Host: Jude DiMeglio Trang
Guests: Julie Remer & Josh Remer
Description:
In this episode of The Gift of Need Podcast, Jude DiMeglio Trang sits down with Julie and Josh Remer to explore how caring for our neighbors around the world can become a profound response to human need and fulfill a sense of calling. Drawing from their experiences volunteering with Mercy Ships on the Africa Mercy in Senegal and Madagascar, Julie and Josh share stories of sacrificial service, community-centered care, and the life-changing impact of access to safe surgery. The conversation examines how Mercy Ships not only transforms individual lives through medical care, but also strengthens societies through training, partnership, and long-term investment in local communities.
We talk about:
• Julie and Josh’s professional backgrounds in pediatric nursing and nonprofit leadership
• What Mercy Ships is and how the Africa Mercy hospital ship deliver life-saving surgeries in developing nations
• The wide range of medical procedures provided, from cataracts to complex reconstructive surgeries
• Why volunteers self-fund their service—and what that sacrifice looks like in practice
• How non-medical roles like dishwashing, baking, and driving are essential to the mission
• Life aboard a hospital ship and the challenges and beauty of close-knit community
• Cultural differences between Western individualism and community-centered societies
• Stories of patient transformation and healing, including long-term burn and orthopedic cases
• The emotional power of care, presence, and human connection beyond words
• Addressing concerns of “white saviorism” and how Mercy Ships prioritizes dignity and partnership
• Education, Training, and Advocacy (ETA) programs for local surgeons, nurses, and crew
• Training African medical and maritime professionals for long-term impact
• How local staff and volunteers work alongside international crews
• The spiritual motivations behind service and following a call to care for others
• The personal cost—and deep joy—of serving far from home
• Why unmet global needs can become gifts that reshape perspective, purpose, and faith
• How serving across the sea reframes how we serve in our own neighborhoods
Information about Mercy Ships: Why We Need to Serve Around the World – Episode #31
Host: Jude DiMeglio Trang
Guests: Julie Remer & Josh Remer
Description:
In this episode of The Gift of Need Podcast, Jude DiMeglio Trang sits down with Julie and Josh Remer to explore how caring for our neighbors around the world can become a profound response to human need and fulfill a sense of calling. Drawing from their experiences volunteering with Mercy Ships on the Africa Mercy in Senegal and Madagascar, Julie and Josh share stories of sacrificial service, community-centered care, and the life-changing impact of access to safe surgery. The conversation examines how Mercy Ships not only transforms individual lives through medical care, but also strengthens societies through training, partnership, and long-term investment in local communities.
We talk about:
• Julie and Josh’s professional backgrounds in pediatric nursing and nonprofit leadership
• What Mercy Ships is and how the Africa Mercy hospital ship deliver life-saving surgeries in developing nations
• The wide range of medical procedures provided, from cataracts to complex reconstructive surgeries
• Why volunteers self-fund their service—and what that sacrifice looks like in practice
• How non-medical roles like dishwashing, baking, and driving are essential to the mission
• Life aboard a hospital ship and the challenges and beauty of close-knit community
• Cultural differences between Western individualism and community-centered societies
• Stories of patient transformation and healing, including long-term burn and orthopedic cases
• The emotional power of care, presence, and human connection beyond words
• Addressing concerns of “white saviorism” and how Mercy Ships prioritizes dignity and partnership
• Education, Training, and Advocacy (ETA) programs for local surgeons, nurses, and crew
• Training African medical and maritime professionals for long-term impact
• How local staff and volunteers work alongside international crews
• The spiritual motivations behind service and following a call to care for others
• The personal cost—and deep joy—of serving far from home
• Why unmet global needs can become gifts that reshape perspective, purpose, and faith
• How serving across the sea reframes how we serve in our own neighborhoods
Information about Mercy Ships: MercyShips.org
Join the Conversation:
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Music Credit: Gabe Kubanda / Damn Plans (Instrumental) © 2021 Kubanda Music
Engineer: Ray Ingegneri, Third Street Productions, Tucson, AZ
Producer: Jude DiMeglio Trang
