Update on the Hodge Family

It has been a really long time since I updated on my friends, The Hodge Family. Since December of 2009, their family has really been through a lot. When I last wrote, they were finishing up their second trimester of language school in Costa Rica and celebrating their first Christmas away from family (and in a foreign country).


Their Spanish speaking abilities have much improved, to the point where they were both leading Bible Studies in Spanish. The kids were doing well in their schools too. Amanda has been dealing with medical issues with her pancreas and had three surgeries while they were in Costa Rica. Back in March, her medical needs became so advanced that the International Mission Board, and the family, decided her best course of action was to come back to the USA to get medical treatment here. Their missionary journey was put on a type of "medical leave". She had another surgery at MUSC (in Charleston, SC) and has since been home in Greenville, SC recuperating. She still is not having the recovery they have been been praying for.


This week was the last week of their medical leave and they had to decide if they were going to ask for another medical extension from the IMB. At this point, they should have already been serving in Argentina!


Michael wrote a post on their blog this week, and I think his own words say it better than I ever could.

In 2007 we set out to be obedient to His call on our lives. In July 2010, we sit here in the marvelous mystery of His plan for our lives, to share the news that we will not be seeking medical clearance in order to return to the field. We will not be filling the position reserved for us in Cordoba, Argentina. Rather we will remain close to this area in South Carolina where her doctors are located, and we will continue to seek out answers to her ongoing pain. After many tear-filled nights and much prayer we now see this chapter in our ministry closing. It is a difficult place to be in many ways.

To read Michael's full article, click here.

I know the Hodges would appreciate your prayers for them, as I'm sure this has been a very difficult time for them. I can't imagine what it must feel like, to have sold their cars, their home, and packed everything else up, to move to another country to learn a language so they can go reach people for Christ. But, God has a plan in all of this. All that they have dealt with regarding Amanda's health, has been part of God's plan. They were obedient to the Lord, and when He said "Go!", they went.

They will now be serving with a church in Greenville. Buddy's parents used to live near this part of town, and there is a HIGH Hispanic population in that area. Their Spanish skills that they have learned will definitely be put to good use. Please pray for the Hodges as they once again transition into this new chapter of their lives. Pray that God will continue to use them, and that they will continue to be obedient to them. Most importantly, pray for Amanda's healing and recovery in regard to her health.

As always, you can continue to follow their story by reading their blog, here or you can click it on my sidebar.

Hodge Family Update--December 2009

It's been a while since I've posted an update on my friends, The Hodge Family. I recently received their December newsletter. They've been so busy in Language School, that they haven't been sending out newsletters as frequently as they were before.

They have finished their second trimester in Language School. As you may remember, they are in Costa Rica learning Spanish for future missionary service in Argentina. In their spare time, they created a video to support the Lottie Moon Offering for Foreign Missions. They are being sent out by the International Mission Board, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. I grew up in a Southern Baptist church and remember giving a special offering every year to help missionaries in other countries. 100% of this offering goes directly to the foreign missionaries.

This week, December 14-18, Michael and Amanda will be involved in a week-long conference on "Chronological Bible Storytelling" which is a way of sharing God's Word through a set of stories that will present the Gospel in a meaningful way. This will help them increase their ability to share God's Word in Spanish, and will help them while in Costa Rica and in Argentina next year.

Michael continues to host Spanish Bible studies. Amanda's Spanish has increased enough that she recently began hosting a Spanish Bible Study for single moms. Pray for them as they share God's word with Costa Ricans.

Here are their prayer requests.

1. For their Bible studies to impact the lives of the people who attend.

2. For new opportunities in 2010 to be able to share God's Word with the people of Costa Rica.

3. For the 2009 Lottie Moon Missions Offering to be a success so that the IMB will be able to continue to support their foreign missionaries.

4. For Alexis and Jarrett as they must say goodbye to friends whose parents have finished language study and will be leaving for the mission field.

5. For Michael and Amanda's final semester in language school, and that the learn as much as they can in these last few months.

6. And finally, pray for the entire family, as they prepare to celebrate their first of many Christmases away from family and friends.

Thank you for praying for this sweet family! You can follow their blog from my list, or you can click here.

The Hodge Family Update--July/August 2009

I'm a bit behind in posting my usual update on my friends, The Hodge Family, but that's because I just got my email update. They were wrapping up their first trimester at Language School. I can understand their delay, as they were studying long and hard for their finals. I remember those days in college and I was studying things in English. How hard it must be to study things in a language you are just beginning to learn! They finished up on August 13th and are now enjoying a two-week break from school and a visit with Amanda's parents.

Michael and Amanda both have a chance to get extra practice with their speaking by way of new friends. Michael's friend is a national, and Amanda gets together with another student. How nice to have friends willing to help you learn! Their children have been enjoying care packages from home, which include some of their favorite candies, which are hard to find in Costa Rica. Their son just celebrated his 6th birthday.

Here's how you can pray for the Hodges.

1. For their rest and relaxation during their school break.

2. For recently graduated missionary families who are leaving for their countries of service. The newsletter didn't mention specific names, but that "God would know".

3. For new opportunities for Bible study groups.

4. For God's comfort when the times of separation are tough, especially for the children.

5. For the International Mission Board (IMB) to be good stewards of their 2009 funds from the Lottie Moon Offering.

You can find out more about the Hodge Family here. As always, they appreciate your prayers.

Hodge Family Update--June 2009

This is my monthly update on my friends, The Hodge Family.

June was an exciting month for the Hodges, mainly because some family was able to fly down to Costa Rica for a visit. Michael's mother and grandmother made the trip and they all spent several days together. They went to the Sarapiqui River and also did a tour through a rain forest. Sounds like fun to me! His mother also brought some fun treats from the USA, like Reese's Pieces, no-bake cheesecake, and Bisquick! I'm sure when you are in a country where these things aren't common-place, it's easy to get excited about them.

Michael and Amanda continue to take Spanish classes and endure the dreaded tests, while Alexis and Jerret go to a more laid-back summertime Spanish class, which is more like day-camp than school.

Here are their prayer requests for this month.
1. Language acquisition and retention of what they are learning.

2. Safety as they walk to and from school each day.

3. That they will continue to grow in their knowledge and love of the Word.

4. Efficiency of time management. While they have their homework from language school, they each also have assignments to complete from their mentors.

5. For the International Mission Board to be good stewards of the funds they received in 2009 from the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. (The IMB is the group that has sent them out as missionaries).

As always, the Hodge Family appreciates your prayers. You can link to their blog from my list, or just click here.

The Hodge Family Update--May 2009

So the Hodges have gotten all settled in down in Costa Rica. Michael and Amanda have been attending Spanish classes, while the kids have been going to school, and their son Jarrett recently graduated from K-5 kindergarten. They have a new “pet”….a gecko who comes into their house pretty often. They have nicknamed him “Geico”. They are able to get a dose of English now and then when they go to the movies. Apparently in Costa Rica, the movies are released in English, with Spanish subtitles.

One thing I’ve never mentioned about Michael and Amanda is how beautifully they sing. I remember them doing many solos/duets at my church back home for the “special music”. Michael has joined the Praise Team for the weekly chapel for the Adult students. He is beginning to be able to sing in Spanish, too. Most recently he learned the praise song "We Fall Down". (As a side note, we sang this song on Sunday. I was covered in goosebumps the whole time, imagining that while we were singing the song in English, the Hodges could have been at their church singing the song in Spanish. Isn't it amazing to know that God can understand us, no matter what language we speak to Him in??)

The most important thing for this month was that they changed the name of their blog. After much prayer and the call of God to serve others, the Hodges have changed their blog to “Seeking2serve”. This is based on the verse Mark 10:45 “…but the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” So from now own you can catch the Hodge Family at their new blog here.

Prayer Requests:
1. Language Acquisition and retention.
2. Alexis and Jarrett as they go to “Spanish Camp”, their summer enrichment program
3. Opportunities to share Christ, even with limited Spanish knowledge
4. Laura, their next door neighbor, who is pregnant and due this summer. They do not indicate if she is Costa Rican or not, but I assume that she is. They are unaware of her spiritual condition.
5. They also request prayer for “a love for the people”.

Thanks for reading this month’s update. The Hodges are grateful for your prayers.

Hodge Family Update--April

Here is an update on my friends, The Hodge Family.

They have safely arrived in Costa Rica! After being commissioned at the end of March, they returned home to South Carolina for a few weeks of fun and fellowship with family and friends. Alexis was baptized by her father, Michael! They were able to attend services at their home church and also do some speaking with various groups to help gain support. They even attended a service in Spanish.

They arrived in Costa Rica on April 27th. They will be studying at The Instituto de Lengua Espanola in San Jose, Costa Rica. They will be here for the next year. Michael and Amanda will be in Spanish classes 5 days a week, while the children go to school and learn Spanish in addition to their regular academic subjects. They have been paired up with another couple who will serve as their Big Brother/Big Sister. I thought this was a great idea. Who better to help you know what to expect than people who have already been there for a while.

Last week they had their Spanish Language assessment tests to determine how much of the language they already knew. They also visited the Costa Rican version of Walmart, Hipermas. Did you even know there were Walmarts in other countries? I didn't. You can read all about their adventure here. They also visited an outdoor fruit/veggie market and attended their first official church service in Spanish. The kids are pretty sure they learned about Moses!

And that was week one in Costa Rica. Looks like the Hodges are in for a lot of fun and adventure on this leg of their journey.

Several of their monthly prayer requests have already been answered, since they had to do with safe arrival in CR. The family does ask that you pray for the loved ones they have left behind in the United States, who they will not see for a long time. Also pray for the other 9 families that have also made the journey to Costa Rica.

To follow the Hodges journey, you can use my sidebar, or click here. They appreciate your prayers!

Hodge Family Update--March

Here is my monthly update on my friends, The Hodge Family.

The Hodges have finished Orientation! This was an 8 week long process and they can hardly believe it is over. In the last month of Orientation, they had several exciting events. At the beginning of the month, their daughter, Alexis, accepted Christ as her Savior. (You can read about that here). They also went with a big group to Washington DC for a witnessing outing. They went to the train station where they hoped to run into people of various cultures. The goal was to try to spark a conversation and introduce them to Christ, provide a tract, etc.

The hardest part of the last few days has been saying goodbye to all the new friends they have made. Friends that they know they may not see again until Heaven, because now they are all leaving to either begin their missionary journey, or like the Hodges, they are headed to another country in order to learn the language of the country they will be working in.

The Hodges were commissioned on March 25th and will be heading home to SC for the next month. Alexis will be baptized tomorrow (April 5th) at the church the Hodges were serving in, which happens to be my home church! I was also baptized at this church, but what will make this special for Alexis is that her father will get to baptize her! How awesome is that?!?!

At the end of April they will leave for Costa Rica, where they will spend a year in language school. Here are some ways you can pray for them:

1. Pray for Terry Lassiter, the Affinity leader for the Americas

2. Pray for the Asburys, the Sheltons, and the Martins, who are the three other families on the Argentina team

3. Pray for the Warners, a missionary family that the Hodges became friends with at Orientation, who have already departed for Botswana.

4. Pray for safety, fun, and fellowship with their friends and family as they are in SC for the next few weeks.

As always, I know they appreciate your prayers. You can always follow their blog from my sidebar or click here.

If you wish to be added to their mailing list, just let me know!

Hodge Family Update--January and February

I’ve been waiting to update you all on the Hodge Family, mostly because their computer malfunctioned during their first week at Orientation! But now they are up and running again, and were finally able to send out their newsletter. So here is what they’ve been up to.

At the end of January, they moved up to Rockville, Virginia, to the International Missions Board Training Center. They have been attending classes and trainings to prepare them for the missions field. They have heard testimonies from other missionaries. Their children are able to attend school during the day while Michael and Amanda go to their different sessions. The family took a trip to Washington DC, since they are so close to the Capital City.

Most recently they had to deal with “SHOTS DAY”. Apparently there are several rounds of shots they all have to get, and as everyone knows, kids are not big fans of shots. So to make Shot Day more enjoyable, the kids get their faces painted. It must work because neither Alexis nor Jarrett cried!

Here are some ways you can pray for the Hodges:
1. Continued good health while at Orientation
2. Continued growth in their walks with the Lord
3. Contingency Training: will train them to deal with hostile situations while on the missions field
4. The 100+ children who are on-site, as they begin to understand the calling of God on their families
5. The directors and staff of the Orientation Center

Thank you for following the Hodges’ Journey. I know they appreciate all the prayers!

As always, you may click here or on my side bar to keep up with the Hodges in between monthly updates.

Hodge Family December Newsletter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I will be posting pictures of Quinn's first Christmas soon.

I posted a while back about my friends, the Hodge family, who are becoming missionaries. I will be posting regularly on this family as I get their monthly newsletters. This is exciting for me, as I have known missionaries before, I've never known people in the beginning phase of missions work.

I just received their newsletter for December 2008. They have had their commissioning service and have finished up their time at my home church. They will be leaving in January for 8 weeks of orientation in Virginia. They have been packing and crating personal items that they want to take with them to Argentina. Due to many people's generosity, they have been able to purchase a brand new washer/dryer set to take with them to Argentina as well! That is a blessing.

They do have a few items for prayer.
1. Pray that they receive all their needed paperwork before leaving for orientation.
2. Pray for a smooth transition to the orientation training.
3. Pray for their kids to have a healthy adjustment to this new life.
4. Pray for the other missionary families going through the same trainings as them.
5. Pray for people to continue to give to the Lottie Moon Offering for Foreign Missions. All the money from this special offering provided by the Southern Baptist Convention goes directly to foreign missionaries.

I know Michael and Amanda are thankful for your prayers.

The Hodge Family

I've recently found out that a family at the church I grew up in are in the process of becoming missionaries in Argentina!

Michael and Amanda Hodge are a young couple who joined my church (First Baptist of Gowensville) while I was in college. They came originally to be the youth pastor. I had already "aged" out of the youth group when they came, but I was amazed at how many great things the youth began doing. The two of them really made an impact on the young people at this church.

Several years ago Michael became the Associate Educational Pastor and started getting more involved in missions work. He and Amanda have gone through several stages of interviews and meetings and have been appointed as missionaries. Tomorrow (Sunday, December 7th) they are being commissioned during a special service. Then they will head to Virginia for a few months of orientation, and then they will go to Costa Rica for about a year to become fluent in the Spanish language. After that they will head to Argentina!

Please pray for Michael and Amanda, as well as their two children, Alexis and Jarrett, as they begin to follow God's plan for their life.

Please also pray for the pastoral staff at First Baptist Church of Gowensville as they search for the right person to take Michael's place on the church staff.

To follow the Hodge family on their journey, or if you want to read the background of how they decided to become missionaries, or if you want to see what all they've had to do to get to this point, click here.

Picture credit...The Hodge Family blog