The Dance of Faith
MOREHEAD, KY - Hallie Mak Hodson took a real leap of faith to pursue her dreams of opening a ministry and spreading love through dance.
After years of bullying and suffering what should have been a dance-ending career, Hodson pushed towards opening not only one, but two ministries.
Hallie Hodson performs an improvisational worship dance Wednesday, February 13, 2019, in Morehead, Ky. “I’ll turn onsome worship music and do improvisational worship” said Hodson. “You wroship in eveerything you do, so I do it through dance.” Photo by Makayla Holder
Hallie Hodson sports a tattoo that she shares with her mother, father, and brother Saturday, February 16, 2019, in Morehead, Ky. This tattoo symbolizes the hardships they have overcame in their lives. “The reason it is an arrow is because when you are holding an arrow in the bow you are holding it back and it doesn’t go anywhere until you release it” said Hallie Hodson. “It is like the weight of the world is holding you back and you can’t let go until you give it all to Him.” Photo by Makayla Ho
Hallie Hodson and the dance team support the Morehead State Univeristy men’s basketball team in their game against Belmont Saturday, February 9, 2019, in Morehead, Ky. Photo by Makayla Holder
Hallie Hodson performs an improvisational worship dance Wednesday, February 13, 2019, in Morehead, Ky. “I’ll turn onsome worship music and do improvisational worship” said Hodson. “You wroship in eveerything you do, so I do it through dance.” Photo by Makayla Holder
All before she turned 17.
“From the sixth to the ninth-grade I was severely bullied, had to get the police involved three times and 185 students posted on twitter that I should kill myself,” said Hodson, a junior university studies major at Morehead State University.
Hodson said it was God that helped her live through the bullying, so she could help others for the rest of her life.
According to Heather Hodson, her mother, no one took a stand for her. She said they received little support from the school, family friends and once they got the police involved all they could do was switch schools.
“She fell into that trap of lies where she was believing what society [her peers] were telling her – that she was worthless and had no value and no place on this earth,” she said.
The younger Hodson threw herself into her studies and her love of dance as a distraction.
“Dance is my way to escape as well as connect” said Hodson, a native of Red Oaks, Texas. “Psalms 149:3 is one of my favorite verses, and it says, ‘Let them praise his name with dancing.’”
It was around the same time as the bullying that Hodson was hit with another devastating blow.
Hodson underwent an ankle surgery for an injury where a muscle wrapped around her foot and started to calcify her tendons, which commonly develops in dancers and gymnasts.
Her doctor said this would permanently take her out of the dancing world.
Driving home from surgery, Heather Hodson said she was devastated and didn’t know how to confront her daughter, but it was Hallie who broke the silence.
“’Mom, I don’t think that God is stopping me from dancing. I think He is telling me that I’m supposed to start a ministry for girls who have been bullied or who don’t feel like they are good enough,’” recalled Heather Hodson. “’But I will dance again.’”
She did just that.
She has started two ministries called I Am Royalty and uMatter.
I Am Royalty is a ministry program based online where she focuses on bringing empowerment to teen girls who were going through bullying, eating disorders and self-harm.
The uMatter ministry program was created to encourage and empower students to find their worth and build self-esteem located at the Waverly City Schools in Waverly, Ohio.
Hallie Hodson will become the head female mentor after graduation and work to bring a uMatter funded drill team to the Waverly City Schools and said that is exactly where she wants to be.
“The big goal is to have my own Christian dance and fine arts studio, as well as working with uMatter,” she added.
