In May 2023 I had the privilege of participating in a medical clinic at one of LUV’s anti-trafficking network locations called New Life Ministry (NLM) near the border of Darfur in South Sudan. During the week three physicians and a wound specialist saw over 1,100 patients who waited in the scorching heat of sub-Saharan Africa for hours. Many had walked miles to get there. The school and safe house for orphans provide an oasis of hope for these people. [Watch Clinic Video]

Among those whom I saw that year was a boy named Deng who was about twelve years old and small for his age — as is common for the children living outside the confines of the orphanage.

Although he looked good from across the table, when I walked around to listen to his heart and lungs there was no mistaking the loud to-and-fro murmur of mitral stenosis — a sign of rheumatic heart disease caused by an untreated strep infection earlier in his childhood. Untreated, this is a terminal condition.

I called over Eugenio Kirima, LUV’s Chief Program Officer, to talk while examining the boy. We both had a little mist in our eyes as I explained to him the seriousness and consequences of this disease. Deng needed heart valve replacement surgery or he wouldn’t survive — a procedure not available in his village. We talked with his mother and father and told them we would do what we could.

Back home I let Audrey Moore, LUV’s CEO, know about the problem. God used a couple who generously gave to make Deng’s operation and aftercare possible. 

After much coordination and travel, Deng received two valve replacements at a missionary hospital in Kenya. By the time he received the treatment he was so weak and short of breath that he could barely eat. 

In 2024, I returned for another medical clinic in South Sudan. While I was in Nairobi, Eugenio brought me to LUV’s Kenya Rehabilitation Home where they regularly take care of South Sudanese children who have needed medical care in Kenya. He introduced me to several children; including Deng who was recovering from his surgery. I could not believe my eyes. He was a stout young man who could run and play with the other children. This was truly a miracle from God. Who would have thought that a kid from a small village in South Sudan would show up in a clinic, be seen by a US trained doctor, have money provided for travel and treatment of what would have been a terminal disease.

I’ve been visiting NLM since 2019 and when I returned again this year, Deng was back home and enrolled in NLM’s school.

LUV’s network houses, feeds, clothes, and educates orphans who would otherwise be left to fend for themselves. And this is all done in a Christian environment. My wife and I had sponsored orphans for several years before I had the privilege of going. Every time I visit, I am thankful to God for using this great ministry to save the most vulnerable souls in that region. God has also used NLM as an oasis for the spread of the Gospel of Christ and to foster the equipping of pastors in the area who otherwise could not receive training. I have seen this effort bring souls to Christ. My wife and I plan to continue giving to LUV and to spread the word of the work it is doing for “the least of these”.

Kyle Hudgens, MD