KONOMALA

Hey all, thank you for your prayers and support for our family and the church here in Konomala. 

As we’ve said lots of times before, the day to day reality of life here can often feel profoundly repetitive and hard to measure in regards to the typical “meaningful” stuff that we so often hope to see. A faithful life of helping others to know Jesus more deeply is always a life that demands conscious faith and unnatural hope. That sounds poetic as I put it in words, but as you know, it’s not actually very glamorous … in fact it’s often sweaty, dirty, discouraged, and full of questioning. It’s easy to empathize with the man faced with real life struggle and doubt to say to Jesus, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” 

We’re still here. We’re still believing that what He says is true; what He promises will in fact be reality; and what He leads to is actually best for us. Our good Father is with us, He sees, He understands. His love and grace for us and our friends is limitless and He has good plans for us. He gives everything we need for true life now and forever into the future. We believe; we have hope. Help us in our unbelief and in our short sightedness. 

I guess that all sounds more like a personal journal entry than an update for you guys. As we step back and look at these last few weeks, God has offered some unique opportunities to offer truth to others.

the Gospel at a Funeral

On a Sunday morning a few weeks ago, one of our friends in the community came in the early morning to tell us that his young son had died in the night … really sad. I ended up helping to build the coffin as the funeral plans were made for that afternoon. 

This particular friend is a well known leader of a local denomination in our community. We’ve been friends for a long time, but there has also been some moments of antagonism against our families and the church in these last few years. Knowing all the dynamics at play, it was surprising in a good way when we were asked to lead the funeral service. It was a weighty opportunity to offer some words of truth in the midst of a miserable circumstance. 

The group of 100+ people was probably a 50/50 mix of people we knew and people we didn’t. We read some key scriptures and presented the gospel knowing that so many people there have been so confused by religion that they have never actually considered the simple things that God has said. 

After the burial, we had a full afternoon and evening with people. I had multiple hours of conversations with another local pastor along with some others while we waited for the food to be prepared. 

It was one of those days where the exhaustion at the end was mixed with a sense of hope & sobriety knowing that the truth had been proclaimed in some important public moments and some lengthy personal moments. 

the Gospel on a Phone 

There’s an older man in the church that is not able to walk very well anymore. He spends all of his days sitting at his house which has become a little socializing spot for his many kids and grandkids. A little over a year ago, we started to record our weekly teaching so that he could listen at his house. We put the recordings on a little SD card so that he could play it on his portable speaker. 

Fast forward to today and a lot of people have asked for SD cards with a mixture of the audio Bible and our teaching. No shocker, a lot of the cards have been lost, stolen, or refilled with peoples’ music … but a select few have gotten really serious about listening to God’s word being spoken and taught on their little boomboxes. 

Yesterday I refilled a card for Al, another man in the community who has become a believer and is the leader of a little denominational church nearby. He regularly tells me about how he, along with whoever happens to be at his house, have been staying up late into the night listening to our recent teaching in 1 Timothy. Apparently he has shared the audio Bible and recordings with his grown kids and a number of his friends up and down the whole of New Ireland. People are often too embarrassed to come to us, so they keep coming to him to tell him how helpful the teaching is and that they want more recordings. Yesterday he told me to “stuff” as many recordings as possible into his SD card. 

Al had recently come to our house with the Catholic priest because the priest was wanting the audio Bible loaded onto his phone. Yesterday, he told me that he saw the priest along with some other leaders from the Catholic church all sitting around a phone, eating lunch, and listening to the audio Bible. 

We’re trusting God that these silly SD cards could maybe play a part in bringing some truth and clarity into the confusing religious fog that so many people are struggling within. Then when that door cracks open in their hearts, the Spirit can work … and if He pleases, maybe some of us in the church can step further into those friendships and help people begin to know & walk with Jesus. 

Keep Praying

Pray for all of our hearts in daily life here…in our marriage, family, church, and community. Satan is utilizing everything he can to convince us all that a self-centered life apart from Jesus is our answer. 

Pray for me, Silas, and Michael as we are in the early days of helping some new believers in a community 1.5 hours away. We’ll fill you in more on that opportunity later. 

Pray too for this season that we’re stepping into now. We have a chance to begin passing on the work of speaking truth and shepherding the church to Michael and Silas, the two faithful men in the church. More on this later too.