More blessed then words can say!
Dear
Friends and Family,
Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard;
Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!
My oh my,
what a season it has been and continues to be! We are still in awe and full of
praise of the whirlwind Jesus has allowed us to be a part of. We have been
busier than ever these past weeks but we have seen the Lord bless the work of
our hands in ways we could never imagine. As always, when the Lord is working
and we are faithful we meet opposition all the way;but God has been gracious
and given us the strength to stay faithful and obedient to the tasks He has
placed before us.
May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God
our Father, who loved us and by His
grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
We were
also blessed to have some very special visits. God has brought some wonderful
people to encourage us and help us in these crazy times. We were first blessed
to have a visit from my dear friend Debi, (the Global Outreach Director of
Grace Community Church),
and her son Dave. Debi was really instrumental in helping us to make some big
and hard decisions regarding our ministry here and our future. We really can’t
say enough about how amazing it was to have her here to see what we do, what
God is doing and to have faces to put with the names.
Also,
our wonderful friend Wes has returned for two months to serve in the teahouse
ministry and help with English Camps. Already his effectiveness has been made
apparent and it is evident God wants to use him in BIG ways while he is here.
We are so excited to have him back and Chello in particular is thankful to have
a friend. Again, we will be really sad to see him go, but are so grateful for
the time he has given us.
And a
HUGE blessing is that my mother, Peggy, has come to stay for 5 months to help
me during camps, get the house ready for Zoe and to help after our sweet girl
comes home. So far she has been amazing as always;she has been shopping,
cleaning, doing laundry, giving us LOTS of hugs and helping in any way she can.
She is always a blessing to have here and we are very grateful.
For everything that was written in the past
was written to teach us, so that
through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for
you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s
afflictions, for the sake of His
body, which is the church.
In this
past season Chello and I have dealt with some huge struggles and opposition;and
sadly as it has been in the past, most of the attacks we have dealt with have
been in our own church. However, in this season Jesus has
been teaching us that He can give us the grace and humility to serve those who
persecute us and forgive those who don’t believe they need to be forgiven. And
as we are faithful to forgive and let Jesus take care of His church we still
see growth even among the opposition. We have been really taking outreach to
new levels and doing everything in our power to get our church known in this
community and to share the gospel as much as possible. I can happily say that
Jesus has taken the attendance of our little church from 5 to15 people on a
Sunday to 25-50 people. Praise GOD! Since Mother’s Day our weekly attendance
has not dropped below 25 people. God is working and doing amazing things here! And
on Father’s Day I counted 94 people! So many came we didn’t have enough chairs
for everyone.
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?
Once
again we were blessed to be visited by a team from Scottsdale Bible Church’s
High School Ministry. We had 19 wonderful students and leaders come to help us
in four important parts of our ministry here.
We have
undergone construction again on our church building to help accommodate our
growing numbers;and the team was amazing in moving wood, picking up trash, clearing
out construction debris, installing walls and everything. Although the project
is still not done the improvements are already amazing.
Every
morning the team would visit the local schools in their English classes andthis
year we started a new relationship with a high school that we have never worked
with in the past. The response from this school was the most surprising and
rewarding for us. The students from SBC were promoting the teahouse and church
every day in all the classes they went to.
Every
evening we had teahouse and close to 100 Slovak students attended a few nights,really
there were too many for us to keep an accurate count. But one of the biggest
attendances was Friday where we had a concert and the gospel was shared.
Every
afternoon we also did outreach in the Gypsy community. This is always a blessed
time for us, the response is always overwhelming and life changing.
I can
just see how grateful these kids are and how much they love the Americans even
on the first day. Also, Chello and I get the amazing privilege to invite my
in-laws and extended family to come. Because of this outreach many of the
people from this community came to church for the first time on Father’s Day.
They gathered in such large numbers
that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the
word to them.
So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
I
am so happy to report that in the last few weeks not only has the gospel been
shared to so many, but also Jesus is being received. Three young people prayed
to accept Jesus as their Lord and savior! Two of them came into the family of
God during the outreach while the SBC team was here and one of them after
having many one on one talks with my brother, Noah. Praise GOD!!! We have been
praying and praying for so long to see fruit and for people here to get saved
and we are just in awe of how God is answering our prayers.
Also,
we can see how Jesus is working in the lives of those who still don’t know Him.
Our dear friend,Igor, whom we have been praying for, for years played in the
worship band this past Sunday. He still doesn’t believe there is a God, but is
drawn to almost everything we do and wants to be a part of it.
My
sweet Julia, who has shown up in a lot of my update letters, also came to
church this past Sunday for the first time. We have had some good talks about
what she heard and she promised me that she is going to come back next Sunday.
Two
young boys, Roman and David, have come for the past three Sundays and to every
teahouse. Last Saturday Chello took them aside and challenged them to really
think about the Gospel they have been hearing and to accept Jesus.
From birth I was cast on you; from my
mother’s womb you have been my
God.
From birth I have relied on You; You
brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise You.
As I am
sure a lot of you have figured out, Chello and I have decided to stay in
Slovakia for the birth of our little girl, Zoe. We really believe that God is
asking us to stay and have faith in Him and that He will get us through this. We
cannot thank you all enough for the prayers, encouraging emails and financial
gifts that you have given to Chello and I during this time. We have never felt
so blessed, loved and lifted by the Body as we do now. Words are not enough to
show our gratitude and what you all have meant to us during this time.
Our last
doctor visit didn’t provide much more information other than it turns out that
Zoe doesn’t have the defect Gastroschisisbut she has Omphalocele.
Omphalocele
is basically a hernia at the base of the umbilical cord (can contain bowel,
liver) and is covered by a sac of amnion. It is more common with this defect that
there could be issues with her other organs. We won’t know if she has any other
problems until she is out and the surgeon can see her.
Still
our baby girl gets stronger and bigger every day;she is kicking, stretching and
rolling around in there without a care in the world. Chello and I are already
so in love with her and can’t wait to meet her in just over 7 weeks! We still don’t have the exact day of the C-section
but we know it will be the week of August 18th.
I will give you thanks, for You answered
me; You have become my salvation.
Prayer requests
That the
Lord will lead our steps and we will let Him.
That God
will continue to add to the Kingdom in Veľký Krtiš and we will stay obedient
and faithful to the Gospel. For Igor, Julia, Roman and David to come to know
Jesus as their savior.
For Baby
Zoe, that her condition will not worsen and that God will protect her in these
last few weeks in the womb and in her first days during surgeries and recovery.
For Chello and I to have continued faith and peace in God’s ability to care for
our little girl.
All this is for your benefit, so that the
grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow
to the glory of God.
Thank
you all again for the prayers and support. We really love that we are not here
serving alone but that the Body has united to pray for us and the ministry in
Veľký Krtiš. We love you all and are so blessed to have you serving alongside
us.
Chello, Meghan & Zoe Johnson
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