Forty-five-year-old Marie Elisa’s stature may be small, but her faith towers with quiet resilience. Each morning, her feet trace the familiar path she’s taken for years as she makes her way to her church in Berangotra, a village in Central Madagascar, for prayers. This morning ritual is a gentle gathering of strength as she fortifies herself for the hours ahead, tending to her fields of vegetables and potatoes to support her family.

But when she turned 40, her routine began to slip away. A simple toothache became an unrelenting pain that led her to the local pharmacy. The medicine she received only offered temporary relief; as the ache dulled, her face began to swell. “The painkillers helped for a time,” she recalled. “The swelling started, and it just kept getting bigger until it reached this point,” she said as she pointed to her lower jaw where a tumour had taken root, growing to the size of an orange.

Yet her prayers continued, “I’m praying to Jesus to be healthy and able to work again,” she shared, her faith unwavering even as friends and neighbours cast pitying glances.

As the tumour grew, so did her family’s hardships. Unable to farm, the family lost their source of income, and Marie Elisa watched her youngest daughter drop out of school. “I could no longer work in the fields or sell at the market,” she said. “And my daughter had to stop school because I couldn’t pay her fees.”

Desperate for relief, she turned to traditional healers, but the tumour only continued to grow. Though a doctor advised surgery, the cost remained far out of reach.

A Divine Encounter With Mercy Ships

In 2024, as the Mercy Ships patient selection team journeyed across Madagascar to find patients for free surgery on board the Africa Mercy®, a cyclone tore through the island’s north. It left devastation in its wake and altered weather patterns far to the south, where the team was traveling. Forced to change their route due to the relentless rain and damaged roads, the team drove through a small village they hadn’t intended to visit. There, on the roadside, they spotted a woman with a visible tumour on her face—it was Marie Elisa.

“We saw Marie Elisa walking through the market and three of us yelled, ‘Stop the bus!’” recalled Maddy Hartung, an Australian volunteer nurse with the team. They stepped off the bus, weaving through the curious crowd, introducing themselves, and sharing photos of patients who had received life-changing surgery on the ship. “We explained that we’d seen someone we might be able to help,” Maddy said. “The whole village turned, pointing at Marie Elisa, rushing over to bring her to meet us.”

The team set up a temporary clinic on the village chief’s front porch to examine Marie Elisa, explaining the possibility of free surgery. Though initially cautious, she took a leap of faith. “I was sick and willing to risk it—I had nothing to lose,” she said.

Emboldened by the possibility of free health care and in a loving act of selflessness, Marie Elisa mentioned that her husband, Claude, had an eye issue. After the assessment, the team found him eligible for eye surgery. Both were ultimately scheduled for free surgeries on the Africa Mercy, albeit at separate times.

“She was meant to be on that side of the road; God had a plan for her,” Maddy reflected.

The Gift of Healing and Renewed Hope

Marie Elisa traveled for three days to Toamasina, where the Africa Mercy was docked. Due to severe weight loss from the tumour, the doctors put her on a nutrition program to regain strength. Weeks later, she was cleared for surgery.

“I thank God the tumour was removed and I’m healthy again. The surgery went well, and now I can eat normally without any issues,” Marie Elisa shared eagerly, ready to return home after her successful operation.

Reflecting on her condition, Dr. Erik Andersen, a volunteer anaesthetic supervisor from Australia, underscored the gravity: “Without surgery, Marie Elisa’s situation would have worsened with her large mass pressing on her airway, making it hard to breathe and eat.”

When Marie Elisa returned home safely, her husband Claude was relieved. He had felt helpless and resolute, knowing his support had to come from afar. “With her so far away, all I could do was pray,” he recalled. “I kept saying, ‘Oh God, please heal my wife and free her from this illness.’”

Weeks after Marie Elisa’s discharge, it was her husband’s turn for surgery to remove a cyst from his left eye; a growth that had troubled him for five years. This time, Marie Elisa returned to the ship not as a patient, but as Claude’s caregiver.

When Claude was discharged, the couple returned home with hearts brimming with hope for the days ahead. For Marie Elisa, the thought of tending her vegetable and potato fields again brought a spark of excitement. “When I’m fully recovered and nothing bothers me, I can go back to my former job.” Thanks to Mercy Ships, Marie Elisa is ready to nurture the land again and ensure that her family’s future flourishes.