March Update

Dear praying friends and family,

We enjoyed the visit from William Rea and visiting a few of the churches this last month. Easter Sunday was a full day of celebration (i.e. choirs singing, a skit performance, and lots of food) with the believers at Nkungwe.
Our annual meeting with fellow CMMLers made for 2 delightful days of fellowship and more food.
Praise the Lord we have our renewed visas in hand after a long process. We also have renewed driver's licenses and Luke has the added "motorbike". Our Honda 250 was put to the test on it's first village visit a couple days ago. It's a blessing to have this cheaper mode of transport and we hope to make many more runs with it to the surrounding villages.
As a family, our 2 girls (ages 6 and 2) keep us busy and laughing. Gina is feeling big, but that's normal for her at this stage of pregnancy. =)

Blessings in Christ,
Luke, Gina, Esther and Emily

Projects, projects, and more projects.

Whether it's "baking up a storm" in the kitchen, or just trying to keep up with our daily food intake,

Baking Valentine goodies ...

we think of ways to make better use the resources we have.

Making a compost bin to then have fertilizer for our garden ...

Picking guavas from a tree turns into a project so we can quickly use the ripe fruit.

Enjoying God's provision from a tree in our yard ...

Luke has wanted a motorbike for the past 2 years and it's finally coming true. However, he has to build a little shelter for it first.

Making a covering for the new motorbike ...

The girls' closet was misusing space with the pipes going all the way across. So, with some paper and pencil we sketched what we thought would be a better use of space. Gave our drawings to a local carpenter and he delivered the new dresser and bookshelf 4 weeks later. Luke cut the pipes and the drawing became a reality.

New dresser for the girls ...

And then there's some projects which take a full 9 months to complete. Been working on this one for a while, but the end is in sight!

One more month to go!

I love projects and love seeing them finished!

Just a typical Sunday ...

All three of my kids. =)

Luke leading the sunday service at the Kigoma chapel.

Fellowship with other missionaries

At the fancy hotel in town.

Enjoying cooler weather at the end of the day over Lake Tanganyika.

The 5 of us.

The CMML-TZ group that met this year.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday we drove to the nearby village of Nkungwe. Luke and I were accompanied by Peter, his wife Naomi and their 2 little ones, and David, and our own daughter Emily. Esther stayed behind. Luke, Peter and David all spoke a message. There was the typical Sunday morning service, but a little longer with choirs singing more than their allotted 2 songs. Shortly after this service we gathered around the table for Breaking of Bread. After this, we just sat and waited for things to get ready for the afternoon service. It rained a slow yet heavy drizzle most of the day. The youth were in charge of the afternoon service and many came to see the drama performance they had prepared. After another message and more singing the meeting came to a close. The ladies ushered in the food and sodas and we barely made a dent in our food. As quickly as we could, we said our good-byes and drove slowly back on the wet and slick roads. It was past 8 pm when we finally made it home to our comfortable beds. =)

Luke speaking at the morning service.

Waiting for the afternoon service to begin.

Emily enjoying our undivided attention.

Dismas' wife showing off her growing twin girls (whom we had seen as newborns here).

FOOD! One mountain size plate per person.

February Update

Dear praying friends and family,

Thank you for praying for the boat trip last week. There was no visible response to the evangelistic films in this predominantly Muslim village but the gospel seed was sown and we are confident the Holy Spirit will use it. The ministry to the children and the women went well. Luke and the rest of the crew came back a day early from their sail and just in time for a big storm to hit, so we were thankful to have him home and not swaying with the waves. However, us girls did feel a little "sway" when a small tremor of an earthquake hit us. You never know what might happen, whether on land or on water!

Many activities are lining-up for these next weeks. William and Eunice Rea (missionaries from Moshi; William is the director of Berea Bible College where Luke has taught in the past) will be coming to Kigoma for 2 weeks and plan to visit most of the churches in the region with Luke and his father. Luke will be taking them to 5 of the churches. Pray that it would be an encouraging time and that some of the believers would consider attending the Bible College for training.

Also, the youth in a neighboring village church want to celebrate Easter and have invited us to their special meetings. Then we will get together with the other missionaries in Tanzania (Echoes of Service in the UK) and have our annual meeting in Kigoma. Luke is committing to teaching weekly at the local assembly for their Wednesday Bible study on Ezra/Nehemiah and needs to prepare for that.

We appreciate your prayers for the ministry and for our family.

With love in Christ,
Luke, Gina, Esther and Emily Johnson

First boat trip of the year

And they're off....

A team of 8 just left this morning for a couple of northern villages along Lake Tanganyika.

Please pray for them as they show evangelistic films for 3 nights and have children's meetings and women's meetings in the day.

Lord willing they will sail home on Friday.

Pray that the weather will be good, especially since the sail boat will be anchored along the shore and not sheltered from the waves.  "Lucky" Luke will spend the night on the boat along with 2 others to fend for themselves if a storm comes up suddenly in the night. Remember the boat trip a year ago? We do. So we are praying a whole lot for this trip.
Meanwhile, us girls will stay behind and try not to feel so lonely. =)

Seeing them off.

Emily and Esther waving good-bye to their daddy as he leaves Kigoma Bay.

Just the 4 of us.... for now

Enjoying a "night out" at a restaurant.

Esther with her Daddy.

She can convince him to do anything!

Home again, home again...

Enjoying a milk shake in our back yard.

The 5 of us after the accident and day before boarding our first flight back to Tanzania.

Emily and Esther at ViruViru airport in Santa Cruz.

January Update

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

"Are we home yet?"

 YES, we are!

Thank you for your prayers during our long trip from Bolivia, via Florida. Two weeks ago we left Camiri, Bolivia and by God's grace we have made it all the way to Kigoma, Tanzania.

Some of you may have heard of our little tumble on the Bolivian highway which left my parent's car (Mark and Carol Mattix) crushed beyond repair. Amazingly though, we all who were in the car, walked away with only scrapes and bruises. Even the little bouncing baby inside of me (Gina) is very active and looked great in an ultrasound 5 days later. How we praise the Lord for His protection.

The day after the accident, we kept with plan A and joined Jesse, Janel and family at a bird and water park at the edge of the city for the day. It was just what we needed; we had such a refreshing time at Güembé.

After leaving Bolivia we were able to briefly visit Matt Mattix and family in Florida before continuing on to Tanzania. Our first Sunday in the country we visited the believers in Dar Es Salaam and Luke spoke on unity. It took us a few days to get over jet lag and three days of driving to get home to Kigoma.

Now that we're home we are mostly unpacked and looking forward to meeting with the believers tomorrow morning (Sunday). There are many things planned for the months ahead. Please pray that we would be sensitive to God's leading and that we would be doing what He wants us to do at this time. Also pray for Gina and Esther as they plan to tackle homeschooling.

We will keep you all posted on any boat trips and other teaching and ministry opportunities. 

With love in our Savior's name,

Luke, Gina, Esther & Emily Johnson