Easter Celebration

It has been a while since our last post.  Time seems to fly when you are learning and experiencing new things.  We purchased a Toyota Rav4 back in March in order to help us get around Lilongwe, so learning the roads, traffic rules (both written and "understood"), and finding our way around the markets has taken a bit of time.

ABC Academy had a scheduled vacation for the time of Easter, and Kelly was also blessed with some time off to spend with our family. For our break, we decided to attend the annual church family camping retreat with the church that we are attending here, International Bible Fellowship (IBF).    The camp started on Good Friday and ended on Easter Sunday. We followed our new friends, the Lloyds, to the campsite two hours east of Lilongwe.  The Lloyds have been missionaries here in Malawi for 6 years, and have become great friends and our go-to resource for advice.  They have four children (11, 9, 4, and 5 mo), and the two oldest rode with us.  It was fun to play games and sing with them, and they were able to keep DR entertained on the drive.  There were two police checkpoints on the way, the first of which was kind enough to let us know of a speed trap ahead.  The second checkpoint was a bit more tricky because it was an immigration officer, who insisted on us providing passports (which we didn't have) to prove we weren't illegal.  After talking through the situation, it was off to camp!

DR with Matthew Lloyd

The camp was held at Kuti Wildlife Reserve,  known for the natural beauty and the tameness of their animals.  There we were able to see an ostrich, camels, lots of zebra, a giraffe, and large cows.  DR loved seeing the new animals in Africa!

The camp was scheduled like a retreat with seminar teaching twice a day and with times of worship and prayer.  We really enjoyed the lessons and small group times.  Sunday morning there was a sunrise service with music and scripture reading.  Attending a sunrise service on Easter has become a tradition for us and we were glad to be able to keep the tradition here in Malawi.  The sunrises here are gorgeous, reminding us of the beauty of Christ's death and resurrection for our sins.

Birthday Fun!

Last week was Donald's 28th birthday, so Kelly planned something fun to celebrate. The first surprise was meatloaf (his favorite food after lasagna) for lunch that day.  After lunch, we went to a local village to celebrate with about 120 Malawian children.  Talk about a party!  The children at Malikha village meet every Friday to have Bible lessons from ABC (African Bible College) students that can speak to them in their own language.  The outreach is called Live Love.  The name of the outreach is perfect because that's what Jesus calls us to do; love God, love our neighbors, and live it out.  We brought candy for the children and Donald brought a football (American) to toss around with the kids.  We had a lot of fun!  DR probably had the most fun because he is treated like a celebrity in the village.  The children follow him around, hold his hand, and play with his soft, blonde hair (rare in Malawi).  Overall, Donald's village birthday party was a success.  Later that night, we had several of our new friends over for coke floats, cake, and games.  We had a fun game of 4 men on a couch, which brought back memories of FCA and church friends back home (We love you guys!).

We hope you enjoy the video and pictures below.

God Bless,

The Hodges family

Getting Settled in the Warm Heart of Africa

We're not going to lie... the first week we got here is kind of a blur. Thanks be to God for the ABC team who stocked our kitchen with necessities and provided a host family to show us the ropes. Instead of relying on our stocked up airplane snacks for food for the first few days, we were treated to homemade pizza and shephard's pie our first two nights.  The house we are staying in was completely clean and ready for us when we got here, making it easier to transition to our new home. We are also thankful that all of our supplies we sent in August on the Samaritan's Purse container made it safely.  The ABC team had already put the boxes in our house, so all that was needed was a few days of unpacking!

We were blessed to have some time to get settled in before starting our respective jobs. School began January 12th, but the first two weeks were set aside for testing from last semester, so official classes would not begin till the 26th. Donald was tasked with teaching 7th and 8th grade math courses, as well as tutoring for math after school. It was quickly brought to Donald's attention (the third day we were here) that a professor was needed for a college math course. After some scheduling issues were resolved, Donald was able to take on this course as well.  Donald has really taken to his role as a teacher and is enjoying the ups and downs a teacher experiences with his students' performances. He wants to share his experiences daily with Kelly, who is glad to hear how excited he is. Donald is also trying to fit in playing soccer with the college team.

Kelly started working at the ABC clinic under the supervision of Dr. Young, the long-time doctor at the ABC clinic. Since Kelly's medical license through the Malawi Medical Council was not completed or paid for, she was not allowed to practice as a doctor independently. That was quickly straightened out, with a side note that Kelly had to serve 6 weeks in Kamuzu Central Hospital, the regional hospital. Praise be to God because the Medical Council eventually removed this requirement due to Kelly's past work here 2 years ago with Baylor's BIPAI clinic!  It has not taken long for us to realize that being a Pediatrician has somewhat elevated Kelly to a celebrity status with the expats in Lilongwe due to the severe lack of Pediatricians in the area. She has been asked to be a personal pediatrician by people more than once!  Not only is Kelly working at the ABC clinic daily, but she has also joined Dr. Young in an epilepsy clinic outreach every other Thursday, where they travel outside the city and treat people suffering from seizures. Kelly has also joined a journal club on Wednesdays, where doctors throughout Lilongwe meet together to discuss cases they have had and struggles they are having. It has proved to be a great resource and comfort for Kelly.

With regards to our home and finding the local help required and needed, God has provided abundantly. ABC has a requirement that to live on campus, you must hire a gardener and house help. This is not only to help support the very weak Malawian economy, but also as a way to make friends with the locals. One of the best ways to prevent security issues is for missionaries to develop strong relationships with those around them. Since we live in a duplex, there was already a gardener for our house that our neighbors have employed... easy! The second day we were here, Wells, our longtime Malawian friend from when we were here two years ago, found out we were back and came to visit us. It didn't take long for him to inform us that he used to work as a cook and house keeper, and that he would love to work for us doing that. We have hired him, and he has just been truly fantastic. Not only does he do his job well, but he greats us with a big smile every day we come home from work. After we hired Wells, he brought to our attention the cost of taking public transport to our house daily (which adds up quickly!), so we decided to loan him money to buy a bike to come to work. He absolutely loves it!

 Due to our workload, we also needed to hire a nanny. After searching around, God delivered a great nanny to us. A cook who has worked for a missionary on campus for 18 years asked us to interview his daughter for the job, who was the perfect fit. She has taken great care of DR and keeps us updated throughout the day with how he is doing.

We have been here a month now and are loving it.  We have already had many very memorable experiences, and are sure more are to come!  Praise God for His providence and His perfect plan!

We Made It!

This post is a little bit delayed.  So we have actually been here two weeks now, but getting settled into our new home and our new responsibilities has taken some time.  Our travel to Malawi was great, though full of its own challenges.  We were able to say goodbye to our family at the airport in Houston and have one last meal before leaving.  They were able to help us check in our 7 checked bags (at 50 lbs each... or should I say 49.7 lbs each!) and unload our 6 carry-ons (around 30 lbs each), the stroller, and car seat.  Ya... we may have gone crazy on the packing.  Anyways, we landed in Toronto, Canada and had to unfortunately pick up all of our checked baggage since we had an overnight layover.  Figuring out how to carry all of that around was a puzzle to say the least.

God definitely came through for us in Toronto because when we went to check the bags in at the airport storage, we found out that we had to provide information that we didn't have.  The lady finally let us store them anyways, saving us from trying to get all of these to the hotel and back.  The next morning we got to the airport 3 hrs early! (A very rare thing for us).  During check-in, we were informed that we were mis-informed about their regulations.  Apparently, we were only allowed 1 carry-on each, and they could only be 23 lbs! After 2 hrs of discussions with the supervisor, God came through once again and the guy increased the allowance of our checked bags to 55 lbs so that we could repack our carry-ons and throw some heavier items in the checked baggage.  We were able to make everything meet the "revised" regulations with only paying for two extra checked bags and one extra carry-on (that he looked the other way for).  Yay God!  With 45 minutes to spare, we were blessed to have no line in security and got to the gate as the last line was loading.  Success.  To Malawi we go!

After a very long flight we landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 15 minutes after our connecting flight was supposed to leave.  Stress definitely set in as we were landing because flights to Malawi aren't common... at most once a day.  Luckily, this is Africa.  Everything moves at its own pace in Africa.  So even though we finally de-boarded 30 minutes late, we were shuttled over to the new plane only to find out we were the first people to board it!  The other passengers were even later... haha!

We finally arrived in Malawi on Wednesday, January 14th, two days after we left Houston.  After checking through customs and collecting our bags, the only casualty of war was the stroller.  I guess M.I.A. is a better term.  For as many bags as we had and what we could have lost, that is considered a win in our books. The stroller would later be located and returned to us on Friday, which is a Godsend because we use it daily now.

Saying Goodbye

Six months ago, moving to Africa seemed so far away.  Six months later, here it is, and where did the time go?!?  It is quite amazing how quickly time can go by and something that was so far in the future is happening before you know it.  Another example would be DR's first birthday... we've been parents for a year!  There is no way it has been a year already.  The move to Malawi has snuck up on us like the crest of a roller coaster before the drop. Needless to say, we were scrambling to tie up loose ends up to the weekend before we left.  Thanks to Donald's parents, we had ample space to pack and store our belongings, as well as hand off some unfinished tasks.  We are so thankful to both of our families for all of their hard work and dedication in helping us prepare for this big move in our lives.  It means even more because we both know how much they will sincerely miss their grandson.

We were both fearful of breaking ties with friends and family (immediate and church).  Over the years, our lives have become intertwined with so many wonderful people that we love dearly.  The thought of saying goodbye was something we dreaded.  How do you say goodbye to a best friend, or a church that has been a constant source of support, or a parent who is enjoying their first grandson?  What do you say to comfort them in knowing that God has called you so far away to serve Him?  How do you even start the "goodbye" conversation?  The task seemed daunting. On top of that, finding time to say goodbye to everyone we know and love was impossible.

Praise be to God who orchestrates all things for the good of those who love Him.  Our pastor called us up to the front of the church at the end of service the day before we left in order for people to come say goodbye and pray for us.  It was a time of encouragement, mourning, and openness.  There were tears of sadness knowing we would not be seeing each other for a long time, along with tears of joy knowing God was planning to use us and our church family in miraculous ways to bless the people of Malawi.  This was not a planned event on our parts.  All praise goes to God for His plan. After saying our goodbyes we had much peace about leaving.  We knew that although we would be thousands of miles away, the same God that was holding us in His hands in Houston is preparing our way in Malawi.  The ability to share with each of our church family members helps us to know that will still be connected to them wherever we are.

Preparing For The Move

It seems like the countless number of lists to complete never end.  Once you have finished sone list, it is time to start the next.  That exciting moment when you just finish a group of tasks seems to be the constant light at the end of the tunnel for us as we continually prepare for our journey to Africa.

We have cleaned out the house of unneeded items (yet the house still looks oddly the same) and have begun to pack away the non-essentials. The process of getting rid of items throughout the house has served as an eerie reminder of our human nature to want to collect and hold onto material items.

One of the "big ticket" tasks that we have recently finished is getting our house listed for rent! A For Rent sign is out front and we are ready to show at an hours notice. Another task is that little D.R. has gotten 2 of his 3 Rabies vaccines to protect him from death by rabies. Donald is still working out the house insurance updates and finding a way to bring our dog Lazarus along with us on our journey.

Day to day seems very normal until I think,  "wow, we are moving to Africa in less than 2 months." With Thanksgiving and my 29th birthday around the corner, I can't help but think about the deep joy I have to be alive.  This morning I woke up early and read some of Spurgeon's sermon about Nehemiah 8:10 "The joy of the Lord is your strength."  One statement he made was "But the joys of time cannot satisfy an undying nature, and when a soul is once quickened by the Eternal Spirit, it can no more fill itself with worldly mirth..."  I pondered on that statement wondering, "am I trying to make the worldly mirth, or earthly happiness, fill my soul?  Is my soul, which is (in Christ) a resident of eternity, living fully in eternity?

I feel challenged during this time of lists and check-boxes to find full joy in eternity with Christ and less satisfaction in checking off boxes.  I encourage you to reflect on what your salvation in Christ means and what the joys of eternity bring!  It is so tempting and easy to be filled with the material desires of this world, but as God's adopted children and temples of the Holy Spirit we are called to live for something so much greater!

May Christ dwell in you richly my friends!