The Twins' Dedication

Pastor Madela at Africa Trinity Church of the Nazarene led us in the dedication of the babies.

In a congregation of 60 we had four sets of twins present on the dedication Sunday. The pastor is a twin and his twin brother is a pastor also and helped in the dedication service. It was pretty amazing.

It was cool that the babies were dedicated on Fathers' Day and that Tricia's mom was able to be a part of the dedication.

The babies just hanging out at the reception following the dedication.

The Pastor and his brother with the babies. It was such a special service we felt like the whole congregation was celebrating with us. The pastor did the dedication in Zulu and English.

Thank you for all your prayers for the babies and our family. Everyone is doing well overall except for a cold that Jake brought home for school and then shared with us. We just pray the babies can fight this off with out a hospital visit. Please continue to pray!

Happy Fathers' Day!

Jake had a special Fathers' Day concert at his school. Jake had to wear one of his Dad's ties.

Instead of having the kids sing the songs from the front of the gymnasium they decided to have the kids go sit on there Dad's laps and sing right to them. Jeremy got this video of Jake singing to him. What a special day!

The three boys, Jake likes the fact that there are three boys and only two girls.

We are so thankful for Jeremy for the wonderful Father and husband that he is. We are very blessed!

Our Big 5 Year Old!

He felt like such a cool kid!

He had a special Spider-man party.

At the party place they had a "pretend" section and Jake and one of his friends enjoyed working out.
His favorite area of the party place was the motorcycle race track, he went around and around until he was absolutely exhausted.

He was moving so fast it was hard for me to get many pictures of him standing still, they were mostly action shots like this one. He was so excited to be playing with all his friends that he didn't eat any of his birthday cake he just kept asking if he could go play.

The party was a success he said it was the "eleventy-two-one best party in the world." So that must be pretty good... at least we think it is.

He also had a special guest at his party, which was pretty cool. His grandma all the way from the States came to help us for the month and was able to get here in time for the party!

Sorry it took us so long to post this, another update is coming soon. We promise!

Winter Is Here!!!

Ten weeks old!

Jake just couldn't help himself it just looked like so much fun.

The weather is beginning to cool off. We have pulled out all of our space heaters and they are getting a lot of use in the evenings. Here houses don't have central air and heat so we must rely on lots of blankets and space heaters to stay warm in the winter. The days are nice because it is really sunny all year round so that helps. But once the sun goes down it gets quite chilly. It has even been known to get to freezing at night. BRRRRRRR!!!

We are doing well, starting to get the hang of having three kids. Granted, we don't go out of the house much any more but I am sure in time we will be on the go again. The babies are doing well and growing like weeds. They are beginning to smile and make really cute talking sounds. They are a bit behind but they are right on target for babies that are five weeks premature. Jake is doing really well also and is also growing like a weed. It seems like all of his clothes are getting to small and he doesn't seem to be able to get full, always wanting to eat more. He is turning 5 in less than two weeks (June 6). He mentions his birthday party at least once a day, he is having a special Spiderman party at a local play land.

Jeremy and Tricia are finally getting a bit more sleep. We feel like now that we get 5-6 hours of sleep straight we are able to make it through the day better. Jeremy is extremely busy with all the areas he is involved in. Tricia has her hands full with the kids and sometimes wishes she had more hands. So we are happy that they are getting closer to sleeping through the night.

Jake took this picture of Tricia. If we give him the camera he will spend about an hour walking around the house taking pictures. Good thing we have a digital camera.

We had the wonderful privilege to speak with Blue Springs Church of the Nazarene during their Sunday morning service. Thank you to this wonderful church family for all their support and their many prayers for us. We really enjoyed speaking with you and hope to do it again soon.

Prayer Requests

1. Please pray that we would always be sensitive to what God is calling us to do.

2. Please pray for the violence that is occurring in the townships in South Africa.

3. Please pray for us as we try to balance family and ministry.

4. Please pray for strength and wisdom in raising children on the mission field

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

7 Weeks Old

Wow, we have our hands full. Our 7 week old twins and our active almost 5 year old are constantly keeping us on the go. The babies are growing at a rapid pace which we are thrilled with. Ryan now weighs 4.2kgs and Katie weighs 3.6kgs. They are eating well and now we are trying to get them to sleep longer so that Mom and Dad can get some much needed rest.

Jeremy is back to work. It has been nice that he has been able to be home more and help with the babies. He has a lot of catching up to do at work and he is trying to figure out how to do that on minimal sleep. There are some exciting things going on in Communications in Africa in the area of radio, web and video. Please pray for the Communications staff as they try to create ways to help the Kingdom through media.

Tricia is staying at home with the kids right now. In a few months, she hopes to have more time to spend on the Missionary program here in Africa, but for now she is completely occupied with taking care of the babies and Jake. What a privilege she has to be able to do this. They grow up way too fast!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

More Random Photos

Random Photos

Katies first day home from the hospital
Just hanging out.
Jake and his swimming teacher. He can swim all by himself now.
Their first outing other than the hospital visits. We went to a party at a neighbor's house.
Jake is Mommy's big helper, he feeds Katie while Mommy feeds Ryan. Ryan is doing much better with eating now and improving everyday. Katie doesn't have a problem at all with eating except for the fact that she never wants to stop.

We're a week into having both of our babies at home now, and they are definitely keeping us busy! It seems like one is almost always needing something, but we have been managing to keep up with them (so far). Jeremy is going back to work tomorrow, so Tricia will be faced with caring for them on her own from 8:00am to 5:00pm during the week from now on. We have managed to find a local lady that will come and help Tricia care for Katie and Ryan on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, so that will be nice. Finding house help around here is fairly inexpensive (less than $3 per hour), and we figure that Tricia's sanity is worth at least that much. :)

As you can see, Jake is handling the whole thing just as well as we are! :) He has been losing some sleep and is a little more sensitive about some things, but all in all, Jake is handling the transition from only child to oldest of three very well. Daddy and Jake have been spending extra time together to help make sure that he knows he's still special. Jake says that he would rather they didn't cry so much, but "they are cute sometimes". Here's a little taste of their personalities...

So all in all, we are tired and worn out, but all of us are getting along just fine. Both of the babies are gaining weight just like they are supposed to, and the doctor is pleased, which means we are too. Also, Ryan is making some pretty big improvements in taking bottles, which is a weight off our shoulders.

Keep praying!

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

They're Home!

Okay, so we are a few days behind on Katie, as she came home last Thursday, but Ryan also came home today! We are very excited (and relieved) to have both of our babies home now. As you can imagine, having Katie at home and Ryan at the hospital made things a bit hectic, as we had to not only care for a needy newborn, but also go visit the other one 3X daily at the hospital. It's almost that having both twins at home will give us a little extra rest!

We have, at least for the time being, put them both in the same crib, so that they can really get reacquainted with each other, having not been in the same bed since birth! They seem to be enjoying it, as Katie has been resting a bit better today (Ryan never has trouble sleeping!).

All joking aside, we are not out of the woods yet with Ryan. Although he did take bottles for 48 hours (enough to get him out of the hospital), he is not taking bottles well. We are trying to "teach" him how to take a bottle, but it is very difficult each and every feeding for him. Please pray for Ryan and for us as we lead him through this process, that he takes his bottles well and doesn't end up back in the hospital.

We will post more updates as time allows, but the posting will probably go to more of a weekly or biweekly schedule again. Also, the postings may end up being closer to sleep-deprived rambling than anything else! ;)

Thanks for you prayers, and please keep us in them!

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

Getting Closer...

Another couple of days have passed, and we have some more news about our two little bundles of joy...


Ryan is improving, he is now taking four bottles per day, and four tube feedings per day. This morning, he actually finished his first full bottle! Usually he only drinks about 35ml of the 55ml bottle, then they have to put the rest in his tummy through the tube, but the fact that he finished one is a big step forward!

He is still a pretty sleepy little guy, only seems to wake a little bit for feedings and baths and then is out like a light the rest of the time. The above picture was right after a bath, so he still was pretty alert. The nurses and doctors are hoping that Ryan can be out of there in a week or less, and we hope so too!

Little Katie, on the other hand, looks like she may be out of the hospital within the next day or two! She has been taking 100% bottle feedings for 48 hours now, and they have removed the feeding tube completely, as you can see in the picture. Finally having her tube-free is quite a relief!

Daddy got the chance to feed Katie tonight, and she ended up giving him a nice little surprise:

So all in all, some very positive developments! Of course, having one baby at home and one baby in the ICU will present some challenges of its own, but we are definitely looking forward to having Katie home with us (with Ryan soon to follow, hopefully).

As far as prayer requests go, we have a few:

1. Tricia has been a bit under the weather for the last few days, and unable to go to the hospital to see the babies, so please pray for a speedy recovery for her!

2. The continued progress of Katie and Ryan...

3. The balancing act that all of this commotion requires of all of us!

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

Happy Easter!

At 6:50am today, Jake was yelling "Happy Easter" from his bedroom, so we got the day started by finding what the Easter Bunny had decided to bring him in his basket. Jake was thrilled with all of the candy and the gift, and we have been trying to contain sugar consumption ever since! :)

Here's Jake with his little Hot Wheels mini track that the Easter Bunny got him. The little car falls down into a tank of water with "pirahnas" in it, and then comes out "scratched" when it gets wet. Hours and hours of fun!

As for Katie and Ryan, it has been an eventful couple of days. Mommy and Daddy got to bathe each of them on Friday, and they got to put on clothes for the first time! Of course, that lasted for less than 24 hours and they had slight setback yesterday, as they both became a bit jaundiced and had to go back under the UV lights. However, it appears that 24 hours under the lights did them some good, and they are back solidly in range that they need to be. Here's a video of part of Katie's bath:

Both of the babies are also taking some bottles now as well, in addition to their tube feedings. Katie is now getting four feedings per day from the bottle and four from the tube, and is doing quite well. Ryan, on the other hand, is getting two bottle feedings and six tube feedings per day, and is a little behind his sister as far as taking to the bottle. We seem to keep missing Katie's feedings, but ended up lucking into one of Ryan's bottle feedings last night. Also, the NICU was a bit short-staffed last night, so they let Tricia try to feed him, which they don't normally let parents do this early in the game:

As we remember Christ's sacrifice and resurrection on this Easter, we get some first-hand symbolism about the new life we have in Him. Some of us progress faster than others, some have setbacks, some take their food more readily than others, but God loves us all, and is actively participating in our development on a constant basis! We praise God that not only is He taking care of and developing our little babies, but He is working on us at the same time as well. Please pray for us and our babies, but also for those who are spiritual "babies" and may have not even had their "birth" yet!

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

Update on the Dynamic Duo

Just before we head off to bed, we thought we'd give a quick update on Katie and Ryan.

Katie is still progressing very well and no longer receiving IV fluids. The only thing she is on is a little bit of oxygen, which they plan to take away tomorrow! The next steps for her will be to try to maintain her own body temperature (with clothes on), and also to nurse well from a bottle. She fed from a bottle for about 5 minutes today and did a so-so job, so the nurses are hoping that she can pick it up a bit next time. Almost forgot, Katie had her first bath and Mommy and Daddy got to hold her for the first time yesterday! :) All in all, she is doing great!

Here's a little video of Katie hanging out (from yesterday):

Katie getting a bath:

Ryan is also doing well, but still being outdone by his sister. :) He is off of the ventilator now and just on oxygen. He is still receiving so IV fluids, but they hope to be able to take him off those tomorrow. Today, Mommy and Daddy got to hold Ryan for the first time, and he also got a bath. It actually was a very big day for Ryan, as we got to see his eyes for the first time! Since he got ripped off in the last blog entry, we're posting two of his videos this time. :)

Daddy and Ryan after his bath:

And, not to be left out, the big brother!

Thanks to all for all of the prayers and support. Please keep praying not only for Katie and Ryan, but the whole family, as the 3X daily trips to the hospital have proven to be exhausting (and expensive) for us all. We praise God for the strength he gives us to get through each day and the grace he is giving Katie and Ryan to adjust to life so quickly!

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

Mommy's Home!

It's a big day here at the Johnson house, as Jake and Daddy welcomed Mommy home today. One down, two to go! :) We are very excited to have Tricia back, and she is glad to be home, because even though they took very good care of her, they didn't let her sleep much. Now that she's home, she's going to try to get some good sleep so that we can gear up for 4X daily trips to the hospital.

Okay, I know everyone is looking for a baby update, so here it is... Katie was taken off her ventilator today, so she is now breathing 100% on her own, though she does have oxygen right now to make the transition easier. She should have the oxygen taken away tomorrow, and then maybe everything else as well, so there is a small chance that we could get to hold her for the first time tomorrow evening! She is doing very well, and although it looks like at least another week in the ICU for her, she's doing great.

Here's a little video of Katie fussing, now that she is doing a bit better:

And another of her... sneezing? Making some weird noise, anyway. You can also get an idea of how tiny she is by seeing my hand and her pacifier. :)

As for Ryan, he is also doing well, but he's about a day behind his sister as far as his breathing and everything goes. The one thing he is ahead of her on is eating, however. :) Here's a picture of him today:

So we're all doing well, in need of some rest, and just sort of feeling our way through this right now. Please pray for all of us as we adjust to this new way of life. Also, please pray for our situation with our car, as Daddy and Jake were on the way to the hospital in the dark and rain last night and hit a pothole in the road that broke the suspension on one of the front wheels of our car. So although we are okay, we are also trying to organize repairs for the car. Not too worry too much though, we are fortunate enough to be driving a car that belongs to a volunteer that's back in the US, so at least we have a way back and forth to the hospital. God is good, and we are reminded of it often!

Jake's Quote of the Week

Jake: "So if you're happy to come home from the hospital, why were you crying when we left?"

Mom: "Well, Mommy is happy to be coming home, but I was just sad to leave Katie and Ryan at the hospital..."

Jake: "Oh, so you were just being dramatic then?"

Keep praying!

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

Welcome Katie & Ryan!

So, the blessed day has arrived! At 3:35am and 3:36am respectively, we welcomed Katherine Rayn and Ryan Robert into the world a couple of weeks ahead of time. Tricia is pretty sore and tired, and the babies are going to have to spend a week or two in the neonatal ICU to help them with their breathing, but we praise God that everyone is fine and healthy! We are all very excited (especially Jake!), and thank you all for your prayers over the last (almost) nine months. Here are some photos!

Tricia and the doctors preparing for the caesarean section (ironically, on the day Julius Caesar was murdered). :) History nerd moment...

Katie resting in the neonatal ICU just a few minutes after her birth. She weighed in at a dainty little 4 lbs., 13 oz.

Katie's little brother Ryan resting in the bed next to her, weighing in at an unexpectedly manly 6 lbs., 3 oz.

The beautiful baby Katie

The handsome baby Ryan (who looks more like Jake's twin than Katie's, we think)

Please continue to pray for us all in our various areas of need, but especially for a quick recovery for Tricia, and a good (and fast) adjustment to life on the outside for our little twins!

Until next time,

The Johnson Five

Getting Ready!

Well, we are getting pretty close to delivery time for the twins, the doctor told us that we are “in bonus time” now, and he is happy with the progress of the pregnancy so far. He says that the babies are about 2.1 kg each now, which is about 4 lbs. 10 oz., and we are hoping that they can reach 5 lbs. each before they are born. Right now the scheduled delivery date is March 27th, but in reality, it could happen at any time! Tricia is getting pretty uncomfortable these days, so she won’t mind when it is over and we have two little babies. :)

Some of the ladies here threw Tricia a baby shower last weekend, so we received some of the things that we will need, and Tricia had a lot fun as well! Here are a couple of pictures of Tricia getting presents and playing baby shower games:

Jake and Jeremy set the cribs up this weekend, and we went to buy mattresses and some final baby supplies, so we at least have all of the absolute necessities here in case something happens soon. Finally, we have settled on names for the two new members of the Johnson family: Ryan Robert and Katherine Rayn. So please be in prayer over the next few weeks for all of us, but especially Tricia, Ryan, and Katie!





















Jake’s Quote of the Week

Jake: "Mommy, can you make hearts with your eyes? 'Cause I really want to make hearts with my eyes when I see beautiful girls."
Mommy: "What do you mean, Jake?"
Jake: "You know Mom, like Popeye does when he sees Olive Oyl."

Praises and Prayer Requests

We thank God for the way that he has safely brought Tricia and the twins through this pregnancy. With just a couple of weeks left, we are so thankful and blessed that we have had no complications at all. God is good!

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Our family, as the time for the twins' birth draws near.
-- The many World Mission Communications projects that we have going right now
-- That God would provide continuity for the 3D program while Tricia is caring for the babies.

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Back in South Africa

Just to begin, I'd like to mention a little bit about the picture here. Jake took this picture all by himself! He has the camera in his hand, and not even being able to see what he was shooting, he was able to take this. Having a digital camera is nice to help develop his love of photography, since we can just delete the pictures (except for the good ones)!




















The other picture you see here is Jeremy last week as a part of the Regional Communications Coordinators meetings in Kansas City. World Mission Communications hosted all of us for three days of meetings to discuss techniques, new developments in media, and to learn a bit more about what we are all doing in our separate regions and how we can learn from each other. Since three of us are new within the last year, it was really good to get to meet everyone.

I know that a lot of people are looking for a baby update, so here's a brief one: Tricia is about 32 weeks along now, and Baby Boy and Baby Girl are doing very well, even a little bigger than the doctors expected them to be at this point. Of course, this makes Tricia pretty uncomfortable, and she is dealing with the effects of her body being stretched to its limits, both literally and physically! Please pray for Tricia and the babies (we are still trying to pick names) during these last few weeks of pregnancy. The longer we can wait the better, but we should have news for everyone soon!

Things are going well for us here, just seems like everything is very hectic right now. Not only has Jeremy been out of the country for two of the last four weeks, but he is also teaching a class out at Nazarene Theological College in addition to his Communications responsibilities. Oh yeah, and preparing for two new additions to our family has kept us pretty busy as well!

Well, Jeremy's class is ending next week, and so we are in the middle of final preparations for the big day, which should be sometime next month. We feel like we still have a lot to do, and Tricia is much less able to get around and do things than she was with Jake. Please pray for our preparations (and sanity) as well!

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Okay Dad, let's play. I'll be Spiderman, and you be Dr. Phil."


Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

A Trip to Rwanda

Last week, Jeremy travelled to Kigali, Rwanda to attend a meeting with our French Equatorial Field leadership. He met with Field Strategy Coordinator Rev. Chanshi Chanda, district superintendents and pastors to discuss the use of radio, video, internet, and written communications on the field, which covers the countries of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Madagascar, and Reunion. We hope to start a couple of new radio programs in the field this year, as well as develop a short documentary about the Church of the Nazarene.

The country of Rwanda has a dark past with the genocide of 1994 being the low point (over 1 million people were slaughtered), but the country has come a long way since then, and the future is full of hope and very bright. President Paul Kagame seems to be a very wise man, and the country is trying to capitalize on the high-quality coffee and tea crops grown there to improve the economy. The city of Kigali was very clean and also one of the safest in Africa. Most importantly, the Church of the Nazarene is alive, well, and growing there!

Above is a short video clip from an ordination service that took place while Jeremy was there. This was a choir from Rwanda singing in Kinyarwanda. Dr. and Mrs. Porter (jurisdictional General Superintendent for Africa) were on hand to ordain five elders from the Central and Northwest Rwanda Districts. It was an exciting time!

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Man, it is really getting 'crowdy' in there!"

(Commenting on the crowded and rowdy playland at McDonalds)

Praises and Prayer Requests

We thank God for Jeremy's safety as he travelled, and also for the safety of the rest of the family while he was away. Everything went well!

Please remember the following need in prayer this week:

-- A couple of days after Jeremy left Rwanda, an earthquake struck in DRC and Rwanda, killing more than 40 people and injuring hundreds more.

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake