Thanks for your prayers

Dear praying friends and family, we want to thank you for your prayers for the youth seminar, evangelistic conference, and films that took place this past week, beginning Thursday and ending Sunday night.
We wanted to give you a little update on what happened. We had 6 seminar sessions, 2 each day beginning Thursday - Saturday. There were around 80 young people from various village churches and from here. I taught 4 sessions, giving an overview of the Bible, and God's redemption plan in story form, and ending with our response to God, and His plan for our lives. The other seminar teacher urged the young people to live holy lives that are committed to Christ. He was very dynamic and the young people really liked him.
The outdoor evangelistic conference was each afternoon, for 3 consecutive days beginning Friday and ending Sunday. It took place in an open field just behind the church property. We borrowed a stage and we put up poles and a tarp over it, and then the stage was decorated with colorful cloths. There were only 3 choirs (which is few for here) but they did well and there were some special numbers. On Friday there were not very many people, but by Sunday there were well over 200 by my estimation. We had invited an evangelist speaker who presented the gospel with much vigor, telling stories of his own salvation, and the salvation of others, and urging all to repent. At the end of each meeting he prayed for the crowd, and also prayed for the sick.
Before the evangelistic meetings were over the film equipment was being set up and began shortly after the other came to a close, just as the darkness fell. Films were shown for three nights after each of the afternoon meetings. At least one man who has been involved in witchcraft came and talked to my father and one of the church elders. He told them he was touched by the films and that he wanted to break off from his evil lifestyle and learn more about Jesus. He said that he wouldn't be able to come to church on Sunday (this past Sunday) but he would come the next week to learn more.
The whole church worked hard to make this all happen. The women cooked and washed dishes and decorated, and the young people helped set up the stage and sound equipment and benches etc ... and helped take care of the many needs of the visitors. On the last day it seemed as if Satan was going to disrupt things with some contention that began, but it was soon resolved and things continued as planned, albeit late, even for Africa.
We want to thank each and every one of you for your participation in these efforts. We continue to till the ground and sow the seed on the hard ground of the Gungu neighborhood (in Kigoma). Please continue to pray for soft hearts for all those who heard the Word.
Blessings in Him,
Luke Johnson

Conference (Feb. 24-26)

An open field just beyond the local church is where the stage is set. Big speakers are connected to precious electricity, but when that fails there's a generator ready to be turned on to keep the music and sound system as loud as possible. Several choirs go to the front to sing their two songs each. The choirs are one of the main attractions, people just stop what they're doing to see how they sing and how good their choreography is. Just as the singing was brought to an end, a group of some 5 guys were invited to come and sing at last minute and introduced as the "New Revelation" group. They popped in a CD (all the other choirs had done their own music and singing) and invited some 4 to 5 youth to join them with some back-dancing. At the invitation some 25 youth, boys and girls, went up and joined in the dancing, following the main guy's lead they all moved in unison like they'd practiced. What a show! The guys were invited to come the following day.

Stage is decorated and set on an open field.

The conference speaker is bringing things to a close with a time for "blessing".

A good-sized road goes right past so people are stopping to see what's going on. The speaker/evangelist is good at reminding the sound system guys to tone things down when he wants to pray. The evangelist is not out done by the choirs and does a good job of putting on his own show with dancing and stomping on stage. The people love him.
As soon as the conference is done, (around 7 pm) the screen for the films and all the cords and projector are brought out and set up for a show at night.
That ends day #1. Tomorrow we get to do it all over again.

Want to learn some Swahili?

Posters are up, food is being bought and the chapel property is cleared for the big weekend. 

Here's a copy of the posters that were made:

TANGAZO

Mkutano wa

 Injili

Mwinjilisti Jekonia Rusogi atahubiri. Wagonjwa na wenye shida mbalimbali wataombewa.

Mkutano utafanyika katika uwanja wa Kanisa La Biblia, Gungu Geza Ulole, na utaanza tarehe 24 hadi 26, kuanzia saa 9:00 alasiri hadi saa 12:30 jioni.

"Tena habari njema ya ufalme itahubiriwa katika ulimwengu wote, kuwa ushuhuda kwa mataifa yote; hapo ndipo ule mwisho utakapokuja" - Mat. 24:14

February Update

Dear friends and family, we give thanks to our great God and Savior for each of you who think of us and pray for us in the challenges we face as messengers of the Good News.

One highlight of this past month was the voyage on the sailboat "Wings of the Morning". A team of 8 went south with the purpose of visiting the village churches at Buhingu and Igalula. The two-day journey down there turned into three due to strong winds. Once they arrived, the meetings with these believers was of mutual encouragement, with Biblical teaching in the mornings and afternoons, and evangelistic films in the evenings. One evening they experienced such strong winds and high waves that Luke and Ruth were up most of the night bailing the boat while the rest of the team, who were ministering on land, prayed hard for them. We are thankful to the Lord for the blessings we experienced, and also for His strong hand of protection over the team. 

Another highlight was the choosing of 4 deacons for the Gungu chapel here in town. This has been in the works a long time and has been made a matter of long-standing prayer by the believers. We are excited to now have these 4 godly men who have been selected for this role of service in the church. Pray with us that it will be a catalyst that will soon cause growth and awakening among the saints here.

Heshima, Japhet, Peter & Husseni (4 deacons)

Looking ahead, we have a youth conference we are getting ready for (Feb. 23-26) at the local assembly. Luke will be teaching several sessions of the morning and mid-day seminars. In the afternoons there will be evangelistic meetings. These consist of many church choirs along with energetic congregational choruses, followed by the preaching of a special speaker and evangelist. In the evenings we will show Christian films. The purpose is to reach the neighborhood around the church with he gospel. Pray for God's Spirit to draw many to come and hear His life-changing and saving Word, and that many would be obedient to the faith. Pray for the preparations, as the youth are mostly in charge of getting things ready, under the guidance of the elders.

As we write this email, 3 students from the Kigoma region are on their way by bus to Berea Bible College in Moshi, to start their 2nd. semester of training. Please pray for them, and all the other students from many other parts of the country, that they would have eager and willing hearts to learn and put into practice what they are taught by God. Also pray for their families at home as they will be gone for 4 months. Many of the students are elders in their churches or are otherwise very active in their churches. It is not uncommon for them to leave behind their wife and 9 or more kids.

Our family is doing well, although lately we have been troubled by various illnesses. Esther was sick with malaria last week. Luke had a bad sunburn, followed by bad stomach pains earlier this week, and Emily currently has a throat infection and is running a high fever. However we rejoice in our tribulations and know that the Father is always near.

We are truly humbled by your participation in the gospel until now, and look forward to what God has in store for us and you. 

In His grace,

Luke, Gina, Esther & Emily Johnson

Boat Trip Photos

Emineli at the front of the boat.

Lameck keeping the course steady. (Filter at right for drinking water.)

Japhet, Danieli and Emineli relaxing at the bow.

Boat Trip Photos

Emineli and Harry checking out the landmarks.

The solar panels that Luke set up. These helped to run the bilge pumps when water came in.

Showing films at Kirando.

Men are happy to be heading back home.

Making of the Boat (June - Oct. 2010)

June 3, 2010 - the skeleton.

June 29, 2010 - sides are up in no time.

June 29, 2010

July 7, 2010 - Talking about the details for the cabin.

July 26, 2010 - Caulking with cotton and palm oil.

October 11, 2010 - All painted.

October 29, 2010 - Harry with rudder box and rudder.

Center board.

Boat stats:
- Two-masted gaff-rigged ketch
- Length overall - 36 Ft.
- Beam (width) - 12 Ft.
- Draft (with centerboard and rudder up) - 2 Ft.
- Sail Area (two headsails, mainsail, mizzen sail) - 555 sq. feet
- Auxiliary Power - 25 hp outboard engine
- Designed and built 2010-2011 by Harry and Luke Johnson
- Shipwrights - Dunia and Amisi

Making of the Boat continued... (Nov. 2010-March 2011)

Nov. 24, 2010 - Making the sails from flour sacks.

Nov. 29, 2010 - Harry, Jesse and Luke working on the cabin.

January 9, 2011 - More painting and cabin work.

March 3, 2011 - Day of Boat Launch.

"Wings of the Morning" is in the water.

Trip down south via texts with Luke

January 19: 
The boat made it safely to the first village of Buhingu today. Upon arrival they were hassled by the military but everything is OK now. Luke plans to spend the night on the boat again. His first night on the boat he was eaten alive by mosquitoes and didn't sleep well. Will let you know how tomorrow goes once I get word.

January 20: 

Luke texted me this morning around 8 am to say that they had survived a huge storm while on the boat. I think the same storm hit us here around 3 am and was all calm by the time I got the text but down south they were still dealing with rain and crashing waves. The worst was over though, now everything is wet but they are thankful that the anchor held during the storm.

At the end of that day:

Today was a full day with seminars in the morning and in the afternoon. As dusk approached the team was busy getting the film equipment set up so they could show some Christian movies. These are always such a hit in the small villages.

January 22: 

In the morning the boat set sail for the second village of Igalula. They had Sunday meetings with the believers there. 

Later that day: 

Luke just phoned (8:30 pm) to say that a big storm with strong winds was starting. They are at the village of Igalula where there isn't a safe harbor so the boat is exposed to the crashing waves. Harry (Dad) was still on shore to show films so Luke, Danieli and Ruth (mom) were the only ones on the boat, and being at night makes everything more difficult. They have two anchors and they are barely doing the job of holding.

Pray that the strong winds and waves will subside.

January 23:

THANK YOU for praying. The waves finally lessened around 2 AM and those on board bailed non-stop, and by God's grace the boat held. God answers prayers! 

They began their voyage back home just before 9 this morning. We are looking forward to having Daddy back home. =)

Boat Trip, thus far.

On Tuesday (17th) Kigoma was awakened before dawn to a show in the skies. A thunder and lightning storm crept into the bay from all directions it seemed and settled in for a good while. After ear-splitting thunder every half second the rains finally gave way and the thunder subsided. It wasn't even 5 AM and I was ready to doze back to sleep when Esther came knocking at our bedroom door. She said her bed was all wet and had only a little corner left that was dry due to the leak in the roof just above her bed. So she snuggled in next to me while Luke got ready for his trip.
The 6 travelers from Kigoma left that morning. They made it to Kirando for their first stop to drop anchor and spend the night. Luke, Harry and Ruth stayed on the boat while the rest were sent to believers' homes. Mosquitoes were incessant that night and Luke didn't get much sleep. The next morning they were ready to leave early to make good time with two more men that joined the team making 8 total. They rounded the peninsula that provides a safe bay for Kirando and were brought to a halt by strong winds. They could have persisted with the outboard engine and fought the wind but fuel was precious so they returned to the safe bay of Kirando.
The believers at Kirando provided meals for the team on that second day while they waited out the wind storm. Finally on Thursday they tried once again to continue on their journey south. This time it was successful and they arrived in the village of Buhingu where a handful of believers eagerly received their much awaited Wageni (guests).