AFA of PA ACTION ALERT
November 27, 2025
Issue
Happy Thanksgiving from the AFA of PA
Details
Hopefully you will be able to enjoy family and friends this Thanksgiving. It is much different in America now than it was when that first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621. However, are we Americans as thankful as those who first celebrated Thanksgiving on these shores 400 plus years ago?
Having arrived in the New World in November 1620, about half the settlers died during that first harsh winter of 1620/1621. The remaining Pilgrims worked hard that summer and the Lord blessed their efforts with a bountiful harvest. Most children in America’s public schools are taught the Pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving because they were thankful for the help of the nearby Indians — totally ignoring the real reason they were thankful.
Edward Winslow reported after the First Thanksgiving: “Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors….many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted….And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.” On October 3, 1789 President George Washington issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation. This is the opening paragraph: Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” (Read the full text here )
Click here to read President Trump’s Thanksgiving Proclamation.
Action Steps
Let’s be more thankful to God for his blessings in the coming year. May 2026 be a year of thanksgiving to God and a year when we all acknowledge our dependence upon Him.
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