Caring for the Crew

Roger Newquist was nearing retirement from his law enforcement career when he began to dream about what was next. He first heard of Mercy Ships through supporting a friend as she went to teach on board. Desiring to go back into ministry, Roger explored Mercy Ships and found a perfect opportunity for him and his family. Upon retiring, Roger boarded the Africa Mercy to volunteer as a chaplain.

In this episode, Roger shares about the thrill of living in a multicultural environment while getting to use his gifts to help others, and the heartbreak of leaving that community due to COVID. He tells of his experience with the screening team and the impact the nurses made on him. As Roger recalls God’s faithfulness on board and the gift of serving the crew, you will be inspired and uplifted.

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 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.

As Roger Newquist was getting close to retirement from his law enforcement career, he began to dream about going back into full-time ministry. Having been a supporter of Mercy Ships for a few years, he looked into volunteering and found they were looking for a chaplain, Roger applied and after being accepted, he retired, sold his home and took his wife and three children to live aboard the Africa Mercy. Here’s my interview with my husband, Roger Newquist.

Raeanne Newquist:

Roger Newquist, love of my life, welcome to the New Mercies podcast.

Roger Newquist:

I can’t believe I’m finally here.

Raeanne:

I think we’ve recorded maybe close to 60 episodes, and I’m finally getting around to inviting my own husband onto the show. So thanks for your patience and your grace. I was just working out the kinks. That’s all, you know, just trying to get comfortable.

Roger:

I appreciate that. And, you know, how can I say No?!

Raeanne:

Exactly. Well, hey, I’m actually really, really excited about this, because we got to share this journey together and this incredible experience together, and it has impacted our lives still. We’ve been off ship now for about three years and we continue to learn things and process things that we experienced during that phenomenal season of life for our family. But I’m excited to hear about it kind of from your side. So take a deep breath, can’t mess it up, it’s just your story.

Roger, why don’t you start us off with telling us what was going on in your life that prompted you to consider going to volunteer with Mercy Ships and uprooting your whole family.

Roger:

I was at a point in my career, I was a first responder working in law enforcement and I reached an age of eligibility to retire. And I was hoping to move back into full time ministry — as a backdrop to all this, I was a pastor, that’s where we met in a church years ago, I left that as God was calling me into law enforcement to see what I could do in terms of the kingdom and that context. But it always had in my heart a desire to return to a full-time ministry. It was at that point in my career where I was starting to look around and starting to ask God, what might be next, give me a new vision for life and ministry, and what that looks like for our family. And it just so happens that couple years prior to that, our good friend Beth Kirchner, was aboard the Africa Mercy, serving with Mercy Ships, and we hadn’t heard of Mercy Ships prior to that. We weren’t familiar with it at all. But Beth came to us and asked us if we would support her and her ministry aboard the ship. And, of course, we said yes to Beth, because we knew back. And then we started looking into Mercy Ships more and more. And as we did that, I began to fall in love with the mission of Mercy Ships and the ministry and everything that Beth was doing. And quite frankly I couldn’t get enough of it. I watched I think every video that’s out there, the professional Mercy Ships videos, along with everybody else’s homemade videos that were on YouTube, I wanted to learn everything I could about Mercy Ships. And the more that I learned, the more I thought, wow, I’d really like to do that. Then it became more of a feeling of Wow, I wonder if we could really go and do that. And then it changed to, I think God is really going in this direction. I think that God has a future for our family with Mercy Ships. At that point, I applied. And we went through the process. And God made it very clear to us that I was to retire and we were to sell our house, you can get rid of almost everything we had. And we were going to go serve with Mercy Ships.

Raeanne:

Well, I probably have a little bit of an unfair advantage here because I do know the story firsthand. But I think a special part of the story is something that God spoke to you in this process, being a first responder, being in law enforcement, you are a very calculated, safe, conservative man, in your movement and in your judgment. This was something that for all practical purpose was not a very conservative decision. It was radical. It was really out of your comfort zone. But I know that God spoke to you in this process. Can you tell us about that process in which God told you to get rid of a plan B?

Roger:

We’d made the decision to go and there was a lot of talk and a lot of advice being given to us to hold on to your house, don’t sell your house, you know, you’ll want to come back someday. And I had a sense that knowing how I am, and that I always plan for a backup, that I couldn’t do that this time.

Raeanne:

It was a lot more than just to step out of your comfort zone and join this ministry, it was really more of a call to trust God, like you never have before.

Roger:

I think that’s true, and kind of went against everything within me, we’re going to cut the lifeline and sell the house. And we’re not going to have an easy way back. Just because God was calling us out there doesn’t mean that it was going to be easy, doesn’t mean it was going to be comfortable. And I didn’t want to have an easy way out when it got uncomfortable, to say, we’re just going to go home. And so as part of that process of learning to really trust God in this decision, we did make that decision to sell our house. And that was huge. That was big for me, I really struggled with that quite a bit. And at the same time, it was this weird place to be because as I struggled with it, I also felt total freedom in it, I just knew that God was going to take care of us.

Raeanne:

You know, it’s funny, just last week, I interviewed Stefan Schmid and in his episode he said very clearly that when God calls you somewhere, it often gets a lot more difficult and a lot more challenging. But that’s where God equips you and prepares you for what he’s calling you to do. And we saw that, we totally saw that with this call to sell our house and get rid of everything that you own just about and get rid of your cars and retire from your career. Now, I think we can agree that we’re not advocating if you’re going to go serve with Mercy Ships you need to sell your house and get rid of everything! This was just our story. So I know that that process was difficult. And it was also very rapid. The whole transition happened very quickly within a couple of months. But when you finally arrived on the ship, tell me what your first impressions were when you got on board.

Roger:

It was a quick transition period of just a couple of months for us from the time that we were accepted to the time that we left for onboarding, to the time that we actually walked up the stairs to the ship. It was a period of about three months total, which is really brief when you talk about that kind of transition, and having to say goodbye and leaving everything that you know, and at the same time, it felt like a lifetime. Yeah, maybe because you’re transitioning lives, I don’t know. But I remember wanting so bad to see the ship in person for the first time. And as we drove down the dock and around the corner, and then all of a sudden to just see that big white ship standing in front of us, it was overwhelming, not just to see it in person, because it was so fantastic. But in that moment it became real. Up until then, it kind of felt like, oh, man, is this really happening? Are we really going to get to the ship? After going through all this? You know, are we really going to get there? And when we did, it was so overwhelming. You can hear it in my voice. I’m an emotional guy. I think there’s some emotions, we turn that corner and saw the ship and walked up for the very first time. But stepping aboard that ship, you would think that moving to a new place where you’re immediately in the presence of 400 plus new neighbors in close proximity from all over the world that you would feel like, Man, this is kind of a big challenge. How are we going to integrate ourselves into this community? How long is it going to take to meet people and find our place? From the moment we stepped on board, it was stepping into a community of people who were so welcoming, who were so eager to help us, help us settle and help us find what we needed to find and do all the things we need to do to make that our new home. You know, walking to our cabin with our friend Beth, and then you know, see how it was all decorated for us and just ready to receive us. And I think that’s my big impression. When we first boarded the ship is just how welcoming the community was and how much it seemed like they wanted us there. And we’re glad that we were a part of what this mission was and what we’re all doing together. It was a really special moment, I don’t have all the words for it. I have the picture in my mind that will always be there when I turned that corner and saw the ship for the first time and then stepping aboard and being greeted like that.

Raeanne:

The thing that’s so cool too, is with Mercy Ships, as we’ve talked about several times on the podcast, you know, some people come for three months, some people come, some doctors come for two weeks, some people come for years, but there’s always people coming and going. So when you’re one of those new people coming, there’s also several people that are leaving, and they’ve accumulated stuff along the way. So when they’re leaving, they want to get rid of it, because they’re not going to ship all this stuff back. So when we got on board, it was kind of fun because people who were leaving, were just giving us stuff. I remember Ann Heinrich and her husband said, Hey, we have all this brownie mix and macaroni and cheese, do you guys want it? Another family, the Barkis had left the ship, but they left a basket for us of twinkle lights to hang in our cabins. And so it is this wonderful, warm welcome.

Roger:

It was really special to experience that and to know that many of those things have passed through many generations of Mercy Shippers!

Raeanne:

Exactly. So true. Well, Roger, why don’t you tell us what your role was on the Africa Mercy? What job did you take?

Roger:

So I was brought aboard as one of the chaplains to serve aboard the Africa Mercy. I served alongside a really fantastic Chaplain team that changed over time, as people, like you said, rotated home and new people came aboard. And we have the same thing in our chaplain team. But yeah, I was brought aboard as one of the chaplains with the primary purpose of crew care, helping to ensure that our crew was in a good place to be able to do the mission that God called them to. And there’s a lot to that, a lot that’s involved with that, I kind of liken it to being a pastor in a church. That’s how I felt. I felt like that community of faith was the church that I served, that took a lot of different forms and facets, and one of the great things about Mercy Ships, I think, is that not only are we there to pour into the lives of our patients, and the country that we’re serving for that field service, we also see those who come aboard our ship as crew as volunteers to serve as people who are also there to care for.  They’re giving everything they’re giving so much of themselves, their dedication, their compassion, their experience, their time, their effort, their heart. And we also see them as being there to receive, at least that’s how I saw it as one of the chaplains, that our crew are there to receive as well. And on a journey, like we all are on a spiritual journey, a life journey, to be healthy, to be strong, to become more and more like Jesus in all that we do. So I felt like it was my opportunity, my call as a chaplain to try and pour into the lives of our crew, to help them along on that journey. And one of the fantastic things about being a chaplain is really the privilege of being invited in to the personal lives of crew members who would come and share and say, Hey, this is what’s going on in my life or this one I struggle with, hey, I want to share with you this really exciting thing, to be able to come alongside them, to be welcomed into those stories, it was really an honor and privilege as a chaplain. It brought me personally a lot of joy and I found a lot of purpose in that.

Raeanne:

It is so true that our crew are giving so much of themselves and they could easily become depleted. But the chaplaincy department pours into the lives of the crew so that they can carry on. It’s an important thing that Mercy Ships does. Well, we are at the beginning of Holy Week, Easter is on Sunday — I know for myself getting on board, I grew up with lots of tradition in my family, especially around the holidays, and I thought what is this is going to be like to be on board the ship? I’m going to miss Easter with my family and all the things that go along with that. I know that I was completely blown away and surprised by Holy Week on board. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your experience during Holy Week and what are some of the things that go on during that time.

Roger:

During that time the ship was in isolation in a remote port in the Canary Islands. This was after the COVID outbreak. So it’s kind of a really strange time and we weren’t leaving the ship and we had a crew that were, in some sense, a crew that was left behind, not “left behind!” But had chosen to stay aboard when they had opportunity to leave and go home. And for one reason or another they had a job to do are just felt compelled, like they could serve in some way, shape or form. And so coming into Holy Week during that time was really unique in so many ways, partly because of that. But also, because as we quickly learned, coming aboard the ship, you are coming together as a community of faith to worship God, whether it be a Sunday evening gathering, or devotional or Bible study, or a small group or something along those lines, but you’re in a community of people from around the world, truly an international global community of people. I forget how many nationalities we had on board at the time, and I hear numbers thrown out, like 30 Plus or something like that. Along with that comes so many different ways of approaching worship, and cultural experiences when it comes to the church. And when it comes to the way that faith is lived out practically, in a lot of ways, culture and tradition and experience all informs that. And a lot of it was very different than our experience here, as you know, and we’re talking about many times here in the Western Church, and in particular American church, in particular the American Evangelical church that we grew up in. And so our faith was kind of challenged in a lot of ways, and we had our eyes open to new experiences and exposure to how the church lives out its faith in a lot of different ways from around the world.

I think Easter Holy Week was kind of the culmination of all that in a way. Because I think by that time, we personally had gotten to the point where we had become comfortable with different expressions of worship. And not only that, we really welcomed it. And it was really exciting to be a part of. And so you can imagine that having that many people from that many different experiences, and traditions come together to celebrate Holy Week, in a certain way, there was input on a lot of different levels in that regard, it was my first global experience and celebrating Easter. So when we talk about some of the very specific things that went on, I mean, there were some things that were tradition, just things that would become tradition aboard the ship, like creating the Garden of Gethsemane, recreating that garden in the international lounge, and to have that open for people to go and be quiet and rest and contemplate and pray. You walk in there and this all of a sudden, you’re in the middle of a ship, but you’re like in the middle of a forest! It had been transformed into this lush garden with real plants and birds chirping and it was amazing. See, but what was really amazing was just to see the people who engaged in that experience. There are people that were all over the international lounge, in different postures of prayer and silence and reflection. And so that was a really special moment.

Raeanne:

There were so many different things that we experienced. We also had someone recreated the Upper Room where Jesus had the last supper with His disciples and the creativity on board abounds. People are artists, and creators and just make all sorts of amazing things. And we got to go to a Seder meal in the upper room as a family, which was incredible.

Roger:

Yeah, that was fantastic. You’re right. I mean, just the wealth of talent and giftedness and passion for a lot of different things really was shared with the crew. And we got to experience a lot because of that. One of the amazing things about that Easter, of all the Easter brunches I’ve ever had in my life, that was one of the best. The food was unbelievable. They really took care of us. So it was a special time.

Raeanne:

Absolutely. Definitely some incredible memories that we shared on board. I should also mention that we were on board with our three children. So why don’t you real quick, just tell us what was that like for you as a father to take your three kids to live on board a ship in West Africa.

Roger:

I felt a huge responsibility and a huge, really, honestly a burden on my shoulders, regarding my children. And a lot of that came from just wanting to make sure that the grandparents knew that they were well taken care of, they were going to be safe, and that I wasn’t putting them in harm’s way.

Raeanne:

They were living in a hospital, so they were going to be just fine!

Roger:

I think one of the really compelling reasons for us to say yes, and to go and do this was our children. We had the conversations and had very intentionally, I think, made this decision, in part because we wanted our children to have a global perspective on life and faith. We wanted them to be able to know people have other cultures, and traditions and we wanted our kids to have experiences that they wouldn’t have ever had back home. Part of that was living in community with people from all over the world. Part of that was exposure to serving people who had needs that were different than ours, in a lot of ways. Part of that was giving them exposure to possibilities for their own lives, what they could do someday, and to be able to live aboard a hospital ship serving in a country off the coast of West Africa, in an international community, I feel like the opportunities that they had, have really open their eyes, and given them a perspective on what the possibilities are for their lives, what they can do when they lean into trusting God, and moving past fears, living into a calling. And so I think you and I are both were really excited about those opportunities for our kids. It was hard to leave home, partly because of them, partly because they had a good community of friends and good schools and a great life and their activities, sports and dancing, all those things that they were really involved with. And in part, it was hard because I felt like I was taking them away from those things that they love so much. But we really felt like what they would gain as a result of doing this had just far-reaching possibilities for them.

Yeah, one of the really tough things about being a father aboard the ship is that the cabins are great, but the walls are kind of thin. And so you get into an argument with your children inside your cabin and then you walk out as the chaplain and everybody kind of looks at you!

Raeanne:

I love it. Well, you were a great dad on board and a great chaplain for many people. Why don’t you tell us about a time that was most impactful for you on board.

Roger:

Obviously, the whole experience was completely impactful and life changing. I have a picture of a snail on a door and a nurse’s hand next to that snail. And the reason why that nurse’s hand is next to that snail is because that snail was as big as the nurse’s hand. And I love that picture because it’s so unique and it reminds me of the experience that I had when I had the privilege of traveling with one of our patients screening teams. As you know, it’s a team of nurses who are really very highly qualified people. And they travel around country, really in search of potential patients for what we do aboard the ship. I was traveling with them, really, I guess for two reasons. One was to provide some Chaplain support, but also because of my background in law enforcement, I could add a bit of a security component to the team. We were up country and kind of a remote town called Tambakounda, and we spent, I believe about three days there while they screened for patients. And it was such a phenomenal experience for me because I got to see firsthand the process for doing this. But number two, the journey that people took to be there to be screened as potential patients for medical assistance on board our ships.

Every day, early in the morning, a line would start to form of people coming from all over the place really trying to get their opportunity to be seen by these nurses. The line of people was made up of folks that had all kinds of ailments, disease and broken bodies of some sort. Not all of them were, unfortunately, of the type that we could assist them by the procedures that we handle aboard the ship. And we knew this, and the nurses knew that there would be a small percentage of people of many hundreds that line up, that will actually since get a ticket to the ship, because this screenings they take all day long. I think we were there for three days, you would think that knowing this, there would be kind of this sense of, Let’s rush this along, because we know what we’re looking for. And we can see this person who’s stepping in front of us right away, this person is not somebody that we’re going to be able to help. But there was never this feeling of, of rush amongst the nurses, I can honestly say that every person who stepped in front of every screening nurse that was there was given that nurse’s complete attention. They look each person in the eyes, they spoke to them with complete and utter kindness, even if they knew they could do nothing for them. And I was blown away, I really was blown away by the caliber of people that these nurses are, the caliber of faith that they have, the compassion that they’re driven with, and the hearts that they have for seeing people healed. And even knowing that we cannot do anything to help their healing physically, they knew that a lot of these people are ostracized because of their ailments, that people don’t look them in the eyes, people don’t talk to them, and that they’re in need of much more than just physical healing. For that moment that they were with them, they offered them more than the ship could give them at that time. They offered them an opportunity, I think, in some cases, to feel human. Yeah, feel like somebody cared. And I cannot tell you how many other people who had stood in that line all day who stepped in front of a nurse and receive that kind of care, but did not receive an offer to go to the ship, I cannot tell you how many times those people just stood there and said thank you. And they’re so gracious, when you think they would be upset and mad. And you know, it was maybe their last hope for whatever they had going on. But they didn’t have access to medical care, surgical care and for them to respond with in such a gracious manner to say thank you with a smile on their face so many times, not every time but so often, I think was really testimony to the fact that these nurses, they saw every person that stepped in front of them really as a child of God to be loved. And they did the best that they could in the moments that they had with them. I was completely challenged and convicted with regard to that, and how often I pass people by and don’t give them the time of day, there’s so many hurting people with wounds that you can’t see, and just need you to pause and take a moment and look them in the eyes and hear them and love them. That was probably one of the most impactful things for me personally, was being with that team of nurses. I love them dearly, you know, I just have nothing but complete and total respect for them.

Raeanne:

Definitely a group of extraordinary and very, very special people. And those same nurses would have to then go later and tell patients that were waiting in the Hope Center, that they weren’t going to receive surgery that they had been promised because the pandemic hit, and we had to leave. I mean how heartbreaking, but yet the same responses came from those patients who said thank you. And we made a promise that we would come back one day. And I’m so grateful to say that we have made good on those promises, and now are continuing to do even more work in Senegal after all those patients who have been promised received their surgeries. Now new patients are getting surgery as well. So God is so faithful. Well, I know that your brief time on board that was cut short was totally life changing as you even just shared in your story of going to Tambakounda. But how do you feel now that you’re back in the United States, how do you feel that your life has been transformed because of your time volunteering?

Roger:

The short answer to that is, and we joke about it a little bit when we say that, you know, my life has ruined now.

I experienced really a taste of heaven and I don’t say that flippantly. I really feel like what we experienced aboard that ship and living in community like that was really a taste of what it will be like one day, it’s hard to come back and it was hard to leave that. And it’s hard to now, in some sense, it’s hard to find that. It’s like the bar has been raised. And so that’s been hard. But it’s also it’s incumbent upon us, I think, really, to take what we have learned and experienced and try to translate that into wherever God puts us next. And so that’s my challenge. I don’t do real well at it.

There’s so many things, my perspective on the world, my perspective on the church, my perspective on what it means to follow Christ, what that looks like, living that out day to day, and in a place that is not your home, not your own culture, becoming comfortable with people who see things different than you do, people who have a different approach to life, the things that you learn from other people, and being intimately involved in a community like that just completely changes your own life. You know, there’s that African saying that, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, then you go together. And I think that to live amongst a community of people who share one vision and one mission, and who are sold out for that, you can see how far you can go when you’re working together. And I think I have a tendency to want to go it alone. So often, you know me, I want to get things done and want to get things done fast. And I think through that experience, I learned the importance of doing it together. It’s a body of Christ, each with their own gifts, together, making up that body and functioning as it should. That’s impacted me and one of the ways I want to approach life now. I think maybe we’re coming full circle here to the place where we talked about how calculated and reserved a person I was, and probably still him.

There’s a event that takes place in in the Scriptures where, where Jesus is standing on the shore, and he’s calling his first disciples to follow him. And they’ve been out fishing all night, and had caught nothing. These are professional fishermen by trade in they had caught nothing. And Jesus stood on the shore and recognized that this was the case and he asked to come aboard one of their boats and told them to push off into the deep water and then to cast their nets on the other side. When they did, the catch of fish was so large that it was hard to haul in the catch into the boat. And then the boat travels back to shore and they step out of the boat and Peter falls on his knees at the feet of Jesus. And He says, Go away from me, Lord, I’m a sinful man. Go away from me. And Jesus doesn’t leave. In fact, Peter is the reasons that he’s there. And Jesus knows, Jesus knows who he is. There’s nothing that Peter has hidden in his life that Jesus doesn’t know. Jesus knows he’s a sinful man and he’s not going to leave. And in fact, the opposite — he extends an invitation to Peter to follow him to become a fisher of men. And he gives him a different purpose, a different call in life.

I share that story because I feel like in a lot of ways that is me, I so often feel like I’m not adequate. I’m not the person that Jesus needs right now. I’m a sinner, and there really isn’t a place for me. It’s like, Jesus, you don’t understand, just leave me alone, just go away. But he doesn’t. And he extends the invitation to come and follow Him and to serve and he gives purpose in life. If places calling in our life, but we have to get up, we have to get up off our knees and follow Him. We have to get up off our knees and move beyond the fear that we aren’t adequate. We don’t have what it takes, that we’re not what he needs or wants. And we have to trust that we are what he wants, the person he wants to use in this capacity that we never thought we could be used in. So for me, that’s, I think, a very personal thing that I struggle with and have struggled with my whole life, I continue to struggle with it now. But coming through my experience with Mercy Ships, becoming more and more aware that God has a place for me, and he has a purpose for me and I need to trust and move beyond my fear to trust the God who already knows. Yeah, I think that’s one of the big things that happened in my experience with Mercy Ships. How did volunteering, change your life? So many ways? I think that’s a huge one.

Raeanne:

Yeah. And I loved having a front row seat to watch that play out to watch your fears melt away as God equipped you, as God qualified you, as God strengthened you and really brought out the gifts that you have to minister to the crew, and to bless the crew. I know, in closing, one thing that was a highlight for me was because you were a first responder and had served in law enforcement for about 20 years, you saw a lot of trauma. And you had been specifically trained in critical incident debriefing. That was part of your profession. And when we were aboard the ship, the pandemic hit, and we’ve heard from other guests on the podcast, how that was really difficult, especially for our medical teams. And there was a lot of trauma that they faced because of that. And I loved how in that moment, God called you and equipped you to use your gift to go through and debrief the medical teams on board, and to help them through that trauma of shutting the hospital down so quickly. And it was just incredible to see God use you in such a mighty way. And I was so grateful that you said yes and brought our family to something that I never really thought that we would do. But I’m so grateful that you said yes and obeyed God because my life is forever changed because of it. So thank you. And thank you so much for kind of just scratching the surface on your Mercy Ships experience. I know there’s so much more to share. But thank you for being willing to be vulnerable and honest and share with us today. It’s been awesome.

Roger: Thank you for inviting me.

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.