Working Behind the Scenes to Transform Lives
When Mercy Ships was serving in his home country of Cameroon, Moise jumped at the opportunity to master his English while working with Christians on the Africa Mercy. Leaving behind a job as an accountant, he became a translator to help during the field service. Moise enjoyed his time on board so much that when the ship left Cameroon, he joined as full-time crew, this time working in the finance department.
In this episode, Moise shares his joy of working in the background to help patients and the wonderful community he has on board. He also shares the powerful story of how his mom gained a new perspective of white people after living for years with a burden of fear as a result of the tragic history of slavery. This smart, funny, joy-filled man will put a smile on your face as he shares his Mercy Ships journey.
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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.
Today on New Mercies Moise Njipguep is joining us from the Africa Mercy. Moise first got on board when the ship was in his home country of Cameroon and he was so impacted by the mission that he decided to join the crew full time. This smart, funny joy filled man will put a smile on your face as he shares His Mercy Ships journey. Here is my interview with Moise.
Raeanne Newquist:
Welcome to New Mercies Moise.
Moise Njipguep:
Thank you Raeanne.
Raeanne:
Where are you? I know you’re on one of the ships right now. But which ship are you on?
Moise:
I’m currently on the Africa Mercy in Dakar, Senegal.
Raeanne:
Oh, you are okay. I wasn’t sure if you were on the Global Mercy, or the Africa Mercy. But now we know. So what’s it like in Dakar right now? What’s the weather like?
Moise:
Actually, the weather here is pretty familiar to where I come from, it’s sunny and great. But today was raining a little bit. And you know what, when it’s raining, it is agood time for me to run. It’s the summertime here, even if it rains, it’s still hot and warm. So it’s pretty good here. Everything is green.
Raeanne:
Wow, wonderful. Well, as we start our conversation, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
Moise:
As you know, I come from Cameroon. I’m an accountant by profession and before joining Mercy Ships, I was working in a firm as an auditor and an accountant at the same time. So yeah, I’m coming from a very big family. And you know what I mean, when I mean big family in Africa, I’m the eighth in my family. And so I have three brothers and four sisters. So my mom had two sets of siblings, that’s why we are quite like four and four, and I’m the baby one, they are quite protective with me. My parents are still alive, and we are all still in good terms and in good contact. I talk to them fluently.
Raeanne:
So you’re from Cameroon, how did you hear about Mercy Ships? And when did you first get on board?
Moise:
I’m originally from Cameroon. And I got to know Mercy Ships in 2017 when the ship was about to come to Cameroon. My godmother heard about Mercy Ships and she contacted me saying, Hey, I heard that there’s an American organization coming to Cameroon, and they are looking for born again, Christians. She didn’t say Christian, because everybody identifies as a Christian in Cameroon. So she said, they are looking for born again, Christians. And this is not for you, it is for your sister because you’re not looking for a job. As I said, I was working as an auditor in a firm. So I was like — Wait, what did you just say? Americans and Christians? Oh, my goodness, that’s what I want. I think I’m going to do that. She said — No, that’s not for you. It’s for your sister, and I can’t reach her. I said — Okay, no problem, I will contact my sister, I will let her know that you have this for her. But I’m definitely going to apply for that. So then I did apply for that and I told my sister. So I asked my sister to apply. She did and I directly applied after her. And we both got selected for the interview.
When they took me for the interview, I was expecting to have the opportunity to work in finance, I mean, doing something with auditing and finance, but they did not find a way. So they contacted me to start the process of working with them. And I denied, I didn’t want to do that. But it happens to end up that I finally decided to work with Mercy Ships, because they reached out to my sister saying, talk to your brother, he will be a great fit with Mercy Ships. Honestly, I don’t know if it happens with many people, but it happened with me. And when my sister came home, she said people want to work with you! Come on, they are doctors and Christians and Americans. So I prayed about it and everything turned out. I said yes and I accepted to work with Mercy Ministries as a translator and driver. I also told the Bible stories.
Raeanne:
So initially, did you say no, because you weren’t you wouldn’t be working in finance?
Moise:
Correct. I said no, that I don’t want to work outside finance and they kept calling me. They called me like three or four times. And I was like, I told you that I’m not interested. I don’t want to be a pastor telling Bible stories, is not my life. I’m a Christian, of course, but I have my carrier. So outside of my Christian life, I can do my job, you know, so I didn’t know that I can put them together to serve the Lord. And the Lord just turned everything in the way that I could actually see that.
Raeanne:
So you got on board and Cameroon, your home country, as a translator for Mercy Ministries. So what was that experience like? Tell us a little bit about that.
Moise:
When I started, I had to do some training and learn what it is like to work in a multicultural environment and what it is to talk about God in English. And to be honest, English is not my first language. And I felt really tempted to work with Mercy Ships, because first of all, they were American, that means English! And I was like, I’m actually learning English, so if I work with them, I’m going to improve my English skills. So during the training, it was so hard for me to tell the Bible stories in English and talking with people, I was struggling a lot. But then when I started working with Mercy Ships in the Mercy Ministries department, my goodness, so many people were appreciating the work of God through me. And I was like, Whoa, even in my own town, people never really acknowledged me that way. I mean, it was great. And I could see how we were reaching out even to the Muslims. I mean, in my normal Christian life back home, it wouldn’t be that easy to reach out to a Muslim and talk about Jesus without any problem, without any fight or whatever. But it was so easy to just share the stories and see how people will give their life to Jesus and how Mercy Ships was using the Bible story to preach without forcing anyone. So it was a great opportunity that I had, to be able to work and to be able to share about my faith, talk about my God and share about what I believed. It was a great, great opportunity.
Raeanne:
When that field service came to an end, what happened next for you?
Moise:
So what happened is, I just fell in love with the mission! I was really excited to do my job every day — driving, taking crew members to Mercy Ministries, like every day, that’s my that was my job. There was a Mercy Ministries coordinator and then two local crew — me and another man who was a pastor. So we came in the morning at eight and started with a devotion. And then during the day, we prepared the story that we’re going to tell at the Hope Center and in any orphanage that we’re going to select, or we also had the deaf school and blind school that we would visit.
Then, after finding the story, we studied the story to find different treasures, like what are the points that we want to reach during the time that we share this story. And then we prepared the craft so that after the story, we did a craft with the kids. And it was just amazing, because we got to meet a lot of patients, a lot of crew members and even a lot of locals. So working like that, I just fell in love with the mission. It was amazing how people who were different from us, different from me, were loving my people in Cameroon! They were touching them, enjoying time with them, and smiling with them — and I thought, I think I want to stay here. So after six or seven months, I was like, Okay, God, what next? I quit my job for this, but this is just 10 months, so what am I going to do next after this. And many people actually discouraged me to join Mercy Ships. Why? Because they were like, they’re not working in your career profile, you want to be an accountant and you are working in something about God. You know what, that might not be a good idea.
But I love the mission, so I asked if I could become a crew member and continue the mission because I was loving it. So they showed me the process and I applied. They asked me about working in finance and I was excited about that. I had to take my savings to be able to support myself and to be able to be part of the crew on board the African Mercy. So I finally joined as a crew in May 2018. And I was working at that time in the galley and then in the dining room.
Raeanne:
Wow. So you’ve done quite a few different things on board. And how did you end up eventually where you are right now, because now you are in your profession, in your wheelhouse — you are in accounting and finance. So how did that transition happen?
Moise:
One of my favorite Bible verses is Romans 8:28 that says that all things works for our good, the good of people who are called for God’s mission, who love God. I look at all the pieces of the puzzle and I just see how God connected everything for me to be here today and I’m just so grateful.
At first it wasn’t working for me to get into finance and I said, Okay, God, you sent me here, you open the doors, and I’m just going to rely on you and trust you. And then just like that, one day, the finance director came to me and he said, Moise, I heard that you have a background in accounting. I was like, yes. He said, would you be happy to work with us? I was like, wait, I’m Moise and I’m from Cameroon, I don’t know anything about the American accounting system and nothing about the European only Cameroonian. So do you really want me to work with you? He said yes and just wanted me to do some computer skills tests. So I took an Excel test. And I just rocked the test because it was like nothing, honestly. And I think they just wanted to see how good I am. And I think I could impress them. And they said, Okay, you got the job because the payable accountant at the time was about to leave the ship. So his commitment was done. And that’s how I joined the finance team and so far I’m still here, and I’m still enjoying working with the whole team. And it’s just incredible.
Raeanne:
I love that God just wove this beautiful path to get you right where you wanted to be. Right where you’re skilled and equipped to be. Moise, people listening might be wondering — finance on a ship? Why is there a finance department? What is the need for that? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Moise:
My daily work is very busy every day and I’m not the only one in finance busy. We are actually five people in finance. And we also have the ship shop on board with a cafe that helps people to have coffee and their favorite snacks on break time on the weekends as well. So all this is handled by the finance department. So what the finance does on the ship, since we are coming here in the country that we serve like in Senegal right now, we are having local workers who work with us and they are also volunteer but we do our best to at least provide a little something to allow them to travel from their home town or their houses to join us on the ship because they do not live on the ship with us. We live on the ship and also our patients do when they come on board. They are not allowed to bring their whole family or receive visits everyday for people to provide their food, their favorite meal or whatever. So this is handled by the local workers to prepare their food. We have like 40 different nationalities on board and we are around usually 300 plus people coming and going on the ship so we need to feed them meals, and we need to provide water, electricity, AC, that means that we have contact with people outside of the ship. All these things need to be paid for, so that’s why we have a finance department there to be able to handle those little expenses that we might have for the organization.
We also need to support our patients with their transportation and other needs. Like when we select a patient for his healing process, we take responsibility for everything — feeding him, transportation, accommodation and treatment. So we take full charge of it. And the ship is not registered in the country where we serve, the ship is registered in Malta, and we are having different rules, different from Senegalese rules. So that’s why we need the finance department to be able to handle all those little things, little expenses that we have and deal with our vendors, contractors and stuff.
Raeanne:
It also sounds like a very complicated and complex department. But one that is so essential and so important, as well.
Moise:
It is very, very important. Like me, I’m working in finance, and my daily routine is always dealing with the hospital people, because we have the patients in the rehab tents, in the preoperative team, and in the outpatient team and when they need an urgent medication that we might not have in our pharmacy, they will need some funds to be able to purchase that locally. If we need an urgent transportation, they will need some funds to handle that. I mean, if we need to provide food for them, we need funds to handle that. So this is my main job. With my work I feel really connected because I feel like I’m behind the scenes of the mission. I’m not directly working with the patient, but I’m actually working in the background to be able to provide the surgery, to be able to give them some things that they might need, and they might not get on time. So I feel like we all contribute somehow to this hope and healing process.
Raeanne:
Yeah, absolutely. You are all working together for a greater purpose. Now, you are a man who smiles all the time. And I’m sure even our listeners can hear your smile. We talked with Josh Salmon on the podcast several episodes ago, Josh talked about how welcoming you were to him and such a wonderful friend to him and made such a difference in his experience on board. But you are known as this joyful, always smiling, happy man. Where does that joy come from?
Moise:
Oh, I say it comes from Jesus. I usually say my Jesus, my joy. And I also say to people that because they are wondering, why are you always happy? Why are you always smiling? And I tell them, my joy doesn’t come from my friends, my family, my job or whatever — it comes from Jesus. Because if I had to get my joy from all those things, or all that external stuff, really, I’m not going to be happy. God is always good, but the world and people around are not always good. I’m not saying that people are mean all the time. No, but my joy comes from the Lord. And anytime that I’m going through difficult time and if you ask me — How are you doing? I say I’m better than I deserve.
And why am I saying that? I will say I’m better than I deserve because the patient who is crippled, who was burned two years ago, he doesn’t deserve that. So why will I deserve to be healthy? I’m perfectly healthy now. But I do not deserve it. I take it as a grace. For me, it’s like God’s grace in my life. And I’m trying to choose to be a fan of love, a fan of smiles, joy and happiness around other people. So my joy comes from the Lord.
Raeanne:
And it’s infectious. Everyone who meets you or speaks with you or is listening to you right now, I’m confident, they’re smiling because you just exude joy. How many years have you been on board now?
Moise:
I joined a ship in 2017 as a day crew, and in 2018, I joined as a crew. And now it’s going to be five years that I’ve been on board.
Raeanne:
So over the past five years, what has been a highlight for you?
Moise:
Tons of highlights! I have great friendships here. I mean, Mercy Ships is the best place to be honestly. And I usually say it is the best place to be because certainly Jesus is here! I’m so happy to be part of this organization, part of this mission, seeing how people leave their comfort zone and come to serve. I remember when I arrived in Guinea, I’m coming from Cameroon, which is actually known as a third world country, and many people would not expect me to be shocked by the way some other people live around the world, but I was shocked when I saw how some people live. And I was just like, oh my god, I thought I was in the worst place. But I’m not. So thank you, Jesus. So I was just like, wow, people are going through a lot. And I was shocked. And I stayed. I was like, wow, but all those Americans, French, German, British, they come here and they feel so comfortable. People walk in the sun and its so hot, 40 degrees, I won’t walk out there! You don’t even know that someone is going through issues, challenges. So I was just like, wow, I’m really grateful for what people do for my people in Africa. And my highlight is mostly the way we love people here. The way I’ve been accepted with all our differences is wonderful. People try asking questions to understand how it works in my own world. So I don’t know my highlight, I have several of them. My highlight would be meeting great people, you mentioned one of them, Josh Salmon, he’s a great human being and a great man. He was just 18 years old but acting like a 25 year old man! In the past, I was praying to the Lord, I want to be able to share your gospel, your word, to everyone from around the world. But God, it probably means that I have to travel a lot. And it’s not easy for me to travel. So one highlight is that Mercy Ships took me out of my country and Mercy Ships opened my eyes so I could see what it looks like to be out of Cameroon. I was really surprised to step out of Cameroon to see Cameroon from afar, to reach Europe for the first time, through Mercy Ships, I’m really grateful. So if I want to mention my highlights, we’re never going to finish. So I’m just grateful, really.
Raeanne:
Now, you said that you are the youngest of eight children. And it sounded like your journey to get to Mercy Ships there were some people, your godmother and other people, who discouraged you from doing this. Well, here you are five years later, what does your family think about you living on board and continuing to work on board?
Moise:
Well, yeah, that’s a very good question. I remember when I mentioned to my mom that I’d been accepted to live in the ship and travel with them, so I will be leaving the country with them. My mom was like flabbergasted, like, what is happening? Are you going with these people? And I said, yes. She was like, no, I don’t want that. I was like, why mom, it has been a great time with them. She said, if they are like the white man who came here, then you can go but if they’re like other people we knew in the past, I won’t accept that. No, what if they throw you in the water? What if, I’m sorry to mention that, but this was the fear that my mom could express. And she was like, I can’t just let you go. And I said mom, I think is a good idea.
As a day crew, we had the opportunity to invite our family on board, parents and maybe one or two siblings. So I happen at that time before being taken as a crew member, I happen to have the opportunity to invite my family and my mom said, no, she doesn’t want to go on a ship because she has a very bad memory of that. And then my dad said, Okay, if my wife doesn’t go, I’m not going. So it’s only my sisters were able to come. Then my grandmother, my mom’s mom passed away, and my manager, who was Keith Brinkman, came to greet my family. And Keith came into my little house with my family. He was so comfortable to sit on our couch, talking with my parents, trying the food, talking so nicely and seeing things. I mean, my mom was just like, wow, this man is different. This is how all of them are on the ship, they are so natural, they’re so nice. They’re not like the way that you heard in the past. They are different. And my mom was like, Okay, maybe if they’re like that, we’ll see. So when I told her that I would be traveling with the ship, she said, Do you think there is another opportunity for us to come to see where you will be staying? And I said, well, the visits are not allowed anymore. But I will see because at the time we were about to leave the country. So when I share that with Keith Brinkman, he organized a special visit that was the last visit in Cameroon. My parents came and my mom was so scared, but when she came on board, she said, I know you are in good hands. And from that day, she appointed Keith Brinkman as my uncle on board. So I cannot do anything his approval. And anytime that we talk, they will be like, how is your uncle? And I also have my parents with Larry and Abby. So they were always asking, how are your parents? How is your uncle?
To tell you that now they are so encouraging, they love that I’m here and they can see that I’m happy. I’m enjoying this. And they are also happy and at peace. So all of them are so supportive with this mission.
Raeanne:
You know, thank you so much for sharing that story. And just being honest and vulnerable about your mom and her fears, you know, that is a real reality, especially for our patients. There is a really horrific past that we all have to deal with where slavery happened. And ships came in and took Africans from their families from their countries and shipped them all over the world. There is still that history. That is I don’t know, I don’t know how to say it, but maybe still alive in the minds of Africans, like you mentioned your mom, she has memory of horrific things of the past. I don’t want you to go with the white people. I don’t want you to be on a ship. I mean, that’s even worse, you know? I think that’s something we don’t talk about enough. But it’s something that is a really important thing to address. And our patients often face similar fears. I don’t want to get on a ship with white people. Yeah. So thank you, thank you just for, I don’t know, bringing up something that probably isn’t very popular, but it is a truth. And it is something that we will probably spend a lifetime trying to redeem. So thank you, thank you for sharing that situation.
Moise:
It helps many people to understand that this is the past but we do not just forget and turn the page. But we do not blame people for what happened in the past. I’m not going to blame you for that. So we just need to live together, understand, and make a better future together. Now my mom will not call me without asking me about Keith Brinkman. How is your uncle? Listen to his advice. I’m like, well, he’s not even part of the family. But he is now part of the family to her. And I’m sure that the way Mercy Ships is handling the field service, having the day crew translating, having an African night, cooking African food, and having people who can speak like the patients, really, it helps a lot. And I think that Mercy Ships is really sensitive. So I think the way we handle that is really great. And as you mentioned, is a topic that we do not talk about a lot, but it’s part of my story.
Raeanne:
It’s a beautiful testament to the reconciliation that is beginning to happen. I think it’s going to be an ongoing process for many generations to come. But I love that your mom had this moment of breakthrough. And the fact that she welcomed Keith into her home, a white man into her home, and then had her heart melted, and to the point that he is part of your family. Now, I just love this beautiful, God breathed story of reconciliation that is happening. And I hope it just continues to happen all over our world. It is such a needed thing. We are the body of Christ, we are all created in the image of God, regardless of skin, color, race, religion, whatever, we are all created in the image of God, we are all his children. And we should all be living and working together in harmony. So thank you again for sharing that. Moise, how has your life been changed because of working with Mercy Ships?
Moise:
My life has changed a lot! I wish this could be a video so that people could see how I’m trying to show how blessed I am to be here! And my life has drastically changed. You probably know I’m sorry, if I’m bringing difficult topic, you probably know how many Africans see Europe, the US, or those Western countries like this endpoint that I have to get there. I won’t deny the fact that I felt that way at some point. So for me, with Mercy Ships I did not spend one penny to be able to travel out of my country. My goodness, that was like, wow, who am I?, I didn’t go to line up for hours to get a visa to travel! In one click, I could just have the opportunity to find myself in Spain. So my worldview changed. I had a narrow worldview. I mean, all the things, I knew a lot of things. And I thought I mean, back in my home country, my family, we talk about tribes, we talk about religions, but on Mercy Ships it is not about tribes or religion, we are all the same. I addressed the managing director by his first name, something that would never happen with back in my home country. I think God just put me on Mercy Ships for a good reason. I will not say for only one good reason, but for many, many reasons. And my life changed the way I see people now the way I tend to listen, instead of stereotyping people, I tend to ask questions, I tend to get to know people instead of just pretending to know, I mean, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot. I think I’m a mature man, and I know many things that I didn’t know before. And living abroad, living with many different nationalities gives me another view of the world. There’s a lot of great things that happened in my life so far.
Raeanne:
Wonderful. Moise, this has been such a sweet and powerful time hearing from you, hearing your testimonies and hearing your stories about your time on board. Thank you so much for sharing with us today. And I just pray that God continues to use you in a special way because the things that you have learned on board are things that everybody needs to learn, you know, not only on board but around the world. And so I just pray that God continues to use you as a mouthpiece. You know, you talked about you started out telling Bible stories, and you said, I’m not a preacher, I want to do finance. My friend, you are a preacher! You have a word to share. And I think God has given you a word. So thank you so much for sharing that with us today. And I pray that you continue to share those words with the world.
Moise:
Thank you for having me. I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity. I’m just using that again to thank you. And I want to thank the organization for what they are doing for me, what they are doing for Africa, what they are doing for the people who need hope and healing. Because there are so many people dying out there, they do not have a way to get help or cannot do everything. That’s why we need more people to join us to be able to serve more. And I just want my African brothers to join the organization to take a break in their job to join us and all together we’re going to change this world by giving hope and healing. I’m so grateful to be part of this mission. I’ll be forever grateful for that. 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.