prosthetic legs designed by Mercer biomedical engineer, Ha Van Vo, free of charge to more than 3,000 amputees in Vietnam. MOM medical teams composed of Mercer’s third-year medical students, pharmacy students, nursing students and pre-med undergraduate students treat more than 2,200 patients a year in medical clinics in Cambodia and Honduras. Biology and chemistry students demonstrate to artisanal gold miners in Ecuador who are exposed to dangerously high levels of mercury in the refining process safer and more efficient ways to do their work. A MOM team from Mercer’s Stetson School of Business will send a team to Rwanda to help the widows and orphans left after the atrocities of the 1994 genocide learn how to develop and promote small business ventures that will provide stable income. Mercer education students will travel to Nepal to support the work of teachers in a struggling school by demonstrating more effective teaching methods and then modeling them in the classroom. MOM teams deliver cutting-edge, high-impact, community-based service that makes a significant difference in the world. However, the worlds poorest countries are not the only place where

a difference is being made. Perhaps, the biggest change happens in Mercer students. One student put it this way:

This trip has exposed me to the realities of the world. I had a very limited view of the world prior to this trip. Now I understand that there is suffering throughout the world, and I have gained a calling to help out. I have also received the confidence that I can make a difference. I know that I have matured and experienced so many things on this trip that will stay with me forever. This trip was definitely life-changing and eye-opening.

Preparing students who will change the world. That is what Mercer University has always been about.

Left: In addition to improving amputee healthcare, the Mercer On Mission – Vietnam Team also distributes food, clothing, medical supplies, and other hygiene items to those in need, many of whom live day by day in a struggle to survive hunger and disease.

Craig McMahan is university minister, dean of the chapel, director of Mercer On Mission and assistant professor in the Roberts Department of Christianity at Mercer University in Georgia, USA.

Since 2009, MOM has provided prosthetic legs designed by Mercer biomedical engineer, Ha Van Vo,

free of charge to more than 3,000 amputees in Vietnam.

Courtesy Mercer University

INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INN

John and Gloria Marshall & Stewards Inc

Hopelessness is destroying many lives.

Consider, for instance, some people suffering from schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, homelessness, frequent hospitalization, and drug addiction. One consequence of this is inability to manage one’s income responsibly. John and Gloria Marshall believe that creative opportunities exist in the United States for faith-based organizations to fulfill a ministry to persons like these. When they established Stewards Inc., John and Gloria Marshall put their conviction to work. According to John, the deepest conviction of

Stewards Inc. is to bring hope to the marginalized communities and individuals suffering from hopeless- ness. “Our call,” he says, “is to be the servers of those who come to us for help so that they evidence God’s grace in action, and by their choice be the recipients of that gift in their own lives.” As a child, John Marshall grew up in a home that

was across the road from the Lawrence County Poor Farm in the US state of Pennsylvania. Growing up there, he became familiar with the issues faced by