Erik Dike, a rising senior nursing student at Belmont Abbey College, carries a patient onboard a hospital ship in Madagascar during a two-week program with Mercy Ships. / Credit: Joshua Kiew Wing Chau

CNA Staff, Sep 11, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Three nursing students from a Catholic liberal arts school in North Carolina spent two weeks on a hospital ship in Madagascar this summer.

Emma Harris, who will graduate from Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte in May 2026, joined fellow students Caroline Gutierrez and Eric Dike on a service-oriented internship in Madagascar with an international faith-based group called Mercy Ships. After returning to the U.S., Harris said she was “transformed.”

Mercy Ships operates the two largest nongovernmental hospital ships worldwide, delivering free surgeries and health care services “to those with little access to safe medical care,” according to the organization. The three Belmont students, along with two other students, were selected to make up the first-ever cohort of The Mercyship, the hospital ship’s summer internship program.

Harris joined Mercy Ships because she wanted to follow Jesus’ example.

“Being on Mercy Ships completely transformed me,” Harris said. “I went in with my whole life mapped out, but the experience changed my perspective and priorities.”

Mercy Ships, which has been operating for nearly 50 years, brings medical care to people in need around the world while incorporating the faith. 

Kerry Peterson, senior vice president of advancement at Mercy Ships, said its mission is “not just about providing medical care but creating a community centered on love, service, and faith.” 

More than 2,500 volunteers serve on the two ships. Students work with volunteer professionals “and witness firsthand how transformative health care can restore hope and dignity,” Peterson said. 

“Serving with Mercy Ships is a unique experience because it brings people from all over the world together with one purpose: using their skills and gifts to bring healing and hope to those who need it most,” Harris said.

Faith and service in a ‘medical desert’ 

Madagascar is a “medical desert,” Peterson said. It is a country of more than 28 million residents, 75% living under the poverty line, and for every 1,000 people, there are 0.2 physicians, according to Peterson.

The Africa Ship, one of the two hospital ships, arrived in Madagascar in February 2024 and will remain there until the end of 2025.

“Access to safe surgical care is extremely limited, making it one of the world’s medical deserts where patients would otherwise go untreated for conditions that are easily treatable,” Peterson said.

But the Mercy Ships program helps in “cultivating the next generation of faith-inspired health care leaders who will carry forward our commitment to bringing hope and healing to those who need it most,” Peterson said.

“We hope students leave with a transformed understanding of what health care can be when delivered with compassion and cultural humility, seeing how healing encompasses dignity and hope far beyond clinical procedures alone,” Peterson said.

Dike, a senior from Wake Forest, North Carolina, said: “Being part of this program was both eye-opening and deeply fulfilling.”

“While I was there, I could see how God was working through the staff to bring healing to those who need it most,” Dike told CNA. “None of the staff are paid, yet they serve with so much joy and love — a rare and inspiring thing to witness.”

Harris said she “was inspired to join Mercy Ships because of my faith in Jesus and my desire to follow his example of serving others with compassion.”

“Mercy Ships’ mission to bring hope and healing through love perfectly reflects the calling I feel to use my gifts in service,” Harris said. “I have always had a passion for caring for others, especially children and families, and the vision of Mercy Ships, to provide free medical care and show God’s love in practical, life-changing ways was the perfect way to do that.”

For Harris, Mercy Ships is a “tangible” connection to Christ.

“For me, it connects deeply to my walk with Jesus, because he calls us to care for the sick, love our neighbors, and serve with humility,” she said.

“Being part of this program is important to me because it lets me live out my faith by serving others, growing in my walk with God, and using my gifts to make a difference,” Harris said.

Gutierrez, a senior in the nursing program at Belmont Abbey from North Carolina, joined the program because she said she felt “drawn to helping people in some of their toughest, most vulnerable, painful moments, because we are called as Christians to heal the sick, feed the poor, and show love to those rebuked by the world.”

“At Mercy Ships, they start the day with prayer and worship, offering up their work and service up to God,” Gutierrez said. “Everyone is there out of love of God and love of others — I found this to be the unifying key to the mission of mercy ships.”

“Mercy Ships is truly something bigger than yourself,” Dike said, adding that the program helped him realize “how beautiful people’s hearts can be.”

“Everyone on the ship speaks passionately about how much they love being a part of Mercy Ships and how it has become a lifelong calling for many of them,” he said. “I was grateful to share even a small part of that by caring for patients and witnessing their joy and gratitude.”

Communicating beyond words

Mercy Ships gives students the opportunity to “witness how our volunteer medical professionals combine clinical excellence with genuine care for each patient’s whole being,” Peterson said.

Dike said it was a “unique experience” and “very different from nursing in America.” 

Health care practitioners on board “rely on translators for every patient,” he noted.  

“This taught me the importance of communicating beyond words, through body language and facial expressions, when language barriers exist,” Dike said.

Peterson hopes students view “their work not just as jobs but as callings to serve.”

“This immersive experience shows them that faith, service, and clinical excellence aren’t separate components but integrated aspects of transformative health care that treats each patient with dignity and compassion,” Peterson said.

After the transformative experience, Harris said she is setting her sights on a future of service. 

“Now, the one thing I know for certain is that I want to finish my degree and get back on the ship as soon as I can,” Harris said. “It showed me what it really means to serve, to live in community, and to trust God with my future.”