A SIMPLE CEREMONY at a forgotten graveside marked the fulfillment of a 13-year dream to take the gospel around the Pacific by ship.

Crew from the 1,000-ton Island Mercy, which sails through the region to give free health care and share Christ, gathered at the spot where 16-year-old Judith was buried to pay tribute to her family's earlier desire to do the same thing.

The Mercy Ships vessel sailed to Lae at the beginning of her three-month outreach to Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu to honor the sacrifice of the Australian missionary family, who moved to PNG in 1982 to refit a ship they planned to sail throughout the area.

But their oldest child died after contracting malaria, and the family eventually had to abandon the project, Mercy Ships' Pacific director David Cowie learned when Judith's mother wroteto him after hearing about the ship's planned visit to the country.

An 18-strong team searched the Lae cemetery for almost an hour before finding the teenager's overgrown grave site, which they cleared with machetes and gardening tools before laying flowers, and praying.

"We counted it a real privilege to be able to honor Judith's sacrifice, and her family's` commitment to fulfill Jesus' command to go into all the world," said Cowie. "We were also reminded of the real cost to those who had gone before us - that the price of following God can be very high."

On the ship's return to her New Zealand base, Cowie sent photographs and a short report of the memorial service to Judith's mother, who was "very touched".

During 12 weeks in the two countries, Island Mercy crew and medical workers saw over 2,000 patients at eye clinics, prescribed and fitted 1,750 pairs of spectacles, gave dental treatment to 1,155, and registered 252 commitments to Christ.

Based in the Pacific since 1991, the Island Mercy has since sailed thousands of miles throughout the region, providing dental and eye clinics, and helping with community development projects.

Founded in 1978 as the maritime division of Youth With A Mission, Mercy Ships has since seen her four ships work in more than 60 port districts. Between them they annually give away around US$3 million of free health care.

To contact Mercy Ships: info@mercyships.org

Last updated: 1996, May 31 /pf