was no.
Raeanne:
Well, yeah, that’s a kind of a different environment, you know, going from Europe and Africa to East Texas.
Joff:
Yeah, yeah, it is. And so we said, No, initially, and then within the course of a week or two, God did something in our hearts, and changed our posture. We said, you know, if this is what God is doing, why would we say no to that? Why would we refuse that? Even though it looks different to what we expect, we would be foolish to miss out on what He’s doing. This is not our plan and it’s not our job to figure that out, but to be obedient within that. And so after we thought about it, we said, Okay and we visited the headquarters, and we got on that plane to go back to our home in Washington State and we knew, Okay, this is God, this is His leading this is our calling. And even though it’s different to what we expect, it’s the right thing to do. And we’re going to miss out if we do not follow Him in obedience. So we did, we went to headquarters in Texas. And so there for five and a half years, and myself in a number of roles, and my wife Carrie on the programs. It was such a rich experience, I got to meet so many people who I love and appreciate and respect. And now I work very closely with on the other side of the ocean, that I implicitly trust them, because they have literally watched my children. And so you can see God’s hand at work in ways that I just didn’t expect at the time. But it required that moment of Him humbling us and calling us to just simple obedience.
Raeanne:
I know, looking back now hindsight, you can see how God was preparing your family and preparing you for what you’re currently doing. As you mentioned, the people that you met in Texas and worked with for five years, you built a trust with them that now, in your working relationship halfway across the world, it’s so important. But in the moment of the disappointments, if you will, the setbacks, you think we’re going to the ship, no, actually you’re going to Texas, what was it in those moments of disappointment that kind of got you through?
Joff:
Sometimes God, I think gives us dreams, because He’s giving us a vision of the future of things that we want to do. Sometimes I think God gives us dreams, because more importantly, He’s forming us into someone He wants us to be. Not just the things we want to do. When Jesus teaches it’s out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. He’s making it very clear, the things that we say and things that we do come out of who we are and our character, what’s deep within us. And so for me, certainly there have been times when things were disappointing. Yes, we can look at so many examples throughout Scripture and so many people who I admire in history and in my life who have had disappointing things happen. That’s part of life. It’s part of the brokenness we all feel sometimes. And some of that is just the nature of the world. And sometimes it’s self-inflicted, as well. All of those things are real, try to be careful not to prescribe that for any person or what they’re going through. But something that I know for sure is that when Jesus says, If you love me, you will obey. It’s so so good. Obedience is a thing that often feels odd for us, and it chafes against us. It kind of knocks off the sharp edges and there is friction when we talk about obedience, it doesn’t sound like something we want. But it’s so so good. When you’re obedient to Jesus, and you see life abundant. It’s good, it knocks off those sharp edges. It knocks off those disappointments that we all have.
Raeanne:
Absolutely. Five and a half years in Texas at the ISC. What happened that then took you from Texas to getting on board the ship?
Joff:
Well, we were always clear with leadership and everyone we worked with in management at the ISC, that our desire was still to serve aboard a vessel someday. But I felt very much convicted that in any given season, at any given moment, just do the thing that’s in front of you and do it well, with all your heart as if for the Lord and not the man. So every opportunity, I got to visit the Africa Mercy I relished it was great to be there. I just trusted that someday, God’s divine hand and His plan would work so that it would fulfill that. And again, it may look different to what we expected. We just trusted that each and every day. And I just tried my best to do the thing that was in front of me, with all my heart as best as I could, and not miss out what He was doing.
Raeanne:
And so you became the Managing Director of the Global Mercy. What was that like for you, when you first walked up the gangway of the new ship as the Managing Director?
Joff:
Well, I’ve been looking at blueprints and drawings for years ran. And then when you actually see a thing in person, it looks very different. And it feels very different to blueprints and drawings. But it’s a physical thing. And it’s the same reaction everyone has when they see the Global Mercy, which is oh, it’s big! It was in Antwerp in Belgium when we first met the ship. And it was at nighttime, and the thing was lit up. It was nighttime because it was winter and so you know, it’s dark for most of the day, northern hemisphere that far north, but it was just lit up. And it looked like a beacon of light in the port where it was. So that was pretty cool. And then you get on board. Honestly, when you’re climbing the gangway, I’m not sure I had any particular feelings. When I was climbing the gangway. It feels like you’re boarding the ship. But then when you start seeing the people who you recognize, that’s what makes it a Mercy Ship. It’s the people, you could take the people off the ship and put them somewhere else, and there will still be Mercy Shippers. And you could take the same vessel
and fill it with people who don’t do what Mercy Ships does, and aren’t Mercy Shippers, it will be a completely different vessel. And so when I started seeing the people who I knew and who I recognized, and as that continued to grow over time, that’s what felt like a Mercy Ship. And that was that was pretty special. For me, it was all about the people. The ship is cool. It’s great. It’s a very impressive platform. And we’re blessed with it. But it doesn’t do anything if it’s not run by people. That’s not for people. That was the thing that made it a Mercy Ship for me.
Raeanne:
I love that. Now, how old are your children that are with you?
Joff:
Son Grayson is 12 and our daughter Lily is 10.
Raeanne:
And how has it been for them? How are they enjoying this new crazy life?
Joff:
Yeah, it’s definitely an adventure. My son loves all things mechanical. And so he’s always staring out the window looking at the port cranes and the ships coming and going. And he’s watching things. He loves that. And our daughter’s always staring out the window and looking for the animals as well. And dogs and cats. That’s her passion. That’s what she loves. And so it’s just an incredible environment that they’re in. The education they receive in the academy is incredible. It would cost me an arm and a leg for that kind of education in our home country, either the US or the UK. It’s the equivalent of a small Private Christian education that’s utterly incredible that we’ve got that here. But then the education they get outside of the academy is just amazing. They’re surrounded by people from over 40 different nations, they get to see patients coming and going and see the life that they live, we go out into the city and into the country, and they see real life people of the world who they otherwise wouldn’t have met. That is an education. It’s also not without its challenges for kids as well. Like I said, My daughter loves animals. And that’s just something as much as she asks, I’m sorry, sweetheart, you can’t have a cat or a pony!
There’s things that they give up and they miss, my son loves playing soccer and being outside and sports, and you just don’t have the same opportunities. You find ways to make up for it, but it’s different. And so they pay costs too, to the experience as well. As a third culture kid myself, I recognize that you gain something incredible, beautiful, that you can’t get any other way. There’s also some cost to that. And so we have conversations with our kids regularly about how they’re doing, what’s working well for them what’s not, and inviting them to the table. I mean, they’ve got as much say, I want them to be as invested in this as they want to be as well. And they’re part of our family. They’re not just tagging along for the ride. I feel like God has called us all.
Raeanne:
No, I love that. And it must be so special for you now as a father, to be giving your children something that your parents gave you. As you mentioned, you know, your parents and your life living in Zimbabwe as a teenager, you really got to see firsthand faith and action and that transformed you in a mighty way — it must just be so exciting to be able to now pass that on to your children as well.
Joff:
Yeah, it really is very exciting. I think it’s a privilege, and it’s a gift. And someday they’ll see what God is doing with them, it’s going to be their own unique story. It’s not going to be the same story as mine, it’s not going to be the same story as anyone else’s. So my prayer for my children is that they learn to hear God’s voice loud and clear. And they learn to love following Him because it brings a full and enjoyable life.
Raeanne:
Absolutely. Well as the Managing Director on the Global Mercy, tell us a little bit about what you do, what is your day in and day out look like? And maybe what are some of your highlights that you’ve experienced thus far?
Joff:
What does the Managing Director do? I find myself having to think about that for myself. So as the Managing Director of the ship, my responsibility is keeping our mission here on the vessel and our program. I have responsibility here on the vessel for making sure that we are Mercy Ships, and we do what we do and we’re successful in that we maintain our identity and culture and we serve the people who we said we would serve. So it takes a lot. It’s everything from lots of communication, and an awful lot of meetings times on video calls. But it’s also sometimes just small practical things as well, sometimes like this Friday, I have the privilege of working in the cafe, just to serve people and just be present and ask them how they’re doing and what’s going on. So it’s everything from that to speaking with presidents and dignitaries about the ship. And being involved in leading our community each and every day. It looks different in different ways. So it’s really quite broad. The way I summarize it for people is it’s like I’m the mayor of a small town, but also as the mayor and the ambassador of that town, to the other towns next door, and also to the government that’s above us as well. So it’s almost like this ambassadorial role to other parts of the organization and also outside the organization as well. But also heavily involved in our business operation, and how we run and how we function on the vessel.
Raeanne:
It’s a big job. And it’s so multifaceted. Like you said, One day you’re working in the cafe, the next day, you’re maybe having lunch with the President!
Joff:
I was literally having lunch with the President one day, and the next day was cleaning a toilet. And that’s the reality of it. And sometimes I find myself asking God, are you sure this is the person you’ve appointed? But I’ve actually learned to become quite comfortable in just accepting whatever it is that’s in front of me. And so you know what, Lord, whatever it is, you’ve got my best today.
You talked about some highlights, as well. For me, highlights are always people. That’s what it’s about. Certainly a huge highlight was to have our first patient come aboard the ship — when a little Amadou came aboard. Just massive so many years and so much expectation going into that moment. But I’ve also had some other highlights of speaking with people in the country about what’s going on God showing up in visions and dreams to people stuff like you can’t orchestrate and you can’t manufacture, just things that He’s doing, just incredible. I love being in touch locally, with other local ministries and finding out what is God already doing in the country before our Mercy Ship shows up there. And after our Mercy Ships leave, these people are going to still be there, and they’re
still going to be working and active. And so making sure we’re plugged in and connected with them is so so important to me. And then also hearing the stories from our crew. What is God doing in their lives? What is He speaking to them? The highlights are just always about people.
Raeanne:
Well, you’re in a environment of richness of people and relationship. So you must have a lot of highlights.
Joff:
Yeah, in fact, for this field service, I felt moved at the start of the field service to start a prayer board. And so it’s right outside my door in the public hallway. Every time God answers one of our specific prayers, it goes up on that prayer board, not just like general fluffy prayers, but very specific things and where we’ve seen specific answers. So that when we get to the end of this field service, we have a testimony of what God did during the Global Mercy’s first field service.
Raeanne:
What’s one of them that’s on the board right now?
Joff:
Right before we were about to begin our field service, we had some containers in customs that we desperately needed. And so looking at the date here, this was on the fourth of March, we have some containers that we needed in order to start the field service, they had some medical supplies and also water purification filter that we needed. And they were stuck in customs. And we were not getting them through on time at the pace it was going. And so we called all the crew to prayer over this. And within the space of 24 hours, we had received an invitation to speak with the director at local customs, assurances that they would solve for it. And then the following day, those containers showed up on the dock. And it’s not unusual that for those types of things we’re waiting weeks for. But when the crew were called to pray, and we rallied around that, we saw those things delivered within the space of 48 hours, again, stuff that we can’t manufacture ourselves,
Raeanne:
God is so faithful. And I love that your leadership incorporates inviting the whole crew to pray for the needs of the vessel, the needs of the mission, the needs of the patient, because it really just glorifies God in such a huge way to say God, here we are a bunch of highly accomplished, excellent, experienced people, but we’re powerless in so many ways. And so we call upon you to come and do great things. And then you’re keeping track of it to say, God, we’re building our Ebenezer, we’re having a strong testimony here of your faithfulness and your goodness, that must bless the crew so much.
Joff:
It’s incredible. And I think you hit the nail on the head, right, and we’ve got some incredible people, they come with amazing skill sets, we’ve got people with two master’s degrees, working in housekeeping and cleaning floors, you know, we got some incredible people. It’s not really my leadership that makes that possible. They are awesome all by themselves, all they have to do is get obstacles out of their way and allow them to be the people God called them to be, and for them to
live their own full, abundant life. So you know, I don’t really see that as a product of my leadership, or that all that does is create an environment where they can be who they’re called to be. And they’re awesome. And as a result, when we each of us lay our lives down, we put each other ahead of ourselves, as Jesus did. And we follow him in obedience, you get some awesome results. It’s how the Kingdom works.
Raeanne:
All the same, I do have to say, though, that even though the crew on their own are phenomenal, I think that God knew that they needed a man after His own heart to shepherd them and to lead them. So I know that, no, it’s not all on you, but on the other hand, God specifically chose you and appointed you for such a time as this. And I think it’s evident that He chose a man that He could trust to lead His people. So I think you’re doing a phenomenal job. It’s encouraging. I’ve heard you speak in community meetings and different things and it’s been a real gift to me to just hear your heart for the Lord, your knowledge of Scripture. And I know that the crew as well feels that. So thank you for what you’re doing.
Joff, can you tell us how have you seen lives changed during your time on board?
Joff:
When we talk about change in Mercy Ships, you know, you can go onto our website or you can go onto our social media channels, whatever, and you will see change in our patients, right? Sometimes it’s really visible. The message of story is just really compelling. By nature, it’s really easy to tell because you can see the difference when someone’s tumor is removed. But the things that are really, really meaningful we often can’t see. But it’s not just our patients, it happens in our crew.
So let’s talk about the patients first. When you remove a tumor from someone’s face, that’s it’s easy to see it’s gone. But what do you see of how that person feels about their self, their self image? How God sees them? How are they seen in their community? Some of those things aren’t immediately apparent. But that is the most profound change. Yeah, transformed relationships. That’s true transformational development. So that’s what we long to see for those that we serve through meaningful change in how they see themselves, and how they see God, how they see one another. And it’s just a blessing that we get to serve them with surgeries along the way. And that’s the vehicle for that. And it’s necessary. Dr. Gary says, hope needs to be tangible in the present view, to feel like possibility for the future. And so we give them tangible hope. But what does that do in their heart, that’s what I’m interested in.
But there’s so much togetherness in the journey along the way around, that you can’t do that work, and you can’t serve our patients, and you can’t serve with Mercy Ships without being changed yourself. I know, very, very few people who haven’t been changed and impacted as a result of serving. And again, it’s just proved to me that Jesus’ model works. And He’s not just philosophically a good man and a good teacher, He is practically the best teacher, He knows what He’s talking about. And again, if we TRUST and OBEY and FOLLOW, life is good, in its whole and it’s abundant. So there’s so many ways in which we see change. And it affects all of us, whether we’re being served, whether we are serving, we see that we see change, as long as we open ourselves to it.
Raeanne:
Such a vibrant, exciting environment to be in where you are seeing transformation all the time, not just physically, but you see this inward transformation in the patients, amongst the crew, probably amongst your children, all over the place. You’re just seeing these transformations all over. And it’s
just exciting. I know that you are not exempt from that, that your life as well has been impacted because of Mercy Ships. As we wrap up our time. Can you tell us how your life has been changed?
Joff:
I think my life has been changed the most by the people who I have met, and the people who I’ve spent time with, and realizing what God is doing amongst us in community together. I was struck a few years ago when I was reading scripture, and how many of the things that I thought, normally I thought of them in terms of how does it apply to me as an individual. They’re actually not written that way. They’re actually written in terms of groups and community. Back when the disciples asked Jesus, Lord, teach us how to pray, we don’t know how to pray really well, can you teach us — then He gives the Lord’s Prayer, and it’s written in a group context — give us today, our daily bread, forgive us our sins. It’s not about me, it’s about that in community and how that applies. So I think I’ve been most changed by seeing God at work in us together, changing us together in ways that when you work in leadership and management, there’s some things that you can decide. And you can just direct and there’s some things you can only influence. And often influence is the most powerful anyway. And sometimes you just have to rely on God. There’s been times when I’ve run up short, there’s only so much time I have in the day, there’s only so much I can do. There’s only so many things that I can direct and this this, there comes a point where I say, Lord, I need you, this is going to move it because you moved it. There’s been many, many times where I have seen God at work in us as a community. And it’s probably as a result of just realizing more over time, how crucial that is to be an apprentice and be a disciple of Jesus. I think there’s a reason He chose 12 people to follow Him together in community. And even when He sent them out, you didn’t send them out individually. He sent them out in twos. So for me, I’ve been probably most changed by seeing God at work in us, kind of the church, the church together.
Raeanne:
It fits very well with the African proverb right? If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far go together.
Joff:
There’s there are times when actually it’s appropriate to go fast. And I just need to delegate something and say, You know what, so and so you’re equipped and empowered to make this decision and sometimes that’s okay to go fast. Sometimes you want to go slow, because you need to go the distance and the kind of work that we do, it takes a lot. It’s very intense, it demands a lot of our people. And you really need to go the distance. And so you have to go together, it’s the only way it will survive. It’s the only way it will keep going. And the only way we stay together is by God’s grace and the keeping Jesus at the center of everything, if we keep them in the middle of the hub, everything like I mentioned earlier, the kingdoms first, everything else falls into order. And he holds us together, despite our differences, despite our differences of opinions and backgrounds of thoughts, Jesus ties all that together in a way that I never could. Yeah, so all I have to do is keep pointing to Him, and my job’s done.
Raeanne:
Very true. Very true. Well, Joff, I am so grateful that God appointed you, the Managing Director of this new vessel for this season. And I’m grateful that you said yes, along with your family, through your years of patience, and now have finally arrived and are getting to see the vessel do what God created it to do. So thank you so much for sharing just a little bit of your Mercy Ships journey with us today, and blessings upon you as you continue to volunteer and serve.
Joff:
Thank you so much Raeanne. It’s a privilege and honor of a lifetime to serve this crew in this community. But really, my only hope is that people taste and see the Lord is good. Yes, thank you so much.
For more information about Mercy Ships, go to mercyships.org, and to keep up with the guests on New Mercies, follow us on Instagram at NewMerciesPodcast.