Dear Friends and Family,

I have exciting news to share with you – I am returning to Africa with Mercy Ships – though not to a ship, but to the nation of Liberia to serve in a new position as Country Director.  I first visited Liberia in 2006, lived in Liberia all of 2007 and 2008 on the Anastasis, Africa Mercy and ashore with Advance and returned in 2010 for three weeks with the Evaluation Team. 
We are working on the timeline – probably leaving in November.  For people in Indiana, I do plan to visit before I leave the country.  I will let you know and share more about the nation of Liberia in future KRB Updates. 
A few brief details – over 5 million people call Liberia home, one of the world’s most worst for maternal mortality, a young population with median age of 18, life expectancy is about 64 years old, and concerns for infectious disease is very high.  

Below is the message shared with the Mercy Ships community and I asked permission to share it here with you all:

I am excited to share with you the promotion of Keith Brinkman to Country Director. Keith will start this new position on 16 October. In this important position, Keith will be responsible for the coordination of all programmatic and support activities in Liberia, from the signing of the protocol, up to the point that an active protocol with a host nation expires, which is typically after five years.

As the Country Director, Keith will continue to establish and deepen government and diplomatic relations, and will lead and support all preparatory activities before ships arrival in Monrovia. Keith will play a key role in external representation, external and internal stakeholder alignment, and team leadership on the ground.

Keith’s servant-hearted leadership and unwavering dedication to excellence is an example to all. Keith’s life is perhaps best characterized by his love for others – our partners, his fellow crew, our day crew and especially the citizens of the host nations we serve. He has ‘joined the families’ of patients and Mercy Ministry partners, being christened with local names like Kofi in Ghana (‘born on a Friday’), Lahi (‘first born son’) in Madagascar, Keita in Guinea, Kofa in Liberia, and Lamin in Gambia.

Corné Blom
VP International Programs

More to follow from me in future KRB Updates