A Busy Week

As we mentioned last week, we started off our week having two students from the SNU team staying with us. Leigh and Amy were the two assigned to our house, and we all enjoyed having them stay with us, it was a good time. Jake especially enjoyed it, asking every morning when he first woke up, "Where's my girls?" He had a lot of fun playing with all of the students on the team, and I think the team thought Jake was okay too. :) Our pictures this week are of Jake with the team (of course, one with just him and "his girls").



This week also brought the end of Jake's "itches" (stitches), as he called them. We were worried about how he would react to them being taken out, as he didn't have any anesthesia for that part, plus they were right in his hairline, and we were afraid that the doctor might pull some hair with the stitches. However, Jake proved to be a little tough guy and didn't even cry at all! Maybe part of it was that he was being bribed with jelly beans, but we were impressed! Thanks for your prayers!

This week at work, Jeremy coordinated the first half of the office move that ARO (Africa Regional Office) is undertaking. The last few months, Jeremy has been working with contractors to have the main office area remodeled, and it is nearing completion. Thursday and Friday, Jeremy was in charge of a team of students from nearby Nazarene Theological College to move the first half of the offices. Everything went well and they are now ready to finish it up this week. This move will put most of the ARO staff in the same area, rather than scattered throughout the building, which will be a good thing for everyone.

We are also preparing this week for Jake's upcoming birthday, which is June 6th. His party is June 3rd, and we are working on preparations for that. It's hard to believe that he almost three years old! Tricia is making a pinata for the party, since no one here in South Africa has any idea what one is. It should be a good time!

Praises and Prayer Requests

We thank God this week for the easy time that we had with Jake's stitches coming out. That was a concern for us that God really took care of for us. We also are thankful that all of the various things that we were involved in this week, despite challenges, turned out well!

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- The SNU team that is now travelling in Botswana and Zambia, that God would bless the rest of their time there and that they would have a safe trip back home.
-- The Africa South Field meetings that are occurring this week, that God would use the time that the leaders of the church are here together to begin some great things for the South Field.

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

A Helping Hand

This past week saw us receiving helping hands from all around the world. All the way from the United States, three students from Mrs. Burlend's classes in Manteno, IL sent us school supplies for the children's group at our church. The group is small but growing, and the kids here are so excited that they can have things like crayons, glue, markers, colored pencils, etc. This will really help with their crafts from now on! They had so much fun using them this morning!

These pictures are from church this morning, when the kids got to use their new supplies during children's church. Thanks, kids!


From here in South Africa, the helping hands that we received were those of our family doctor, Dr. Jardim. Yes, unfortunately, Jake had a little accident on his bike and ended up with 5 stitches in his forehead this past Monday. It was a pretty scary time for us (especially Tricia, who was home when it happened), but everything worked out okay. We thank God that we have such ready access to good medical care here in South Africa, it's a blessing we often take for granted that many of our counterparts throughout the rest of Africa do not enjoy.

So, it's been an interesting week, but all is well in the Johnson house. We have a team from Southern Nazarene University that is in southern Africa doing AIDS relief work, and we are housing a couple of members of the team. They just got here yesterday, but Jake is loving the attention already. More on that next week...

Praises and Prayer Requests

Well, we are especially thankful that Jake is okay, other than a few stitches. Things could have been a lot worse, and we praise God that they were not. Part of the perils of having a little boy in the house!

We are also thankful for the support of everyone back home, in so many different ways. From those who send school supplies, to those who send money, to those who send e-mails and letters of encouragement, to those who pray for us daily, we are so thankful for each of you and everything that you do!

Please remember us in prayer this week...

-- For Jake's follow-up doctor appointment on Tuesday, to hopefully get his stitches out. He winced when I touched his "boo-boo" today, so pulling the stitches out will probably be a bit of a bad time for him.
-- That we would be good hosts to our SNU students so that they can rest well and make a big impact on those afflicted by AIDS in this area.
-- For wisdom and perseverance to do whatever God wants us to accomplish this week

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Happy Mother's Day!

To all of you mothers out there, we wish you a very happy Mother's Day! Jeremy and Jake spent the day today trying to make it a special one for Tricia. They made sure that breakfast, lunch and dinner were taken care of and tried their best to pick up after themselves and to stay out of trouble. Jeremy did take off for his weekly basketball with some other missionary guys, but that gave Jake and Tricia some time to rest. It was a good day for everyone!

Jake also performed in his first school program this week for his mommy. They had all of the mothers into the nursery school (about 50 in all!) for tea and biscuits while the kids sang songs. Jake added his own little dance moves to the routine as well, which mommy was able to capture a little of on video. Daddy was not invited, but from the look on Mommy's face, Jake was a star!

Thank you for the prayers this week about Jake's doctor appointment. Things went well and they got his ears all cleaned out. The doctor thinks that Jake might need "grommets" (we call them tubes) in his ears, but other than that, everything seems to be fine. He did very well this week in school, not crying when he was dropped off, although there was bribery involved. :) Whatever works, right?!

Also this week, we had our interviews for our district minister's licenses. The interviews went well and our Regional Director will be passing along good feedback to our district. We were both a little nervous going into it, but quickly realized that there was no need to be nervous and everything was great! It was also good for our new boss and colleagues to hear a little more about us and our call to ministry. An all-round good experience!

Praises and Prayer Requests

We thank God for the prayers that were raised up on our behalf this week, there was good news in each area for which we requested you to pray! God is always faithful, isn't he?

Some prayer requests for this week:

-- Dr. Enoch Litswele, retired assistant Regional Director, went to the hospital this week and discovered that he had diabetes and also a stroke. We do not yet know the details of his condition, but please pray for him and his family during this time.
-- Also this week, Rev. Chuck Lockard, one of our fellow missionaries, fell ill and went to the hospital as well. He also has been diagnosed with diabetes. He is now home and resting, but please pray for the Lockards as they adjust to living with this newfound condition.
-- Please continue to pray for Jake's adjustment to nursery school and his new way of life. That is our main concern right now, yet we know that God will be faithful in this situation. Please lift Jake up in prayer during this time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Back to Work...

You know, we completely forgot to tell about our trip to Lesedi last week in our summary of our vacation. It is a "cultural village" where you can go to see how five of the different tribes from South Africa lived (and/or live). Jake is seen here with ones of the Zulus. :)

Well, all good things must come to an end, and so did our vacation. It was back to work this week, but it was a good week as well. Tricia had some meetings regarding her job and things are starting to move forward there, which is exciting. She has been given the go-ahead to start putting together a "cross-cultural orientation" (one of the things we had to do in our missionary application process) and to hold it at our theological college here in Joburg as a first run. It's good to see things moving forward!

Jeremy was also getting back into the swing of things in the Finance department this week. He often remarks that he will never have to worry about getting bored, there is always a mountain of things to be done!

Praises and Prayer Requests

It was pointed out to us that this section has been less consistent lately, and we gratefully accept the rebuke and will make a better effort to include it in the future! We definitely appreciate those who make such an effort to pray for us that they notice when there are no requests!

We also thank God for the opportunity we had to see a little bit of South Africa during our vacation and for the smooth transition back into work. Though we were tired, it was a good week!

This week, please remember us in prayer in the following ways:

-- Tricia and I will be interviewed by a local licensing board on behalf of the Kansas City District this week to be considered for our district license. We ask that God would guide us and the board in this process.
-- Jake has been struggling lately with a bit of "separation anxiety" when going to nursery school and children's church. He now cries every time we drop him off, which is difficult for both him and his parents! Please pray that Jake would be comforted and that we would have the wisdom to deal with things in the right way.
-- Jake has been having some difficulty hearing lately, so we took him to the doctor and they think that he might have something wrong with one of his eardrums. He will need to have his ears cleaned out this week so that an ear, nose and throat specialist can see what's going on in there. Please pray that both appointments would go well and that whatever is causing the issue would be something correctable.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Pictures From Our Holiday

Here's Roy, chillin' in Nelson Mandela's bedroom














Jake at False Bay













One of the locals (yes, a penguin) at Boulders Bay












Cape Point, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic













Tricia's favorite animal, at Pilanesberg Game Reserve

Our First Visit!

Well, this week we had our first visitor to our new South African home, Jeremy's friend Roy from Kokomo (they went to high school together). We had a great time seeing all of the sights around the country and also enjoyed all of the goodies from home that Roy brought us! We'll give you a recap of some of the highlights of our first holiday (that's what they call vacation here) and will also post some more pictures later.

So now the pressure of being the first visitor is off and everyone else can come visit us now!

Roy arrived on Friday morning (the 21st) and first on the list was a trip to Pick n' Pay (like a Super Walmart) to stock up on groceries for the week. This is an experience in itself, and there were many "South African" things that we picked up for Roy to try while he was here.

Saturday we started the sightseeing with a trip to Soweto, led by a couple of our new South African friends, Kenneth and Theola Phiri. We visited the Regina Mundi Catholic church, where students organized their peaceful resistance demonstrations in spite of an apartheid government that threw blacks in jail if they were caught in groups larger than two people. The scars of police responses to these gatherings still remain in the church. Also while in Soweto, we visited Nelson Mandela's house, which was a great experience as well. The street the house is located on has the honor of being the only street in the world to house two Nobel Peace Prize winners (Mandela and Desmond Tutu)!

Sunday morning it was off to Cape Town, where we spent three days driving all over the Cape Peninsula. We got to spend some time at the V&A Waterfront, visited Robben Island (where Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years), Cape Point, and everything in between! It was a hectic three days, but we had to make the most of it, since we won't often be able to explore like that. Jake had a blast, getting to swim with penguins and see baboons (both in the wild, not a zoo) within about 30 minutes of each other. We never realized that penguins were native to Africa until then!

Wednesday was a day of rest for us, but Thursday we headed up to the Hartbeespoort Dam for Roy to do a little souvenir shopping. Roy was able to use his negotiating skills at the market to bring a suitcase full of Africa back for his family and friends!

Friday we woke up at 4:00am and went to Pilanesberg National Park, which is a good-sized game reserve about two hours west of Johannesburg. We spent the day driving around there scouting for wildlife and ended up seeing an elephant, giraffes, zebras, impalas, blesbok, baboons, rhinos, wildebeest, and a few other kinds of animals.

Saturday was another day of rest and Roy and Jeremy went to finish up the souvenir shopping at Cambano's, a very nice little curio shop about 45 minutes from home while Tricia and Jake played at the playland at our local mall.

Yesterday, Roy got to attend his first African worship service at our church. It was a service full of energy and Rev. Chuck Lockard brought a great holiness message to all of us. Later that evening, it was back to the airport for Roy and tomorrow it is back to work for us. We are very happy to have gotten the chance to experience a little bit more of our new home country while Roy was here!

Thank you for all of your prayers this past week, as our travels went off without a hitch. We spent a great deal of time in the car and are happy to say that everyone is safe and sound! We now are preparing to head back to work next week re-energized and ready to continue the work that the Lord has called us to do!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake