Christmas Letter 2015

Dear Friends and Family,

 

2015 has been a new and inspiring year for the Hodges family.  We started out the year moving to Malawi, Africa to work as missionaries at African Bible College of Malawi.  The transition went pretty smoothly considering all it entailed.  We brought 6 trunks from Houston with personal belongings and Samaritan’s Purse had sent a container with housing items that we had purchased the previous June.  We both started our respective jobs as Pediatrician and teacher right away.  We were blessed with a nanny, Joyce Banda, who came to us as a daughter of a long time employee on campus.   Also, within the first week of our arrival, our long acquainted friend Wells came to us asking to work as our house help.  They have been an enormous blessing in our lives.  DR is thriving and has made many friends in our neighborhood.  He is talking and running and learning to swim.  He loves animals and balls of every sort. 

Kelly is really enjoying her work.  She is working at the ABC clinic and Children’s ward.  She sees children from many cultures; Malawian, Pakistani, Korean, Egyptian, Irish, Indian, French, Lebanese,  Afrikaans, and American.  The clinic is known for its excellent care throughout the city, so many foreign aid workers visit the clinic. The maladies range from colds and ear infections to pneumonia and severe malaria.  The hospital also has a thriving OB service that often asks Kelly to check on unwell newborns.  Her latest endeavor is to obtain several low cost bubble CPAP machines for neonates with respiratory problems.  The current system is to send these patients to the central referral hospital where these machines are available, but the nursing care ratio is something like 1:20 infants.  God has really provided a perfect time for this as Emily, a NICU nurse from Seattle, has just arrived for a year term.  Kelly really loves the Christian clinic environment and gets along well with her colleagues and nurses. 

Donald has become the ABC Mr. Do-it –all.  He is teaching Physics, Chemistry, and Math, as well as running the sound system for school functions including weekly chapel, monthly movie nights,  and the amazing Christmas program.  He is also volunteering his time to map out the water lines on campus to help with maintenance and to try to improve water supply to the campus.  The campus is now installing 4 new water tanks as a project to help with consistent water distribution on campus.  Donald is making several contacts in the civil engineering community also and hoping to have an impact in the future with projects like well rig design and hydroelectric energy production.

We have joined a church called International Bible Fellowship (IBF) that preaches God’s word.   It has been great to grow to know many of the people at the church and an inspiration to see so many people that God is using here in Malawi.  We have been blessed to be a part of the youth ministry at our pastor’s home (right next door). 

We are so thankful to God for the many blessings we have received this last year.  Special thanks to all of our supporters, both prayer and financial, we wouldn’t be able to do this ministry without you.  May God bless you and may you find Christ this Christmas!

Love,

The Hodges

Our New Friend Saina

When I (Kelly) was a kid, my mom used to pick up Midori, a mentally handicapped woman, regularly and take her out around town to keep her company.  We would run errands and go shopping.  The event always included a stop for ice cream at Dairy Queen.  I never truly grasped why my mom would do this every week, but over time I grew to look forward to it.  Now, in Africa, we have had a similar opportunity.  Every other Thursday, a group of doctors and I go out to Area 25 to the Children of Blessing's (COBT) Epilepsy Clinic. Around 300 patients diagnosed with epilepsy are enrolled in the program; we see approximately 40 each week. (To learn more about COBT, see the video and link below.)

During a few of my recent visits, I have gotten to know a young girl named Saina.  She is an orphan who has been afflicted with a mental disability and epilepsy her entire life, and who has been abused in the past.  Her body is marked with scars from a time when she fell into a cooking fire during one of her seizures.  She is a wonderful girl who finds joy in everything she is doing and is very affectionate.  Our family decided to invite Saina to our home on Fridays to get to know her better and pamper her a little bit.  Some of the things we take her out to do include: shopping for clothes and school supplies, reading books at the school library, going to get ice cream, and relaxing by the pool. We are so blessed to have house help that have a heart for the Lord and enjoy hanging out with Saina as well. They have been a tremendous help with translating for us since Saina only speaks Chichewa. We have had the pleasure of spending time with her for the past 2 months, and I am starting to understand my mom's heart in what she was doing when I was a kid.  Spending time with the less fortunate and who some deem an outcast due to things out of their control brings a joy of the Lord that is hard to describe. Our whole family is seeing how awesome God's love is and how it shows up so clearly when we are moving in His will outside of our comfort zone.  Comfort is something we as American's crave, and I feel it has caused us to shy away from loving on those who are less fortunate.  I am so thankful that my mom taught me at a young age that handicapped people are God's created children with a desire to be loved.  DR is starting to look forward to having Saina over and on Friday's will wake up saying "Saina?  Saina here?"  It is adorable, and brings Donald and I great joy in knowing that he is learning what my mom taught me.

Children of Blessing Trust Website:  http://www.thrivemalawi.ca/

A BIG Thank You!

It has been a while since we posted.  July was a very active (and very good!) month for us.  We cannot say enough how blessed we are for God's love and providence.  To kick off the month, we were able to attend the US Embassy's 4th of July party.  Turned out to be a bit more formal than what we are used to for the 4th, but it was a huge blessing!  Many of the program managers for aid organizations were there, including the CDC, USAID, and the Peace Corps.  It was awesome to learn about the programs they have here and how they are trying to help the Malawian people.

Shortly following the 4th of July, Kelly's dad and step-mom came to visit for a week.  Luckily they were just coming from a week in Amsterdam, so no jet lag!  It was great for us to see them and show them where we are living.  They really enjoyed seeing where Kelly works and the people she is working with.  We took them to Liwonde National Park, where we spent a night and got to go on two safari game drives.  It was also great having DR spend quality time with his grandparents.  By the end of the week he new them by name and would always ask for "Merme" and "Poppey" (pronounced "Potty" by DR).

In between Kelly's parents visiting and Donald's parents visiting, the container shipped by ABC arrived.  It was such a blessing to receive the five boxes of donations our home church, Rice Temple Baptist Church, sent on the container for us!  We cannot express how loved we felt when we received so many gifts.  If you sent something to us, thank you SO much for supporting us!

Towards the end of the month, Donald's parents came to visit us as well.  They came for two and a half weeks, which allowed us some time to travel around Malawi a bit more.  We actually visited our neighboring country, Zambia, to visit the South Luangwa National Park.  We also took them to Liwonde National Park in Malawi and the Zomba Plateau.  Donald's mom loves birding, and these places are very rich with different species, so it was a blast for her to sightsee.  Donald's parents were able to spend lots of quality time with DR.  It was awesome to see them reconnect and for Donald's parents to see how much DR has grown.

July was a crazy and wonderful month for us here in Malawi!  It was amazing to see our family and such a blessing to receive so many donations from our church back at home.  The amount of love we felt from our friends and family, and especially from God, was more than what we can put into words.  Once again, thank you for your support and for showing an interest in what God is using us for here in The Warm Heart of Africa!

My Work as a Missionary Doctor

Hello friends,

I am ready to write to you about my work (Kelly).  I am working at a wonderful Christian clinic and children’s ward called Tiyamike (Chichewa for “praise”).  In the ward, I tend to many sick children with malaria, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, and sepsis.  In the clinic, my daily patients range from cerebral palsy and seizures to asthma and ear infections.  There have been several challenging cases that have helped me to grow as a physician.  I would not be able to do without my nursing staff and pharmacists.  It is such a blessing to be able to meet with the staff every morning to have devotions (including worship) and prayer for our patients and the upcoming day.  I am so thankful that God has called everyone working here together to help these patients in Jesus’ name.  Working alongside these servants of Christ here has helped me realize that all the knowledge I have acquired through the years is simply a tool God has given me to bring His love and Gospel to the people in Malawi.

I would like to share about two patients that have been challenging and caused me to praise God for His miraculous ways.

The first is a 10yo boy who initially came in very sick with a high fever, difficulty breathing, an enlarged liver, swollen feet, and a concerning gallop in his heart that made me worried that he was in heart failure.  On exam, I found that he had significant fluid in his lungs, requiring oxygen.  Before being able to get an x-ray to diagnose the cause, we treated him with antibiotics and diuretics to get the fluid out of his lungs.  The x-ray showed a normal heart size and severe pneumonia.  As the days progressed his liver regressed and the heart gallop disappeared.  Eventually he was taken off of oxygen and sent home to complete antibiotics.  I am amazed by this story because everything that I knew told me that this patient was not going to make it. After much prayer in hopes that he would recover, thanks to God, he did.  Now, he is completely healthy and well.

The second patient is a 9mo little girl who was admitted for several days before I was able to see her.  When I examined her, I found that she had stiffness in her left arm and leg and that she was not responding appropriately.  I was concerned there may be a brain problem.  After talking to the family for a while I discovered she had been sick for many weeks and that they had been coming to the clinic receiving different treatments, but she wasn’t improving. One night she was at home and went into a coma; after she was not improving they decided to bring her back to the clinic.  Thinking she may have had a stroke, we obtained a CT scan of her head that showed a severe stroke to the right side of her brain and parts of the brain that control vision.  I dreaded having to inform the family of these devastating results.  I was floored at their response.  They said to me, “We are thankful this happened while she is so young because she will have more time to recover.  We know that God will allow her to stand before the church one day and tell her story of how God healed her.”  Their faith made me pray even more for her full recovery.  She is now attending PT twice a week and is improving slowly.  She is now able to sit up on her own and is feeding herself.  She still does not have sight, but responded to light at her last appointment.  I am so thankful that I have been able to be a part of this story and see the ways God has healed her pong’ono pong’ono (slowly slowly).  Thanks be to Him who is the Giver of all good gifts.

Please know that I am so happy to be here at ABC and treating children.  I am grateful for the opportunity to use what I have been taught to help people and to give God the glory for what He has done.

Houston vs Malawi

As we move into the end of month four here in Malawi, we thought it would be fun to make some comparisons between here and Houston.  We have had a lot of questions regarding what it is like here, so this will be a fun way to communicate some of the differences.

IN HOUSTON... you say "Hi!" to people you pass and they say "Hi!" back
IN MALAWI... you say "How are you?" (Muli Bwanji?), they respond (Tili bwino), ask the same question, and then you both say "Thank you!"...  this must be done to each person in a group setting as well.

IN HOUSTON... when somebody says "Thank you!", you say "You're Welcome!"
IN MALAWI... when somebody says "Thank you!"(Zikomo!), you say "Thank you!" (Zikomo) right back.

IN HOUSTON... the wealthy people shop at the "specialty" grocery stores where they can buy expensive foods
IN MALAWI... the "wealthy" people shop at the 1 or 2 grocery stores that exist.  Everyone else shops at congregated street vendor locations.

IN HOUSTON... everyone gets excited to go to a farmers market for the fresh produce
IN MALAWI... every market is a farmers market.

IN HOUSTON... a stray dog is sometimes cute and can be picked up in order to find the owner
IN MALAWI... a stray dog is a life threatening encounter due to a
possible rabies infection.

 (Below are not rabid dogs)

IN HOUSTON... traffic is due to rush hour and accidents
IN MALAWI... traffic can be caused by cows, goats, random people walking, minibuses (public transport), or because there is only one single lane bridge to cross the river through town.

IN HOUSTON... when you go to the lake, you come back with a sunburn
IN MALAWI... when you go to the lake, you come back with a sunburn, and a possible parasitic infection

IN HOUSTON... kids are closely monitored and are often inside playing video games
IN MALAWI... the children run freely and play outside all afternoon

Love,

The Hodges'

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