KONOMALA

Thank you to each one of you who have been praying for our family, our team, and our friends here in Konomala. God is faithful and He is truly the only one capable of transforming hearts. As we keep pointing our friends to our good Papa, He hasn’t stopped working in our own hearts as well as theirs.

The lifelong process of heart change is filled with small steps. What a privilege it is when we get to see other people start taking those steps toward their Father … sometimes they look small on the outside, but in reality there are huge things happening in their hearts.

What is more important?

Here in Konomala, money is a tough thing to come by for most people. That being said, everyone is striving to find it. Right now, the best way to make some money is to grow and sell peanuts. It’s a ton of work to prepare the ground, care for the garden, harvest & prepare the peanuts, and then find a buyer in a town 4 hours away.

It usually takes about 3 months from planting to harvesting, and it typically involves over a dozen people to prepare the ground and then to prepare the ready-to-sell peanuts. It’s a lot of work to say the least, but it is most peoples’ pipeline to a little cash that can help pay for their kids’ school fees or care for their families. Almost everyone we know is busy right now with planting and harvesting their own peanuts or helping others do the same.

Of the many friends we have in the community, there has been a small number who have committed to humbling themselves under the truth. Within that small number, each one’s heart is at a little different place with different struggles and decisions to make. At the core though, each decision is the same: Will I do this life on my own, independently of my good Father … or will I humble myself, look to Him, and follow His lead?

A few weeks ago, our closest friends, Michael and Rena had a bunch of work to do in order to get their peanuts ready for a town run that was to happen a few days later. As a couple, they have been faithfully and humbly listening to the truth for months now. They have steadily shown more and more boldness in prioritizing their lives around this most-important-relationship with their Heavenly Father.

So during the key days leading up to their town run, they had it all planned out … but then a big community event happened without much notice and it took an entire day away from their ability to prep.

Yet, to our surprise, the next day they still showed up to spend the morning with us. We had a regularly scheduled time to get together, but we were sure that there was no way Michael and Rena would come. They had so much work to get done … and now even less time to do it.
Concerned, we asked them about all the work they had to do for the peanuts. They chuckled and responded with a shrug, “Pssh. What’s more important?! Peanuts or our Papa & His talk? He knows what all needs to be done. We told some of the teens to get started and when we’re all done with you guys, we’ll go up to the garden too.”

The humility, faith, and boldness that those words revealed … WOW.
We were blown away. To say that we were “encouraged” by their faith is a gross understatement. Then guess what, that night we had another regular time to sit down together … and they came again!
… foregoing the work they needed to do that night.

On the outside, it’s just a small little decision to delay some work. But on the inside, those decisions are monumental. We have never seen anyone else EVER prioritize something over harvesting and preparing their peanuts. That’s their one shot at money, and a chance at money is NEVER passed up on.

Kind of like Peter said in John 6:68-69 when Jesus asked the disciples if they wanted to leave too.
“Lord, who else are we going to go to? You have the words of eternal life, and we believe that you are Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter got it. Regardless of how hard or uncomfortable it was, who else could they go to besides Jesus?!

Some of our friends here in Konomala are getting it too!
Only God can do things like that in peoples’ hearts.
Each of us is faced with the same decision every day … What is most important? Where will we find true and eternal life?

We will only find it as we humbly accept the reality of our need; and it’s not a need that can be solved by any human effort. The only solution to that need is in real intimacy and closeness to our good Papa.

Please Pray

That Michael and Rena continue in their bold pursuit of their good Father.

That the other faithful few would continue humbling themselves and recognizing their true heart-level need.

That the many others who have yet to soften their hearts would respond to the prodding of the Holy Spirit as they get small tastes of the truth.

That we would also deeply pursue and humble ourselves under our good Father … following Michael and Rena’s example.