The Story of the YWAM Ships Liberty: From Needing Repairs to Repairing Hearts

By Carter Keefe, Feb 27, 2025

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 Photo credit: YL Media

Back in 2019, our team was serving aboard the YWAM Ships Liberty in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. At the time, we were preparing for an inspection of the ship’s main engine. This meant dismantling the engines down to the crankshaft and surveying every part—a big job, a necessary cyclical inspection to keep us all safe.

Partway through the project, in the early days of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Global lockdowns led to a halt in international travel, the inability to ship parts, and the inability of engineers to return. The YWAM LIBERTY, partway through, was left stranded with the needed crew to proceed. For the next three years, the ship sat idle, clean and safe, but with its mission paused.

Fast forward to February 2022. Papua New Guinea—one of the last nations to reopen —finally lifted its restrictions. Hope returned as the team prepared to resume work. We quickly discovered that the challenges weren’t over.  The ripple effects of disrupted global supply chains and simple part orders persisted for months. We recalled encouragement from our founders to “listen to God, obey God, and NEVER QUIT!  We did just that!

After nearly nine months of waiting, the crew was ecstatic when the parts needed to repair the vessel finally arrived. After years of sitting still, the ship was ready to go—the only thing left were our surveys and sea trials. These tests at sea evaluated all systems, propulsion, crew safety drills, and communications equipment.

The YWAM LIBERTY passed her trials with flying colors in November 2024. The Liberty was finally ready to continue her mission—bringing outreach to the islands and remote coastlines of Madang, PNG.

Upon arrival, and after much prayer for guidance, the team had a revelation. Brett Curtis, President/CEO of YWAM Ships Kona, shared, “Papua New Guinea has over 300 languages that have yet to be translated into the Bible, and 100 of those languages are in just one province, Madang. So we decided to integrate Oral Bible Translation work with our medical work.

OBT is a project aimed at translating the Bible into every language—oral translation, to be specific—so communities can understand God’s word in their native tongue. By combining OBT with medical outreach, the team could serve the people of Papua New Guinea in both physical and spiritual ways. Long after someone has received their sight by an operation onboard, they can then understand the teachings of Jesus in their mother tongue, which is the key to long-term transformation.  The teachings of Jesus impact change in individuals and families. It heals hearts and marriages and settles disputes with neighbors.

Brett explained further, “We ask tribal leaders and chiefs, when in their village, if there are a small handful of trusted members from their village who might work on translating the Bible into their mother tongue? As of a few weeks ago, we have hosted a cluster of 80 translators from eight languages.  They have been taught the technique, and began by recording the book of  Luke. It is a fascinating process, with islanders being the linguistic experts in choosing words, followed by a community check before recording, and we in YWAM simply serving the process.

The OBT project is just the beginning of what the Liberty can do to support the people of Papua New Guinea. Brett continued, “Typically, we can deliver over 100,000 services in rural districts annually. That includes medical procedures, dental care, water filters, health education, TB testing, OBGYN services, and much more.

The story of YWAM Liberty is one of long-term commitment to building the nation of PNG, marked by tenacity through trials and hardships, and by keeping hope and love for the people of Papua New Guinea.  The partnerships ashore in Madang include the Governor’s office, Members of Parliament, local hospitals, and churches. Our collaboration is key, and together we see a pathway to improve the conditions in remote locations with hundreds of people flying in to work alongside the locals to achieve a long-term impact. The keyword is TOGETHER! We love what we do, especially when we can do it as a team!