Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope that you all are have had a good time with family and friends. Every year out here the ladies seem to out-do themselves and our thanksgiving meal gets better and better. It’s either that or living in Konomala has made our taste buds forget some things. It’s definitely the ladies though … *cough*
The day after we had our amazing meal together, we spent most of the day with our friends in the community for a little school-closing program for the elementary school nearby. It started pretty late, and we had to tape together their microphone wiring for the speeches, but we had fun seeing the kids graduate after their year of school. We were so proud too of our good friend who had worked really hard as their teacher.
It rained for the whole awards ceremony which was a tad inconvenient for everyone, but it added a funny layer to the whole thing. Us guys got to eat the “special food” while staying extra aware of the undercooked pork container (that one can be dangerous). The ladies ate the more traditional stuff which is usually better than the tupperware stuff. Then for the finale, different groups of people presented their “items”. Some ladies did group dances to popular songs, and some guys did some traditional dances with PVC pipe & bamboo bongo drums.
To complete the fuzzy picture of the scene set in your imagination, just sprinkle in a couple drunk guys roaming around (one being another of your friends) … he’s getting in peoples’ faces, dancing in the middle of the program, then getting in angry fights at the end. Something about seeing a friend get drunk and make a total fool of himself got me thinking though.
“This is normal.”
Those words have gone through our minds pretty often lately. The other day, it caused a real streak of discouragement in me at first. There were a thousand things that were happening that day that are contributing to the normal-ness of life in this community. From an earthly, me-centered perspective, it was discouraging that there seems to be no hope for the life that our friends are born into here.
As I thought about the reality of “normal” here, I actually started picturing the community that Jesus was born into. I imagine that there was an equal amount of disfunction and ridiculousness going on … but He stayed anyways.
The hope for our friends here is not that their community will get better or that their struggles will go away. The odds are actually stacked against them as people continue to divide and ignore the real reasons for the chaos.
Regardless of where any of us are born though, every community is a mess. Every culture is trending towards godlessness. The only hope for a different experience pre-eternity is Jesus. We can actually live this life WITH HIM. He promised that when we live with Him, His Spirit will produce His life in us. Internally we can have the same experience as Jesus did in the midst of all the circumstances. Externally we can show the heart of God in the same ways that He did as we live life with the people around us.
It maybe sounds simple and cliché, but Jesus really is the only hope for a good life on this earth…for ourselves and for those we have the privilege to help along the way.
The traditional food! 
The traditional dance.
Keep Praying
Pray for the church as we are living in a community filled with so much need. Each of us are battling with our own flesh and with Satan’s system of deception all around us. We need each other to live faithfully as we are all in the process of recognizing truth & walking with Jesus.
Pray for our friends who are believers but have yet to humble themselves and recognize their need for anyone else in their life.
Pray for our marriage and parenting to be more aligned with the truth … that we would keep bringing each other back to Jesus as the answer.
Can’t beat thanksgiving food! 
Kaitlyn & Ellenie work tirelessly to make our homes a restful (and tasty) place. 
Studying scripture together with Michael. 
Waging war against the evil house sparrows…
KONOMALA 
Good choice of words…Normal…so much of normal culture and institition was called into question during Covid [in my mind] in terms of its importance. Felt like the Evil one’s tactics in the garden…did God really say = produce doubt/call into question/neutralize commitments/I guess it doesn’t matter very much…shut down the gov’t, throw out the importance of gathering together, don’t require payment to live in a house, shutdown society, kill off the sick and elderly…New normals?
Lon
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Dear Partners in Grace, Because we were out of town during Thanksgiving week, I missed your greeting. We were stuck in our son’s driveway twice and in the hotel parking lot once. Church was out of the mix as we old folks didn’t want to get out on the Illinois unplowed roads.
Thank you for your greetings. We do give thanks for you, your co-workers and the work that you are doing.
Pray for us. Our apartment is divided up into 4 four-plex buildings with a common drive to each four-plex. On our common drive, there is a family from Delhi, a family from Dominican Republic, a family who displays a Buddha at their front door, and several others , who like us were born and raised in the states. Pray that our testimony and our lives will increase the thirst for Living Water.
Give hugs all around.
Paul and Tillie Franks
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