And another video

Here is a link to a short video that CMML put together:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEy9QF9rTLA&feature=youtu.be

Video post

Here is a video we made for our church in Yakima, WA.
It gives a little glimpse into our daily lives.

Just click on the link:

TDBC Video January 2017

2016 in Review

Here is a link to a collection of photos from 2016.

Click HERE to see the photos.

We count it a blessing to serve the Lord in Tanzania, East Africa.
You are welcome to come and visit us!

December Update

Happy New Year to all of you!

We thank the Lord for all of His blessings this past year, and we rejoice in the challenges which He has allowed in our lives which form us spiritually and teach us endurance. We also praise our heavenly King for each one of you who love Christ, though you have not seen Him, and serve Him continually through your prayers and participation in the gospel. Truly our Sovereign Head has designed the body to function in unity and to work together in love.


Ministry
The last time we wrote was in the middle of September. Since then we have had the opportunity to visit 4 churches, one of them a new fellowship of believers started by an elder from a nearby village. We were able to meet them, encourage them in the Word and give guidance to them as they gathered for the first time to remember Christ's death. We gave them some Christian literature and shared a meal together before returning. Please pray for these believers to seek to learn God’s word and be faithful in meeting together to encourage one another. Also, pray that the Holy Spirit would raise up elders among them who will have a true calling to shepherd the flock of God. These saints live in the village of Kajeje.

Luke preaching at Kajeje

Our friend and brother in Christ, Peter Yamungu, made another trip to visit the unreached tribe of the Wataturu, a full day’s drive away from here, in the Tabora region. He was able to meet the local chief and chairman, who was very friendly to him. He preached the Good News to many at a gathering and from house to house. He handed out tracts, portions on Scripture, and 3 Bibles, to those who knew how to read and who understood Kiswahili. He also attended a wedding and got to see their customs, which are very different from his own. We thank the Lord for preparing the way for him and keeping the door open for future service. Our family has decided to support Peter in his vision by sending him to a good missions school in Dar Es Salaam. He will be away from his wife and 4 kids for 8 months (from May - Dec.), with a short break in the middle. Please pray for Peter as he takes this big step of faith to become a cross cultural missionary. Pray for him and his family as they will be apart for this period of time. Pray that he will learn many things that will be useful for him in future service. And pray for our discipleship course, as we will not have Peter, who is one of our key teachers, for our 2nd and 3rd terms.

Chief in the village of Uwajawanungu reading the Bible he received.

Family

We had regional church elder meetings at the end of November and were able to sneak away on the last day and travel to Burundi to spend an early Thanksgiving with Luke’s brother Danny and his wife Anne and their 3 children. We enjoyed our time together and Luke was able to attend a morning session at the Timothy Bible School where Danny was teaching on the 4 gospels. We made it back in time for Thanksgiving in Kigoma and enjoyed the fellowship with other missionaries.

Visiting the cousins in Bujumbura, Burundi

During the month of December we had a visit from Gina’s parents, Mark and Carol Mattix. We had a wonderful time with them doing various things such as celebrating Esther’s 10th. birthday, singing together, rest and relaxation, walks, hikes and talks, 2 nights of camping at the beach, and ministry. Mark gave a 1 day seminar on Creationism. We visited a village church, and Mark preached on Christmas morning. They left the day after Christmas and we thank the Lord for the special time we had together.

On a hike with "Grandpa Mattix".

On a family outing up country.

The four kids.

Looking Forward
On Jan. 9 we’ll start up our new year at the Disciples of Jesus school. A number have shown interest from town and out of town but we wait to see how many will actually come. Please pray that the Lord would bring those who are hungry for God’s Word and ready to put it into practice. At the end of February we’ll start visiting the village churches with the discipleship students to give them opportunity to serve and develop their gifts. Please pray for the many other things that we have planned for this year, that God will direct and enable us in everything, and that His will would be done in us and His people. It is our desire that this would be a fruitful year for Christ’s church in the Kigoma region. We covet your prayers for us and our dear Tanzanian brothers and sisters.

May God’s grace abound to you this year,
Luke and Gina Johnson

August Update

Dear praying friends and family, an update on the work here is long overdue.

We arrived back in Kigoma exactly 4 weeks ago, after traveling to the US for Steven's wedding (Luke's youngest brother). The wedding went very well and we were happy to see many friends and family members. Our stay at the CMML guesthouse was enjoyed by the whole family and we are grateful for the rest we had there.

The Johnsons who attended the wedding.

On our way back we spent almost a week in Kenya with Jacob and Annette Hebert and their 2 boys (Annette is Luke's sister) before making the 3 day drive back to Kigoma.

Aaron and his cousin Carl.

Since returning we have been very busy with car & motorbike repairs, paperwork, and planning for the Disciples of Jesus school graduation. On Saturday, Sept. 3 we had 4 students graduate (just like last year). Please pray that these young people would love the Lord with all their hearts and serve Him faithfully.

Daudi and Shadrack, Happy and Prisca.

Last Sunday we were able to visit a new church plant in a village about 1.5 hours away. We went with a couple of the elders from nearby churches, who are ministering to them at this early stage. We also took Bibles for them to buy at a reduced price. Pray that these believers would be firmly rooted and grounded in the Word, that they might understand God's will for them.

A young girls' choir sings for the church service that is outside.

That very afternoon there is another choir ready to sing!

Unfortunately, a young people's conference and seminar had to be cancelled after the youth leadership were not happy with some of the elder's decisions. Please pray for humility and repentance for the youth leaders, and that there would be a spirit of unity and a willingness to work together.

On the home front we continue to homeschool Esther and Emily. Luke has decided to do science with the girls and Gina does the other subjects. We try and do double each day with Esther so that we can finish 3rd grade and start 4th. This is because her 3rd grade schoolbooks were held up in a container for over half the school year. Pray for strength for Gina as she keeps house, takes care of 2 young boys, cooks, and also tries to find time to homeschool.

Taking a hike on Luke's 35th birthday.

Emily blowing out 6 candles!

Since returning we have also been battling with various illnesses, including worms, bad colds, and malaria. It seems there is always at least 1 or 2 in the family who are not feeling well. Please pray for Aaron to get over malaria and pray for the others who have long been trying to get over their colds. 

Luke continues to meet regularly with an old Muslim man named Nyamweru. They are reading "The King of Glory" book together (in Swahili), 1 or 2 chapters at a time. Only recently has he begun to discuss the things we are reading so we are thankful for the Spirit's work in him. Today our muslim neighbors and friends remember Abraham's sacrifice and make animal sacrifices of their own.  Please pray that God would help them to understand the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings in Christ,
Luke and Gina, and Esther, Emily, Aaron and Michael.

Prayer Card

You know... the kind you put on your fridge so you can remember to pray for us. This is it. Print it now!

Summer 2016

Compare it with our first prayer card.... there's a couple more blondies in the picture.

Fall 2008

June Update

Last month Luke went with a team to a newer church plant some 7 hours south of Kigoma. They had a 4-day evangelistic conference with door-to-door visitation, gospel meetings and evening films. Please pray for those that made professions of faith.

Going door to door.

The house where the guests stayed.

Mr. Isaac getting his photo taken with one of the choirs.

All set up for the afternoon conference.

We are enjoying our stay at CMML in New Jersey this month. We have had the opportunity to speak at a few assemblies in the area. Next week we will travel to New York for Steven Johnson's wedding and we look forward to spending time with family.

Back in Kigoma, Tanzania, our brother Japhet continues to teach at the “Disciples of Jesus” school. We recently heard some very sad news, that our friend Heshima was in a motorcycle accident and died. He was a deacon in the Kigoma assembly and choir director and had been the main speaker for the last evangelistic conference. We ask that you pray for that group of believers as they grieve this loss.

Heshima preaching in the afternoon meeting.

Thank you for your prayers for us.

Blessings in Christ,

Luke and Gina Johnson

with Esther, Emily, Aaron and Michael

May Newsletter

We praise the Lord for his provision and continued guidance as we serve Him in western Tanzania. Our news since our last newsletter is that Luke was able to travel to the bigger town of Mpanda south of here. Together with fellow believers he taught for 3 days on Christ Loved the Church. In the evening he showed evangelistic films. This church is only about a year old. The few believers use a classroom in a nearby school for their meetings. Because the seminars were being held on a school day they had to meet elsewhere. One man from the church welcomed everyone to his place. A temporary shelter of tarps was made so they could sit in his front yard and learn from the Word of God.

Sunday morning service was held in a school classroom.

Japhet teaching a seminar session.

Fellow leaders who attended the seminar and helped teach. Man in the blue shirt hosted everybody on his property.

That same week, Peter, from the Kigoma church made a trip to visit a tribe called the Wataturu in central Tanzania. Peter has a burden for this fairly unreached people group and wishes to see lives changed by the Gospel and a church established in their community. He is seeking the Lord's guidance as to maybe living among them and having the local church support him and his young family as missionaries. Please pray for him.

Peter (in the yellow) with the Wataturu.

Early this morning Luke left once more to help with an evangelistic conference south of here. For three days they will do door-to-door and then a gospel presentation and in the evenings show evangelistic films. The days will be long and tiring but please pray that the truth of God's Word will be proclaimed. Pray for a spiritual hunger, especially in this month of Ramaddan.

As a family, we are looking forward to a 5-week break in the US next month. We will be in New Jersey and New York to attend Luke's brother's wedding. Aaron celebrated turning three last week. Emily celebrated finishing kindergarten this week. Michael is now a walker and getting into more mischief than before! Esther enjoys playing with her neighbor friends and is such a help to her mom.

Aaron on his birthday.

Luke and baby Michael taking a much needed siesta.

Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings in Christ,

Gina and Luke, and Esther, Emily, Aaron and Michael.

April Update

Dear praying friends and family, we want to thank you for your prayers for us this past month.

We have 2 praise items that we are pleased to mention:
1. We received our residence permits (we had to reapply since they had lost the first application papers) and they gave us 2 full years from now.
2. We were given an alternate piece of land for the Discipleship Course, as compensation for the one we bought from someone who was not really the owner. It has been a long wait and has required perseverance and patience but we thank the Lord for answering our prayers and yours.

We thank you for your prayers for the 2 day seminar on giving at the village of Sambara. As follow up I have heard good reports from one of the elders there. Since then we attended the Easter Conference here in town (Friday) and then we went to the village of Songambele for Easter Sunday.

Church at Sambara

Luke has since been back to Songambele with some elders from the nearby churches to reinstall the other elder in that church. He had fallen into sin, received discipline, confessed his sin publicly and waited for a period while his life was watched to make sure he had changed. We are pleased that along with the congregation's full consent he was officially put back into leadership.

We also hosted, together with Harry and Ruth Johnson, our Annual General Meeting (AGM) of CMML missionaries here in Kigoma (it is required by the government). Ron and Maria Cunningham (an older couple from N. Ireland) attended from Moshi and Steve Davies from Dar Es Salaam. We enjoyed our time together giving and hearing reports and fellowshipping.

AGM attendees

We had a local church meeting last Saturday, and on Sunday 2 ladies that have been at odds were able to ask each other's forgiveness and reconcile. Please pray that there would be complete restoration between their families as there may still be some other problems under the surface. This is also an answer to prayer.

This past week was quite a challenge. Our whole family got sick, one at a time with a very bad flu, accompanied by a bad cold. We are all over the flu, except for Michael who just came down with it yesterday, and still has a fever. Some of the rest of us are still coughing quite a bit, especially at night.

On Saturday Luke will be traveling with 4 Tanzanian brothers to the town of Mpanda where there is a new church plant. We will be with them for the Sunday meetings and then begin teaching a seminar on the subject of the church (starting Sunday afternoon and going through Tuesday). We will also be showing Christian and evangelistic films for 2 nights. We will return, Lord willing, on Wednesday.

Please pray for safe travels, that the car would run well, and that God's Word would build up, strengthen and save new souls. Also pray for Gina as she stays home with the kids (some still sick) and homeschools them and keeps house while I'm gone.

Helpful Aaron

Silly Michael

Emily and Esther relaxing at the beach.

You are a vital part of this battle, so keep praying. There is opposition but the Lord is still working so we take courage.

In Christ,
Luke, for the family.

Exciting sightings

It's not a couple of little rocks.

"Now you see me ... now you don't."

I would like to share a praise: I went to Jakobsen's beach with the 4 kids on Saturday as Luke was at a long church meeting. It was unusually quiet and we had the place to ourselves. The girls stayed close to the edge instead of venturing to snorkel by the cliffs or "fish world" as they call it. As we were relaxing in the sand and warming up we saw a hippo near the rocks (right where the kids like to snorkel). It resurfaced 3 other times before heading in the direction of beach 1. We watched in awe from the safety of the sandy beach. The girls got a little frantic and kept telling me that they were ready to head home and could we please hurry!

I am thankful for the times that God protects us and we don't even know it.

Just 3 minutes before I was taking photos of Aaron.

So the girls went to the changing rooms while I got the boys dressed and packed our things. A few minutes later the girls came back telling of how they'd jumped when they saw a monitor lizard run in front of them. They thought it was funny because they were already a bit uneasy with the sighting of a hippo. As we talked excitedly on our way back to the car and past the fresh zebra poop there was a scurrying just ahead and I saw a duiker bound along the path and into the cover of the trees!

I think I'll go to the beach with Luke next time!