From
November 27, 2008 (ed. note: in
Dear Partners in Ministry,
As I write this, it is Thanksgiving in Karaganda, Kazakhstan where we
are spending our mandatory 90 days out of Russia. Today we will join
with other American brothers and sisters in Christ in giving thanks
for all God's amazing blessings. It is just another working day in
Karaganda, and that highlights for us the difference between this
culture and our own culture with its history of trusting in God and
thanking God for our blessings. How blessed we are by God! Today,
Carol and I are giving thanks especially to God for several things:
life and health and a chance to serve the One who gives it to us; new
life in Jesus Christ; and for all of you who partner with us as we
serve Him. How richly blessed we are! We wish you all a blessed
and joy-filled Thanksgiving back in the States as well!
Of course, this is also the "kickoff" for the Christmas and New
Years' holidays. We want to take this opportunity to pray for a
blessed Christmas season for all of you. We read daily on the
internet of the turmoil in the financial and business systems in
America and realize all too well that many of you have been handed a
difficult basket of circumstances to deal with. We pray for God's
strength, perseverance and trust to pour out upon you. We go before
the Throne lifting up your faithfulness in supporting us financially
and in prayer as reasons for God to shower you with grace in
abundance. We love all of you and wish we could reach out through
the internet and give each of you a hug, handshake or kiss.
Some of you have wondered how the economic problems have been
affecting our ministry. As of this point in November, our account in
Norcross is declining as our expenses exceed our support income,
which has dropped off by about 20% so far. We are "holding our
breath" since a significant portion of our support has historically
come at the end of the year. We expect that support may decrease
significantly this year. We are praying that God will show each of
you ways to continue your support of our ministry. (If God shows
you the way, we ask you to consider a special gift this Christmas, or
even an increase in your monthly support. We are well aware that for
some of you, just continuing your current support is a real act of
faith). We trust that He will respond. We are doing our part by
trying to cut back our expenses as much as we are able to. With
God's help, we will survive and continue to minister – following in
the footsteps of Jesus as He spreads the Kingdom in Kazakhstan and
Far East Russia.
While we are in Kazakhstan, we are taking daily Russian language
lessons to help strengthen our ability to communicate. As many of
you know, Steve is the Regional Coordinator for Asia for The Mission
Society. In that capacity, he is now assisting the Kazakhstan field
with its transition period as it bids goodbye to Team Leader Scott
Tucker and family, and brings on a new Leader, Douglas Fears.
We will spend this Christmas and New Year's in Karaganda and then
leave for Khabarovsk on January 5th. Our plans, if God
agrees, are
to be in Russia until March and then to return to Karaganda for 3
months. If we are able to receive a new Russian visa, we will return
for 3 months to Khabarovsk in June of 2009. After that, we plan to
return to the States for our mandatory "furlough." This is the time
for rest, reflection on the future of our ministry, and time to "hit
the road" sharing our ministry with our supporting churches around
the US. We will be sending out a newsletter in the Spring
of 2009 in
which we will offer ourselves to speak at your churches and visit
many of you around the country who have been such faithful Partners.
We are looking forward to sharing personally with you.
We end this letter with love and wishes for a Christ-filled Christmas
for all of you. This Christmas, we will begin the morning with our
traditional reading of the Nativity story from the Gospels as we eat
Carol's home-made cinnamon rolls. We will take out your pictures
(from the prayer wall) and remember each of you in prayer and give
thanks to God for your love and support.
We are here because God has called and you are faithful in supporting
us. How honored we are to be your partners in God's work!
Happy Holidays, Grace, peace and love,
Steve and Carol
Support can be sent to:
Steve & Carol Johnson #283
The Mission Society
P O Box 922637
Norcross GA 30010
(800)478-8963
Our permanent address in the US:
Steve & Carol Johnson
4620 Boone Drive
Fremont CA 94538