After months of meticulous preparation and through the generous support of compassionate individuals worldwide, the first wave of “Africa Cries Out” medical mission team gathered at New York’s JFK Airport this afternoon, departing at 7 PM enroute to Senegal with hearts ablaze. This extraordinary volunteer corps – comprising of physicians in their prime, high school students radiating youthful vitality, university professors, and construction workers wielding both compassion and tools – represents a beautiful tapestry of nationalities from the United States, Canada, Germany, and China. United by their sacred purpose, these modern-day Good Samaritans gathered beneath the airport’s soaring arches, bound together by their commitment to carry love’s healing light across continents. Most stirring of all, many volunteers stood proudly as veterans of compassion – this marking their second, third, even fourth or fifth pilgrimage of hope. Their repeated returns testifying an unquenchable fire in the human spirit, proving that true charity flows not as seasonal rain, but as an eternal spring.

 

Family or Mission: A Heartrending Dilemma 

Two days before departure, Dr. Miao, our team physician, faced an agonizing choice when a family emergency prevented him from joining us. Yet he declared, “Though my feet cannot walk African soil this time, my heart journeys with you. Let my $2,200 contribution remain as medicine for those waiting.” Another physician couple, similarly held by personal crises, brought their teenage son to JFK Airport with this charge: “We entrust our child to you. Let poverty become his teacher and compassion his curriculum.” Of the 97 volunteers who registered, 30 embarks on this first wave to Senegal, with others following next week. Our gratitude extends to Pastor Nelson’s team of six whose behind-the-scenes support has been indispensable.

 

The Luggage Labyrinth: When Logistics Met Grace

Our 54 mission bags – 24 bulging with medications, 46 all-in-one computers, plus donated laptops and phones – posed a Herculean challenge when Senegal Airlines abruptly canceled their JFK-Dakar route. For years, their managers had generously waived fees for our medical cargo. Now facing Delta’s notorious rigidity (recalling past encounters where “$100 per bag” was coldly dictated), we approached negotiations like David before Goliath.

After hours of navigating automated phone labyrinths and pleading through chatbot interfaces, a stone-faced agent finally conceded: “Medical supplies may qualify for exemption.” No confirmation number, just a verbal promise. Arriving at check-in with trepidation, we watched in awe as 54 bags sailed through after presenting “Africa Cries Out” documentations. A divine wink came when Dr. Liu – our pain specialist – transformed into an impromptu luggage surgeon, expertly mending a bursting suitcase with medical tape from his kit. “He heals bodies  and baggage!” we marveled.

                         Bags bursting at the seams filled with medicines made it through the check-in process at JFK.


                        Dr. Liu with his medical tape after he “fixed” a torn bag.

 

The Miracle of Medicines: When Despair Bloomed Into Hope

As chronicled earlier, our lifeline – $500,000 annual medication donations from Direct Relief was jeopardized due to the freezing of USAID. Facing the unthinkable prospect of empty hands at African clinics, we became medical detectives chasing leads. Just days before departure, a phoenix rose from ashes: Direct Relief, battling their own storms, resurrected their commitment. At 5 PM on March 4th, medications arrived in a flurry of answered prayers.

Special recognition also goes to Connecticut’s AmeriCares, doubling their pharmaceutical donations to fill critical gaps, and to Sister Sarah, Brother Joe’s  daughter, whose midnight oil burned bright during final packing marathons.

After some days full of tension wondering if we will be able to meet the medicine demands, our prayers were answered when Direct Relief made good of their commitment, and Connecticut’s AmeriCares doubling their donation to fill in the gaps.

 

Epiphany in the Storm 

This odyssey of 54 miraculously-free bags and resurrected drug shipments illuminates a profound truth: “All things work together for good when love is the compass.” From broken luggage to bureaucratic roadblocks, each challenge transformed into a testimony. Strangers became allies, setbacks became springboards, and through it all, the quiet persistence of ordinary people writing an extraordinary story – one bandaged suitcase, one healed child, one stubborn act of faith at a time.

The runway lights now beckon. To Senegal we fly, carrying not just medicines, but living proof that when human kindness takes wing, even gravity surrenders.

 

                                              The Africa Cries Out school dormitory at our base camp in Senegal.

 

Our bags of medicines, laptops, cell phones and a variety of donations made it to Africa Cries Out base camp and were promptly sorted out by the whole team as soon as we arrived.

 

 

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If you are moved and willing to support our African ministry, here are ways to help/donate:

 

1)Please write a check to 非洲哭泣 and send it to Jun Xu, MD, 1171 E Putnam Avenue, Riverside, CT06878, USA. You will receive a tax-free receipt recognized by the IRS.

2) Online Credit Card Donation: https://africacriesout.net/ (credit card company will charge a handling fee)

3)Zelle: Africacriesout@gmail.com

 

Our team solemnly declares that 100% of your donation will be used for the people of Africa, and we do not get even a penny of administrative fees.

 

Jun Xu WeChat: jun9174343767

电子邮件：Africacriesout@gmail.com

Public WeChat account: Life Exploring (人生天路)

Web page: https://africacriesout.net

Translation: Robben, Jiang Muyun

Reviewer: Wang Yizun, Tu Shuyue

Editor: Doris Cruz