Dear Friends,
God is so good! We are 3 months into full time deputation and God has been very good to us. We had 3 new churches take us on and we are now at 8% of our total support goal. We have mostly stayed within the Midwest, but took one trip into the hills of Virginia. Many of our meetings have been in northern Michigan where Lily grew up. It has been a blessing to be able to visit her family in between meetings there. This has also exposed us to the wonders of winter driving. I even got my “initiation” when we ended up in the ditch, 5 minutes from Lily’s parents’ house, on a particularly icy day. Praise the Lord there were no injuries and no damage to any vehicle.
It is truly amazing how God provides for us as we do His will. This has been clearly evident, even through the timing of an unforeseen problem. We were at a conference when our car battery died after one of the services. One of the deacons was there and was able to give us a jump. We looked at the battery and discovered that it was over 5 years old. Before the end of the week the church had paid for a new car battery and installed it in the van. We thank God for moving the hearts of sensitive individuals to help us in times of need.
God is blessing us in huge ways and we feel that it is only right to be a funnel and bless others. It has been a joy to be able to give to others, knowing that God has promised to supply the needs of those who give. We were recently able to spend about half a week with Lily’s extended family for a Christmas/New Year get together. We were able to give a gift bag to each of the couples in the family. Included in the bag was a gospel tract. Most of Lily’s extended family is not saved. Several of them asked us about what we do and we were able to explain what a missionary is. Pray that God will use the tracts and our examples to reach her family for Christ and that we would have good opportunities to witness to them in the future.
Please continue to pray for us as we are traveling on deputation. We will hear back from several churches this month about support, but we still have a while to go. We are excited that God is using us, even when we are not on the field. Pray for us to reach more souls for Christ while we travel. The harvest truly is plenteous. People in the U.S. need the gospel just as much as Brazil does. Thank you for your prayers and support. God bless.
David and Lily Johnson
Missionaries to Brazil
Psalm 139:14