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| Manaaim 2011 |
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| Manaaim 2010 |
Every morning I pray for missionaries that I know. [I am a missionary's kid and missionaries are near and dear to my heart.] Most of the missionaries I pray for are people who I have come to know and love.
Today I prayed for Jim and Lydia Johnson. After my prayer time this morning, I logged onto my facebook page and saw that Jim and Lydia's daughter had added pictures of the Manaaim campgrounds that are being built for camps, seminars, conferences and general training for the churches in the Jaguaribe Valley (Northeast Brazil). Alot has been accomplished since I was there in April 2010.
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| Jim and Lydia Johnson |
Now, if you ever meet Jim and Lydia, what you will find is a humble, unassuming, Godly couple who have a passionate determination to see the church established in a very ungodly, unchurched area of Northeast Brazil. Bill and Sandi Graf, who left the field due to health reasons, began the work there and the Johnsons continue on.
I visited with Jim and Lydia in April of last year. They are now in the city of Morada Nova. The work is hard. The people they are seeking to reach with the Gospel are extraordinarily cold and uninterested, but they continue on.
I think Jim and Lydia understand what they have been called to do. I think they also understand that their job is not to save people but simply to faithfully proclaim the Gospel and establish the church by pointing people to the cross of Christ.
Jim and Lydia are a great example to me of being faithful in ministry. As Jim showed me a map of areas he was planning on targeting in coming years, I asked him what his plans were and he said unassumingly: "I wouldn't be surprised if I spend the rest of my life here in this area." Of course plans change and I don't know what God has in store for them but in that sentence you see someone who is committed and faithful to the task at hand.
Really, isn't that what all believers are called to? No, we may not be on the mission field but we are to be salt and light right where we are (Matthew 5:13-16). Jesus before His ascension gave a geographical scope to the disciples as to where He wanted His church established and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
A second lesson that I learned from Jim and Lydia is that faithfulness is not flamboyant. I have had in my mind at times that if I can only grow my ministry in numbers that that will show my faithfulness. Jim and Lydia have spent years spreading the Gospel and building those campgrounds. Jim specifically told me that they are building the campgrounds as the Lord provides the funds, matter of fact with the undeveloped part of their property they are raising crops to fund it! Hmmm No debt -- No big appeals by email and letters for money -- No huge buildings or media centers -- Just trust Christ to supply their needs. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
Thanks Jim and Lydia for showing me how to be faithful as I minister for God's Kingdom!!!
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Jim and Lydia serve with the Brazil Gospel Fellowship Mission as church planters. BGFM has recently adopted its 2020 Vision which seeks to focus on planting churches in areas that have no Gospel witness presently. We are looking for men and women who are passionate to see the church established in areas where the saving message of the Gospel has not been proclaimed. If you would like to know more about BGFM's 2020 Vision and would like to be a part of a family of missionaries who have made the proclamation of the Gospel their goal since 1930, feel free to contact me, Tim Bergen at timbergen44@gmail.com or you can contact BGFM's Executive Director, Dan Anderson at dan.bgfm@gmail.com.
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