KONOMALA

If you remember back about a year ago, our friends in Konomala walked through back to back losses within the church. It was a really tough time for everyone and took quite some time for people to recover from. 

Last month we were all blindsided by yet another one of our best friends passing away. Joe was one of the few men who were engaged in the church and he was growing more and more faithful in his walk with Jesus. He was faithfully leading his wife and teaching his seven kids. While out doing the routine rounds, Joe was killed by a wild pig in a freak incident in the jungle. It’s hard to put into words how sad and far reaching the effects of his death are. His wife Teresia and his kids are feeling the daily challenges from the overwhelming-ness of it all. His siblings and extended family are all over the place in how they have been dealing with the loss. A few of those people are a part of the church and are fighting to walk through this tragedy with an uncommon perspective … looking ahead to an eternal hope which is being informed by the truth. It’s been an opportunity for the church to re-center their thinking on what is true and what we are putting our trust in. 

We are thankful that Luke & Ellenie have been there alongside the church, grieving and battling together. There is a very real war being waged in the hearts of people: will we choose to trust our good Father, His unchanging goodness, and the hope that He has guaranteed … or will we let the circumstances, the emotions, and the people around us lead us away from Him and further into isolation and grief? 

As we’re only a couple weeks away from being back in Konomala, it still doesn’t feel real that Joe won’t be there when we get back. In the midst of the temporary, we feel sadness and longing for things to be made right and good. But in the meantime we are fighting to look at the things which we can’t see yet because those things are eternal. 

Joe got to begin experiencing eternal life as he walked closely with Jesus here in this life. And now everything that he was looking forward to has been proven true and he has stepped into his first days of eternity. We can’t wait to be with him again and present him to our Father as perfect in Christ. 

Please Pray 

Pray for the church as they are being faced with a horrible circumstance that’s the direct result of the brokenness and death still gripping this world. Pray that they would choose to remember what is true and hold closely to their good Father and His promises. 

Pray that Luke & Ellenie would be able to speak boldly and clearly to those in the church and to those in the community … in the midst of grief mixed in with all of the regular mess of life. 

Pray that people in the community would see something different within the church because of their faith in God and their love for each other. And pray for wisdom for the church as they have to respond to all kinds of questions & accusations about the “reason” or “cause” of Joe’s untimely passing. 

On our way back

As a family, we’re into the transition phase of things again. The house is getting empty as stuff goes to storage, gets donated, or gets packed. The “last time” statements are in full effect with people we’re seeing, things we’re doing, food we’re eating, nice fall temperatures etc. etc. 

We’ll be leaving Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving day. We’ll get to spend about a week with family in Florida before officially leaving the country at the beginning of December. 

We’re looking forward to being together again with the church and with Hodgdons.
The girls are excited to be back together with their friends.
We’re sad to leave the relationships that we have so enjoyed back here at home.
It’s weighty and motivating to be faithful in the real life mess alongside our friends in Konomala. 
We’re not too disappointed to miss out on the cold toes and fingers of winter … but we’re very aware that the alternative is brutally hot. Oh well.