Far from considering those factors an encumbrance, Hudgens embraces a return to the rudiments of medical care through his commitment to mission work. When he’s in Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda or Kenya, the conditions range from fairly comfortable in some areas to completely rustic in the bush. But the spiritual payoff is immeasurable. After a recent trip, he received the sort of affirmation that has prompted him to return again and again, taking him to various parts of the region 17 times.
“A man received Christ this time in clinic,” Hudgens said. “We asked him why he became a Christian.”
“He said, ‘If God sent these people half way around the world to treat me and my people, it must be a wonderful God, and I want to follow that God.’
“That was just a shot in the arm. It was like saying ok, we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. We don’t go over and preach. We show the love of Christ through medicine.”
Hudgens’ work abroad began in January 2000, when he joined a close friend, who was traveling to Kenya for evangelical work.
“He asked if I would go to survey the need for medical work,” Hudgens said.
At the time, the organization he was involved with, Jesus Harvesters Ministry, was in its infancy. The Christian outreach facilitates planting churches throughout East Africa, working with nationals, who pinpoint locations and take charge of operations.
“The nationals make the call in regard to where we are going each year,” Hudgens said. “When they find an area where a Christian church needs to be planted, they send someone ahead to lead a new fellowship, then invite an American team to come and have a medical clinic. That’s where we come in. We have a medical clinic for the entire community. We try to mimic what Jesus did while he was here on earth. He took care of needs, and then he told people about the Kingdom of God. The Lord has blessed that model, and we have just finished our 17th year.”
Typically, a medical team for the organization comprises five to seven physicians, joined by eight or so nurses and support workers. No matter the medical specialty, when in Africa, each physician is a general practitioner.
Hudgens and his team treat conditions from malaria to skin problems, often resulting from wounds or scratches that, without proper treatment in tropical conditions, have become infected. They manage multiple illnesses caused by intestinal worms and dirty water.
“We often see the ravages of untreated diseases — things we take for granted in America,” Hudgens said. “We see some valvular heart diseases from untreated rheumatic fever and untreated strep infections. We see the consequences of untreated infections over time, such as ear drums with holes from continued ear infections over the years.”
Last January, in approximately four days of clinic, the team saw approximately 1,900 people in two small communities. The patients move through quickly, receiving diagnoses, medications and helpful advice.
“It’s fun to practice pure medicine,” Hudgens said. “A doctor has to practice his clinical acumen. There are no tests. You have to listen to the patient’s heart and touch them to diagnose them. You practice old timey medicine instead of ordering tests. It’s invigorating.”
Hudgens says Jesus Harvesters has had an association with Baptist Health Systems for a number of years, allowing them to invite residents from hospitals in the southeast to join them. The trips, which normally cost $3,000 per person, are funded by a charitable foundation for those residents who want to experience mission work.
“Young doctors who could not afford to do this get to go and help these folks,” Hudgens said. “They get a lot out of it. It’s a good perspective to have starting out. They get to see how blessed they are and how health care is delivered or not delivered in a Third World country. It helps sharpen their clinical acumen and gives them a chance to build relationships with the patients and to see things through their eyes.”
Hudgens’ wife, Kathy, a nurse, travels with him each year, as well. The trips are planned in January, the dry season in East Africa, because it’s the off-season for tourism, making travel more affordable.
“This cooperative effort is just beautiful,” Hudgens said. “Anybody who wants to go can help, and everyone who goes plays a vital part from helping get people from one place to another or playing with the children. God has something for everybody to do.”
With the serious medical conditions they often see, Hudgens has wondered at times if a single week of medical care could really make a difference in the long run. Several years ago, he was reassured that his mission work was part of a greater plan.
“A lady was brought from miles away because the people in her town heard U.S. doctors were there,” Hudgens said. “She was a paraplegic and couldn’t control her bladder. As a neurologist, it was easy to assess her. She had a problem with her neck, and I wrote out on a piece of paper everything that needed to happen to help her. They took her more than 100 miles to a hospital that could do the work.
“A year or two later, I was getting ready to leave Africa after a different trip. A lady walked across a parking lot and asked if I remembered her. When I didn’t, she said, ‘I came to you because I could not walk.’”
She had traveled almost 200 miles to thank Hudgens for the transformation in her life.
“What I did was bread and butter neurology, but God had orchestrated me, a neurologist, to be there and for her friends to find out the U.S. people were going to be there,” Hudgens said. “God orchestrated this lady’s healing.”