eep within each of us is a desperate longing for love, joy and fulfillment. Whether rich or poor, healthy or sick, Christian or otherwise, there are no exceptions. Human hearts long to be filled.
YWAM Medical Ships’( Singapore) nurse, Nicolette( pseudonym), was no different.
Living across from a YWAM base in remote Indonesia, Nicolette would often gaze across the street and ponder over why our community was filled with joy, laughter, fulfillment and purpose. Her brief encounters with her YWAM neighbours left her intrigued and even slightly envious.
“ What makes all of you so happy?” Nicolette had to ask.
The YWAM-ers obliged with a simple, yet profound answer: Jesus.
That was enough for Nicolette to walk away from her deeply entrenched Hindu world and turn to a perfectly loving Heavenly Father. She had found her home with a God who sets His children in a family of believers, who are called to love and lay down their lives for each other and for the Lord.
But it came at a price for Nicolette. Learning of her choice, Nicolette’ s entire Hindu family rejected her categorically.
Yet, she held onto her heart’ s deepest desire: God Himself. The same God whom she had seen clearly and experienced deeply through His children; living and loving in a missional community.
Nicolette truly lived out the classic hymn: Love so amazing; so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Since then, she has remained faithful in YWAM for 27 years and now serves as a missionary in YWAM Medical Ships( Singapore). Nicolette’ s story has become the unfolding narrative, vision and mission of this ministry: to represent the love of God through a loving community that brings healing to the unreached.
This spacious ship allows us to invite indigenous peoples to live with us as part of the crew on a floating home. We welcome them to join our community that loves the Lord, worships and prays, affirms and encourages, and works through conflicts and resolutions. Clearly, this is what it means to live out our call as a missional family on our ship.
In this setting the unreached meet the Lord.
We have had the privilege of watching lives transformed and healed, not merely through persuasive arguments for the Gospel but through the Word being lived out in love on a daily basis. We marvel at being able to evangelise, baptise and disciple in communities that have been historically hostile to the Gospel.
We were overjoyed when one of our crew’ s relatives told us how Simon( pseudonym) had become more even-tempered, gentle and communicative.
Perhaps our weekly sessions of staff and crew affirmations, mutual apologies and reconciliations of personal and working relationships, had rubbed off on him a little. Or maybe it was the YWAM staff’ s regular, late night discussions about the Gospel and the private heartfelt sharings of our own faith journey that had changed his heart.
In any case, we were as delighted as we were surprised one afternoon in 2017, when Simon declared that he was ready to become a‘ follower of Jesus’ and insisted on being baptised. Understanding the gravity of his decision and the religious and cultural implications in this‘ closed’ society he lived in, we asked him to take more time to consider his decision. To which he replied,“ No need, I am willing to be baptised tomorrow!”
While the ministry function of YWAM Medical Ships( Singapore) is primary healthcare, dental treatment, health education and community development, the joy of helping hungry hearts be filled with the love of the Lord has been the wind in our sails since 2013. Truly, the Lord sets the lonely in families; in Him and the family of God, they find belonging.
YWAM Medical Ships( Singapore) is committed to represent God’ s love through delivering critical healthcare services to the doorsteps of the most unreached communities on rivers and coastlines. We live and sail on medical vessels to treat, educate and empower all to live healthy and abundant lives.
WHERE WE HAVE BEEN SINCE 2013:
• 15,000 patients seen
• 500 health education sessions conducted
• 300 volunteers received
• 10 YWAM Medical Ships staff and crew
• 5 villages
WHERE WE ARE GOING
Pray for us! We believe that replacing our much loved and ageing river vessel with a new maritime-classed medical ship will allow us to expand our missional community on board with the local indigenous crew living alongside our YWAMers. We hope to build this new medical and training ship in 2018 and 2019.
Get Involved! YWAM Medical Ships( Singapore) is carried by the Lord Himself, as He calls the YWAM crew and their friends, families and churches to serve by smooth rivers and calm coastlines. We love to have volunteers from all walks of life on board.
Write to us at ships @ ywam. org. sg to get involved.
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