On weekday mornings at the Family Care Centre in Vanuatu, Anna Harris can be found sipping coffee while working off a detailed administrative list, including tasks such as maintenance, communicating with staff and outreach teams, and coordinating each department at the FCC.
A devoted runner, and a legend at assembling chic but culturally appropriate outfits in the tropical heat, Anna has called the Teouma Valley “home” for over five years.
After training and working as a paediatric nurse, Anna arrived in Port Vila in 2016 to help launch the Family Care Centre, at that time a building just newly constructed with a medical clinic at one end and staff accommodation at the other end.
Those early years were perhaps overwhelming at the time, but the result of pioneering the FCC is an impressive resume of skills, an in-depth understanding of hardware stores in Port Vila, and enough stories to fill a book someday.
Anna oversaw the medical clinic for five years, and in the past several months, she has settled into a new role as the director for the Family Care Centre.
Her biggest challenge in this role is trying to adequately execute the array of responsibilities that land on her shoulders. Due to the FCC’s staff shortage, she picks up a lot of tasks. But highlights such as mentoring and empowering the staff team to grow in their skills as leaders, facilitating times of connection for ministry leaders and partners, and developing and growing the mission and vision in Vanuatu balances the challenges.
Reflecting on her time in Vanuatu, Anna shares: “It has been a great privilege to be part of pioneering the Family Care Centre. I’m constantly amazed as I look around and see all that God is doing in and through this ministry. It is a testimony of what God can do with a small seed of faith that is put into action by simply saying ‘yes’ to his plans. My time in Vanuatu has by no means been easy, it has come at a great cost and required perseverance, but none of that compares to the fruit of the Holy Spirit at work here.”
We are so thankful for Anna’s faithful, varied, and resilient service at the FCC!
For more information about the Family Care Centre and how you could be involved, please visit: www.familycarecentre.org