Gone Fishing!

This weekend, Jake and Daddy went on their first father/son fishing trip! Jake got a rod and reel a week or so ago, and finally got to put it to use on Saturday at the Malina Fishing Lodge, about 20 minutes from our house.

Jake actually did a great job of being patient and hanging there on a chilly spring morning. It was a little windy and cold, but Jake sat with his pole for over an hour. He got a few bites and even hooked into a pretty nice-sized rainbow trout, but the fish got off the hook and flopped back in the pond just as he was reeling it out of the water (Daddy needs to buy a net!). But it was a great time and a memorable experience for the two of them.

We also wanted to let everyone know that we are beginning to schedule deputation services for our home assignment from January 2009 - April 2009. We would love to visit any of you that would like to schedule us! Please let us know as soon as possible, as we are already filling time slots. Just drop us an e-mail at tjjohnson98@yahoo.com to check our availability. We look forward to seeing you all!

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Mommy, my name is not Jake Johnson anymore, it's Hungry Jake Johnson from now on."

(Yet it seems he is usually only hungry for sweets!)

Praises and Prayer Requests

We thank God for his constant love and attention to those little details in life. We also are continually amazed at his ability to keep us on our toes! This has been a good month.

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Jake seems to have caught a little upper respiratory bug that was going around his school, which has led to an ear infection. Please pray for Jake.

-- Please pray that Tricia and Jeremy don't get it!

-- Please pray for our church, Africa Trinity Church of the Nazarene and our pastor, Rev. Madela Mashinini

-- Please pray that God blesses our efforts in serving him here in Africa

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Spiderman!

We have realized that we have been a bit lax in updating you all on the thing that changes most in our family, and that's Jake! So this blog entry is going to be all about him.

I guess the best way to do this is just to talk about some of his recent exploits, so here goes:

1. Spiderman - As you can see, Jake got a Spiderman costume for his birthday, but only started wearing it recently. Though he has never seen Spiderman in a movie or cartoon, he somehow got the idea that he was a "baddie". Now that he knows he is a "goodie", he wears the costume every chance he gets.

2. Fishing - Jake recently told his dad that he wanted to go fishing. So this past Saturday, Jake and Daddy went to buy a fishing pole with some of his leftover birthday money and then went to a trout farm to check the place out. Daddy brought him home after that and showed him how to cast and reel in the backyard, and he has been doing that each day since. He and Daddy are going on their first fishing trip this coming Saturday. Stay tuned for fish stories!

3. Gardening - We also recently bought some tomato seeds and are working on planting a little garden this year. We have five little tomato plants that just came up this week and check on them everyday (multiple times) to make sure they have enough water, sunlight, etc. It has been a fun experience so far for Jake, and he is already talking about eating some tomatoes!

4. Girlfriend - Jake has had a "girlfriend" at school for a few weeks now, her name is Naomi. Interestingly enough, she is a descendant of Harmon Schmelzenbach, the first Nazarene missionary to Africa! Jake and Naomi greet each other with hugs everyday at school, and also hug when they leave... and also every five minutes during the day... and now have started kissing each other too. The teacher are now separating them when things get out of hand, but Jake is quite the ladies' man, it seems!

5. Sports - As you can see in the picture, we have been playing soccer in the backyard lately, as well as baseball and football sometimes. Jake has also been taking gymnastics lessons to help him with his balance and has started doing rugby as an "extracurricular" activity during the school day. His favorite part of all of those sports is saying, "Doh!" and falling on the ground. :)

Jake's Quote of the Week

“ Can I have my Vitamin C and my Vitamin Pooh now?”

(Jake has Winnie the Pooh vitamins, and also takes Vitamin C occasionally.)

Praises and Prayer Requests

We praise God for this time that we are enjoying with Jake right now. We know that so many kids in the US (even four-year-olds) have so many "activities" that they do, that they hardly have time to breathe. We are glad for the chance to spend so much time with Jake in a place where we have to make our own activities. It's been a blessing!

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Good health as the weather changes back to spring

-- God's blessing and guidance in our work

-- Marlen and Leo Leon (our friends in KC) as they celebrate the birth of their daughter

-- Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

3 Weeks?!

Wow... embarrassed, ashamed, slackers... yep, those are all us. We haven't given you an update in three weeks, which means we are not holding up our end of the bargain on this blog. You've been hearing this far too often lately, but we're sorry. Again.

Let's see, what have we been doing since the middle of July? Ah yes, that was about the time that Tricia and Jake were both very sick for three or four days. There was a very bad cold going around, and they both happened to catch it. Then from there, we have had quite a bit of action here!

Jeremy spent the following week planning for intensive planning sessions for his World Mission Communications staff and a representative from Headquarters in Kansas City. These meetings took place last week and involved putting the goals for the Africa Region into a concrete vision of how World Mission Communications can help accomplish those goals. Jeremy and his staff were excited and energized by the meetings and you will definitely be hearing more about those efforts as they are put into place and/or completed.

Tricia has been working tirelessly on staying in contact with her missionary candidates here in Africa and will begin publishing a newsletter to them soon. She is also still working with managing the guest flats for the various guests that come from all over the world to the Africa Region offices. Another task that she has recently been given is preparing a week-long, Africa-specific training session for new missionaries that will come to our region from the United States. This will be an ongoing part of her duties in the future as well.

In our personal lives, we took a little getaway this weekend, as this week we will be celebrating their 9th wedding anniversary (August 8th)! Well, we still feel young anyway! :) We praise God for blessing our marriage to this point and thank him for every day that we have together. We have made it this far solely by his grace and love that allows us to love each other the way we do (and patience that allows Tricia to put up with Jeremy!). :)

Jake's Quote of the Week

Trying on sandals at Woolworth's: "Dad, these sandals look like 'le fruitcake'!"

(He got that little term from the movie "Flushed Away", not his father)

Praises and Prayer Requests

As mentioned above, we praise God for nine wonderful and exciting years together. We have definitely been through a lot of "life" in those nine years, with a lot of ups and downs, but we praise God for every minute of it, as he shapes us into the people and the couple he wants us to be!

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Good health (only a few more weeks until spring!)

-- Labor strikes that have been affecting the South African economy

-- God's blessing on our work here

-- Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake