Serving since: September, 1986
Home church: Pasadena, California
Birthdays: Doug - May 12; Carolyn - Nov 18
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Serving since: September, 1986 Home church: Pasadena, California Birthdays: Doug - May 12; Carolyn - Nov 18 |
October 9, 2004
Dear friends,
Greetings from Roi Et, Thailand. We want to thank you for your prayers as we moved back here to Roi Et and are now well settled into daily life and ministry.
Each of our children seems to be doing very well with their schooling situation. While we miss our two young ladies, we rejoice to hear how they are growing and embracing life with Jesus. Our thankfulness for Kristi Byford joining us here in Roi Et as the teacher for our two boys cannot adequately be expressed. She is a tremendous help to us, is doing an exceptional job working with two spirited boys, is providing female companionship to Carolyn, and is learning lots about the life of missionaries.
Our LIFE colleagues were glad to have us return. After being gone for a year and ministry continuing here in Roi Et while we were gone, it is taking some time for all of us to figure out how we should compliment each other again. We anticipate that this will be clear by November. So please be in prayer about this. Just how will we be involved in further staff development, discipleship, and business ministry opportunities?
Youth ministry: LIFE has been actively involved in youth ministry for 8 years now. Out of this is developing a core group of potential leaders. At present 11 young people gather monthly for encouragement and training. They range in age from 17 to 26. They all have a growing passion for Jesus and have places where they are serving. Please pray that LIFE would do a good job of training these future leaders and that the young people would continue to grow in their love of Jesus.
A new church: For reasons only God knows, the Spirit has drawn LIFE into planting a church 3 hours away from Roi Et over the course of the last almost two years. As I write this, a group of new believers is preparing to be baptized. From the beginning there has been something different going on. Early on, the initial believers from three different villages gathered together to pray on their own. During monthly visits, wives and children joined in discussions from early on. More recently we have seen active reading of teaching materials left with them and of the Word, followed by the community of believers gathering on their own to discuss what they have read from the Word. Difficult situations have arisen within the village to which the believers have responded by coming together to pray. Most recently, a relative who made strong opposition to these new believers leaving their former belief system was assaulted by red ants and confronted by a total stranger coming out of the hills! (Friends, this is exceptional. We must confess that this kind of response is not the usual we have experienced or heard about.) Please pray that the young believers would be strong in their faith in Christ and in their love for each other. Pray that they would be a blessing to their neighbors and to other Christians in the area. And pray that the good news would spread so that those both in their own village and in adjacent villages would come to know Jesus.
Strands of Life (the cross stitch business of LIFE): We are grateful for slowly expanding markets here in Thailand. We are also thankful for very positive responses from Covenant women at Triennial and at the Mission Springs and Alpine women’s retreats. We continue to need to develop new products and expand our outlets. Please pray with us about those who could come alongside to help in doing these things. We have three women in the States who have been helping develop some new designs. This has been a good start. I am continuing to look for individuals who can take concepts and art work and transform these into actual patterns. We have a computer program that can help a great deal with this. Is this you? Or do you know someone? Have you looked at our web site: www.strandsoflife.com Please do. We have lots of angel note cards available which would be great for this Christmas season.
At the present time, there is a temptation for LIFE to be pulled in way too many directions. Please pray that we would wait on the Lord and see where our Lord is moving and move in partnership with the Spirit.
We thank our Lord for each of you and your partnership with us. May the grace and peace of God envelope you this day.
In Christ,
Doug and Carolyn Johnson