Happy 2025! We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Praise the Lord, we had a great, though busy, end of the year. In the middle of November, we were able to participate in a nearby church camp. We had a couple of families from our church participate and had a sweet time in fellowship and preaching of the Word. Everyone left encouraged and challenged. Ìt is always a blessing to be able to take part in camp.
December started with our Thanksgiving service on the 1st followed by our Christmas cantata on the 8th. We had 15 first time visitors for the cantata and some have already returned for a second visit. We have also had several first time visitors that found out about the church simply by walking past it. They have come several times already as well. Pray that we would be able to visit each visitor and that they would become faithful families in the church.
Pray for Lily and I as we experienced a miscarriage the weekend before Christmas. That was our second loss in the past 6 months. We are so grateful though that we were able to spend the week of Christmas a couple hours away with my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. They were such an encouragement to us during a difficult week. We are praying that God will give us a child to hold very soon. We can only trust that His will is always perfect.
My parents returned to Brazil from the US on the 1st of January and my dad is now resuming the head position at the church. I have learned so much in the past 4 months operating a church for the first time on my own. We are very much looking forward to when God will use what we have learned in our church plant. We are so thankful that we have been able to step into a ministry that is already established to learn under. Pray that the Lord will direct our steps over the next couple of years as He prepares us to start a work on our own. Starting a church comes with a whole new set of challenges, but we are confident that God will help us through every step.
God bless.
David and Lily Johnson
Missionaries to Brazil
São Caetano do Sul – SP
Psalm 139:14