For Ansley Park residents Marty Thomasson and Dr. Cynthia Abbott, community begins close to home. After five years in the neighborhood, they value the connections formed through book clubs, dinner groups, and everyday interactions that make Ansley Park feel both welcoming and engaged. That same spirit of connection also fuels their work far beyond Atlanta—into some of the most remote regions of the South Pacific. Through their involvement with YWAM Medical Ships, part of Youth With A Mission, Marty and Cynthia are helping bring lifesaving medical care and training to rural villages across Papua New Guinea.

 Their commitment reflects a shared belief that geography should never determine access to healthcare. In regions where villages are reachable only by river and where electricity and internet access are scarce, YWAM Medical Ships deliver essential care directly to communities that might otherwise go untreated for years.

 YWAM Medical Ships operates floating medical clinics that travel upriver to isolated villages, transporting multidisciplinary teams of doctors, nurses, dentists, and technicians. These teams provide primary care, dental services, immunizations, and ophthalmologic surgeries, while also working alongside local healthcare workers to build sustainable systems of care.

 Patients often travel extraordinary distances to reach the ships. Some travel by canoe for days, guided only by word-of-mouth that medical help has arrived. For many, this visit marks their first interaction with professional healthcare—an experience that can alter the course of their lives and health.

 Marty’s role in the mission grew out of a practical challenge he witnessed firsthand by watching his wife volunteer. While visiting the ship with his family, he saw medical teams spending hours each night managing stacks of paper forms—documentation required to track patient care and generate reports for the Papua New Guinea Health Ministry. The process was time-consuming and exhausting, pulling clinicians away from patient care.

 Drawing on his experience running a custom software consultancy, Marty designed a digital patient management and medical inventory system specifically for off-grid environments. Each team now travels with a compact technology kit: a laptop acting as a local server, a portable battery-powered Wi-Fi router, and multiple tablets. Together, they create a self-contained network that functions much like a modern medical office—even in villages without electricity or internet access. When connectivity becomes available, the system synchronizes securely to a cloud server, allowing teams across different regions to access data, manage inventory, and generate required reports for the national health authorities. The result is a dramatic reduction in administrative burden and more time spent where it matters most—caring for patients.

Dr. Cynthia Abbott’s work centers on clinical training, particularly in diagnosing leprosy and other neglected tropical skin diseases that can remain hidden or misdiagnosed in remote areas. By teaching local practitioners microscopic and clinical diagnostic techniques, she helps communities recognize illness early and advocate for appropriate treatment.

 One moment remains especially powerful. A woman arrived after paddling for days because she heard a skin doctor was aboard the mission ship. She sought help for a non-healing lesion on her nose that had been dismissed for years as sunburn. Cynthia diagnosed it as leprosy and confirmed it by attempting a biopsy for microscopic analysis. Not only would medication save this woman’s nose, just as importantly, it revealed leprosy in a region previously believed to be disease-free, opening care access for an entire community.  

Ongoing microscopic training for leprosy and TB in the region is now supported by April Harper, a University of Georgia scientist who uses donated microscopes and equipment to teach diagnostic techniques for leprosy. Working with methods developed alongside Atlanta-based dermatopathologists, this collaboration ensures that local practitioners continue building skills long after visiting teams depart.

 The work has not been without obstacles. Designing technology for environments with no infrastructure required creativity and compromise. Cynthia also encountered governmental roadblocks, including official statistics stating that leprosy had been eradicated in Papua New Guinea. By partnering with the Leprosy Mission and adapting tuberculosis diagnostic techniques—since both diseases involve acid-fast bacteria—these barriers were overcome through collaboration and persistence.

 The impact has been profound. Medical teams now spend significantly less time managing data and reporting, and more time treating patients. Local healthcare workers gain practical skills that remain within their communities as April Harper continues coordinating local teaching opportunities. Families experience moments of transformation, such as a young girl regaining her sight after cataract surgery—guided into the clinic by parents whose emotion was shared by everyone present. 

Marty and Cynthia's story is a powerful reminder that making a difference often begins with skills already in hand—and the willingness to carry them, by boat and by heart, to places where they can change lives.