Usually each August, we send a mission team led by Doctors Kyle Hudgens and Joan Perry to New Life Ministry (NLM), our partner along the Darfur border to join LUV’s indigenous team and alumni-turned-nursing-students to host a free medical clinic for their community.
However, this year, East Africa is being hard pressed by an Ebola outbreak and measures by the US Government to contain the spread have made travel significantly more difficult. Although the annual August visit to where NLM is located currently has a low risk of Ebola exposure, the risks associated with travel to and from the region along with the desire to protect the children on our campus, led us to make the difficult decision to cancel this year’s trip. Please keep this region in your prayers!
Why Medical Care?
Medical care isn’t LUV’s primary mission, but in areas of extreme poverty our visiting teams offer free clinics for the most vulnerable, including refugees fleeing Sudan’s conflict. By training alumni as nurses for long-term solutions and addressing urgent short-term needs, we help prevent trafficking and exploitation by breaking cycles of poverty and oppression.
The Miracle of Agor — a Life-Saving Update
During last year’s medical clinic, Dr. Perry met a two-year-old girl named Agor who was born with exstrophy of the bladder — a rare condition occurring during fetal development that results in the bladder forming outside the body on the lower abdomen. This leads to urine leaking continuously from this area, in addition to other problems. [Click here to read her origin story]
It was a miracle of loving parents who cared for her so well during the first two years of her life that she did not succumb to life-threatening illnesses. But, as they brought her to the NLM clinic led by our short-term teams, they pleaded for help that was beyond their reach to get their daughter an expert to provide corrective surgery.
Joan, a pediatrician from North Carolina who serves on LUV’s board of directors, felt tugged by God to help in a significant way to save this baby’s life and found a donor in the US to support her emergency evacuation.
It was also a miracle of perfect timing that at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya, there was a specialized pedicatric surgeon who had the exact (and rare) medical expertise to perform the corrective bladder and urinary tract surgery which included reconstructing the bladder into her body.
It was an additional miracle that Jane Mutua, the director over LUV’s Restoration House in Nairobi, had just the skills needed to help Agor get strong enough for surgery (a nearly two months process) and provided loving, patient, and full-time care for Agor in her extreme discomfort as she prepped for the procedure. Then for another two months, as Jane nurtured Agor around the clock in the hospital as she recovered post-surgery — most of the time drainage and feeding tubes plus bound legs were restricting this young one making the task of care daunting and recovery time uncomfortable.
As Jane stayed with Agor at the hospital, she had to be vigilant day and night, carefully watching to make sure Agor would not pull any of the tubes out. Agor continued to experience much discomfort and often cried while Jane tried her best to soothe and encourage her. As a woman of prayer, Jane prayed for healing. Eventually the drainage began to decrease, and the doctor was able to remove the tubes. Agor was discharged from the hospital just before Christmas in 2025. Upon their return to the Restoration House, Jane and Agor were greeted by the other children with tears of joy — everyone had missed Jane while she was away!
Agor’s healing journey continued as infections were fought off, and our team provided close oversight of her on-going recovery. For many months she used a catheter and external bladder bag as her internal organs slowly healed and grew stronger.
Then, one day, her catheter popped out on its own and she started soiling her diapers — her tiny bladder was miraculously starting to work!
Now, eleven months after the surgery, Agor continues to grow more beautifully healthy. She loves to sing and play with other children. The last cystoscopy indicated her bladder, tiny as is, continues to function well. Prayers continue for the bladder to grow and function normally. It’s anticipated that she’ll be able to return home to her family within the next 6 months to a year as she continues to grow strong and healthy.
In South Sudan, particularly among communities like the Dinka tribe, the name Agor means strength, resilience, and a deep connection to land and cultural heritage.
Agor’s story is indeed an expression of her name. It took a global community, strong and resilient together with courageous leaders, to provide resources of expertise, funding, and deep commitment of care for the holistic health of children to bring healing. It will take your help and the help of our visionary community, to continue to invest in the next generation of changemakers, like Agor.
Agor has the funding she needs to thrive; but a gift in her honor will help us provide ongoing protection to other children who need life-saving support. Will you help us save more lives today?