KONOMALA

Happy thanksgiving, friends! 

We’re in the fall season here in PNG too. It’s hot, muggy, sometimes rains, sometimes there’s a breeze, and we pretty much break a full sweat walking across the yard … feels just like home.
I might actually gag thinking about wearing jeans and a sweatshirt right now. 

Kidding aside, seeing some fall colors and feeling the crisp air of a Friday night football game sounds pretty fantastic. Can’t wait to catch up on all that amazingness in heaven!

Speaking of amazingness … we had an awesome afternoon/evening together for thanksgiving. Kaitlyn and Ellenie cooked a just-like-home traditional meal. We played goofy turkey games, the kids made fall season crafts, and we even watched a little football. Does it get any better than that? I think not!
Well actually … the before-mentioned weather situation could use a slight adjustment to make it really feel like home.

Every day feels about the same for us right now. We are in the final stages of learning the Konomala language and culture. Us guys recently checked at a language level of 8 out of 9, and the ladies checked at level 4 out of 9…all of which were great results! 

Over the next couple months we will be working to polish off the last necessary reports for language learning before our final language check early next year. With only a couple “official” things left to do, we are really shifting gears and looking ahead to the time when we will be able to start studying the Bible with our friends here in Konomala. 

We’re spending long hours discussing the things that really drive our friends at a heart level. We’re spending long hours talking about the things that are driving us at a heart level. It’s all pushing us to continue thinking deeply about how God speaks to those very heart issues in His word. What are the things that God is wanting to build into His image bearers at such a root level that it changes the way they see everything? 

It’s amazing that God willfully and joyfully chooses to use such broken things like us. As we talk through the deeply held and unrealized assumptions that drive our friends, we are constantly seeing the same patterns in ourselves. We are nowhere near being ‘perfected’. Our natural hearts are filled with the same selfishness, pride, and rebellion as every person ever born. The needs of our friends here in Konomala are the very same needs that we crash into every day. 

It’s messy in our own lives. It will be messy in our friends’ lives. But thankfully, God has never leaned away from our mess. We can’t wait to help our friends have the chance to personally be confronted by Jesus who is full of grace and truth. 

Keep praying for us that we would choose to submit our own hearts to the work of God’s Spirit in us. And pray the same thing for our friends here. 

the Truck … eventually

We purchased a truck, but we’re still waiting for it to be put on a ship from Japan. Hopefully that happens in the next couple weeks which means we could maybe get it in January … maybe. 

Please Pray

That we would humbly submit our minds to the truth and allow God to transform us as we move closer to Him. We so desperately need Him.

That God would continue to protect and work in our friends hearts and minds. So many of them are feeling their need and inadequacy in a deep way. God is truly paving the way for people to engage with His truth. 

That we would finish well for these last couple months of language/culture work. We are really looking forward to being able to devote our full time energy to the things that matter most.