Hi, we’re David and Mellony! A little about us…
David has been serving with YWAM Medical Ships as a full-time volunteer since 2017, and I’ve been around since 2020. We met while serving as part of a small land based team in remote Papua New Guinea (PNG), and after living in each other's pockets for a few months, we gave dating a try and were married a little over a year later.
We spend time during our year both at our main campus is Townsville, Australia, and in PNG. Being in PNG is by far our favourite season in the year, and you’ll find us working as part of our medical outreaches.
David and I standing in front of the MV YWAM PNG, our medical and training ship
I’m a nurse and David is a lab tech; our focus has been predominantly in the delivery of primary healthcare in remote communities, a mix of hands on delivering care ourselves and leading teams. David works in our onboard lab testing for Tuberculosis (TB), and we now also work a little bit with our school dental program helping get dental services where they’re really needed. For us, being involved in this medical work is such a practical way to love our neighbour in ways that are such a felt need in so many communities. Alongside medical care, we love that our ministry also has a focus on training, community, and bible engagement activities.
While in Townsville I still work as part of our PNG Engagement Team/Medical Team, and spend a season logging some serious computer time working on tasks that support our operations (everything from grant reporting to resource development, and generally many, many spreadsheets). David diversifies a bit while he’s in Townsville and is part of our campus operations team, ensuring things are well-maintained for everyone living and working on campus.
How can you partner with us?
Pray
We would love to invite you to pay for and with us! We have a WhatsApp group where we post a little more frequently, small, real-time updates and prayer requests (aiming for about once a month). You can join using this link.
Financial support
As we touched on above, everyone working in YWAM is a full-time volunteer, donating their time, labour, and skills to make what we do happen. This means neither David nor I receive any form of salary or compensation, and we raise support to cover our living expenses, outreach, and travel costs. Financially, we rely on the partnership and generosity of people who believe in what we are out to accomplish, and donate to help support us being here.
Would you consider supporting us financially? One-time donation and monthly partnership giving are both deeply appreciated.
How To Donate
There are three main ways to donate to support us, all options for one-time donations or setting up a reoccurring monthly donation.
YWAM Ships/Townsville website | Donations through the YWAM Ships/Townsville website, whether reoccurring of a one-time donation, will be issued an Australian tax deductible receipt.
When you come to 'Payment type' selection 'YWAM Townsville Volunteer Donation' and write one of our names (or a combination of both) 'Mellony and David Sillence' in the 'Recipient' field.
UK tax payers | Donations via Stewardship is the best way to donate. Donations this way are eligible for gift aid, which means that for every £1 given we can receive an extra 25p! This means a donation of 20 pound becomes 25 pounds, making it a great avenue to make a donation go further.
Bank transfer | Please get in contact with us if you would like to donate via a bank transfer. We can provide account details for either the UK or Australia.
Connect with us!
Send us a message: Do you have a question or would you like to more? We’d love to chat.
Stay updated: If you’d like to receive our newsletters straight to your inbox, subscribe and the bottom of this post, or at the top of our homepage!
Share about our work: I first came on an outreach to PNG because a friend knew about the work of the ship and suggested it might be something I was interested in. Sometimes we don’t know the power of one conversation. Is there someone in your life you could share about our work with?
Join an outreach: Interested in coming to serve in PNG yourself? Check out this page for outreach dates (roles for both medical and non medical people alike)!
Thanks so much for taking the time to learn about us and the work we’re doing with YWAM Medical Ships. Whether you’re praying for us, sharing in our story, or supporting us financially, every bit helps us bring hope and care to remote communities. We’d love for you to be part of this journey with us.
