Dear Friends,
The last couple of months have again been extremely busy. We spent all of November and the first week of December preparing for our church’s Christmas cantata. There was a lot of work that still needed to get done after the helpers from the CLAIM team left, but praise the Lord we were able to get enough done before the cantata. I spent much of my time finishing the bathrooms for the auditorium and finishing other details in the auditorium itself. In between the time I worked on the building, we canvased major portions of the city to invite people to our cantata.
We had our Christmas cantata on December 10 and had over 40 people in attendance! It was a wonderful time with fellowship and cake after the service. Many visitors came and several have come back in the weeks since the cantata. We are working on scheduling visits with each of the visitors and are praying that many will return as a result. Pray that God would allow us to be able to contact all of the visitors and that they would be willing to schedule a visit.
With the new building now presentable and in use, many people have stopped by to ask about the church and some have even come back for services. One couple, in particular, came one Sunday evening and said they always see our church members walk by their house on the way to church, so they decided to visit. Two weeks later, they came back a second time after my wife sent them a message thanking them for their visit. We are praying that God would allow them to start attending on a regular basis.
On a less positive note, in the last week of December, our church was robbed. They stole most of our sound and camera equipment, including many cables and microphones as well as some new fans. They also took the Lord’s Supper serving dishes, the hand rail for our handicap stall and several other metal objects. We believe the door was left unlatched and the thieves simply took the opportunity to steal the items. It was certainly discouraging to take such a step back after having worked so hard to get the building and sound system in working order.
Praise the Lord they did not take more that they did. We had our children’s coin offering for our missionaries at the front of the auditorium as well as other sound equipment. God certainly did protect the church even with the theft. It also gave us the unexpected opportunity to update our sound system, as parts of the stolen system were over 20 years old.
Despite the difficulties, God always knows best and provides what we need. I want to thank all of you who gave extra during the month of December, as it allowed us to purchase much of the needed equipment for the church. We were also able to have a wonderful first Christmas together. We are so thankful for so many wonderful churches and individuals that sacrifice to allow us to serve the Lord here in Brazil. Thank you all for your faithfulness in giving to the Lord.
Pray for the church this year as we have a lot planned. We are heading to family camp the end of this week, and we will take the teens to camp in March. We are planning to host two conferences at our church as well as the annual conference with our Brazilian mission board in a city a few hours away. We have something planned for every month this year, so we will stay very busy. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
God bless.
David and Lily Johnson
Missionaries to Brazil
São Caetano do Sul – SP
Psalm 139:14