I am Kimberly Hodgson, wife to Cory and mother to Naomi (10 in August) and Elijah (7 in August). We are expecting our third child in November. We have been living and serving in Mbeya, Tanzania for the last 8 ½ years under Grace Ministries International alongside the Grace Church of Tanzania. We came to the field young and without a clear focus as to what we were supposed to be doing. Needless to say, this lead to many trials in our first term on the field. The Lord helped us to grow during those difficult times and has opened doors for us to minister to others because of them.
There are several other global workers who serve with GMI in Tanzania, however none of them live in Mbeya with us. Our co-workers all live several hours away near villages. We are able to serve them through hospitality and assist them in getting supplies when they come to Mbeya to get away for a few days, to pick up visitors, or on their way in or out of the country. Cory and I both are very involved in this hospitality ministry. Cory’s main focus is a Bible correspondence course. However for me, outside of taking care of my family and home schooling our children, hospitality is my primary ministry.
Fortunately, we live in a city and country which is open to hearing the good news of the grace of God and His free gift of salvation. It is also a beautiful place to live. Mbeya is in the southern highlands of Tanzania and has a very temperate climate. We live in the city, but Mbeya is still a fairly young city so it feels a little more like African suburbia.
This month, we will start our second home assignment in the States. This term has been 3 ½ years long. All of us have our apprehensions as to how we will fit into life in the States. Please pray for our transition. While we are in the States, we will be doing a lot of traveling, some of which will be done with a very pregnant mother and later with a newborn. Please pray for health and safety for us during our travels. This will be the first time we have been gone since the correspondence program has been running, we ask for prayers that it will continue well in our absence.
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