Jay Swanson is on his way back to the Africa Mercy to serve as the PR Coordinator for the field service to the Congo. The ship will soon be docked in the Canary Islands to undergo repairs and is where they will stay until late July, 2013. You can see a photo Jay took of the ship in dry dock below (she looks a lot bigger out of the water). The Africa Mercy is Mercy Ships’ flag hospital ship dedicated to alleviating the suffering of Africa’s poor by providing surgeries to resolve a number of medical issues.

The Africa Mercy has 6 operating theaters where they work tirelessly to heal everything from cataracts to tumors and cleft pallets. All for free. The mission is to express Jesus’ love by following him into serving the world’s poor through surgical procedures.

I (Jay) am currently working as an editor and copywriter for Mercy Ships’ Creative Pool, based out of Lausanne, Switzerland. My last position on the ship was as the Reception Team Leader on board as a part of the Purser’s department and before that I was the ship’s A/V Technician.

My new job as the PR Coordinator will be to host media teams and major donors as they visit the ship and see what we do in person.

Sadly this won’t involve any more ninja-kicks in uniform.

I’m a full time volunteer with Mercy Ships and I need the support of people like you to live and work here. If you would like to do so you can always email me or click here to donate one time or on a monthly basis.

A little about Mercy Ships, from Mercy Ships’ website on their values:

“OUR VALUES
Around the world today, billions of people live in fear and desperation, with impure water, inadequate food, and little or no access to health care. Behind every statistic is a person waiting for hope and healing. Utilizing hospital ships, Mercy Ships delivers medical excellence with integrity and compassion to the world’s forgotten poor by mobilizing people and resources worldwide. Mercy Ships serves all people without regard for race, gender, or religion.

MISSION
We follow the 2000-year-old example of Jesus, bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor.

VISION
Mercy Ships seeks to become the face of love in action, bringing hope and healing to the poor.

VALUES
Desiring to follow the example of Jesus, we seek to:

Love God
Love and serve others
Be people of integrity
Be people of excellence in all we say and do”