African Mercy

Waiting line at a Mercy Ships screening day.

The MV Africa Mercy was docked in a port city in West Africa. The medical needs were so great that people came by the thousands. The doctors would screen hundreds of patients to qualify them for surgery or treatment. Mercy Ships founder, Don Stephens remarks that screening days, while hectic and exhausting, go on with very little uproar. Africans have an uncanny inner peace that becomes apparent as they gather and wait in virtually endless lines for a chance to see a doctor.

Don Stephens and medical personnel at a screening day

This day saw a much larger crowd than usual, and the crowd pressed against the temporary fencing, risking the safety of the people at the front of the line. The crew saw they would need to shut down the medical screenings and disperse the crowd for the day. They closed the chain-link gates at the port. A man way in the back, without a hope of being seen that day held his infant daughter who had a large tumor growing on her neck that pushed against her wind-pipe. She might be suffocated before they could come back. In desperation, the man lifted his daughter up over the crowd and put her in the hands of someone who was a little closer to the fence. One by one, people passed her toward the closed gate. On the other side, the Mercy Ships crew could see what was happening, and eventually could hear the small child wheasing and gasping for breath. Africans in line, suffering horrible pain and diseases themselves, saw that this little child was in more desperate need. They passed her one by one to the fence and then up and over the fence into the arms of a Mercy Ships crew member. The child was taken into surgery soon after, and the tumor was removed from her neck. The doctor who performed the operation said it was a very close call. The benign tumor that pressed against her esophagus could have stopped her breathing within weeks.


Later, she was re-united with her overjoyed father. This is a story that makes me weep for Africa. In a land with rich natural resources, the people live in poverty. The death toll is high. Wars continue to scar the landscapes. There is so much suffering that doesn't need to happen. The people of Africa are strong and courageous. They are able to govern themselves. Most importantly, they share mercy with each other. We go to Africa to encourage and share that mercy.

Would you support us? Click Here

-Thank you.

Locals in Togo working together to deal with flooding in the capital, Lome.