The term "missionary" has always been in our minds but we never knew if it would be anything more than just a one week thing. From the moment that we went on our first mission trip, both being KY Changers (at different times), we felt that the Lord was calling us to do something more than just live the "American Dream", but didn't know for sure what that was. We continued going to KY Changers for many years and enjoyed our time there, the work that we done there, and the lives that we helped changed...but still felt that there was something more, there was a void in our hearts we just could not fill.
We both signed up for classes at Mid-Continent University to get our Bachelor Degrees in Missions & Evangelism. This is where we first met one of the most influential men in our lives, Dr. Cecil. From our first experience with Dr. Cecil, we figured out that if he wanted something done and felt like the Lord wanted it done, he was going to do whatever it took to make it happen. The very first thing he said to us when we walked into his office to talk about our degrees was, "I have a group going to Arizona to do mission work and would like for you to join them." We talked to him a little about it but basically told him we did not think it would be possible, we had just bought a new house and just did not think that we would be able to afford it. Remember when I said if he wanted something to happen he would do what it took to make it happen? Well, he made a phone call while we were in his office and before we knew it we were signing up for the Mission Encounter class and our Student Loans were going to pay for the trip.
We went to Arizona and absolutely LOVED our time there. However, Deidra was not ready to move away from home so when Josh mentioned moving there, she shot that idea down QUICK. Not even sure if "quick" explains how fast she said NO! However she would be willing to continue to go back and do mission work there. At that point Josh was going to take whatever he could get because he felt that is where God was calling them to serve. So they started working with their church to plan a mission trip out there for the adults in the congregation. The next summer, we led a team out to the Gila River Reservation to do a week of Bible School for kids and Bible Studies for adults. At this time we already knew that our good friends Eric and Brittany Gibbs and their two children were in the process of becoming MSC Missionaries at First Pima Baptist Church, so the thought of being a missionary there was completely out of Deidra's head, but not Josh's. When it came time to go home, Josh again talked to Deidra about what he felt the Lord was laying on his heart and she again said NO. She was fixing to have a baby and she just did not want to take our daughter away from our family.
Fast Forward 2 years, (Having a Baby, Graduating School, Joining a New Church, Another Deployment, Having Another Baby, and helping Plant a Church), we have finally realized that God has bigger plans for us and we need to quit telling him we will do things on our time. We always knew that we would be missionaries for longer than one week but we didn't think it would be while our children were so young. We wanted to follow God and be missionaries, but when our children were grown and out of college and felt like our family did not have to miss out on anything. However, like I mentioned...God has his own timing and we are committed to following Him. Although this is exeremely scary for us, we are willing to take that GIANT leap of faith and do what we feel he has called us to do. With this being said, we feel that God has called us to be missionaries in Southern Arizona. We have applied with NAMB and are in the process of becoming Mission Service Corps. We do not know when we will be leaving but we know that one day our little family of 4 will pack up everything that we own and move out to Arizona.
Before we can do this we need a little help from our friends and family.
**First and foremost we need prayer. This is a big step for us and it is going to be very tough to leave everything that we know. This is also extremely hard for our families. They are going to have to get used to us not being 15 minutes away and not seeing their grandchildren in person anytime they want. So please before anything else, we want prayer!
**Second we are going to need financial support. We are available to speak in churches, men's groups, women's groups, etc. Like I mentioned above we are in the process of getting approved by NAMB and once approved we will have an easy way for you to make a tax deductible donation. You can choose to donate monthly or a one time amount. We also have a few other things in mind we are planning on doing and will let you know when we get closer to that time.
If you would like some more information on the Journey that we are headed on, if you would like us to speak at your organization or just want to contact us you can email us at love1stministries@gmail.com
Thanks for your support,
The Hodges' Family
