The Johnson's in Mexico City

March - Marzo 2009

Baby in pink.

The cousins together. Los Primos juntos!

February 2009 Pics!!

Andres & Ana Paulina January 2009!!!

Tuesday, November 5, 2008

Some Really Good News!

This is to let you know that our little girl Ana Paulina was born this morning at 6:46 a.m. (via c-section). She weighed 2.880 kilograms or a little over 6 pounds and her length was 48.5 centimeters or a bit over 19 inches. She is beautiful and looks like Andres! I called Andres to let him know his little sister had arrived and told him he looked like her and he said to the gal who was taking care of him "Maki, my little sister looks like me!"

Thanks for your prayers for a safe delivery. We ask for your continued prayers for Nydia's recovery in the days ahead. Mom and baby are doing well.

The Countdown is On!!!!

Yes, in the next three weeks Johnson Baby #2 will arrive. This week Nydia was beginning to have contractions, but her doctor said she needs to wait until at least next week. It is looking like baby is not quite in position and the last ultrasound showed that she has her umbilical cord around her neck, which may be keeping her from getting in position. Please pray with us that she might position herself and untangle…so that Nydia won’t have to have a c-section.

Another item…is that our insurance company is showing a bit of reluctance to cover Nydia’s delivery…which would not be a good thing for us. Please pray that all gets worked out in this area, so we are fully covered.

Please continue to pray for a healthy delivery and arrival of baby Johnson (sometime between early November and Thanksgiving).

New YearOut Team 2008-2009

In mid-October our new Spearhead YearOut team arrived. Alicia, from California, will be working in discipleship and evangelism with young women in a local campus ministry and with a local church; Erica, from Texas, will be teaching English classes as an evangelistic tool, working with a local campus ministry and with a local church; Lauren, from North Carolina, will be working with a children’s home in Morelia, Michoacan Mexico…and returning for a second year…Michelle from Texas, is working with a local church and with a project sponsored by Compassion International serving children in poverty.

We are also thankful that Wendy Der, Spearhead Program Coordinator, is celebrating a year back in Mexico. She has been a huge blessing and support to both the ministry and our family!

Please join with us in praying that the Lord will be at work in and through each of these young women throughout this year

Paul, Nydia, Andres (turned 4 this summer) and baby Johnson (6 months along)

Our Growing Family

Our family is getting ready to grow in just a few months (baby is due November 24th) and Andres will be entering kindergarten (it begins younger here) so we will have a number of new adjustments in the next few months. With these new adjustments we will gain new expenses (Andres' schooling, baby’s arrival and one more mouth to feed). We are asking the Lord to help us to raise $600 more per month in regular support. Would you consider joining our support team or possibly giving a bit more?

We know these are economically challenging times and deeply appreciate each of you who give sacrificially.

Please pray with us for Nydia’s pregnancy and the healthy development of the baby on the way. Pray also that the Lord would provide $600 more per month and for Andres as he transitions to a new school.

Grateful for your prayers and financial support,

Paul, Nydia & Andres Johnson

2007-2008 Spearhead YearOut Participants

Spearhead YearOut Participants Move-on After Year in Mexico

Our 6 YearOut participants served as facilitators in the Spearhead and Ignite programs this summer after a year of ministry in Mexico are now transitioning back home or to other places for ministry; Andrew Gackenbach, from Maryland, will be heading to work in the slums in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Michelle Eaton, from Texas, will be continuing in Mexico with Spearhead to serve a second year with Compassion International, Kevin & Leah Book-Satterlee, from California, will pursue full-time missionary careers with LAM to plant a Spearhead program in Spain, Jim Jordan, also from Maryland, will head to Miami to serve as LAM’s short-term missions coordinator, and Stephanie Biegel, from Chicago, will return to the States for further schooling. Praise God that all of them are continuing in missions and ministry in some form or another!

Please continue to pray for them that God will supply all of their needs and that His purposes will be fulfilled in each of them.

Ignite (Gordon Conwell Compass Group) (www.lam.org/ignite)
This is the second summer that we have had the privilege to work with Gordon Conwell Seminary’s Compass program, a mentoring program for students entering their final year of high school. Each of these students has shown potential for Christian leadership and has received a personal recommendation to participate in this program which includes a week of wilderness survival training, a week of teaching at Gordon and outreach in Mexico City with Spearhead (http://www.gordonconwell.edu/ockenga/mccy/rmi/index.php). The Ignite/Compass team served one intense week in two churches and a preventive ministry for street children.

Please pray with us that the Lord would make His call clear in the lives of these young people and that some may consider longer-term service here in Mexico City.

Spearhead Summer Program 2008
We had an excellent summer with 12 Spearheaders and 6 leaders serving throughout Mexico City with 7 different churches ministering with children, youth, young adults and the elderly.

Thanks for your prayers that the Lord used to build His church here in Mexico!

Ministry Leader & Host Family Breakfast
The last Saturday of April we held a breakfast for ministry leaders and host families who are interested in receiving Spearhead volunteers this summer. We were blessed in that we have a number of new ministries that are interested in partnering with us. As always, the opportunities to serve are many, but the workers few, please pray that we will be able to send volunteers to as many ministries as possible this summer.

Return to San Jose Tenango, Oaxaca, Mexico
Paul returned to the Sierra Mazateca in Oaxaca to continue a seminar on Biblical Interpretation. Throughout the seminar, translation was provided from Spanish to Mazateco by different members of the church. Our Mexican church will return again in July with a medical and dental team, as there are no doctors or dentists that practice regularly in this town or many other towns within a 2 ½ hour radius in this mountainous region.

Please pray that the Lord would continue to be active among the Mazateco people and that God would provide as we seek to serve both their physical and spiritual needs.

Visit to the Casa Hogar El Buen Pastor - a Children’s Home in Morelia, Mexico
At the beginning of April we made a visit to a children’s home in Morelia, Mexico. It was a busy weekend spent with 30 children from the ages of 4 – 16. We are excited as a young woman from North Carolina is currently raising support to serve there during the next YearOut program.

Please pray with us that God raises up another volunteer to serve together with her.

A Three Year Old’s Answered Prayer

During the past couple months Andres has consistently prayed for two things: 1) A baby (he would like a sibling) and 2) A “pollito” – a little chicken. God has begun to answer his first request – as Nydia is now 7 weeks pregnant – the little one should arrive sometime around Thanksgiving! God has yet to answer the second request – we are waiting “expectantly” (no pun intended) to see what happens. We are not all that sure what we would do with a chicken, even a little one, in our small apartment.

Please pray that God would protect the little one and Nydia over the next number of months.

Summer is Drawing Near

It may not seem that close for many of you, but we are busy preparing for the arrival of our new summer volunteers. It is looking that we will have around 20+ college age young people here this summer serving in churches and social ministries throughout this vast city. By the way, if you know of any young men who might be interested in serving in Mexico City this summer please encourage them to think seriously about taking part in Spearhead (of course we’d be glad to have the young women as well, but the guys are slow in responding these days). Check out www.spearhead.org. We have moved back the application deadline to May 1st, for any last minute additions.

Please pray the Lord would raise up a good group of young people to serve here this summer.

Thankful for answered prayer!

Paul, Nydia & Andres Johnson

February – On the Road – Again and Again…
Texas
At the beginning of February we made a road trip to Texas to recruit for Spearhead, meet with Spearhead alumni and to see a few friends. We were blessed to visit friends in Monterrey, Mexico; in Edinburgh, Texas; San Antonio, Austin and Bastrop, Texas. We gave a presentation on opportunities with LAM and Spearhead at Hill Country Bible Church at the University of Texas at Austin and at the Asian American Intervarsity Fellowship meeting at Texas A& M.

Thanks for your prayers that sustained us (and our car) along the way!

Puebla, Mexico
Paul made a quick weekend visit to Puebla to visit one of the Spearhead YearOuters. This is the same city where Paul served for 5 months back in 1995!

San Jose Tenango, Oaxaca
The next week Paul was on the road once again headed to the Sierra Mazateca in Oaxaca. It takes about 6 hours in bus to arrive to a larger city in Oaxaca and then another 1 ½ hours in the back of their public transportation which happens to be an open pick-up truck. The bus ride is smooth for 4 hours and then the last two hours are all curves.

Our Mexican church supports a missionary who works with various churches in this area of Oaxaca. So, once a month the church is sending a team of people to train their leaders and others in various ministry skills. The people there speak an indigenous language called Mazateco. Many are bilingual – Spanish and Mazateco. I gave a talk on Biblical Interpretation and will return again in April to lead a workshop on practicing these interpretive skills and on preparing sermons.

March Ministries
Ixtapan de la Sal, Estado de Mexico – LAM’s Annual Missionary Retreat
Once a year we gather with other LAM missionaries for a retreat outside Mexico City. It is a good time of fellowship and renewal. We also have the opportunity to reconnect with some of those who serve in the Miami office of the mission. This year we were privileged to hear from and get to know LAM’s interim President Jack Voekel and his wife MaryAnne.

A chofer for a few days
After the retreat, Paul served as a chofer for Jack Voekel as he visited various LAM missionaries in their ministries in the south of Mexico City. It was a delight to spend time with him, as he has had an interesting missionary career in Colombia and his roots in the mission go way back – I was blessed to learn from his walk with the Lord through the years.

Missionary Photographer
We later had a visit from a LAM Missionary who is a photographic and media specialist (she visited one of the Spearheaders ministries and also was able to shadow us – Nydia in her girl’s discipleship group, the both of us in our cell group and teaching on Sunday – Paul with the young people and Nydia with the children). Soon you will see the fruits of her visit (a new prayer card and many great photos)!

Visits with Ministry Leaders
This month we visited with a Presbyterian pastor interested in having Spearheaders work in his church this summer in the areas of evangelism and discipleship and with the director of a Children’s Home in Morelia, Mexico where we will assign Spearheaders next fall for their Year Out ministry.
Please continue to pray for quality contacts for both summer and YearOut ministries.

Cell Group Transitions
This month marks a new landmark for one of our cell groups. The time has come for us to multiply. Nydia and I will be turning over the leadership of one of the groups after being with the group a little over a year and will take on a new group made up of “seekers” who know very little about the Scriptures. We are excited for this opportunity. We ask you to pray for Adriana as she takes on leadership of our former group and for us as we begin this new group.

Brief visit to Iguala, Mexico
At the end of the month we had the opportunity to visit some dear friends in Iguala, Mexico who came from Minneapolis to Iguala to celebrate their two year old’s birthday. We were blessed by their generosity that allowed us to make this trip. It was wonderful to see them and renew our friendship.

Last, but not least
Paul preached at our Mexican churches bimonthly mission’s Sunday. He preached from Philippians 4:10-20 where the apostle Paul thanks the church at Philippi for their generous support. Nydia prepared a dynamic PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the missionaries that our church supports. This Sunday our church was collecting new Faith Promises which are commitments to give towards the support of various missionaries our church supports. We are excited to share that they are now supporting 12 Latin missionaries who are serving with indigenous people’s here in Mexico, as well as serving in Honduras, Spain, Russia and soon China as well!

We were reminded of you as Paul preached from this passage…in the words of Paul (the apostle) we “…rejoice greatly in the Lord…” Philippians 4:10 …that “you have sent us aid again and again when we were in need” Philippians 4:16. Thanks for your faithful and consistent support that empowers us to minister here in Mexico.

We are grateful,

Paul, Nydia & Andres Johnson

Celebrating Three Years of Ministry in Mexico.

Labels: Celebrating Three Years of Ministry in Mexico.

A day in the life of a three year old...

At the beginning of this month (November) we celebrated 3 years here in Mexico! It is hard to believe it has already been three years. We are thankful to the Lord for the time we have been here. The Spearhead program is much healthier then it was when we arrived and we look to the future with anticipation.

We have a team of 6 young adults serving in various ministries here in Mexico City and in Puebla (see picture). We are planning to post a video that summarizes what has taken place in the last 3 years sometime soon. Stay tuned!

On a personal level, we are enjoying Andres who has discovered the letter "A" and is beginning to count. He is still using more Spanish then English, but likes to slip in phrases like abuelita's house (grandma's house) and other combinations in Spanish and English. In our spare time (when we find some!) we are watching DVD's of the show "24" which keeps our adrenalin pumping. We also enjoy going to a park with Andres when we have the chance.

Well, we just want to let you know that the Lord has provided a new place for us to live (as of November 07). We are excited to report that he provided a three bedroom apartment with two complete bathrooms and a place to park a car for $100 less per month! More than what we were praying for! The rooms are smaller than our old place, but we have adjusted. We are still hoping to change our guest bed (a twin that has a second matress underneath that pulls out). We are praying for a bunk bed to replace it, as we have to take out all the furniture to pull the second mattress out. If you have read our latest newsletter you will see that we have had 18 visitors since we moved here, so our guest room is well utilized.

Thanks for your prayers. God has provided!