Dear praying friends,
Twenty-one (21) years ago on January 13, 1999, the
Johnson family landed in Bangkok, Thailand. Our oldest daughter Jessica was 9,
Elizabeth was 6, Joshua was almost 2, and Caleb was 7 months in the oven. Wow,
what an adventure this past 21 years has been for us. We have been blessed beyond
measure as we have faithfully served God these last 21 years in Thailand.
We started our journey with the International Mission Board
and served faithfully with them for the first 7 years. (We are still SBC
missionaries just no longer with the IMB). Those first 7 years were good years
and we are grateful for the IMB's investment in our lives. BUT THESE LAST 14
years have been nothing short of “incredibly amazing.”
We
have been on an awesome journey of faith with a sense of great freedom and
blessing from God to follow God’s leadership to use the gifts and abilities God
has given to us to reach some of the least reached people and people groups in
our world today. We are so grateful for the godly board members of NTIM who
love and support us and help keep us on the right path. We are ever so grateful
for the financial supporters that donate to God's work every month on our
behalf. We are also thankful for the hundreds of volunteers that have come to
help God's Work flourish in Northern Thailand. We are deeply grateful to all
the partners both Western and Thai who have come along side us to work together
to advance God’s kingdom over the last 21 years.
This
is my prayer this morning,
"Lord,
we want to thank You for these last 21 years. You have blessed, lead, provided,
and given this ordinary family a chance to see a Faithful and Extraordinary God
at work in and around Northern Thailand and allowed us the awesome privilege of
joining You in Your work in seeing dozens and dozens of people become the first
persons in their entire families to become followers of Jesus. Our hearts are
grateful that You are our God and that there is no one like you in all of
creation. Help us to continue to be your hands and your feet in this very needy
part of your world and help us to continue making disciples from some of the
least reached peoples here in and around Northern Thailand."
This is very similar to a post that I posted on
Facebook two days ago but I have also felt compelled from the Lord to also
share with you 7 lessons that we have learned over the past 21 years. We have
learned hundreds of lessons but today we simply want to share 7 of these with
you and hope that they will encourage you in your walk with Christ.
7 LESSONS LEARNED WHILE SERVING
GOD IN THAILAND
OVER THE PAST 21 YEARS.
When we think about how much God loves us and how much
He has done in our lives, sometimes our heart is overwhelmed and we want to do
something for God. I am not saying that is all bad but what I have learned is that
if I truly want to be pleasing to God, I will recognize that He already has a plan
for our lives and what gives Him the greatest joy is when I recognize those
plans and then embrace them as my own and live out the life that God has already
planned for me to live. One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11 and I think
applies to this very concept and lesson that I am sharing with you. Jeremiah
29:11 says this, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares
the Lord, ‘plans
for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
When we really
are honest with ourselves, we recognize that we are all a work in progress. We
still have so much farther to grow when it comes to being made into the image
of Jesus but oh, we are not the person we used to be. This man named Michael
Johnson today is so very different than I was some 40 years ago. What is truly
amazing to me is that God does not give up on us but is committed to conforming
us into the image of Jesus and we need to not give up on others so quickly just
as God doesn’t give up on us. I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul shared
with us in Romans chapter 8 when he said, “For those whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son….”
Romans 8:29
It is human nature to want your life to count for something
important. We all want that but God has created us to give glory to Him and to
live for Him and He has told us in His Word that if we want others to know if we
are authentic genuine followers of Jesus, then we must be known by our love for
one another. Remember what our Lord
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even
as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will
know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John
13:34-35
LESSON 4
– Organizations and leaders who seek to make a name for themselves more than
they desire to make Jesus famous, often find themselves placed on a shelf where
God will not use them while God chooses to use those organizations and leaders
whose heart is completely His.
Sometimes we let our success go to our heads and forget
that God does not desire to share His glory with anyone. We must be constantly
aware of the temptation to think more highly of our ourselves and our organizations
than we ought to think. I am reminded of a great passage in the Old Testament that
says this, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may
strongly support those whose heart is completely His….” 2 Chronicles 16:9a
We live in a place where only 1 person in every 100
people know Jesus as their personal Savior. We live in a place that is so
unreached that most of the people who come to know Jesus as their personal Savior
are the first persons in their entire family to become followers of Jesus. Oh,
how we pray that God would stir up His people all over the world to take this
great message to the least reached people group populations in our world today.
How will they be saved unless they hear. How will they hear unless someone
sends them? How can those who are sent stay and serve the Lord if they have no
resources? Let us renew our commitment to missions, missionaries, and reaching
the least reached people in our world today for the glory of God and the advancement
of His kingdom. Please consider giving regularly at www.gontim.org
LESSON 6 – Keep your eyes and heart focused on Jesus
and obeying His will for your life.
People are people and will make mistakes from time to
time and cause your heart to be disappointed. This is why we need to keep our
eyes fixed on the author and finisher of our faith. I am reminded of something
the writer of Hebrews wrote when he said, “Therefore, since we have so great a
cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author
and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
LESSON 7 – “Relationships” “Staying the course” “obedience”
and “Finishing the race” is very important to God.
There are times in our lives when God allows circumstances
to come into our lives that force us into a place where we are at a fork in the
road where we have two very different paths to choose. One path is the path
that sometimes is the harder path but the path of obedience, faith, and
perseverance. The other path leads us down the road of disobedience, the
comforts of life, and is a much more heavily traveled road. As we reflect on
these past 21 years, we are so grateful for the grace of God, the Spirit of
God, and the people of God who have helped us make some of those hard choices of
the path of obedience, faith, and finishing the task God has given us to
finish. We are not there yet but we have come oh so much farther by the grace
of God. I am reminded of a passage tucked away in Acts 13:36 that talks about David
completing all of the purposes of God for his life. Notice what God’s Word
says, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his
own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent
decay.” I want to finish my life much
like David did having done everything that God wanted him to do and then “fall
asleep.” What a great reminder of this important lesson I have learned over
these last 21 years of the importance of relationship, the importance of “staying
the course” the importance of “obedience, and the importance of “finishing the
race.”
What a great journey God has allowed us to be on these
last 21 years and we look forward to serving the purpose of God in our own
generation well. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to complete this
next phase of ministry here in Northern Thailand.
We are also so very thankful for those of you who realize
that we could not live and serve here in Thailand without your financial
support. Thank you for loving us enough to give. Thank you for loving the Lord
enough to give to missions because you want to see the precious Thai people have
a chance to be blessed by the one true God we serve.
Here is a reminder of just a few of the ways in which
NTIM reaches out into this part of God’s world with the love and message of our
great Savior. Remember these as you bring us before the throne of grace in your
prayers.
"Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."
1
Corinthians 15:58
Michael for the team.
