Michigan Church Partners to Serve Women in Papua New Guinea

The Foundry Church is partnering with YWAM Ships Kona to spread the message of Jesus and improve women’s health in the rural Pacific. The Michigan-based ministry took initiative to build a compact clinic that will be sent to Papua New Guinea. The project was overseen by Noah and Kennedy Westra along with a team of helpers and donors.

YWAM Ships Kona CEO Brett Curtis praised the efforts of Foundry Church to collaborate in serving the isolated.

“We are grateful for all those who have contributed to make this amazing tool possible and for the hearts of those friends in Michigan who put their skin in the game of improving women’s health and giving YWAM Ships Kona another wonderful tool to be able to serve and share God’s love to those in need,” Curtis said.

Foundry Church Pastor Eric Folkers and his wife, Erica, have a history of involvement with ship-equipped ministry. The couple formerly served with Mercy Ships when Brett and Karen Curtis were leading a vessel to the Caribbean in the 1990s. They decided to design the container when they learned that hundreds of Papua New Guinean women die during childbirth each year. 

The container clinic will be installed on board the m/v YWAM LIBERTY in Madang.