Zack Thomas Johnson

A Heart for God
We praise the Lord for a wonderful end of the year at our church!  We saw a number of salvation decisions, re-dedications to the Lord, and over 50 visitors at our special Christmas activities.  During our first service of 2010, which we called Vision Sunday, Erik challenged the church to have  “A Heart for God,” which is this year’s theme.  We have begun to pass out a daily devotional “Steps in the Word” that encourages our people to have personal devotions.  Praise the Lord that Juan Carlos, who has attended our church for the last 6 months, recently accepted Christ as his personal Savior; and since his salvation has shown a great desire to learn more through discipleship and personal devotions.  We are thrilled that God has already begun to work in the hearts of people and we pray that this will continue throughout all of 2010!

Haitian Relief
Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12th, many have asked us what can be done to help.  Our church here is collecting food, supplies, and money that will be given to missionary friends who have set up a distribution center in Haiti.  If you would like to donate to this project you can contact BIMI and make your donations to Jeff Garrison/Haitian Relief #1210.  Jeff is a fellow BIMI missionary who is helping with the transport of the supplies.

Bundle of Joy
We are excited to announce that our little bundle of joy, Zack Thomas Johnson, entered the world at 6 am on January 16, 2010.  Both baby and mommy are doing great! We thank the Lord for such a healthy pregnancy and birth.

Prayer Requests:
–Spiritual growth for church
-Continued health of the family
-Soul winning ministry

Merry Christmas!

Thankful hearts
We spent Thanksgiving Day in the Dominican with some missionary friends feasting on turkey and all the trimmings!  As usual, we ate too much! While celebrating this holiday we reflected on the tremendous blessings God has heaped upon our plate this year!  We have seen many Dominicans accept Christ as their personal Savior and begin discipleship classes, a solid core of people attending the church faithfully, God’s protection during a car accident and small house fire, and innumerable other blessings. During this season of thanksgiving, we would like to thank all of our family, friends, and church supporters for your faithful prayers and financial support. In the midst of these difficult economic times, we understand that many of you are making great sacrifices.  Please know that God is blessing your investment!

Caribbean Christmas
Here in the DR the Christmas season begins very early.  In fact, this year we put up our Christmas tree two weeks before Thanksgiving.   By mid-November the holiday is in full swing.  Because Dominicans love to celebrate Christmas so much, we have planned a number of evangelistic outreaches in the community. With the help of our church family we hope to reach some people in our community that have never heard the true Reason for the season.  Please pray that the Lord would bless these special activities and that many would be saved.  What a great Christmas gift that would be!

Merry Christmas!!!

Prayer Requests:
-Holly’s pregnancy and delivery
-Family health and safety
-Church ministries
-Christmas outreaches

 

Ashley and Ginny enjoying our first soul winning outing!

 

Growing Family

Our thoughts lately have been focused on the upcoming growth of our family in January. (It’s a boy!)  As we have thought about our growing family, we also have seen the need of helping our church families grow spiritually.  The number of families that have been splintered by infidelity and divorce is sadly alarming. This month we have had a preaching series and activities centered on the family.  The response has been tremendous! In fact, one of our best attended activities was a “Family Game Night,” during which we played various board games, enjoyed food, fellowship, and had a message on families.  We are praying that God would bless our church with more families that desire to have a heart for God.  Please pray for our family as well, that we would be a godly example!

Working in the Fields

An exciting milestone for our church was the beginning of our Saturday “soul winning” ministry.  We have always desired to have a church that is focused on the souls of the lost world, as well as the needs of those in the church.  

I have begun to teach a soul winning class that is followed up with street evangelism every Saturday.  We have tried to include the entire family in this new ministry, and the response has been very encouraging. (Above Ashley and her friend Ginny are enjoying our street evangelism.)

Prayer Requests:

-Holly’s pregnancy

-Family health

-Soul winning ministry

-Wisdom in training Ashley

-Iglesia Bautista La Verdad

-Family month

-Spiritual growth

 

Here is a picture taken after our first service!

 

To God Be the Glory…

…great things He hath done!

This week we were reminded of this great hymn as we celebrated the first service at Iglesia Bautista La Verdad!  During the last month we had two missions teams visit from the US.  The first was a teen group from Landmark Independent Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.  They were a great help to us as they passed out over 7,000 Gospel tracts and invitations to our first church service.  Two weeks later our home church, Temple Baptist Church, sent a group of adults from both the English and Spanish churches. They helped us prepare for a special “Weekend for the Family” with a Friday Family Fun Night, a Saturday Family Fair, and our first official service on 

Sunday.  We thank the Lord for six other Dominican Baptist churches who helped make the Family Fair a success.  For our first service our home pastor, Dr. David Pittman preached a clear Gospel message in English while Branden Lawrence, our Spanish pastor, translated. In total we had well over 300 people attend our weekend activities and many accepted Christ as their Savior.  We would like to thank all of our supporters who helped make this special weekend possible. Please pray for us as we follow up with those who received Christ as well as those who attended our weekend activities. 

Little Teammate 

Please pray for Holly as we are “expecting” a new little teammate the end of January

 

First Bible study at Truth Baptist Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Steps

 

Several months back when our little Ashley began taking her first steps there was an awful lot of wobbling and falling down.  After much determination and hard work, she finally learned to walk.  It has been similar to our ministry here.    We have begun to take our first “baby” steps; and it is an exciting time!  This past month we have rented a store front which will serve as the first church building for  Iglesia Bautista La Verdad (Truth Baptist Church.)  We have already begun holding Bible studies on Sunday mornings and have had a wonderful response with many visitors.  Also we have continued in our downtown park ministry and neighbor-hood visitation which have yielded many good contacts and saved souls.  Praise the Lord!  Please continue to pray for us as we take those “baby steps”!

Big offering

Usually when we think of a “big offering” we think of thousands of dollars given to a church or some other huge donation.  However, this week I witnessed one of the biggest offerings of sacrifice that I have seen.  David, one of our new converts, is a shoe shiner downtown.   Instead of working on Sunday, a busy day for him, he decided to attend our Bible study.  This young man has little in this world besides a few clothes, his shoes, and a shoe shine box.  While driving him back to work I told him that the Lord would honor his sacrifice.  His response was, “You have to dedicate time for God.”  This simple statement encouraged us that God is already working in the hearts of people here! We also realize that many of you are making big sacrifices so that we can serve the Lord here in the DR.  Thank you!

 

Ashley doing her part in the unpacking process....being sweet!!!

Getting Settled 

It is hard to believe that we have been in the Dominican for two months now.  Boy, how time flies!  On the mission field, some days seem to “fly” faster than others.  For example, we spent the first 16 days in the capital working on getting our container out of customs.  Though this may sound like a long time to you, in reality we were able to get our container in record time.  We praise the Lord for the help of some fellow BIMI missionaries and a local lawyer.

After our container cleared customs we moved our things into our new home and have been spending our time getting unpacked and adjusting to our new culture.

Fresh Fruit

Our area in the Dominican has many orchards and fruit trees of all kinds.  There are few things sweeter in this world than fresh fruit right off the tree.  Likewise, in our Christian life there is nothing “sweeter” than leading someone to the Lord.  Recently I was passing out tracts in our city square when a young man approached me and asked me to explain the tract to him.  I was able to present the Gospel to him and another man, and praise the Lord, both men received Christ as their Savior!  These two men, Manuel and Teodoro, are our first two Dominican converts.  They are fresh “. . .fruit that may abound to your account”!!!  (Phil. 4:17)

Prayer Requests

-Souls to be saved

-Spanish improvement

-Building to rent for church

-Continued good health 

-Personal walk w/ the Lord

 

Our first week in the DR

Our crew of helpers

Ashley and Luz

 

Never too late!

We have many memories from our year at language school, but the most special one occurred during our final week in Costa Rica.  Holly was able to lead a lady to the Lord that we had been praying for the entire year!   Holly had spoken to “Luz” about the Lord often, but “Luz” had never received Him as her Savior.  After much prayer, Holly witnessed to her one final time.  She and Holly both shed tears of joy as she prayed to become a child of the King.

Ready, Set, Go! 

After 18 months of deputation, and 12 months of language school, we finally arrived in the Dominican Republic on February 14 — yes, Valentine’s Day! Much of our last month was spent packing as we prepared to load our container.  We want to thank our family, as well as the members of White Plains Baptist Church, and the men of Macedonia World Baptist Missions for their help in packing our container (seen above).  After our container was shipped, we traveled to our home church for Erik’s ordination and our send off service.  Pastor Pittman preached a challenging message that exhorted us to serve the Lord with all of our heart.  Now, more than ever, we covet your prayers as our ministry in the DR is just beginning.  We greatly appreciate your vital role in our ministry through your prayers and financial support!  Thanks!

Prayer Requests

-People to be saved

-Our Spanish skills

-Cultural adaptation

 

‘Tis the Season

With the help of our fellow language school students, we organized and threw a Christmas party for 87 local orphans.  We had carnival style games, piñatas, face painting, gifts, and most importantly we were able to share the wonderful story of our Savior’s birth with them.  Our prayer for these young orphans is that they would understand that there is a Heavenly Father that loved them so much that He sent His only Son to be the Greatest Gift of all!

The Greatest Gift

As the Christmas season approaches we often think about beautifully wrapped gifts placed under the Christmas tree; but it is the Greatest Gift, the good news of Christ, that we should be giving.   Recently I finally felt comfortable enough with my Spanish to go soul winning by myself; so I began witnessing to our neighborhood guard, Antonio.  After speaking to him on three separate occasions about salvation it was apparent that he had already accepted Christ as his personal Savior; however, his assurance of salvation was very weak.  I asked if he would allow me to begin a Bible study with him, and he readily agreed.  In the last month we have had more than 12 lessons covering topics such as assurance of salvation, the Bible, and prayer.  Please pray for him to continue desiring to grow in his daily walk with the Lord! 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! 

We want to wish you all a very               

Merry CHRIST-mas!! 

The Johnsons

Ashley having fun on her mat.

Men in our Church dressing up for Independence Day

Family fun in the Costa Rican rain.

Life at Language School

Between studying full-time and being completely immersed in a Spanish environment, we have kept very busy this year.   We have had the opportunity to visit many good local independent Baptist churches. Helping with neighborhood outreaches, going soulwinning, and participating in special cultural days has helped us gain many good ideas for our future ministry.  (The men in the picture above are dressed up for Independence Day.)  Living in another country has taught us many valuable lessons, most of which deal with our need to know the language well before we can have an effective ministry in the Dominican. We have just a few months remaining in our studies before we return to GA to pack our container, but we are so glad for the time we have had here to learn both language and culture.  We want to personally thank all of those who have given and prayed so that we can serve our Lord.  Please continue!

My LIttle Word

Just wanted to let everyone know how I have been doing since it has been a long time since you have  received an update on me.    I now have 2 bottom teeth; I am eating Gerber baby food, and I crawl around the house so much that my parents do not know what to do with me!  I am very healthy, and I thank God for His goodness to me and my family.  I miss you all!   

Prayer Requests

-Continued good health

-Language studies

-Residency visas

-Container preparation

-Find housing in DR

Surveying the City

What a blessing it was to recently be able to visit the city the Lord has called us to, San Francisco de Macorís, during a break from language school. This trip really encouraged us as we make our final push at language study in Costa Rica.  We had the chance to visit and become better acquainted with the city where we will soon be serving.  While there, we were able to pass out many Gospel tracts, find several good options for housing, and we even found some affordable places to start our first church.   We also met a young man named Argelis while in the Dominican.   After talking to him for a few minutes he admitted that he was not saved and did not go to church.  Please pray for him!  We are so burdened to see people like Argelis come to know the Lord, but we know that we cannot do it alone.  We thank you for your prayerful and financial support; however, the battle is about to begin and we need your prayers more than ever.  With the Lord’s help this city will be won! 

 

Preaching in Español

On our trip to the Dominican Republic I was able to preach my first message in Spanish at the Fountain of Life Baptist Church in Santo Domingo.  The message title was “El Evangelio” (The Gospel).  Though the message was not a long one, it was thrilling to be able to share God’s plan of salvation in another language

Erik and Holly look of San Francisco

Erik preaching in Santo Domingo