Saturday, June 30, 2012

Safe Return

The team of 8 that went up north on the lake have just returned safely. They showed films for the two nights they were there and also did some impromptu meetings with the many children. The village is mainly Muslim, but the parents seemed OK with sending their kids to listen to some Bible stories. Pray that the seed planted will bear fruit. In a neighboring village there is a bigger evangelical presence and Luke and Harry were able to visit that village briefly as well.
Tomorrow we hope to minister to the small group of believers at Munzeze, a church an hour's drive away from our town that has recently gone thru a split so they're struggling.
Thank you for your prayers.
Blessings,
Luke and Gina Johnson

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Team of 8 go up-lake...

Please remember in prayer as a team of 8 go up lake to the village of Kigalye to show films for two nights. It is a small village, mainly Muslim with one evangelical church. They left today, Thursday, and hope to return Saturday.
They are (pictured from left to right): Danieli, Mauridi, Heshima, Luke, Emineli, Lameck, Ruth and Harry.
Team of 8 all ready to cast off.

Pray for safe sailing, protection at the open harbor where the boat will be anchored and for the films during the evenings as well as any contacts and conversations with the village people throughout the day.
Thank you for your prayers.

Monday, June 4, 2012

May Update

Dear praying friends and family,
It has been over a month since some of you have heard from us, so we like to give you a brief summary of what we have been doing.
In the last week of April we drove 2 full days to get to the town of Moshi, located near the Kenyan border and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Our first business was the Annual General Meeting at CMML-Tanzania missionaries. We spent 2 full days at a hotel enjoying fellowship with one another, and hearing reports of each one's work, and also taking care of some of the more practical things in the business meeting.
Starting Monday, the following week, Luke began teaching a 3-week course on the book of Romans at Berea Bible College. Every day, he taught for 3 hours to 16 students. These were 2nd semester students (the full program is 3 semesters long). Luke enjoyed the course and learned a lot, although he was busy, always preparing for the next lesson. We are very grateful to our hosts, William and Eunice Rea, who graciously opened up their home to us and fed us very well. Esther and Emily also enjoyed the extra attention, and Esther loved playing with her new Indian friend Bhavia, who lived nearby. We did get the change to go to a swimming pool a few times, and Esther can now swim for short distances all on her own.
Esther swimming at Hotel.
After the course ended we trekked back home and spent a few days unpacking and settling in. On May 28-31 we were happy to welcome to Kigoma 2 visitors from CMML, Bob Dadd and Allan Wilks. We enjoyed a sail with them and we visited the David Livingstone memorial where Stanley first met him. The guests also visited one village assembly and the town assembly of Gungu before returning to the U.S.
Allan Wilks keeping the course steady.
Now Luke is busy preparing to teach a 1-week youth ministry course at the Lake Tanganyika Christian College here in Kigoma town. After that is over he will take a local boat down south to visit the new assembly at Igalula and give a brief seminar.
Meanwhile, Gina takes care of the family, cooking lovely meals, and homeschooling Esther who is in Kindergarten. Emily has become very good at making huge messes in the house and at making us laugh as she repeats new words.
We would welcome your continued prayers concerning:
- Luke's teaching opportunities
- Gina as she home schools Esther

May God's peace be with you all. Amen
Luke, Gina, Esther & Emily Johnson

Jay & Katrina Erickson

The Ericksons, off to Zambia for a year.
A young couple, serving the Lord in Africa.
Both parents died this past Saturday in a plane crash, leaving behind their two little girls.

(To read more about the tragedy you can click on this Site.)

Our prayers are with the family that they left behind.

Are you ready to meet your Savior?

C.S. Lewis writes: " You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."