Hailes on Mission

August came and went, and much has changed in our lives.  For anyone that hasn't heard, we are officially living in Nairobi, Kenya.  We were so surprised by how quickly everything came together.  We thought we were ready but when it came time to finalize the house in Fort Dauphin to move, we found ourselves struggling with finding enough time to get it all done.  These past few months have caused much stress in our lives but as we are on the other side, we just see God's gracious hand at work. First of all, it is so hard to think that we are not living in Madagascar.  We truly love the red island and a part of our hearts will always be there.  Leaving Madagascar was hard physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  We can't tell you how difficult it is to move regardless of what is happening but doing this during a pandemic made it much harder.  We don't feel as if we adequately said goodbye to our Malagasy family and that bothers us.  Having l...

Even in the midst of restrictions, we are so thankful to have been able to say some of the necessary farewells to prepare for our move to Kenya.   We’ve really struggled with this job transfer and move for a number of reasons.   And although the uncertainty of our circumstances has had us on edge, we’re holding on.   We’ve been doing our new job and trying our best to finish well here in Madagascar despite the ever-changing restrictions. In the past month we’ve shared meals with Malagasy families and celebrated our final worship service at our local Malagasy church.  Each of these events was full of joy and sadness as we both mourn the change coming and rejoice in all that God has done.  After so many years of building relationships, learning more of the Malagasy language and culture, making disciples, planting churches and really settling in, it’s hard to leave, but we walk by faith.  As we’ve said these farewells, we continue to get calls and messages ask...

The month of June has been long and hard.   We’ve felt the loss of volunteers that were supposed to join us in reaching out and training up our Malagasy brothers and sister.   We mourned the postponement of a week-long intensive Seminary training that was supposed to be taking place.   We’re uncertain of when we will move and it’s makes it difficult to know how much to pack up and what arrangements to make in the time being.   There have been so many losses and unending uncertainties, BUT GOD. One of our student missionaries that had to return to the States early this Spring due to COVID left behind a t-shirt that has become one of my favorites.  It says, “But God…”. It’s been a wonderful reminder this season to trust him.  He is not surprised by this pandemic and he is not moved from his purpose for mankind; that all should reach repentance.  Though this update sounds all gloomy and there have been some low days, the one thing that sticks out a...

This past month has been an adaptation into the new normal.  I think we aren't the only ones that found ourselves filling up our days and calendars with new normal.  Our routine sped up, slowed down, and went into hyper-speed.  In all of that we just found ways to get back to the basics and enjoy the normal pulse of life.  We have needed to learn new things yet still act with precision in our daily life.  In order to do that we schedule out time for the Lord, school/job, exercise, and family. Eating takes place all day long.  haha. Our day to day lives are very different than they used to be and now with Covid-19 actually being present in the city where we live in, things have forced us to live out each day with a precision that wasn't quite needed before.  There are many restrictions in place that force us to learn new behavioral norms.  We are very fortunate and thankful that despite these restrictions we feel safe. One of the things that ha...

As everyone else on this planet we have been impacted by Covid-19 and the restrictions it has put into place.  This past month to say the least has been weird.  It is hard to imagine that April has come and gone, and we really didn’t leave the house (besides essential trips).  Before all of this you would have told us, we are lazy and we are not doing our job, and we probably would be close to trouble in the IMB or at least on a trip to see a counselor for why we aren’t leaving the house.  Today, we are praised and all of us that have been sheltering in place are looking like heroes.  Perspective changes so much. Now to be fair, we have not just sat around eating chips and doing nothing but binge-watching useless TV shows and movies.  We have done some of that to be honest with you, but we have done our best to use this extra time wisely.  We have attempted to keep a routine to how our day looks (homeschool, stud...

We have to say that how this past month started and how it ended was unexpected.    We never imagined what would take place.    We were aware of the happenings around the world but the progression of how things took place and at the pace was unprecedented.    Needless to say, we are in the same boat as the rest of the world.    Our month started with ministry events and was supposed to end with ministry events and lots of trips.    However, not everything went as planned.    The good news is that seems to be daily missionary life. Ha-ha.    We were so blessed to be able to share the Word of God in the South of Madagascar and be a part of a training in Antananarivo with some good friends.    We had family come (taking a lot of precautions on the trip) and visit and in the middle of their visit life changed greatly. To put things into perspective, are family arrived to visit us and life was normal.  ...

Many times, in our lives we find ourselves having to make difficult, unexpected decisions. This past month has been really good for us and at the same time extremely difficult. At the end of January, we held our Madagascar team prayer retreat. This time of prayer and seeking the father was very fruitful and unifying.  However, as we were hearing from the Lord, He began to open doors to new opportunities. We were recommended for a new position within the IMB and at first glance thought “no”. Then, Suzie and I began to seek the Lord. As we began to pray the Lord did not tell us “no” and He said that we  should  follow after this new position. Honestly, this made us very uncomfortable. We love Madagascar and the work that the Lord allows us to do here. So, when the Lord did not say no immediately to this request, we became scared and we're asking questions as to why now, why leave?  It became clear to us that the Lord was leading us away. Logistically and mini...