Johnson Mexico Updates

New Blog Link

2007-03-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

After weeks of internet frustration, we are moving our news updates to this site.
http://johnsonupdate.wordpress.com/
Thanks for following us there.

FEBRUARY NEWS

2007-02-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

It's that time again for a Leon news update. This month we are posting our team news with articles from all of our team members. To read that news, just click on the graphic below.

We do want to share a couple of news updates not mentioned in the team news below. We were blessed to see two more baptisms this month. One of which was late last night at 12:30. The Leon missionaries were visiting some of our members at a funeral at midnight when we learned that our AIM students were baptizing someone. So, we jumped in the car, drove to the building and quickly started filling the baptistery with cold water. Talk about a crazy night!

Our small group study is going well as we have been blessed with a constant flow of people who seem eager to know Christ. We really do love our group and are excited to watch our contacts freely talk about Jesus in ways they had never done before.

Jessica and I have been studying with a woman named Patricia and her daughter Evilyn each week. Last week Patricia said that she was ready to accept Christ but has not yet done so. Please pray for Patricia as we are eager to see a new sister come to Christ and don't want to see the seed of the Gospel snatched from her heart.

There are lots of other things happening here in Leon, like an evangelistic campaign this week, our monthly prayer night on Wednesday, continued work with college students, teenagers, and families here in the city. All of these things require prayers and we ask that you will bring them before the Lord in your daily life.

That's all for us now. Please read the team news and see those images by clicking below.

Thank you,
Chris Johnson

To Read The New Leon Mission Team News -
Click On The Graphic Below

JANUARY NEWS

2007-02-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

January News Update

I hope everyone is having a good new year. This year we as a family are blessed with new partners and renewed commitments as we continue the work in central Mexico. As is the tradition, the holiday season is a bit slow here, but we have been blessed with some new works and some exciting possibilities for the future.

Several years ago when we first visited Leon, we had no idea what direction the work would go. Initially, I was drawn to college-aged ministry and imagined working in the northern side of the city among one of the universities there. However, as ministry began to take root, that dream for ministry quickly began to fade. Most of our contacts came from the southern side of the city. Eventually, contacts and Bible study groups began to bloom on the eastern and western parts of Leon as well. Still, the northern half of the city has largely remained an untouched area of the work. Since January is a month for fresh starts, I made a decision to give one to two days of my weekly work schedule to the northern portion of our city. Having just gone out a few times, already we have picked up several new contacts and two new studies. Please keep this new direction in your hearts. Eventually our desire is for all of the world (and all of Leon) to know Christ. Focusing again on the northern portion of Leon is a good next step to completing that dream.

We were blessed this last week with four new baptisms. It was exciting to see people giving their lives to God and demonstrating once again that Mexico is a country open to the Gospel. Our desire is for these new four babes in Christ to grow deeper in conviction and in love for God. Please pray as we work with our new brother and sisters in Christ.

January is a good month for cosmetic touches on the church, since so many people are away on vacation. This year, I set aside several weeks to work out the bugs in our songbook. Music has always been a big part of my life, so working on the songbook is really a joy for me. Although I am a little behind the schedule I set for myself, the nearly completed songbook should be a welcome improvement.

We are getting geared up again for another hard summer. I just got back from Mexico City at the end of the month to speak to some of the new AIM workers who will be visiting. Likewise, we have heard confirmations from three other groups who will be doing campaigns this summer. Please keep the workers for Leon in your hearts. Last year, our workers contributed to a massive evangelistic push in Leon and multiple baptisms. This year, we pray for the same results as we saw before.

That’s really all of the good news I have for this month. On the sad end, we did have to drop one small group weekly due to a lack of interest (although we are eager to figure out how to replace that group). So, as you can see, ministry (just like life) has its ups and downs.
We are blessed to have your backing in this work as ministry moves up and down at times.

That’s about all for this month. Please keep all of these things in your prayers. We continue to work here and praise God for your partnership.

Thank you,
Chris Johnson

DECEMBER NEWS

2006-12-31T15:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year
Leon, Mexico has dropped down in temperature to the low 60’s, which reminds us that somewhere in the world there are brothers and sisters celebrating the Holiday season. I hope you have had a white Christmas season with lots of gifts and joy. Jessica and I have been very blessed this year with the birth of a baby niece and the support of our partners such as you. All in all, life has been good and we look forward to another prosperous year in Mexico.

These last 30 plus days have been pretty crazy for us here in Leon. Although we anticipated a slowdown in the work for December, we ended the year with some unexpected events, and a few expected ones as well. These events included our annual donation of food to the poor, a Christmas carol night, various Christmas parties to wrap up 2006, and our yearly ladies’ day. It is exciting as we look back over the last year and see how successful church growth has been in 2006. This time last year we were frustrated during the holidays to watch our numbers dwindle from 40 to 20. Although the holidays do mean less people in Leon every year, this time around we have seen our numbers drop to 60 people, a constant reminder of how blessed we have been this last year. Likewise, our events, small groups, and get-togethers have all shown both numerical and spiritual signs of growth this season, making 2006 successful in many ways.

The second annual Leon Ladies’ Day seemed to be very positive again this December. As you may recall, last year’s reunion was held in our church building and brought in Christian women from several Mexican cities who spent the day learning from God’s word with us. This year we rented a large facility, used our building to house the kids, and were blessed to see over double the amount of women that we did last year. Jessica, along with her teammates here, spoke about spiritual disciplines, while I kept the kids under wraps with games and activities. In the end, I believe the work was blessed by hosting the event and helped to further influence the country of Mexico for the cause of Christ.

Our large benevolence projects each year include a clothing drive in the fall, and food donations to the poor at Christmas. As always, Jessica headed up the drive and helped contribute to the seven boxes of food that were given to various families within the city. Although we use the event to help the poor of Mexico, we were blessed this year to see evangelistic fruit come out of the contributions. Like last year, following the giving of the boxes, we saw visitors in attendance that had received the donations. It seems that based on the success of our food boxes, they will be a permanent service that our congregation will offer each year.

Christmas time is as big of an event here in Mexico as it is in the States. This year we celebrated several Christmas parties (both among our workers and with members of the congregation). These events are always enjoyable and bless us with good memories and stories from Mexico. Likewise, we did enjoy a night of Christmas carols as a group from Mexico City came up to Leon to sing for a few hours one Saturday night. Although it doesn’t snow much in central Mexico, the holiday season is still alive and well here in Leon.

Finally, Jessica and I would like to pass into 2007 and out of 2006 by sharing with you our thoughts and prayers concerning the past and the future. Last year was so blessed for us and really helped to mold us into better people. It was a hard year with frustrations and trials, but a fun year too with successes and many adventures. We grew as a family in ministry and love for one another, while we saw our Spanish and relationships begin to blossom here in Leon. We saw the arrival of new workers, we were blessed with new partners, and we saw new Christians come to Christ. In the end, 2006 was a real blessing to us.

As for 2007, Jessica and I have some neat dreams and desires that we hope and pray to see come true. God has placed in our hearts the desire to adopt a child here and we look to begin that process this year. Likewise, we hope to begin furthering our ministries this year with more studies, more evangelism, and having a stronger more streamlined work. We anticipate the arrival of new AIM students this May, as well as future interns and workers. The future looks bright, and we pray that it will be a time of peace and joy for us. Our desire for you is that 2007 will be a peaceful and joyous year as well. We thank God for your partnership and we ask that you will always remember us in your prayers. We really do need your prayers and find ourselves at peace simply when we are told that you remember us before God. Again, thank you for your part in this work and know that we bring you before God in our prayers as well.

Chris and Jessica Johnson

NOVEMBER AND OCTOBER NEWS

2006-11-17T07:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all from Leon. I assume that the Thanksgiving season finds you all well and eager to put on a few extra pounds. We have been blessed these last two months, having seen many new faces in the congregation and also many new directions in the ministry. Leon continues to be an exciting place for work, and we are excited to get to share that work with you.

This is once again going to be a combined newsletter for two months of work, simply because we were in the States for one week in October visiting our partnering congregation in Falls Church, Virginia (meaning that there was a little less to report during that time and a little less time to do the reporting). Our visit to Virginia followed a visit of our other supporting congregations in August, which is why these last two updates have been combined as they are. Jess and I try to make such trips once every two years and were glad to see all of our six congregations that support us this year. Thank you to all who have housed us, fed us, and helped us these last few months. Your service blesses us beyond that which you could know.

According to our yearly calendar, October and November are supposed to be months when things slow down here in Leon. Still, the work seems to be moving right along as we are constantly adding new events on a weekly basis. We were blessed during these two months to have an all night prayer camp, a male leadership day, a clothing drive, our annual missionary retreat and evaluation of the work, an October festival, and much more. We did break 100 people at church one Sunday (with 103) and also started working on what we hope to be a second church planting on the eastern side of the city. Yes, there is a lot going on right now. Some of this news has been documented in our quarterly team update, which can be read by clicking on the red and white "vision" picture below. Please feel free (after reading this update) to check out that news bulletin and hear what all of the Leon partners are saying about the work.

There are a few items that I want to highlight, which you really should know about. As mentioned above, in October we began a strong push towards a new work in a new part of the city. As we have been stating from day one, this work in Leon is to be a multiple church plant movement (churches that plant more churches). In September the decision was made to invest in a new portion of the city and in a new direction for the work. After finding a location for meeting in, and a family who could assist at that location, the Leon missionaries began a one year “test run” to see what would come of this new venture. Of course, our intention is to work to grow a fully functional congregation in this new local. Still, since this is the first time we have attempted to move outside of our current work, we are taking slow steps in the process. Please keep this work in your prayers as we are still learning how such a shift will take place.

We did just last week have our yearly retreat and reevaluation of the work. Like always, we were blessed with a candid and honest discussion of the good, the bad, and the ugly from the 2006 year. As is true with most evaluations, there were many things to get excited about and quite a few things to change. Still, I am happy about the new direction of our work for 2007. In many ways it seems that we are finally accepting where and how we fit best in the ministry and embracing those areas. It is good when you can learn how to streamline work. I feel that 2007 will be a much more streamlined year than 2006.

Our special events for these two months seemed to be very positive for the congregation here. At our prayer camp, I feel like we developed a real unity among the brothers. Likewise, at our leadership seminar, we were able to begin the process of developing strong workers for the mission at hand. In many ways, every event these past weeks have been successful, and any areas of change needed could only make the work that much more productive.

Of course, this is only a quick recounting of the work. To really get a good idea for what is taking place requires a first hand look. This is why I would like to again offer the invitation to supporters, partners, family, and friends to come and visit Leon. You are always welcome here and would be a blessing to us as you see what the work is truly doing. Put us in your schedule and let us serve you for once! Of course, regardless of your plans, you remain in our prayers and are a true blessing to our lives.

Thank you for your partnership,
Chris and Jessica Johnson

SEPTEMBER AND AUGUST NEWS

2006-09-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

This month we are sending out both the September and the August news updates since we were outside of Mexico much of August and were visiting with many of you. Although there was not much news for that month, we did want to update you on what you may not have known.

September Update

September has been a very exciting month here in Leon as we finally get back in gear with life following a crazy summer and equally crazy survey trip to the States. Ministry has been very productive with several baptisms this month including those of Moises (an English teacher), Susana and her mother also named Susana (both very godly servants who have been attending worship here for a few months), and Yolanda (a contact made by one of our Mexican leaders in the church). I personally have been amazed to see a lot of good fruit coming our way these last few months and know that such fruit is the result of lots of hard toil. As we have toiled the field here in Leon these last couple of years by making many many contacts, by working multiple small groups throughout the week, by struggling through language learning and sermon preparation, and by maintaining all of the various aspects of “church” here in Mexico, we have finally begun to observe a harvest in the form of baptisms. Missions definitely is a multifaceted beast with many heads, thus requiring different types of workers and many forms of work. It is a blessing to know that God uses many parts of his body to accomplish his singular task. And yes, it is nice to see fruit coming from that toil.

The fruit in Mexico however comes in more ways than just baptisms as we have seen. Jessica and I are blessed to be starting up our second small group throughout the week. This is a double blessing in the fact that we had believed that we might be replacing one group for another one. Still, after weeks of debate, prayer, and discussion, it looks like we will remain in our small group with the Villalobos family on Thursday, while having a new Monday night group as well.

Another way that the fruit of missions in Leon has been blessed is that leadership is gradually changing hands from the missionaries to the Mexicans. We are currently in plans to transition the Mexicans over in power both in decision-making and in responsibility. This will be accomplished by establishing “men’s meetings” and by mentoring leaders into their various roles. Really, this is the ultimate goal of the work in Leon, that the Mexicans become capable of running with the work once the Americans leave. We feel that the time to begin this transition has arrived. Thus, by mid-November, decisions of the body will be made by the congregation’s leadership (which will include Mexican and missionary leaders). We feel it will be very productive for the congregation by not having the three missionaries making all of the decisions for the body.

Finally, September has been filled with several possibilities for the future that we are very excited to report. We have been blessed over the last two years to see pockets of growth within the city of Leon that are not directly connected in or around the location of our church building. On both the western and eastern most sides of the city we have discovered communities of people interested in joining our work. However, although they desire working with us, they are at the same time living so far away that travel towards our building is not always possible. This has caused us to begin considering where and how we could possibly begin a second church plant. Right now one option on the eastern side of town looks very possible and is being considered. Since our vision is to be a congregation that plants congregations, we feel a second church plant is very much inline with our work. Please pray for our decisions as we consider many alternatives to extending our work at this point.

August Update

August was a very productive month for Jessica and I. Our “tripometer” on the car read 4,000 miles by the end of the month, which sums up well what took place during August. For the few of you who may not know, Jessica and I went back to the States in August for 3 weeks to visit supporters and see family. The journey began by taking us from Mexico to Colorado where we spent a few days with Jessica’s family and visited her hometown congregation of Southwest. Then we were back in the car and off to Guymon Oklahoma where I preached and taught Bible class. Next it was Pampa, Texas where my parents live and where I presented our work to the elders. From Pampa we drove to Amarillo and were able to touch base with one of our supporters and speak about our building plans. Following a couple of days in the Texas panhandle, we swung out to Abilene to be with our collecting congregation, where I preached on Sunday morning and then raced off to Sudan for Sunday night and another bit of preaching. After two days in Lubbock with my sister, we drove down to Gatesville in the heart of Texas, where I taught Bible class. Finally it was a quick drive out to Houston so that I could present our future plans to our elders their and then preach on Sunday. Once all of the preaching was concluded we were able to see Jessica’s sister in San Antonio before our drive across Mexico.

Clearly, this was a lot of driving and preaching over a three-week period. I ended up getting to share our story in front of 5 different congregations and in 3 different meetings with elders and mission leaders. Since I believe there are some very exciting things going on in Leon, it is a fairly easy task. Still, it’s always a blessing to take a long trip without having car problems along the way. Also, it is a blessing to see renewed commitment by partners willing to assist in accomplishing the task of building up the body in Leon. God really did bless us! Thank you for your prayers.

While we were gone to the States, we were blessed to watch the work grow in our absence. There were three baptisms when we left Mexico those 3 weeks, and our partners did a great job picking up pieces that had been vacant during our absence.

Thank you for your continued partnership in the Leon work. Because of you, Jessica and I are able to continue working here in Mexico without worry of financial instability. Your service really does assist us greatly. As always, please keep the Leon work in your prayers as we cannot reach our potential without the constant petitions of our Christian brothers.

Again, Thank you-

Chris and Jessica Johnson

JULY NEWS

2006-07-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Mexico News Update

July has been a great month filled with many opportunities and several new contacts. This month we were blessed with 2 baptisms while worship never dropped below 65. In fact, one Sunday we even reached 120+ people (not including 30 additional American visitors who attended). As you can imagine, we were a bit overwhelmed trying to fit this many people into a building equipped for seating 80 at the most. Still, it was a real joy to watch so many people clumped into our auditorium.

We truly have been blessed with various groups who have come and assisted in our work this last month. One congregation from Shawnee Oklahoma made a huge impact in Leon and resulted in at least four new contact families who have visited and studied with us. Another group from Lubbock, Texas helped us in an exciting VBS effort where yet more contacts are being made. Over all, the two groups made large contributions to a very successful summer season.

Small groups are starting to move along. Omar and Tana’s group has resulted in a new one-on-one study. Likewise, Shawn and Barb seem to be having success with their Friday group as new contacts have been visiting lately. Our group has remained fairly static while it has been generating new interest. Please keep these groups in your prayers as we continue to work to develop these in-house studies.

Of course, life here does continue to roll along. We are seeing a great work effort out of the new AIM students who are growing in their walk with God and ability to serve others. Likewise, the mission team here has been working double-time in these hectic summer months. The result is that we have seen some good fruit this summer. Our hope had been that baptisms would result from May, June, and July’s large mission push. It has been positive to see six baptisms since May and even more positive to observe the growth of leadership these past few weeks.

Jessica and I are right now planning on making a short three-week visit to the United States in late July and early August. It is planned that I will be preaching at five different congregations during this time and sharing our vision for the future work in Leon. Please keep this effort in your prayers as it will be a fast and furious visit. As always, Jessica and I highly value our partners and look forward to seeing many of you shortly. Because of our partners, we are able to assist our team in the task of world evangelism.

Thank You,
Chris Johnson

JUNE NEWS

2006-06-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

It’s that time again for our news update. This month we are sending out our team news, which can be read by clicking on the link below this article.

This month I want to give a short update of a few of the many exciting monthly events not reflected in our team news. We did see the Let’s Start Talking students’ arrival in Leon and have been blessed by their contacts and service. Shawn has been working with the group and has done very well keeping up with their needs and getting them accustomed to Leon.

Likewise, I have been working with the AIM students daily by challenging them through scripture, and by setting up various works for them to do here. The AIMers have been a real joy and have reminded me of the way things were when life was not quite as complex.

Finally, this month has been very fruitful as we have watched all of the pieces of our ministry come together. We were blessed with 60 plus members each Sunday these last four weeks, and even reached 84 people one Sunday. Likewise we have had 4 baptisms this month and have been excited to watch God working. Of course, if it were not for our coworkers here, we would not see this level of growth. The Mexicans have done a great job and have really blessed the work in Leon.

As always, we thank God for you and ask for your continued prayers.

Please once again, feel free to click on the link below to read our team news.

Working in Leon,
Chris Johnson

MAY NEWS

2006-05-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

May has been an exciting month with lots of changes and many new works taking place in Leon, Mexico. These changes consist of new coworkers, new contacts, and even a new convert. We are very eager to address the challenges ahead and ask for your prayers as this work begins moving at a much more rapid pace.

Joined By The Francos
Since we arrived in Leon, one family of Christians has remained a constant help in our work. Arturo and Marta Franco have shown us their constant commitment to ministry by weekly offering their home to several families for Sunday worship. Likewise, this family has assisted us over the last year as we have sought to plant Christ’s church in Leon. In late April, we were surprised to hear that the Franco family had decided to unite with us and begin worshipping with the Leon South congregation. We as a body were eager to accept this family, and those they have been ministering to. Already we have seen many benefits to the unity of these two groups, and hope to see many more blessings in the near future.

AIM Students Arrive
On May 12th, the 2006 Leon Aim students arrived in Mexico. The journey towards Leon demonstrated a great commitment to God by the six students, and has already begun to bless the local work. It is very encouraging to see the AIM students' youthful spirits and passion for the Lord. Likewise, the Leon missionaries look forward to watching the AIM students grow in ministry.

Baptism In Leon
We were very blessed to see another sister added to the body of Christ in mid-May. Marisa demonstrated her commitment to God by accepting Christ’s salvation through baptism. The event was a good reminder of why we are here and what our passion is to always be. Leon is filled with those looking for hope and purpose. Praise God that Marisa discovered that purpose in Jesus!

Visit From A Partner
In early May we were blessed with a visit from our brother Daryl Newton of Baytown, Texas. Daryl, an elder from one of our supporting congregations, saw first hand the work, which is taking place in Leon. After the visit together, it was clear that the bond between the Baytown and Leon ministries remains strong. Likewise, the visit reminded us of how blessed we are to have all of our partners in this ministry. Thank you to all of those who assist in this work. We look forward to the possibility of one day showing you first hand what is taking place here.

Keep Praying
As we reported a few months back, the summer season would be filled with many changes and much work. Now, as summer arrives, we have begun understanding exactly what these changes consist of. Your prayers are crucial in this process and remain a great need of this body. Please continue to bring the Leon work to the Lord as we continue our work here.

Chris Johnson

APRIL NEWS

2006-04-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

April Showers

Actually, the weather in Leon has been pretty nice this month with little rain. However, things have felt somewhat “muggy” and “gray” as church attendance has been lower than usual and as we iron out many of the details prior to workers arriving this summer. Of course, flowers are on the way. We will be making several large evangelistic pushes starting in May and can’t wait to see where these new works will lead us. Please keep this ministry in your prayers as we enjoy the “ups” and “not ups” of missions.

Mission Vision

The Leon missionaries constantly think back to the example of our predecessors and the ways in which other church leaders have spread a fire for world evangelism. The example of Mexico City missionaries from the 1980’s and early 90’s always strikes us as we recall their vision statement and the method of sharing that statement with others. In a similar fashion, we have formed a new vision statement here in Leon and are beginning to share it with the congregation. The concept of “Individual, Community, World” is our newly shared vision and direction for the body. In simplistic terms, we as individuals desire to be “One Person Changed By Christ, Changing The Community For Christ, That All The World Might Know Christ.” This vision of world evangelism and individual transformation is valuable to us, in that it explains to the body in clear forms exactly whom we are and exactly where we are going. We are a people that desire Christ’s change and that desire to share that change with others.

Sunday At The Park

On March 26th, the Leon South congregation held its first annual “Sunday At The Park” meeting. This time was designed both to unite the body, as well as to expose our congregation to those who would not normally step into our church building. We did enjoy the time of prayer, singing, and worship together as we saw many new and old faces meet together with us. Following the time together, we all shared in a traditional Mexican hotdog picnic together. Since the meeting, many have asked if we can make the get together a monthly event instead of simply a yearly one. We are glad that “Sunday At The Park” was a blessing to our brothers and sisters here and look forward to the next event similar to this one.

Continued Ministry

As always, ministry is still moving in Leon. The more we minister here, the more we learn and grow in our understanding of the enormous task ahead of us. We appreciate that you continue to remember our task and our work. Likewise, we praise God that you keep us in your prayers and provide for our needs. The work is still very young, but your faith in God to remain loyal to us has been a wonderful blessing.

Thank you.
Chris Johnson

MARCH UPDATE

2006-03-18T12:55:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Leon. I hope and pray everyone is doing well and enjoying the start of a fresh new spring season. Things in Mexico are going strong with new contacts and renewed direction in our work. We as always, feel positive about how ministry is moving and continue to see advancements in our mission on a regular basis.

This month, we are sending out our team newsletter containing information about the Leon mission work on a team level. This information can be read by clicking on the link below.

Likewise, Jessica and I do want to inform you of a few news updates not mentioned in the team newsletter. In late February the Leon congregation hosted a marriage seminar, which allowed married couples to grow together in their understanding of Biblical relationships and Christian love. Four of our Christian families attended and seemed to really enjoy the time together. In another aspect of ministry, we just recently spent a Sunday afternoon together as a body, sorting through clothing for our next big benevolence project. When all was said and done, there were over ten large boxes of clothing for us to use towards our ministry for the poor of Leon. Since we so often report the good going on here, I don't want to neglect to say when we as a body could use prayers. This week we received word that one family with us would be leaving the church. The news was disheartening, as we have really invested in those leaving us and feel that the move is not in the best intrest of the family. As stated earlier, your prayers do matter and we ask that you keep Patricia and Samuel in your prayers. Finally, not mentioned in our team news is that Alison is preparing for first grade and will be taking a test this month to determine if she is ready to begin her new school here. We are very excited about this new school, as it seems to offer a lot of activities and unique classes to the kids who attend there.

Again, thank you for keeping up with our ministry, and please continue to keep this work in your prayers.

Chris Johnson

FEBRUARY UPDATE

2006-02-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

It’s been a great February in Mexico as we blast through the shortest month of the year. As many of you know, we are gearing up for a crazy spring and summer filled with 3 campaign groups. Likewise, we also anticipate the possibilities of visits from our partners. We are very excited about the seed that will be sown this year, and expect to start harvesting a new group of people following the work done by these groups.

Workers Coming To Leon

As I prepare to work with five new apprentice missionary students starting in May, my teammate Shawn is gearing up for Let’s Start Talking and the arrival of a Texas youth group throughout June and July. The students I will be working with come from throughout the United States and one is even from Russia. Their arrival is very exciting to us who strongly believe that these workers will be making a big impact evangelistically for the Church here. Likewise, Let’s Start Talking and our visiting youth group look to be positive for making new contacts throughout the city. Please keep all three groups in your prayers as you consider this work.

Visas Finally Coming Through

Jessica and I are very excited to say that our Visas are being processed and are just weeks away (Lord Willing) from their arrival here to us. This is exciting news as it was February 10th last year when we first made a quick run to the border to get notarized papers for our Visas. Now, twelve months and nearly two thousand dollars later, we look to actually be getting that paperwork back. The burden of Mexican legalities is finally being lifted from our shoulders, which makes for happier, less anxious missionaries.

Fitting Into The Culture

There are some really exciting things happening here that indicate to us, just how well the cultural transition is going. One indicator was that the Mexicans here threw Jessica a surprise birthday party without my initiation. It was at this moment when I realized just what an impact my wife was making in Leon. Jessica continues to grow in her Spanish and recently began teaching a new Bible study that has really challenged her. Likewise, things have been progressing nicely for me with Spanish. In our small group study, my teaching is smoother and more spontaneous. I can see conversations flowing much more freely and really feel that I am catching around seventy to eighty percent of what is being said.

Alison and Christian seem to be growing in the culture as well. Alison’s ability to converse with the kids here is remarkable and tends to frustrate Jessica and I as we long for having the language skills of a five year old (we are getting there). Christian meanwhile has started saying a few phrases (both in English and Spanish) and seems to enjoy talking when his mouth is not obstructed with food. We expect Christian will move even more quickly than Alison since he has lived most of his life in Mexico now.

Coffee And Conversation

We are starting a new weekly study group in our building called “Coffee and Conversation.” The idea behind this group discussion is to create yet another chance to connect Christ with the community. As we work through study material, visitors will dialogue in a relaxing atmosphere, while enjoying a cup of coffee. We are very excited about the possibility for this time and think it will meet a need in the community that we have not been able to meet yet.

Building Concerns

In the same month that we passed 40 worshippers on Sunday, we also learned of the possibility of losing our building. As many of you know, renting a large building for worship here can cost around $700 to $2000 (U.S. dollars) each month. Over a year ago when we first heard about the possibility of having a large two-story building for $200 monthly, we jumped at the idea. However, before we decided to rent, we first needed to figure out what it would cost upfront to “fix-up the place.” After several donations and lots of hard work, the money put into our building averaged $500 per month in rent and was thus a great deal for the amount of space and location that we were needing to start a new church. Now that we have been here one year, the possibility has arisen that we may not be able to keep our building past May 15th. We are thus in talks with our landlord and looking at various possibilities for the future. Likewise, we are making requests from agencies for grants to assist in the process of purchasing a building. Please keep this process in your prayers. Like so many other things in life, right now we are waiting to see what our next move will be. It may be that we can remain here in our location for years to come. Still, we ask for every prayer available that God can be best glorified in this situation.

World Bible School

One of the new ways that we will be reaching out to the community in 2006 is through World Bible School. We look forward to this new option that several of you have asked about in the past. As many know, World Bible School is a great tool for touching the local community with Christ, while connecting brothers and sisters in the States to foreign missions. There are many in this community who desire correspondence studies rather than one-on-one studies. World Bible School will add yet another dimension to our work and looks to be very positive within the Mexican culture.

Thank You

As I read First John yesterday on Valentines Day, I was reminded once again exactly what love is. Love is treating others as Jesus did. As we work here in Mexico, we remember your love for us. It must take a great deal of faith to financially support missionaries. It is no wonder why so many congregations struggle with the balance of having missionaries when missionaries have at times left a bad taste in people’s mouths. There is rarely a day that Jessica and I don’t consider your faith and love for God, displayed towards us. We love you as well, which is why we really do strive to give 100% to our work. Our dream is that your faith in God will be renewed as you see what is happening here. Thank you for lending us that opportunity.

JANUARY NEWS

2006-01-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone from Mexico. It has been a good start to 2006 here as ministry moves forward and work remains busy. We have enjoyed another Christmas in Leon and prepare for a crazy spring and summer.

FAMILY UPDATE
As a family, things have been going well. Alison was in a school play at Christmas time and like the other kids, demonstrated her Spanish singing ability. On a weekly basis, Alison’s language skills increase and keep Jessica and I constantly amazed. Our son Christian prepares for his third birthday next week and evidently has just now begun his “terrible twos.” Actually, Christian has always been very timid and is finally showing a bit of attitude (probably learned from watching his sister). Jessica keeps everything around the house in working order and feels really good about the culture. Regularly the nationals here tell me that her Spanish is good and her cooking is great. Mexico has been a lot of fun for our family and feels very natural to us. Things like culture shock or language struggles that used to be regular difficulties are now much milder and often ignored. Work and life is going great and we are just glad to be here.

A FEW FIRSTS
There were a few first events in our lives this last month that we did want to report. For the first time I taught the teenager’s Bible class. The youth seemed to pay attention and learn from the study. As most know, teenagers can be the harshest critics and so teaching their class was a good milestone in my language development. Likewise, on January 1st, we had our first Sunday worship without the rest of our mission team. While the Gary family was in the States and the Palafox family was in Guadalajara, I enjoyed the challenge of taking on full responsibility. I did utilize Mexican leadership of our congregation (something that we do often), while I wore quite a few hats of my own. My experience in the States is that it is never easy trying to coordinate all of the worship service as a leader without help. Doing so for the first time in Spanish was a great test, filled with many rewards.

CELEBRATING THE SEASON
We did enjoy several congregational get-togethers during the holiday season. My parents got to come down for Christmas. Obviously Jessica and I enjoyed a good visit with the family and needed some good conversation time with English speakers. On New Year’s Eve, Jessica and I visited another Church of Christ congregation in Leon and “rang in 2006” with our Mexican brothers and sisters across town. Then, on the Mexican holiday called Kings’ Day, we invited that same congregation over to our house to join our congregation in games and fun. The winter season was wonderful and a good opportunity for congregational unity.

MEDICAL AWARENESS DAY
One way that the congregation here is trying to impact the community is by offering up various social services to reach out to those within our neighborhood. This service takes place in our benevolence work as well as in the form of education. When we learned of the possibility of bringing in a health advisor from Mexico City to host a medical awareness day, we jumped at the opportunity. The seminar, which focused on cancer among women, did bring into the building some new contacts and allowed us to serve on a physical level. We are always open to new possibilities of neighborhood service for the future and welcome anyone visiting to Mexico to join us in this endeavor.

PRAYER UPDATE
Last month I did ask for prayers for our visas as we were unaware whether or not we would be running back to the border for one day to fill out paperwork. As of today we still are unaware of what the future will hold in this way, although we are more confident that such a trip may not be necessary. If the government is satisfied with all of our paperwork than we should be in the clear. However, things tend to be vague within the Mexican immigration system, and we remain at the mercy of “the next guy” who looks over our information. Every time that the government asks for a new form, a cloud of stress begins to loom over our heads. This process has been very frustrating for us, but seems to be finally looking up. Please keep this process in your prayers.

THANK YOU
Again, we thank God for you in so many ways. Often my prayer for you is that you will see in some physical way the rewards that you store up for yourselves by helping us. Your service influences the kingdom of God. Thank you for your service.
- Chris Johnson

New Year's Eve With Other Christians

2006-01-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas In Mexico With Grandparents

2006-01-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Enjoying The Culture At The Leon Fair

2006-01-18T13:06:00.000-08:00

Another Good Sunday Worship

2006-01-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

Clothing Pantry Gets Started

2006-01-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

Chris Teaching The Little Kids

2006-01-18T12:58:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER NEWS

2005-12-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas From Leon

It’s another festive holiday season here in Mexico and we are blessed to have had a crazy month of December filled with several events and lots of things going on. The weather here has been a little cool (down in the 60’s at times), but obviously not like many of you are experiencing. We are ready for another visit from Santa and the kids just can’t wait to open their Christmas presents. Of course, the kids don’t realize that much of the reason why Santa is so good is because you (our partners) take such good care of us. Thank you for all of the ways that you bless us on a monthly basis.

Jessica and The Kids Making Christmas Cookies

Mexico Wide Ladies Day

This month we were blessed to host a Mexican wide ladies day. We had women come into our building from Guadalajara, Mexico City, and elsewhere in the country. The event was designed as a way to unify the ladies of Mexico, offer spiritual insights and teaching, and of course to glorify God. There were around forty women who attended the ladies day, which was very successful for our first try at such an event. Jessica had several large parts during the day, including leading singing and introducing the speaker who had driven in from Guadalajara.

While the ladies worshipped, I was in charge of taking care of kids. As the ladies day began, the men hopped into a van and took the kids to the zoo. The little monkeys seemed to enjoy themselves, and the children had fun too (ha). In the end, the ladies day and time at the zoo were great fun and good for building lasting bonds.

Mission Team Retreat

The Leon Mission Team took some time in December to ask the questions- What went good this year? What could have gone better? As we gathered around a large table for our annual “mission team retreat,” we made many changes for the future and left many things as they had been before. The goal of such meetings is to streamline ministry and find out how to place the right person on the right job. We on this team are all very different with diverse gifts and talents. Our retreat acknowledged prior strengths and weaknesses for the work and made plans to push forward by capitalizing on strengths, while learning from weaknesses. The final outcome seems very positive, and I believe 2006 has great potential for being even more productive than 2005.

Giving To The Needy In Mexico

Over the last six months, Jessica has been in charge of benevolence and collecting items for the poor of Leon. Jessica’s plan has been to collect boxes of groceries that could be handed out and distributed for Christmas. On December the 18th, we as a body drove to the neediest places in Leon to sing church songs, give out grocery packets, and invite the recipients to worship. The evening was very productive and seemed to really touch those who were selected for the gift boxes. Already Jessica is gearing up for the next time we hold such an event, and trying to think of the best way for us as a body to serve Leon.

Paperwork Prayer Request

It has been a great year and we are so thankful for the ways that you serve us here in Leon. Jessica and I are very pleased to have had you by our side in 2005 and look forward to our partnerships for the future. We do want to ask for a special prayer from everyone concerning our visas here. These last two years have been a bit of a roller coaster of trying to get paperwork taken care of for us to be “official” in Mexico as missionaries. Just when we thought our visas were about to be ready for us, we have found out that there is still more “running around” to get things moving. Since we are deep in Mexico, asking us for something as simple as notarized papers from my University really is a complicated task. Please be praying about this for us. We have no desire to have to make another mad dash to the border, but as time progresses we believe such a trip may be inevitable. Again, we ask for your prayers before God that this process can be streamlined and removed from our lives as a constant frustration.

We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and pray God’s blessing on you this year,

Chris Johnson

Worship On Sunday

2005-12-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

Jessica Leads Ladies In Singing

2005-12-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

Ready For A Christmas Party

2005-12-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

Preparing To Take Kids To The Zoo

2005-12-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

Alison In Her Christmas Play At School

2005-12-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER NEWS

2005-11-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

Developing More Contacts

It’s exciting when ministry really starts coming together as it has just recently. This being the first month of our second year, work is moving faster and language is going smoother. Our contact Paco, who once seemed uninterested in the Gospel, is realizing in the midst of tragedy exactly what the church has to offer. My neighbor Neftali who has gone back and forth in his views towards Christianity, is now bringing others to Bible studies and seems to personally be heading closer towards belief. Daniel who attends “Lets Start Talking” classes, has now invited his girlfriend to join us and so she also is learning the Gospel of Jesus. And then there is Gloria, who once seemed to go in one door and out the other, yet she has again returned to worship and seems to have renewed desire to stay and learn about Christ. Of course, it’s not just the nationals who are changing. Spanish really is becoming much more comfortable to Jessica and I. Just last week I saw tremendous growth in my language abilities in ways that I had not experienced before. With every conversation, every study, and every “get together,” things just keep getting smoother, better, and more efficient.

House Studies Rolling

Before arrival to Leon, we as a mission team created a detailed plan for our work here. This plan involved developing large Sunday worship times, having one-on-one Bible studies, and forming small group studies weekly in our homes. With the quick success of our Sunday meetings and continued one-on-one studies, the house group study time had not “taken off” to the extent that was originally anticipated. As ministry now allows us to place more emphasis on these in-home studies, we are individually beginning to see our small group times start rolling. It is exciting for us as we start to share the Bible in the native language of Please pray as these groups continue to develop further here in Leon.

Apprentice Missionaries Recruited

In late October, Omar Palafox and myself made a quick run up to Lubbock, Texas to recruit coworker to assist in our work here. The AIM program, which I was part of from 1995-1998 takes students who desire to learn about mission work, and sends them to a mission field to work under a missionary. AIM made a powerful impact in my life and so choosing to work with the program is an exciting possibility for us. Lord willing, this May we will have fulltime helpers here to assist in our task of evangelism and church growth. Please pray for these new workers and the cities worldwide where they will be sent.

October Festival

As many know, Mexico’s version of Halloween has even stronger ties to religion and paganism than the often secular version celebrated in the States. This being the case, we wanted to offer a good alternative for those in Leon who have reservations towards the holiday while still desiring a good time for the kids. The idea for a festival was decided upon and seemed to bring us exactly what we were looking for. Our October festival was filled with fun games, a cakewalk, lots of prizes, and of course, tons of candy. Following the Saturday evening event, we had a large group of kids show up for worship, which was exactly the outcome we had hoped for. Of course, we look forward to future opportunities to show the community how much fun Christians can have together.

Breaking Down Walls

Since we have finally reached forty people worshipping on Sunday, and have been around that number throughout the month, we recently realized that there are some major developments that need to take place to accommodate such numbers of people. We began preparations by knocking out our largest opponent to growth, a concrete wall in our auditorium that limited us to around 50 worshipers. Next we purchased another batch of twelve chairs, which brings us to around 55 seats. Since knocking down walls takes away classroom space, we have finally expanded to our second level where we are holding the youth class. Starting in December, I will be the teacher for a new kids class that will further accommodate our growing numbers of kids. Also, we have begun putting our songs on an overhead projector due to insufficient numbers of songbooks. These are a lot of changes, but we feel that they were necessary for growth.

Baptism Featured In The Christian Chronicle

Jazmin, one of our members, was featured in the Christian Chronicle last issue, as she decided recently to accept Christ. As one of our college aged students, Jazmin grew up in Toluca , Mexico where she knew of Christianity through her parents. When the time came for her to begin a University, Leon offered exactly what she needed for her specific field. We were blessed when Jazmin began worshipping with us last school year and found a Christian home at our congregation. Later this summer during the school break, Jazmin accepted Christ as her Lord and was baptized back home for her parents to see. Please pray for Jazmin and her new walk with Christ.

Thank You To Our Partners

As we prepare to wrap up 2005, we thank God for your service to our work. Because of you, we were able to arrive in Leon and start a work in this city that is largely Catholic. Because of you, we were able to build only the second Church of Christ building in a city of two million. Because of you, Christ is being preached and the people here are responding. Thank God for your sacrifice and work for us to be here. You are changing the religious landscape of Mexico with your service to our work.

Prayer Requests
Continued Language Growth, The New Congregation In Leon, Church Growth, Church Leadership To Flourish, Possible Apprentice Missionaries Arriving
For The Salvation Of- Neftali, Paco, Arturo, Isaac, Freddie, Rafael, Rubin, Manuel, Roberto

To Read The November Leon Mission Team News -
Click On The Graphic Below

OCTOBER NEWS

2005-10-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

REACHING NEW GOALS
This month we were able to reach our goal of 35 last Sunday at worship and even passed the goal as we reached 38. Earlier in the month we did reach 35 and had 40 that some morning for “potluck,” but were excited to have an even larger turnout on a non-potluck Sunday for worship.
Likewise, I was able to start a new study on Tuesday nights with a visitor to the congregation who expressed quickly that he is eager for the Gospel. Please keep these studies and all of our contacts in your prayers as we continue to work here in Leon.

THE OTHER FORM OF CHURCH GROWTH
There must be something in the water because we are blessed to see lots of new babies showing up for worship with us this month. With three families in the congregation having babies (including Shawn and Barbara Gary our teammates) and Omar and Tana finding out that they will be joining these ranks soon too, growth is happening here in Leon in all sorts of ways. Already the congregation is asking the question “What do we do about a ‘cradle roll’ classroom?” These are exciting questions to have to ask and we are glad to see these “little ones” at church with us.

VISITS FROM PARTNERS
This month Jessica and I were blessed with two separate visits from supporters. In one case that partner was Jessica’s father (Jessie) who wanted to come and see the work. In another case that partner was Timbra Wiist who we worked with when she was an AIM student and whose husband was in our AIM class. Both Jessie and Timbra were able to see a good portion of the city, visit the church building, and see a good portion of what we are doing here. It was enjoyable in both cases to get to share our work and demonstrate first hand some of the things going on here.

RAISING UP HELPERS
Our teammate Omar Palafox and I will be making a mad run to the States in late October to request co-workers from the AIM program. As most of you know, AIM has been a big part of our lives and we as a team all went through the apprentice missions program as a way to first learn about mission work. We will be requesting five students as coworkers and are excited about the possibilities of these young people here with us. The 7 day trek up to Lubbock, Texas will take us through San Antonio, Dallas, Gatesville, Cameron, Abilene, Sudan, and Lubbock. As we pass various congregations we hope to collect teaching supplies and no longer used “junk” that the congregations are able to get rid of, and that we might be able to use at the church. Please pray for us as we run up and down the state of Texas and try to take care of business.

SEPTEMBER NEWS

2005-09-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

It’s been a good month here this September with new contacts in the city learning the good news of Jesus, a new brother baptized into Christ, several church fellowship get-togethers, not to mention the regular work which we involve ourselves with daily. All in all, September has been a great time to remind us of why we are here, especially as Jessica and I prepare for our 12th month in Leon, Mexico.

NEW CONVERT
Many of you have been praying for Gerardo and his family along with others who we are working with in the city. Three weeks ago, Gerardo began showing interest in our Bible studies with the salvation of Christ. After a few more studies, it became clear that Gerardo was ready to make his move towards Christ and said that it was time he place his faith in Jesus as Lord. I was very excited to be a part of Gerardo’s decision to die with Christ in baptism and am blessed to now call Gerardo a brother in Christ.

Gerardo’s decision has caused his wife Patty to also begin considering Jesus as her Lord. Please keep Gerardo and Patty in your prayers as they walk towards the goal of living like Christ. Also pray that Patty might follow in her husband’s footsteps and become clothed with Jesus, as Gerardo has been.

NEW CONTACTS
The workers in Leon are very excited as ministry really starts to pick up. We just finished making our 4th purchase of chairs, bringing us to 40+ seats in our building. Last week on Sunday we were absent 10 regulars to worship and still had 31 people, so we are expecting sometime soon to pass the 35-person barrier that we have yet to rise above on a regular Sunday worship. We have been seated firmly at 30 for over two months now and look forward to filling our auditorium even further.

Of course, the goal of ministry is not to merely get visitors in the door, but to share Christ and the Gospel with them. We have been working together as a team to make sure every visitor is given special attention. This attention includes having them in our homes, teaching them fundamentals of Christianity, sharing with them the Gospel, ministering to them, and loving them as Christ would. Our mission team is very diverse and gifted in this task and has already seen this diversity working together to take nationals from point “A” to point “B.”

MINISTRY UPS AND DOWNS
With so many “ups” here in Leon, there are bound to be a few “downs.” I recall a teacher at LCU in the missions department who taught us that many times the “first ones drawn to the missionaries” end up being those who “stab you in the back.” Sadly, we have already faced this truth to some degree as we have seen a Christian here in Mexico cheat and even rob the church. Little did we know when we arrived that we would so quickly be dealing with “church discipline” issues. Still, I quickly think back towards all of those who Jesus dealt with, ministered to, and taught in his ministry. We have been called to Leon for sinners to accept the Gospel in faith. Pray for these in Leon that they will truly cast their sins towards God and repent of their worldliness as they come towards Christ.

LOTS OF FELLOWSHIP
Between house group studies, potlucks, Mexico’s Independence Day, football parties, leadership classes, and weekly Bible studies, we are experiencing a lot of good fellowship time here in Mexico. Just this week alone we as a body met together for two separate church get-togethers. As a body, we believe that such fellowship times are crucial for developing ministry opportunities. Whether we are teaching the basics of church leadership or simply sharing a meal, the more we meet together the strong bonds develop.

SEPTEMBER MARKS AN ENDING AND A BEGINNING
September is a special month for Jessica and I as we gear up for the anniversary of our first year in Leon and as I have my 30th birthday. The two events together remind me of how fast life moves and how great the task of sharing Jesus in Mexico is. Thank you to all who contribute in our task of world evangelism and have helped to get us here. We look forward to an even more productive second year in Leon now that we are adjusted to the culture and feel much more confident in the language. The seed has been and is being sown; we eagerly await more good results.

Chris Johnson

2005-09-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Two very nervous people.

2005-09-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

Omar Leading Worship.

2005-09-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Fellowship In The Potluck Line.

2005-09-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday Worship In Late August.

2005-09-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Studying Together.

2005-09-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Kids Looking For Candy On The Ground.

2005-09-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

Dressed Up As A Little Mexican , But Looks Swiss To Me.

2005-09-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Enjoying The Mexican Traditions.

2005-09-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

A Real Mexican and A Real Texan.

2005-09-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

The Leon Kids Meet A Real Mexican.

Soul Added!

2005-09-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

We were very blessed to see Gerardo, a man that Shawn and I have been studying with, accept Christ last evening. God is good!

AUGUST NEWS UPDATE

2005-08-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

I pray that you are having a good end to summer and preparing for the start to a great new school year. We continue to work hard here in Mexico and feel things are really starting to get moving.

Jessica and I are very grateful to you for all of the ways in which you contribute to our ministry and know that without you we could not be here in this work. Your gifts are very meaningful to us and are considered constantly as we minister in Mexico.

This month we are sending out our collective Team News which highlights many of the events going on here in Leon over the past few weeks.

Also Jessica and I are including our current contact list with those included who we study with and minister to weekly. Please pray over these names and our teachings in their lives.

Johnson Contact Prayer List-
Non-Christians
Paco
Neftali
Daniel
Roberto
Freddie, Rosa, and Emelda
Gerardo and Patty
Arturo, Abi, Denise, and Isaac
Sigifredo
Maria Ester
Ariela and Lucy
Christians
Mario
Manolo and Adriana
Jasmin

To Read The August Leon Mission Team News -
Click On The Graphic Below

JULY- THE BALL IS ROLLING

2005-07-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a good month of July. Things are going very well here in Leon as we see many barriers being broken and the “ball” of church planting starting to really “get rolling.” Weekly, victories are evident as we continue to press forward through this cultural terrain that is 98% Catholic.

SHOW ME A SIGN
Although it is not exciting news, it is important to note that June ended with the Leon team replacing our old, 3 square foot sign, with a massive one that reads in Spanish “Church of Christ.” The sign, which prominently stands above the entry of our building, took several hours to build a frame for and was quite a task to set up. However, the response to this new sign was worth all of the work. Several have knocked on our door midweek and told us that they have been wondering what is going on here at the building. Others have come to worship and study on Sunday, just because they saw the sign and wanted to come in and see what was going on. We are excited about the response, especially as we distribute literature that directs people to our meeting place, which can be easily found and seen.

EXCITING RESPONCE
Between our sign, the distribution of literature, personal evangelism, house study groups, and the various forms of ministry that we are involved in, we have seen a large “bump” in the number of worshippers this month. Last Sunday we were up to 31 worshippers. Of course, I have reported numbers like this before. However, this week was different because 10 of our regular members were away on vacation. The result (if you do the math) was that we had 23 visitors on Sunday! This was especially surprising because it was during the summer holiday, and we weren’t having a special worship Sunday. We are very excited about what we are seeing, and continue to take opportunities to “plug” these visitors into ministry and house group points.

A STORY ABOUT THE CHURCH WORKING
One visitor to our building was a man who could barely hold in his tears on Sunday. As we sang, he quietly walked in, sat in the back, and wept. After speaking with him following worship, it was made known that he had lost his job, was in need of money, and was concerned for his family’s inability to survive without food or income. I personally had to focus on another role at the time, and so my teammate Omar and a Mexican brother named Manolo began to determine how they would handle the issue. When I returned to Omar, I found that the church was assisting the man with money for food for the day. Also, Manolo who works for the government would be taking the man to get a government job. I then turned around to see a visitor also hand the man money and offer to give him a job. To me, this event demonstrated exactly what we are here to be doing. Empowering Mexican leadership to become the body of Christ! I was touched deeply by the events and was proud to see both our young Christians, and even visitors putting Christianity into practice.

PARTNERSHIPS
Jessica and I continue to be thankful for all that you have done and are doing for this ministry. We just a few months ago saw our finances for living finally reach what we have needed to live here in Leon. To all who contribute to that undertaking, we praise God for you. Your sacrifice will be rewarded.

As a team, we are still lacking funding for working here and have difficulty at times covering all of the first time costs of chairs, literature, and other items that come up. If anyone knows of those who might help in this task, it would take off some of the stress we as a team are facing to cover these bases. We are looking for monthly assistance for our working fund and appreciate your prayers and assistance in this task. I can be emailed at Mexico4Jesus@hotmail.com if you are able to assist financially in this way.

ROLLING ALONG
This month has been a challenge to write about because it is not filled with any BIG news. Rather, this month has been a pretty typical one. We continue to do mass evangelism in the mornings and Bible studies during midweek. Still we visit our visitors in their homes and open our homes up for small group studies. We look forward to the near future and pray for continued success as we hit spurts of growth and see major victories along the way. Strongly we believe in the Mexican people and that they will turn their hearts and minds towards the Lord. Still, we ask your prayers for them and us as we strive to change some of the cultural statistics here.

Very Grateful To You To Be A Minister In Mexico,
Chris Johnson

2005-07-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

Singing At Worship

2005-07-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

Potluck Meal

2005-07-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Building Strong Relationships

2005-07-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Late At Night Driving By The Church

2005-07-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

Mr. Bible Teaches The Children

JUNE NEWS UPDATE

2005-06-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone from sunny, tropical León. Of course, sunny and tropical to one person can also be perceived by another as extremely hot with intense humidity and scorching temperatures. Since some days we enjoy the heat and other days we don’t, the Mexican summer is either a “holiday” or a “dog day”, depending on how one feels at the time. Still, if it ever gets too hot, we can just close our eyes and pretend we are in Hawaii. Problem solved!

FLUXUATING NUMBERS
There are many exciting things happening here this summer that I want to keep you updated on. Although we did hit two of our lowest Sunday attendances in mid-May, we transitioned to June with three Sundays in a row where we were without adequate seating for the large number of worshippers. In other words, we went from 10 people one Sunday, to 17, to 32, to 21, finally bringing us to 27 worshippers last Sunday. As one can see, during these first months of having the Church in León, we have literally felt a roller coaster of response, making it at times difficult to gauge what is taking place here. For certain we have learned that growth in numbers creates an exciting dynamic which causes more growth. Likewise, we have seen the frustrations of watching people dwindle from attendance and the challenge it creates.

PEOPLE
We continue to meet and find more and more people for studies. I have begun a new study with a young guy here named Daniel. He saw a flier we dropped off at his door and was interested in a “Let’s Start Talking” style of study. Another contact came through a chance meeting as he went to our house to service our television. An invitation was given and now Gerardo and his wife Patty attend worship and have begun studying with Jessica and I. As I went to visit one of my contacts that I study with named Roberto, I ran into a man named Jose. Before I knew it we were discussing the differences between Christianity and Catholicism and setting up a study. As a team, we are seeing similar successes as more and more people are showing interest in the Gospel in León.

MINISTRY
Jessica and I continue to cast various types of nets as ways to share Jesus here in Mexico. We have cast the net of “hospitality” by bringing families into our home to eat together and fellowship with. The net of “spirituality” is used as we open the building up for prayer times and Bible studies. We cast the net of “Christian community” by developing three weekly adult small group studies in the missionaries’ homes. “Recreation” is the net that uses Rollerblading in the park or GameNight as a way to make contacts and create interest in studies. Of course, the list of nets to be cast by our team can go on and on. In many ways “the sky is the limit” as we search for Christ like ways to be “all things to all men” in the community.

LIVING
Living in Mexico continues to be a joy as Jessica and I really start to feel comfortable in the culture. Spanish is truly coming along for us as we comprehend most of what anyone says and can get our ideas across fairly easily as well. There are times when all eyes are upon us that we have a much more difficult time, but things are going good. Of course, we still have a while before our conversations move smoothly and quickly like they do in English.

Alison is wrapping up her first year in the Mexican school system and seems to be doing well with few struggles. Christian is becoming a “big old boy” although he still does not speak any language known to man and thinks that he is Buzz Lightyear.

There are plenty of other things happening here in Mexico, but we will save those for another day. As always, we love and appreciate your prayers and we are very honored to serve you and the Lord here south of the Texas border. We do look forward to seeing you again in the near future and hope this update finds you well.

-Chris Johnson

2005-06-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sunday As Church Begins

2005-06-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

Again... Sunday As Church Begins

2005-06-14T17:19:00.001-07:00

Daddy Plays With The Kids

2005-06-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

Alison At Her First School Performance

2005-06-14T17:17:00.001-07:00

The Johnson Girls

2005-06-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Johnson Boys

MAY NEWS UPDATE

2005-05-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all from Leon, Mexico. I hope everyone has enjoyed the spring and has plans for a good summer vacation this year. Things for us here in Mexico are as always, “business as usual.” The first month following our groundbreaking has been a time of both ups and downs, with victories and challenges facing us along the way.

BIBLE STUDIES
As April turned into May, Jessica and I were filled with the excitement of having three weekly one-on-one Bible studies (in both Spanish and English) with those living in our neighborhood. Our contacts Roberto, Patricia, and Neptalí, who are studying with us, seemed to be eager to hear what we had to say and come to our weekly meeting times. These times, which addressed scripture and the Gospel message, have been a real blessing to both prepare for and share with our contacts. Needless to say, during such Bible studies, both language skills and Biblical knowledge are stretched in ways that they aren’t otherwise outside of the studies. Thus, having such study times are a real blessing and benefit to our contacts and us.
Jessica and I have however faced a bit of frustration with these studies when we learned that some in our community are warning others about studying with us. Evidently the rumor has surfaced that Jessica and I are trying to “convert people.” The accusation is obviously frustrating on one level because it causes others to be fearful of us. Still, I am glad to know that there is nothing hidden with us here. Many in our neighborhood know that we are Christians and that we want to share Jesus with them. The accusation of our desire to “convert” our neighbors is a true one. Yet, as I told one contact, “we genuinely care for the people of this community and want to share Jesus with them.” For certain, giving the gift of the Gospel to others should not be something to be ashamed of.

INFLUENCING YOUNG ADULTS
Although a majority of those who attend Sunday worship with us are middle-aged s, we are also in frequent contact with several young s. As you may recall from various presentations we have made about the culture, a large percentage of Mexico is filled with youth between the ages of 20 and 30. Jessica and I personally have seven non-Christian contacts that we are regularly meeting with in their early twenties. These young s show a real desire for spirituality (much like their American counterparts) although they tend to be disillusioned with structured religion. After sharing the Gospel with one of these young men, he said “it makes me angry to know that the religious leaders here don’t teach us these things.” Clearly the truth of Jesus touches people on a very personal level.
There are several plans and ideas floating around to minister to these young s, two of which we are very excited about. Starting last month, I began on late Friday night from 10:30-1:00 to have a game night in my house. We play everything from the board game RISK to Playstation 2 as a way to bring in more young s into our lives. Already we are seeing positive results from the time as “game night” has turned into early morning tacos and conversations. Two weeks ago at 2:30a.m. I sat at a taco stand with one of these young guys as he opened up to me about his perspectives on God and life. I enjoyed telling him what the Bible said on the issue.
We are now making plans to have a campout in July at an area campground with our “20somethings.” If possible, we would like several of the local congregations in the area to bring their young s too. This time could be a great opportunity for us to not only bond with our contacts, but also to demonstrate what Christian community is to look like. Please keep these plans in your prayers as we work to influence the future of Mexico.

LADIES CLASS
For the last several months, Jessica has been leading the other missionary wives through a workbook entitled “Evangelistic Women” as a part of their ladies class. The ladies class for the missionary wives was designed as a way to create strong communication between the ladies, and to offer renewed direction in times that missionary life seems commonplace and redundant. The class is very encouraging for Jessica who enjoys getting together with the other ladies and sharing with them.
The missionary ladies class also led the way for the congregation’s new ladies class for all of our female members. Tana Palafox leads this group on Saturdays for an hour of fellowship and study. It is true in Mexico, as it is other places in the world, that women have a real desire for spirituality and Christian unity. We are blessed to have two opportunities for the ladies to bond and learn together.

MINISTRY TAKING SHAPE
Following our groundbreaking event, we are starting to create various forms of ministry as ways to “plug in” our contacts to studies. Besides the ladies class and game night ministries mentioned earlier, we have also begun a weekly prayer time and an evangelistic outreach time for the congregation. We continue our three weekly small group studies, Sunday morning and night meetings, as well as the teen study that Shawn leads weekly. Our goal has been to offer as many options to the city of Leon as possible, as well as to utilize our new building.

TEAM NEWS ONLINE
For those who want to hear even more about our news as a team, we have updated the Internet with our quarterly newsletter. You can read that news by clicking here.

Please Pray For
Us as our visa work goes through
Strength and unity of our mission team
Chris and Jessica’s language study
Visitors for our 5 weekly Bible study times
More contacts to result in more studies
God to raise up his workers in Leon
Satan’s stronghold in the city to be broken

Once again, we appreciate all of your prayers and are grateful for all of the ways that you contribute to our work. You are a great blessing to us here in Mexico.

-Chris Johnson

2005-05-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

Leon Guys Decide Their Next Move

2005-05-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

Three In The Morning On Game Night and Only Two Players Left

2005-05-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Auditorium Ready To Go

2005-05-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Back Of Auditorium Before Any Construction Began

2005-05-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Front Of Auditorium Before Any Construction Began

2005-05-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Alison and Christian Clean The Church

2005-05-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

Growing Up In Mexico

2005-05-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

Jessica and Christian Helping Out A Friend

Goodbye To Our Webmaster

2005-05-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

It's a sad day when we are forced to say "Adios" to one of our key players in the work, but the time has indeed come. One of my good friends named Austin Nesbitt runs all of our Leon4Christ.org pages and has decided that after having a new child and family, he needs to "move on" from assisting in our work. Austin has personally paid for and updated monthly our website and been a wonderful source of help for us getting our words out to you. Having sacrificed so much, we lift Austin up for all he has done and pray God's blessings on him as his family begins to grow.
Thanks so much Austin,
Chris

APRIL GROUND BREAKING

2005-04-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Building Task Completed

Although there are still a few touchups to be made, for the most part our task of building construction is completed. In the end it took about seven weeks for us to bring a two-story house with five large rooms and turn it into a fully functional church building. Where once there were walls there are now doorways, and where once existed empty space we now have bathrooms, classes, and an auditorium that can seat one hundred. This has not been the easiest task for certain; however, we are very excited about the final results.

Neighbors Getting In On The Work

As we began choosing a place for meeting together, we were concerned how parking and worshipping might negatively affect our neighbors. Little did we realize that because we were constructing, our neighbors would be such a large part of our work. Anywhere in Mexico one can easily find a welder, electrician, painter, bricklayer, carpenter or any other type of specialist without searching too hard. When we began our task, welders, painters, and carpenters literally came right out of the… (you know) right out of the woodwork. The consequence has been that we now know about thirty more people than we did before. It’s exciting to see God construct relationships here as we arre constructing a building to meet together in.

Just Stopping In

We experienced a positive result to having a building the first Sunday when meeting together. Last week during worship, we had a woman from the street “stop in.” While passing the building on foot, she heard singing and decided to step inside to see what was taking place. In the end, she stayed for quite some time and showed real interest in what we were doing. Our prayer is that this permanent location will result in many others for years to come that will hear the singing or preaching and want to see what’s inside.

Ground Breaking Campaign

Following construction, we began the process of preparing for our “Ground Breaking” campaign. As I have said before, this was a chance for us to accomplish the tasks of creating new contacts, and showing the community that the Church had arrived in Leon and where it was located. After passing out around 10,000 flyers and inviting our contacts, we had a positive turnout of around 50 people last Saturday night. The night was divided into a time of singing and prayer, a video about Jesus, and separate classes for kids and s where emphasis was placed on Jesus as Lord over all. The night concluded with bread and drinks and nearly two hours of “chit-chat.” We felt very positive about the campaign that ultimately lead to Sunday’s turnout for worship of 26 people (our largest Sunday worship to date). Please be praying about Leon. Although the city that is 98% Catholic, we see the Lord changing hearts and minds towards him.

It’s Not What You Know

When things start coming together as they have for this month’s groundbreaking, I must admit that my mind is brought back to the old phrase,“It’s not what you know but rather it’s who you know.” We needed a projector system to run our video for the “Ground Breaking” campaign and were nervous about the cost to rent such an item for a night. Because one member of our congregation works for the city council of Leon, we were loaned a projector (free of charge) for the night to use, as we needed. Again, when we first found our $200 a month building that needed some major construction work, it was a contact here named Arturo that drew blueprint plans to make our dreams a reality. As we looked to print 10,000 flyers for the campaign, a congregation in the States donated us a photocopier for the task. When the need arose for financial assistance to finish our floors here, there were two congregations back home that helped make up the missing funds. When the day came for us to fix the roof at the building, fish out trash from the septic system or paint the walls of our classrooms…. you guessed it…. someone always seemed to show up to take care of the need at hand. We have been so blessed in this process to see amazing things taking place. Ultimately, to those who call upon the Lord there are always blessings. Thus, “it’s not what you know but rather it’s who you know.” Thank you to all who acted to serve us in this huge task. Your work has truly been a blessing from the Lord.

Please Pray For
Strength and Unity of our Mission Team
Chris and Jessica’s Language Study
Visitors for our 5 weekly Bible study times
More contacts to result in more studies
God to raise up his workers in Leon
Satan’s stronghold in the city to be broken

Special Thanks
Thank you to the La Junta Church of Christ and Guymon Church of Christ for special contributions of well over $2000 for our construction efforts. The gifts given were a considerable help in starting us off on the “right foot” with our work here.

2005-04-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

Ground Breaking Campaign In Our New Auditorium

2005-04-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

Auditorium Before Construction

2005-04-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome To The Church of Christ!

2005-04-17T16:53:00.001-07:00

Outside Entry Before Construction

2005-04-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

Outside Entry After Construction

2005-04-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

First Sunday At The Building

2005-04-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Parlor Room

MARCH MADNESS!

2005-03-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy month here in Leon with many big events. This is the reason why I have titled this newsletter "March Madness." I have also created subtitles for each section of news to better separate events of the month. Enjoy.

Strategy Plans
As many of you know, we are now just weeks away from our BIG groundbreaking event when we will invite our contacts and others from this community to an evangelistic campaign at our church building. The process for preparing for the groundbreaking has been a long one, but allow me to give a quick play-by-play of the steps taken this far over the last 5 months of being in Leon.

Leaflet Distribution-
Around 6,000 door-to-door across the most southern part of the city of Leon
Contacts-
Around 75 s who have individual relationships with the Leon team and have been visited, or have attended various study groups or church activities
Small Groups-
Three weekly Small Group Bible studies including one for teenagers, one mid-evening during the week, and one late night on Friday
Worship-
Sunday morning time together, which averages around 15 people weekly
Surveys-
Face-to-face questionnaires and invitations concerning April’s evangelistic campaign given to contacts and those we meet on the street
Church Activities-
Get-togethers including New Years and Super Bowl parties, potlucks, prayer and singing nights, etc.
Personal Bible Studies-
One-on-one studies with our contacts
Building Project-
The renting of a two story, six room building with two large auditorium areas to worship in. Cost of rent- $200 monthly. Excess cost to fix roof and wall problems paid from saved funds by the mission team- $2000. Money required to complete floor, paint, and plumbing from contributing congregations- $1000. Total cost monthly for rent (after including construction costs) $450 monthly. Time taken to complete building project- one month.
Invitations-
Beginning the first week of April, the Leon missionaries will hand out invitations in the community for our groundbreaking campaign. We will also speak with our contacts to give word-of-mouth invitations to the event.

Evangelistic Outreach
We did just this month begin a new Bible study group in our home and have been blessed with one of our contacts named Patricia making some powerful statements during this time about her desire to follow the Lord. Patricia is going through some difficulties right now and seems to be very open to the word of God.
Starting late in February, I begin studying with a man named Roberto that I have gotten to know here. In the past, I have been joined with teammates to assist me in sharing the Bible with those who speak Spanish. Roberto is my first weekly study in all Spanish where I teach everything without outside help. The process has been very exciting to me and seems to be wonderful for my language growth.
There are others that I am working with right now, some of which are in their late teens and early twenties. Three guys in particular I am getting very close to are named Isaac, Roberto, and Neftalí. These are three very different individuals who have all taken to me in different ways. I have been enjoying trying to influence these three young guys for the Lord and ask your prayers for these, and the others we are working with.

Cultural Adjustment
This month I decided to “dive into the deep end” of the culture by substituting third graders! That’s right, as if life were not crazy enough, I was asked to teach English one day to two classes of kids from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Although I was teaching reading, phonics, and grammar in English, I still received lots and lots of Spanish practice as well. At the end of the day, I had lost my voice and was completely exhausted. The experience was also a slightly humbling one as the kids had difficulty with my name and a few times referred to me as “Mr. Cheese.” Still, it was a great experience and one that I’m sure to try again some day.

Language Study
Jessica and I are working with a private tutor again in our home and are enjoying her weekly two-hour visits. We first met our teacher Mariana a few months ago and found her entire family to be very kind. Quickly we were then invited into their home and shown a little about their hobbies and lives. From our first interaction, it was clear that Mariana had many gifts with communication and getting to know people. Jessica and I are convinced we made a great find when we discovered Mariana. Please pray for us as we share the Gospel with Mariana and Mariana shares Spanish with us.

Potluck Sunday
We were a little surprised two Sundays ago to see a turnout of over 30 contacts to our potluck after Church. Although this may sound a little like guests just coming for the food, it was actually quite different from what one might expect. The contacts that came have been involved in Bible study groups and seem to be enthusiastic about our congregation. Getting these contacts to Sunday Potluck on top of Bible study groups was a real excitement. We were so packed on Sunday that Omar and Tana’s small house could barely hold all of the people eating, and all of the playing kids. It looks like the sooner our building is finished, the better it will be to serve our contacts in events like this one.

This Church Is A Zoo
Working on the church building has been a real joy and real work. However, there is nothing like running across one of our many building pets after a long day of construction. Yes, our church building is a zoo. It seems that each time we turn over a rock or dig out a hole, we find something. To date we have discovered a rat, a scorpion, a snake, two black widows, fire ants, wasps, and a cute little puppy. By combining all of our animal ingredients we get a good formula for what little boys are made of. Maybe this is why the Leon guys have such joy when working at the zoo.

March Madness
It is a crazy month as you can see. Yet, this month is just the start of the craziness. Since April is our ground breaking, March is merely preparing the soil. We can use all of your prayers as we get ready for the real tornado to hit.

Thank you for your partnership,

Chris Johnson

2005-03-15T21:31:00.000-08:00

Some of those who ate wih us at Potluck on Sunday

2005-03-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

Our Big Ground Breaking Is Almost Here!

2005-03-15T19:33:00.000-08:00

Alison Goes To School And Christian Wants To Join Her

2005-03-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

Church Pet

2005-03-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

Ground Floor Church Building Plans

2005-03-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

Leon Guys Constructing

2005-03-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

Potluck Sunday

2005-03-15T18:44:00.000-08:00

Jessica Studying Spanish In Leon

February Update

2005-02-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a good 2005 so far. Things in Mexico are “business as usual” right now, with all of the ups and downs that one might expect from life in general. Of course, a large portion of missions is dealing with passports and visas and the Johnson family knows too well how much fun such paperwork can be. Last week Jessica and I found out that we needed to get some paperwork completed for our visas in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico (on the U.S./Mexico border). We were forced to race up and fill out the forms, but we are now blessed that everything is ready finally for our permanent visas to be processed. In a month or so we should have the new missionary visas and not be forced to go to the border nearly as often as we have had to in the past.

Not all the news from Leon is a stressful as paperwork thankfully. It is exciting to announce that the Leon Team has started renting a church building and look to buy it in the future. I really feel that we stumbled across a treasure with the new church building. As you all know, we have been looking for a place several months and have been deciding what would be the best option for our work. We did find a large two story building in a growing part of Leon at a great price. Most of what we looked at in buildings were double if not triple the price of what we finally decided upon. The location is wonderful as well in that it is both close to where most of our contacts are located as well as easily accessible by the bus system here. With so many positives, you might ask, “What then is the catch?” I suppose the catch is that unlike other more expensive buildings, this one is a fixer-upper. For the last few days we have worked dawn to dusk toting trash, peeling paint, and removing rebar. It’s been a mammoth task, but in the next couple of weeks we hope to have the building up and running for worship. Because of our decision to go with this new building, we have decided to postpone our groundbreaking one-month to the first week of April. Doing so allows us to have our campaign in a permanent place and creates a sense of stability. Please continue praying both for the groundbreaking and the open doors that having this building will create.

Finally, I should point out that this week marks one year ago that Jessica and I arrived in Guadalajara to begin language study. Looking back over the last 12 months, I can honestly say that I have never had such a challenging year. Spanish study, mission work, evangelism, support raising, team building, church planting, and all of the other things we have faced this year have been a great, great challenge. Between the intense feelings of accomplishment and being completely overwhelmed, Jessica and I find peace, joy, and humility. To all who have been praying, to all who have been donating, and to all who have been simply hoping the best for this work… thank you so much. Good things are happening in Leon, Mexico.

-Chris Johnson

2005-02-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

Omar and Chris serve breakfast to Church of Christ preachers at a conference

2005-02-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

church fellowship results in family play time

Team News

2005-02-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

The Leon Mission Team News Update Is Online Here!

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

2005-01-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

Because weblogs are so simple to put together and post on the net, it just seems right that the Leon mission team "join the revolution." Hope you enjoy the updates. - Chris

2005-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

Sunday Morning After Worship