www.MercyInAction.org

3018 West Overland Road
Boise, ID, 83705

(208) 258-9251

Mercy in Action is a non-profit organization that focuses on the crisis in Maternal/Newborn/Child health care worldwide. A Midwifery School, as well as seminars and training retreats are held each year to prepare midwives, doctors, and nurses to meet the global shortage of skilled birth attendants, and to help primary health care workers prevent unnecessary child deaths. 

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Overview

Overview


Safe motherhood and child survival - one good birth at a time

Mercy in Action is a faith-based non-profit organization founded by the Penwell family with roots going back to the early 1980’s. Dedicated to mercy ministry among the poor around the world, Mercy In Action exists to bring hope and healing to the poorest of the poor, wherever they are found. We seek to serve with practical acts of compassion, as did the Samaritan in the story told by Jesus of what it means to "Love God and love your neighbor". Our focus has always been on Maternal and Newborn Health as we seek to make the “First 1,000 Days” a safe time for both mother and baby to survive and thrive. Because pregnant mothers and small children are the populations often most vulnerable and likeliest to die around childbirth in the poorer areas of our world, we focus on providing excellent maternity care and training midwives and community health workers with skills in both low-risk and high-risk birth.

The Vision

We believe God's heart is for us to care for the poor, especially the most vulnerable. One of Mercy In Action's main goals is to provide midwives and community health workers to meet the felt needs of the poor. Those dedicated to Biblical justice can learn practical skills to serve in the two-thirds of our world where people live in inhumane conditions of poverty and neglect. Currently, there are approximately 6, 400 newborn deaths every day, amounting to nearly 47% of all child deaths under the age of 5 years old, and over half a million mothers die from complications of childbirth each year. The vast majority of these deaths are unnecessary and easily preventable, and that is why we believe in doing whatever it takes to create safe and respectful birth spaces and dedicated follow-up to ensure survival. God desires that we would "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God"” Our vision is to rescue from death and suffering when we can, and bear witness to the pain when we cannot, in both cases offering the ministry of our presence. In doing so, we find that we meet Jesus among the poor and suffering, for as He once said so famously, what we do or fail to do with the poor, we do unto Him.


Our History

The Penwell family has set up charity clinics in the Alaska, Idaho, Mexico and the Philippines, and funded birth centers and midwife training around the globe since 1990. They founded a fully accredited college of midwifery in America that reaches out to the world. In their model, maternity care is safe, respectful, and free to the families. Since beginning in the Philippines 32 years ago, approximately 17,381 babies have been delivered free of charge for the poor in Mercy In Action's sponsored Birth Centers. Countless other babies and mothers have been served thanks to the hundreds of Mercy In Action graduates who have been equipped and released into service around the globe, many now leading their own midwifery-led birth centers in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, and the USA.

Our sponsored birth centers, clinics, and other outreaches are run by national midwives in the Philippines. Mercy In Action Vineyard Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that operates these ministries with grass roots donations from caring individuals. All donations are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.



Founders

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Vicki & Scott Penwell

Founders

Vicki Penwell and her late husband Scott founded the ministry that became Mercy In Action over 40 years ago. Vicki has spent her life as a licensed midwife, health educator, missionary and humanitarian aide and disaster response organizer. Scott oversaw all aspects of tech support, publishing and building and physical support for the mission. They have served in Alaska, Asia, and Mexico, setting up clinics, birth centers, medical mission outreaches, malnourished children's feeding programs, churches and schools to help the poor. Vicki now divides her time between the Philippines and the USA, where she teaches for Mercy in Action’s College of Midwifery.

Vicki's educational background began in the 1970s when she was planning her own home births in Alaska. It now includes a Master of Science in Midwifery from the USA and a Master of Arts in Christian Studies with a major in Missions/Intercultural Studies from a seminary in the Philippines. Vicki is currently working on a Doctorate degree in Creative Leadership. Vicki became an ordained minister in the 1990s through the Vineyard Christian Fellowship and still teaches often on God's heart for the poor. She has been a frequent guest speaker at the University of the Nations and YWAM's healthcare schools worldwide. She has presented on her midwifery model of care at the International Confederation of Midwives Congress in Vienna, Austria, Asia/Pacific Region conferences on midwifery, and many various US conferences on maternity care and perinatal health. She has published articles in both national and international journals on midwifery, primary care medicine, and maternal/child health seen through a human rights and Biblical justice lens. Vicki has been honored to have a chapter in two different books edited by Robbie Davis Floyd: "Birth Models That Work", and chapters in two books published by Midwifery Today.  

Scott's background included studying journalism at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and teaching at Tanana Valley Community College, and he specialized in Information Technology and oversaw communication and tech support for hundreds of students around the world When Vicki met Scott, he was homesteading in the wilderness of Alaska and building log cabins. Scott and Vicki were married 44 years before his passing in October 2022. They have three grown sons - Zak, Ian, and Sean; two beloved daughters-in-law - Amanda and Rose; and five grandchildren - Zoe, Irie, Titus, Selah, and Jamen. All the family is involved in different aspects of Mercy In Action - serving, supporting, and encouraging.

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Rose and Ian Penwell

Co-leaders

Ian Penwell and his wife Rose help lead all aspects of Mercy In Action and are co-founders of the Mercy In Action College of Midwifery. They teach and serve on staff and faculty of the Mercy In Action College of Midwifery.

Ian Penwell is the President of the Board of Mercy In Action. Ian is cross-trained in many aspects of maternal child healthcare, and is an excellent teacher and clinical instructor. He holds a Bachelor of Health Science with Science Emphasis from Boise State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Midwifery from the National College of Midwifery. Ian is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and a US-licensed midwife. He trained as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Wilderness First Responder. In addition, Ian Penwell is a worship leader and a licensed Vineyard Pastor.

Rose Penwell is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), a licensed Midwife, a graduate of Mercy In Action and the National College of Midwifery, and a graduate of Boise State University, earning two Bachelor's degrees, one in Sociology and one in Midwifery. Rose has helped establish birth centers in the Philippines and Idaho and was the founding director of the non-profit, easy-access model Mercy Birth Center pilot project from 2015-2018. Rose is an excellent teacher and is a passionate life-long learner. She now serves as Clinical Director for the Mercy In Action College of Midwifery. Rose and Ian have three children, Irie, Selah, and Jamen, all born in a birth center or at home (Selah was born in their island home in the Philippines.)

Kristen and Matt Benoit

Co-leaders

Kristen and Matt Benoit are co-leaders of Mercy In Action and Mercy In Action College of Midwifery. They first started working with Mercy In Action on staff in 2001, and both of them teach and serve on staff and faculty of Mercy In Action College of Midwifery.

Kristen serves as Board Secretary/Treasurer, and as the Director of Midwifery Education and Academic Director for Mercy In Action College of Midwifery. Kristen is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), US-licensed midwife and former Emergency Medical Technician. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Midwifery degree through dual enrollment with Mercy In Action and National College of Midwifery, a Master of Arts in Intercultural Ministry Leadership, and is currently enrolled in Fuller Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Global Leadership program.

Matt serves as Mercy In Action’s Finance Director, IT Support, and as Academic Faculty for Mercy In Action College of Midwifery’s Research and Early Childhood Development courses, among other roles. Matt is a Registered Nurse with prior certification as an Emergency Medical Technician and Wilderness EMT, and holds a Master of Science in Nursing Leadership and Management. He also has experience in construction, which is a useful skill he brings to all of our ministry sites around the world.

Matt and Kristen have helped establish birth centers, clinics and new ministry initiatives with Mercy In Action in the Philippines and Mexico. They have four children, all of whom were brought into the world with the help of Mercy In Action-trained midwives. Their children love to volunteer for Mercy In Action and consider the Philippines their second home.



Board of Directors

Left to Right: Rachel Williams, Kristen Benoit, Becka Frankie, Tim Herndon, Vicki Penwell, Ian Penwell

Left to Right: Rachel Williams, Kristen Benoit, Becka Frankie, Tim Herndon, Vicki Penwell, Ian Penwell

Rachel Williams Member; Kristen Benoit Secretary/Treasurer; Becka Frankie Member; Tim Herndon Vice President; Vicki Penwell (Executive Director- not on the board); Ian Penwell President


Ongoing Ministries

Mercy In Action sponsors birth centers on the islands of Luzon, Leyte, and Samar. Since 1991 we have established numerous birth centers in the Philippines and delivered more than 17,000 babies, free of charge to the parents and with excellent outcomes. Our former students have started their own birth centers all over the world.  We have also helped other missions establish birth centers or clinics and are currently consulting on others, helping them to become International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) Implementing Sites. Since creating a culture of sharing knowledge is one of our values, we are proud to say that several of our former students have also established teaching centers. 

In addition to our full-time, permanent charity birth centers, we also help with disaster relief as necessary. Mercy In Action mounted a Disaster Response to Leyte Island after Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda brought massive destruction in November 2013. For two months we provided for the delivery of babies in the disaster zone in tents, (more than 110 deliveries in 60 days) and provided medical emergency care and food to thousands of the traumatized survivors.

Mercy In Action holds ongoing medical and midwifery training and outreach in maternal/newborn health in the Philippines, the USA, and around the world.


Megan Allen Memorial

Megan Allen
April 8, 1995 - June 25, 1998

Vicki's beloved niece died in a tragic accident in 1998 at the age of three years old. Megan had a wonderful life--she never knew hunger or suffering of any kind, and was loved and cherished by all of her family. It is fitting that the memorial to her short life be one in which children who have suffered greatly find hope, healing, and love. Megan's Babies is a memorial ministry outreach to every baby we deliver. Our goal is to give a layette of a baby hat or a receiving blanket to each new family. Often the parents are too poor to provide even basics for their newborn, or medical care for sickness or birth defects. Babies who have special medical needs are helped with this fund as well, such as babies we deliver who need surgery but their parents cannot afford it and would have otherwise had to let them die. Donors can make financial gifts through this website,  or mail newborn items directly to our babies.

Mercy In Action
Cumpio Midwife Clinic
c/o Nerissa Cumpio
Zone 2, Barangay Santo Nino
Tanauan, Leyte 6502, Philippines

email: info@mercyinaction.com