Mission Updates

News from

Vic & Sharon Johnston

in Brazil

JOHNSTON PRAYER UPDATE

DECEMBER, 2008

Dear Friends,

            We wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you. Thank you so much for praying for us and our ministry down here in Brazil. Many prayers have been answered. Here are some examples:

1.The mission congregation at Grand Island will be getting a pastor in February. Reginaldo, his wife Djanira, and daughter Anna Elisa will be coming as part of a partnership with the Brazilian Baptist Home Mission Board. This is the Mount Olive Baptist Church where we have been working for the past couple of years. This will free us up some, to concentrate on planting new churches farther east of us in Barra Grande and Cajueira da Praia where there is now no Baptist work.

2. The Brazilian Baptist Home Mission Board is also interested in sending some missionaries to partner with us, the Johnston Baptist Association, at the Center for the Restoration of Lives in Luis Correia.

3. We have a new Brazilian missionary colleague, Rosenilde, who is helping us out at the new, three-month-old church plant at Coconut Beach. She is doing weekly Bible studies with a group of women now and will soon be living in the community where her house will serve as our base of operations. We have been averaging between 15 and 20 in attendance at our Saturday night worship services. One of the wealthier residents has even offered to help us find a piece of property where we can build the church building in the future. (This is the new church that was started as a result of the evangelism impact held in September with the Forest Hills Baptist Church from Seguin, Texas.)

4. God has divinely protected us from those who wish to do us harm. On a Saturday night, when Vic was driving back out to the port of Tatus to bring in another group of people who had attended the dedication service for the new church building on Canary Island, someone threw a baseball size rock at the truck. It hit the 4 inch post between the driver’s side window and the windshield. What are the chances of that happening by accident to a truck moving at 50 mph? Also on the same night on the same stretch of road, Pastor Carlos’s wife, Graça, was hit on her right arm which she had in the window of their Volkswagen. This was also fortunate because it protected her six year old son in her lap and Carlos who was driving.

            We just finished a Celebrate Recovery Weekend Workshop with our fellow missionary from Rio, Jeff Renard. Eight churches were represented with 70 people signing up. This ministry will really help the churches that put into practice these principles. It will also help with the ministry in our Center for the Restoration of Lives.

            We will be leaving on Monday, December 15, to spend the Christmas Holidays with our families in Mississippi. Here are some prayer requests that we would like to share with you:

1. Pray for us as we travel to the States and try to spend time with all of our family.

2. Pray for our Brazilian team members as they take care of the work by themselves until we return. Here is a list of their names: Rosenilde, Carol, Wyarya, Denise, Fabio, Francisco, Graça, Junior, and Josy.

3. Pray for the process of the transfer of the property of the Restoration of Lives Center from MEAP to the JBA. (MEAP has approved the transfer, but hasn’t submitted the paper work for the transfer yet.)

4. Pray for the transfer of Pastor Reginaldo’s family to Grand Island; finding a good house to rent; his wife, Djanira’s getting a teaching job in the public school there; and the repainting and expansion of the church building.

We want you to know how grateful we are for your faithful giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Your gifts make our ministry — and the ministries of more than 5,300 IMB missionaries serving around the world — possible. Countless souls will one day worship around His throne because you chose to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel. May God’s richest blessings be yours as you partner with us to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ to Brazil and to all nations.

Your missionaries in Brazil,

Vic and Sharon Johnston

Merry Christmas
from Regan,

Robin, Joshua
& Daniel

December 2008

We want to let all of you, our family and friends, know that we are thinking of you during this great season. It has been a busy year and Christmas season over here as we know it has been for you. We cannot believe that this has been our third Christmas in South East Asia. Let us update you on the family.

Regan is as busy as ever keeping track of the shepherds with whom he works closely. He meets regularly with them, helping them to “stay on track”, plan training, brainstorming how to do the work more efficiently, and just being a Christian brother/friend to them. This year Regan reached a level 6 in language proficiency. That is a great accomplishment! Regan would tell you that level 6 does not mean he always understands what a national is saying to him and that is frustrating. He continues studying language and is diligent. This Christmas, Regan managed the distribution of much Christmas material to our national friends who actually disperse it. A huge, yet, profitable root task to the over-all work. So you can pray that this task bears fruit.

Robin has been busy helping with the material distribution task as well. “Get Smart School” (the name of our home school) is her world most days. But she is enjoying a break, yippee!! Though home school is not easy, she is confident that she is being obedient in the task. It has made language learning more challenging. Please pray that she is disciplined to practice and continue learning this difficult language. Robin has begun leading a Bible Study with some house leader’s wives. This provides great relationships and language practice. Before Christmas, the women all met at our house to learn how to make spaghetti and no-bake cookies. They connected the Bible Study that they had just completed (Ruth) with the task they were doing and that was a great joy to Robin.

Joshua, now 12 years old, is in a growth spurt. He has just become taller than his mother, which is a great joy to him. He is still the social guy who loves to be with friends. He loves to play the computer games that put him in touch with his International School friends. He is involved in the community basketball program that we have here and he is doing quite well. Though home school is not his favorite, he has gained an appreciation for reading (though he will not admit it).

Daniel, now 10 years old, is the same ole guy. He is usually cheery. He also loves to connect with friends on a computer game. Daniel is also involved in the community basketball league and doing quite well. Daniel appreciates the Get Smart School most days. He has really made great progress in math this year and we are proud. Now, if we can get that hand writing to progress as well, we will be making great strides.

Over all, God has been so good and faithful to us. We have seen one national come to faith in our home this year. We are still healthy. We have friends, both here and abroad. We know He has been with us every step of the way. And for this we are most grateful. Thank you friends for standing in the gap for us in prayer. We are thankful for you. May God bless you in the coming year with joy, health, meeting all of your needs, and an overwhelming sense of His presence in your lives. We love you.

Joyfully,

Regan, Robin, Joshua and Daniel

~ The Sudolcan Family ~

Sharing God's Love in the Philippines

We arrived safely in the Philippines on Friday night October 23. The first thing we noticed was the heat and humidity. It had been such nice fall weather in Texas when we left. We are staying with a missionary family until we get our own home. There is so much to do when you move to another country! We would appreciate your prayers as we try to discern God's direction in the many decisions we need to make concerning homes, cars, and everything else we need to get settled in. We know God will provide for our needs and give us the direction we need. Our heart is to simply obey Him and to allow God to use us in whatever way He wants. We are His servants.

It was such a blessing to be at Forest Hills a few months ago. We really miss our church family in Seguin . Your heart for missions and for us was very encouraging. We will keep you up to date as we begin this exciting new journey. Together, we can be used by God to impact many lives here in the Philippines.

- The Sudolcans

UPDATE: It's hard to believe that we have been here in the Philippines for a month now. I must admit the adjustments to moving to a new country and immersing ourselves in a new culture were more challenging than I had expected. Going from a small town in Texas to a huge mega city in the Philippines is about as different as it can get. Most people here speak English but communication is still a challenge. Sometimes I just nod my head and wonder what in the world it was that they just said. I'm sure they often don't understand me either. This country definitely moves at a different pace. No one seems to be in a hurry and that sometimes makes it challenging as we are trying to get things done. Setting up our home was my first priority and that is just about done. God provided us a great home at a good price in a gated community. Our house is just a short walk on the same street from our American missionary partners, Derek and Amanda Ross. We believe we are exactly where God wants us to be.

The challenges and changes our family is going through require a simple trust in God's direction and His care. Sometimes you may feel God is leading you to do something, but as you analyze God's command you may feel a little overwhelmed and be tempted to just ignore the changes God is asking of you. Our emotions often do not line up with God's best for us. So, let me encourage you to do something we are learning right now. Simply by faith move in the direction God is leading and try not to rely on your own understanding of what God's plan means. That's the message of Proverbs 3:5. For me, I think that should be one of my life verses, to learn to trust God even when I can't figure it all out! It's also especially important not to expect your emotions to track God's plan. Emotions are a tricky thing and often can't be trusted. Faith is based on a confidence in God's word to us regardless of how we feel.

Next month I will share more about our ministry here. Your prayers and encouragement to us mean more than you can imagine. Together, we can glorify Jesus through our ministry here in the Philippines.