April Update
Dear
Friends and Family,
We ought always thank God for you, brothers
and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and
the love all of you have for one another is increasing.
2 Thessalonians 1:3
I sit
here at the end of another whirlwind month feeling like it has been a life time
since I last wrote. There has been so many blessing, surprises, answers to
prayer and hardships. The God we serve is so amazing and unpredictable and I am
happy to share with you all some of the wonderful and hard things we are
dealing with now in Veľký Krtiš.
How, then, can they call on the one they
have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not
heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach
unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring good news!
Romans 10:14-15
I am
happy to report that we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt Party in the teahouse
and like years past it was a full house. This was an answer to prayer because
my brother Noah shared the gospel message that he had been praying over for
weeks to a packed room of teenagers. I have never in all my time here seen
these students so quiet and focused. Not only did we have a blast planning
games and hanging out, but each one of those students heard very clearly that
Jesus loves them and died for them. It was blessed.
Through
a lot of prayer and fasting this year we felt lead to invite people on a large
scale to Good Friday service and Easter services. We printed and handed out
1000 invitations to the town of VK. Not only that, but we prayed for weeks for
each home that received an invitation and prayed for more opportunities to
invite.
When
Good Friday rolled around we were all shocked to wake up to one of the heaviest
snow storms I have ever seen. We were convinced that no one would show up;however,
God had other plans. Two young boys who had come to teahouse with a friend came
and heard the gospel message and believed. PRAISE JESUS!
And
Easter Sunday we were so overjoyed to see our church (with normal attendance
around 10-15) packed with nearly 50 people, 35 of them visitors. We could
hardly contain our joy. I hope you remember me mentioning Marcela in my last
letter. She and her children had started to come to church regularly, and her
oldest son Mino also excepted Jesus. Amen!
Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:19
The Holy
Spirit is working and God is moving in Veľký Krtiš. The biggest fruit we see
now is in young men. So much so that Chello started a young men’s Bible study.
Chello and another married man from our Church take turns leading the group
through the very basics of the faith. There are four young men (the 3 I
mentioned above) and one other who I believe Jesus is working in him but he is
not quite ready or doesn’t quite understand what it means to believe.
Chello has
been super excited to spend time with these young guys leading them in Bible
studies and just hanging out and being a great older example in their life.
So then let us pursue what makes for peace
and for mutual upbuilding.
That together you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A
surprising turn of events two weeks ago was the apartment directly adjacent to
my brother Noah’s became available. The catch was we would need to take it
right away because it was in demand. This meant painting, fixing up, packing,
moving, and unpacking all in two weeks.
After
both Johnson families prayed about it we thought it would be a good idea to
take it. Before we lived about a 20 minute walk from each other. Now we just
walk about 10 feet. Already it has given us more time together to talk about
ministry, pray with each other and spend time together as a family. God really
blessed with this beautiful new home.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and
sisters,[a]
whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because
you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
James 1:2-3
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
In the
midst of all of this going on around us Chello and I were super excited to
visit our OBGYN. This being the 5th month we were excited to find
out the sex of our little Baby Johnson as well as get a wonderful new photo to
put on our fridge. Unfortunately the news we got was not so joyous. Our doctor
here spotted something off about Baby Johnson’s stomach. At first he thought
that the baby’s organs were not all traveling from the umbilical cord into the
torso. He sent us to another doctor in Lucenec (about 40 min drive away) he too
could see that there was a problem but he wasn’t sure what exactly it was. So
we were sent to a hospital in Banska Bystrica (a large city about 1 ½ hours
drive) to see another doctor there.
It was
established that Baby Johnson has a birth defect called Gastroschisis(a hole in
their stomach, something like a hernia) and some of the intestines and all or
part of the liver is poking out of the hole. The doctors were concerned by this
because to relocate the liver can be dangerous and even require more than one
surgery for the baby.
I also
went through a procedure where they removed some amniotic fluid from my uterus
to determine if there were other chromosomal defects such as Down’s that can
also occur with this kind of birth defect. Most of those results came back negative.
Praise the Lord it the doctor said we are 90% in the clear that the Gastroschisis
is the only defect.
Still this
means that I will have to have a C-Section birth and Baby Johnson will be
rushed to surgery as soon as he or she leaves my belly.
As you
can imagine this has been a difficult and trying time for Chello and I. Now we
face more questions concerning where we should have this baby. Originally we
planned to stay in Slovakia for the birth because I don’t have health insurance
in the States. Now we are wondering if it might be better for the baby to try
and get on AHCCCS health care and get Chello a Visa so Baby Johnson can be
taking care of in Scottsdale. Again, I’m not even sure it is possible for us
and we are not sure what the best road would be for our little family, but we
are heavy in prayer that the Lord will lead our steps in the best direction for
our dear Baby Johnson.
But be
encouraged! Jesus is already using our Baby Johnson’s situation for His glory.
During the ultrasound one of the doctors told Chello and I we should consider
an abortion. We informed him this was not an option now nor would it ever be.
The Doctor then asked us “So you guys are Christians. So what does all this say
about your God?” and right then and there in the middle of the hospital room in
front of the doctor and his nurse, Chello and I shared the gospel and our faith
in our God to take care of this baby and its precious life how He sees fit. And
as we were leaving the nurse told me that she admires us for our decision.
Prayer request~
The Lord
will lead our steps and we will let Him.
For the
young believers in VK and those so very close, that God will hold them close
and grow them that they too can go out and tell others about Jesus.
For Baby
Johnson. That the Lord will heal his/her little broken
body and that no other defects will show up from these tests.
For
Chello and I that God will give us leading in what actions we should take. And
this will only grow our faith in our Lord as we lean on Him for our strength.
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