Missionary In Venezuela

Loving the National Missionary Convention

2010-11-21T22:28:00.002-06:00

What was the best part you ask? Let me cut to the chase. The theme this year was the harvest of hope. It is the hope of all involved that we would raise up 10,000 workers for the harvest fields by the year 2020. A huge task you say? Impossible you say? Well, let me say that we had a great response today after the service this morning. There was quite a few of people that responded to the call of fulltime ministry today and went forward for prayer! Praise God! This is only the beginning. Ther is still much to accomplish. Will you please pray for the Lord of the Harvest to raise up harvest workers? If you want more information you can visit: http://www.restorationrevolution.com/

God Bless,
Matt and Elsa Johnson

Getting Ready for the NMC

2010-11-11T16:22:00.002-06:00

This coming week Elsa and I will be attending the National Missionary Convention in Lexington, KY. If you are interseted in our minstry or just want to say hi I would encourage you to swing by the Team Expansion booth during the convention. We will be spending most of our free time there. I know it has been a while since I have blogged (perhaps that is an understatement). I hope to be a little more frequent with these entries. We still don't have internet in our house so it makes updating a little more difficult. This Saturday we are celebrating 2 baptisms! We praise God for the continued fruit. It has been a difficult year but God is faithful, God is good, God provides, God protects, and God produces growth! I don't think we are going to achieve many of our goals but at the same time we have move forward as a church! Thank you all for you continued prayers and support. Please pray for safe travel and a wonderful trip to Ohio with our forwarding agents this coming week!
Blessings,
Matt and Elsa Johnson

Another Step In Ministry...

2009-05-19T13:44:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of this month Elsa and I were finally able to get married. I say "finally" because it is much more of a process here then what I believe it to be in the US. (Although I don't really know since I have never been married in the US.) We signed our papers before a judge on May 7th. This will allow us to continue to make plays for the church wedding the 1st of August. We are now in the process of soliciting a visa for Elsa so she can travel with me in August back to the States to meet all of you! Please be praying for the visa as this appears to be a long process as well...
Blessings,
Matt J.

It's About Time...

2009-04-16T11:49:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know, it has been a while. It seems that this blog hasn't been as big as a priority as I would have liked. Well, here is what is happening as of late in our church plant...

We are finally completing the remodeling project in the space we currently rent. When completed, we will have expanded the Sunday School classroom space, reorganized the office, and opened up a larger part of the sanctuary. It has been quite the project but we are excited with the new space and new growth of the church!
This past Sunday I was officially named the senior pastor of our church plant. Yes, that name makes me sound a little older. Basically it means I am the lead missionary on the church plant here in Cúa and I am in charge of making sure we move forward with the church.
I am trying to finalize the details for my civil marriage here in Venezuela. It has been quite the process and we continue to acquire more and more paperwork. The documentation process is quite strenuous and I hope to be married civilly soon so we can begin to solicit a visa for Elsa. The official church wedding date is August 1st. Please be in prayer for that.
This past Wednesday I began to lead a study on the book of Acts during our midweek bible study/ leadership training group. I hope that we can implement the Apostle's method for church growth and expansion and that this study will be a catalyst to continue to reach the lost for Christ!! We have seen a jump in the attendance as of late and have been averaging 120+ on Sunday mornings! Praise God for the harvest! We have a few baptisms coming up this Sunday!
We are also currently putting the finishing touches on curriculum and plans for the Bible Institute we hope to open in September. Please also pray for the details of the logistics that are required to open it. This is a huge step in our ability to plant 120 churches by the year 2020. We will be using this to raise up the future generation of leaders we hope to see planting here in Venezuela as well as abroad!

God Bless,
Matthew Johnson

A Long Time Coming...

2008-10-16T17:41:00.005-05:00

So, I realize it has been a while since my last post. Interestingly enough I think this is how most of my posts start... Let me start out with some exciting news. I realize this may be me exciting for me than the rest of you. For starters, my roommate Sam, who had considered leaving the field to pursue a Masters Degree, has changed his mind and will be staying on with us here in Cúa! It brings me great joy in knowing he will continue his ministry with us here. He has really done a great job raising up the music ministry and leading it here at the church, but we recognize the job is not done yet. This past Monday I was also able to solicit my drivers license. Again, this may not sound like much, but when you have spent over a year driving illegally without one, it is quite a big deal. I no longer feel stressed out when I pass by the random police check points. It is wonderful to have all my car papers in order.

The church has also celebrated a few victories recently. We hope to finally be able to expand the space we rent here in the next month. The contract had been held up by the owner of the new space we are going to rent, but we finally reached an agreement this past month. We also celebrated 3 baptisms in the month of September. I am thinking now that I only wrote about 2 in the newsletter, but there were actually three! Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the third. We just baptized another lady yesterday as well! It is amazing to see how God works and how he continues to touch and change peoples hearts and minds.

One more thing, this Sunday I preach for the second time. I am in the monthly rotation of preaching now and am really enjoying the chance to preach God's word. This Sunday we will be talking about the Power of The Tongue!
I leave you all with some food for thought...

Matthew 12:36 "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."

Recap of the Month of August

2008-08-31T22:51:00.002-05:00

Dear Supporters,
What a great month August was. I am sad to see it go... We celebrated this month with 6 people that decided to get baptized and dedicate their lives to Jesus! This month was also highlighted by: a missionary trip to the border between Venezuela and Colombia, summer camp for the youth, and a wedding in the church. I will be writing in a little more detail about the summer camp and mission trip in my newsletter for the month of August. We also have an intern that has decided to come on-board full time and work with the church in Cua! He is a Venezuelan college student that has been working with us during the summer and is currently preparing to serve overseas on the mission field. He is going to work with us full time starting in September till help prepare him more for his life of service. I personally am very excited to work with him as he will be greatly needed with the departure of Eric and Sam this next few months. Praise God for providing more workers for the harvest field!
Blessings,
Matt J.

A Season of Change

2008-08-13T15:50:00.000-05:00

I imagine that about this time in the US the weather is starting to change again and we move back into the school year. To me this always signaled the beginning of fall which was a wonderful thing because this meant the start of football season as well. However, this post is not about fall, nor school, nor football (perhaps I will comment on the future super bowl champion Chicago Bears in a later post...). One of the integral members of the missionary team we have down here is Sam Schutz. Sam and I have lived together the past year and we do just about everything together. He is the worship leader here in Cua and has developed quite a music ministry his last 2 1/2 years on the field. However, he recently announced he is leaving the field in November to pursue an MDIV degree. That means that he leaves in November and then Eric, our team leader, leaves in May. All of a sudden I feel rather lonely here on the field. The three of us have spent the last year and a half working together on this church plant and I am going to lose both of them over the course of the next nine months. This means many changes for myself. I often times feel I am in over my head here (especially now that they both are leaving), but know that God has called me here for a purpose and will skill me in the areas necessary to finish the job of planting a self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating church here in Cúa. I appreciate all of your prayers and support as this next year or so will be difficult for me. However, God has done so much just to get me here on the field and allow me to stay that I know deep down this is where he wants me for now. More to come in the next week or so....
Blessings,
Matt J.

Greetings Friends!!!

2008-07-15T08:37:00.001-05:00

Good morning everybody! Well July is already upon us... and the Cubs are still in first place! Amazing. They always do well whenever I leave the country. Figures. This month is the month of Americans. We are currently hosting and working with a group from Huntington Beach California. They have been a great group so far. This past Friday we held an outreach event in one of the malls here in Cua. We took over the plaza of the mall from 2-5pm. The event included music, drama, choreography, a few testimonies and a small sermon by our youth pastor, Dairo Moreno. Sunday we showed some fruit from the even as a few people came to visit our church. This week we are doing a workshop on relationships Wednesday night to Friday night. This mornings event: Knocking on doors inviting people to the conference!
Blessings,
Matt J.

Its been a while!

2008-06-17T13:16:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't updated the old blog in a while. There are some new things worth highlighting very quickly...
1. We had great services on Mothers Day and Fathers Day this year. These are always great holidays to get unbelievers to come to church and here God's word being preached!
2. We hope to be moving into our new house soon. It has been a process but hopefully in a week or two we will be ready to go!
3. We have got youth leaders established in youth group! This has been a huge step for the youth group and is still a leaning process for all of us but we are excited in the growth we are seeing not only from our leaders but from other youth as well.
4. We have two summer interns working with us and it is great to have fresh ideas on the field!

I am sure there are others victories to report but that is what comes to my mind at the moment. Thanks for your continued prayers and support! I hope to do a better job of updating my blog these coming months. Blessings,
Matt Johnson

Another Bible Study!

2008-04-22T14:30:00.003-05:00

On April first I opened up another Bible Study that meets on Tuesday nights in a neighborhood where previously we didn't have any church involvement. We currently have about 4 regulars that attend and 2 of them are not Christians. I am excited to have another opportunity to work with more people to study God's word and try to apply what we are learning to our lives. We have seen some recent growth in the church and were excited to celebrate our third anniversary this past Sunday with 155 people in attendance. Please pray that we would be able to reach out to more people here in Cúa that desperately need to hear of the salvation that Jesus offers them!
In other news, not as uplifting, the motorcycle of one of my coworkers was stolen last Friday. Dairo is our youth minister at the church and part of the missionary team. He is Columbian and a very hard dedicated worker for the gospel. His motorcycle was his main method of transportation and the loss of it makes his everyday life quite a bit more complicated. Please pray that God would provide some way for him to replace the motorcycle with another. He currently commutes in from Caracas 1 hour away various times throughout the week.
God Bless,
Matt Johnson

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T18:56:00.002-05:00

Today we were excited to celebrate the resurrection of your Lord with 140+ people in our service! We praise God for the harvest we are seeing here in Cua! We baptized 5 people today after service! It is really amazing what God is doing here in Venezuela. Please pray that the Lord of the Harvest would continue to raise up leaders in the Venezuela church to lead it forward and add people to His Kingdom! Praise God!!!

Recent News and Upcoming Fast!!

2008-03-11T21:16:00.003-05:00

Wow, I can't believe we have already entered into the month of March. It seems like just yesterday I was home for a few weeks for Christmas. That means we are closing in on the first quarter of 2008. Pretty amazing. Well, this last Sunday the 9th we set a new record in single Sunday non-special event attendance at: 117! We were so blessed to have an attendance that high. God is good! It has been incredible to see the number of new visitors we have been receiving this year. Some times we have had as many as 20 new face in a service. That is pretty good for a church that averages about 90 in attendance. God is really moving and touching the lives of people here in Cúa. Pray that God would also continue to raise up Venezuelan leaders to take the church forward! We are going to be fasting for a bigger local on March 22nd and 23rd and we would love to have some of our brothers and sisters in Christ joining us for the fast! Would you consider praying and fasting with us those 2 days for a bigger place to meet? All for God's glory!!

Matt Johnson

We have a new home!!!

2008-02-26T09:47:00.004-06:00

Greetings everyone! I am happy to announce that our search for a new place to live is over! We have found a house to rent in a safer part of Cúa and hope to be moving there within a few weeks. I hope to have picture or a video of the new place up within a month or so. We praise God for a new place to live and new people to meet on the new street where we will be living. Blessings!
Matt J.

Recent Article On Santeria in Venezuela

2008-02-09T08:33:00.000-06:00

Venezuelans increasingly turn to Santeria for spiritual needs
published: Saturday | February 9, 2008

File
A pilgrim drags himself on the floor while trying to reach th of St Lazarus on St Lazarus' Day or Babalu Aye in Cuba's Santeria religion, in Rincon, near Havana. Hundreds of followers of Cuba's Santeria religion celebrate one of their holiest saints while walking for days hoping to obtain relief from dreadful diseases or to fulfil promises for granted wishes.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP):

The man says he is possessed by a god. He shouts, his body trembles and he lifts a sacrificed lamb to his lips, drinking its blood from the jugular.

This initiation ceremony, seldom witnessed by outsiders, has become increasingly common in Venezuela, as the Afro-Cuban traditions of Santeria and other folk religions gain followers.

The rituals have become an attractive option for Venezuelans seeking a unique spiritual path, including healing ceremonies aimed at curing everything from illness to heartache. Some even believe certain gods will offer protection from Venezuela's rampant violent crime.

The surge in Santeria, which is practised by many in Cuba, can partly be explained by the arrival of thousands of Cuban doctors in Venezuela. President Hugo Chávez has been providing Cuba with subsidised oil in exchange for thousands of physicians who come to the South American country to treat poor people.

Santeria priests are also making annual predictions for Venezuelans and issuing warnings - just like Cuban 'santeros' do in Havana. Last month, one group of priests said the gods have indicated that the twice-divorced Chávez would be a more effective leader with a woman at his side.

It's a familiar pattern. Santeria has grown in popularity in New York, Miami and Puerto Rico in the past following influxes of Cubans, according to Margarite Fernandez Olmos, a professor at City University of New York who has researched the religion. She said Santeria's popularity also has grown in places "where African-based spirituality becomes a more acceptable social and spiritual option".

Selling animal for sacrifice

In overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Venezuela, many shops have sprung up in recent years selling roosters, goats and other animals to be sacrificed in Caracas' working class barrios. In the city's churches, believers can be seen in head-to-toe white, praying to their gods before statues of Catholic saints.

Santeria was born in Cuba among Yoruba slaves from West Africa. They were forbidden to practise their own religion, so they fused their beliefs with the Catholicism of their masters, starting a tradition that has spread throughout the Americas. The Catholic Church considers the rituals idolatrous, but has come to tolerate the popular practice.

Santeria has been present in Venezuela for decades, though some experts say it is more out in the open now due to the political situation.

"The current political ambience created by a populist government with its emphasis on nationalism has made Santeria more visible,'' said Leslie Desmangles, a religion and international studies professor at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Along with Santeria, Venezuela is home to other folk religions, such as the sect surrounding the Indian goddess Maria Lionza, which has also been flourishing.

Believers in Maria Lionza make quick dashes through highway traffic in Caracas to reach a statue of the goddess in a highway divider. They lay offerings of flowers, liquor or coins at the foot of the statue, which depicts the naked goddess riding atop a tapir, a hoglike jungle mammal.

The Santeria movement nowadays cuts across racial groups and class lines, and includes lawyers and other professionals as well as the unemployed among its adherents. In spite of rapid economic growth propelled by Venezuela's key oil industry, people here face problems from crime to inflation that some say increase stresses on their lives.

Video Tour of Church Building

2008-01-03T14:40:00.000-06:00

Holiday Greetings!

2007-12-29T01:00:00.000-06:00

I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to spend the holidays with my family here in the US. However, there is much a miss from Venezuela already (yes, more than the warm weather). I just wanted to let you know that I did some filming of the church meeting place before I got into town and am currently editing the video to post here on the site. This will give you a better idea of where I work and what the building looks like! Thanks again for all you do for the Kingdom!
God Bless this Holiday Season,
Matt Johnson

Voting For The Future of the Country

2007-12-03T19:11:00.000-06:00

This past weekend promised to bring big changes to the constitution and the country. President Chavez proposed almost 70 amendment changes to a constitution that was passed just 8 years ago in 1999. The majority of these changes were written to move the country more toward a socialist government and many feared more like Cuba. Weeks leading up to the voting marches were planned, rallies were held, and speaking events were schedule by both Chavez and his supporters and the opposition. Rumor had it that those voting for Yes had the lead in the poles and were expected to easily win. However, when the results were released this morning at 1:15 AM Venezuela time, the No was triumphant with a slim 50.3% to 49.7% total. We had prayed Sunday morning at church that God's will would be done. We preached to trust in God and not man. We sang praise songs to God proclaiming that He has the last word and that His will will be accomplished! We praise God as He continues to move and work here in this country.
Within the next month I will be reviewing my goals for the year and developing a ministry plan for the future. Please continue to pray that God would continue to lead our church towards growth and have an impact here in Cua! God Bless!
Matt J.

PS> I will be in the US between Dec. 20th and Jan. 3rd. My brother is getting married on Dec. 22nd, so I will be in the wedding and celebrating the holidays with my family. Feel free to drop me a line if you would like to hang out and hear an update of the work live and in person!!

Redemption on a Few Different Levels

2007-10-25T09:52:00.000-05:00

Redemption seems to be a pretty "churchy" word now a days. That is to say, it is not a word heard frequently outside of a church context. This word carries a few different definitions. It can mean 1. to free from the consequences of sin, 2. to free from captivity by payment of ransom, 3. to buy back, 4. to atone for, 5. to change for the better, among a few others. One thing I have noticed about our new church location is the redemptive qualities it is having on the physical and spiritual realm. We are seeing slow but steady church growth on a spiritual level, and on a physical level the what was once abandon shopping mall where we are renting, is starting to fill up. Previously are only neighbors were an off track betting site, a liquor store, and a grocery store at the end of the complex. In just the last few months, a pharmacy has opened up, an internet cafe, a hardware store, and there are a few others that are currently in the remodeling process. We hope all of these business will attract more people to the shopping mall, and consequently more people will here the gospel preached! It is amazing how God works on both the physical and spiritual plane!
God Bless,
Matt J.

The Office is Up and Running!!!

2007-10-10T09:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I am excited to announce that we finally have our office up and running here in the church in Cúa. This means that I finally have internet available at my leisure! This hopefully will mean that I can update this blog more frequently as well as post pictures, videos, and other articles. Well, lets try to bring everybody up to date from the last post...
We now have 6 bible study groups that meet during the week and are hoping to open another one before the end of the year. This is very exciting since we started the year with only 2 small groups. I have started to meet with the other youth ministers from the churches in the mission with the hope of sharing ideas, supporting one another in prayer, and planning events for all of our youth to do together! I am now in the process of translating some material to use for discipleship with 4 guys in the youth group! Well, I think that is about all for now! Thanks for all of your prayers! This weekend we have a conference about praise and worship. Please be in prayer that God would speak through the preacher this weekend. God Bless!
Matt Johnson

A Beacon of Light in A Land Flooded with Darkness

2007-09-25T14:37:00.000-05:00

The longer I live here in Venezuela, the more of a need I see for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the presence of his body, the Church, here in this country. Every day I am reminded of how passionate this culture can be, and much to its own demise. One of the unfortunate statistics here in Venezuela is that 75% of its homes are lead by single mothers. With the amount of sex appeal that shows up in advertising here, and the overall vanity of the culture, it doesn't surprise me that so many marriages fail after only a few years. Another thing that really has struck me recently is the fact that this country is becoming more and more socialist. Unfortunately the government's eyes down here are focused on equality instead of justice. It seems that they just want everything to "be fair" and neglect the rising crime and corruption that abounds throughout the country. I give thanks to God everyday for being a part of His plan for this nation and consider myself blessed to be able to share openly with people about his son Jesus and the hope that we have in him! Please continue to pray as we try to carry out the great commission here in Venezuela! More updates to come!
Matt Johnson

It's Been A While...

2007-08-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

Well, sorry for my lack of updates over the last month. We really have seen God do some amazing things over the last month! A few highlights: We just got back from taking over 25 kids to summer camp this last week. The picture above shows some 85+ youth worshiping from 4 different churches we have here in Venezuela. Two of our students who have been in the youth group for little over 2 months decided to get baptized. God really spoke to them at camp and they decided to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of their lives! We will be baptizing them this Saturday! Some youth group members returned from a mission trip to Columbia, and San Cristobal Venezuela. They went out to support a Venezuelan church planter that is part of the mission. I was unable to go as I had to preach at youth group the Saturday they were gone. However, they were used by God their and were able to baptize 3 people in Columbia! We praise God for the international harvest He is producing through our young people! The mother of one of the youth that attended the trip decided to be baptized and give her life to Christ! Her son, Elias, has been praying for her for a long time. After Elias returned from the mission trip he found his mother on her knees praying to God and repenting of her former life! We were excited to baptize her this past Sunday! She had been involved in witch craft at one time but has destroyed all of her ties with that and is excited to begin her new life in Christ! Well, hopefully as I find more time to write I will update this site more often. Thanks so much for your prayers. We are seeing lives being changed here on a daily basis! One note of specific prayer request: We have seen a lot of negative impacts of gossip among our youth group recently and it is something I am desperately trying to change. Pray that God would give me the wisdom to teach and disciple these youth so that they would mature in the faith!

God Bless,
Matt Johnson

From The Big City to The Boondocks....

2007-07-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

This past month I finally moved out of my apartment in the large city of Caracas and into the small town of Cúa. I now live with another American missionary a little older than myself,(His name is Sam)and we are the only missionaries that live full time in the town of Cúa. In fact, we are the only Americans that live in Cúa. We are excited to be there even though the living conditions are a little rougher than Caracas. This has allowed me to more easily minister to the youth that I work with. Most of them live near my house and we now have more time to spend together and forge deeper relationships. I look forward to doing some discipleship with the guys in the youth and raise up some leaders among them! We are currently hosting a Bible Conference with Bob Stacy the founder of CIY! He is here to speak about how to prepare a sermon and how to overcome a loss. So far the conference has been wonderful for our Latin leaders that preach in the churches here. Tomorrow we will be talking about overcoming a loss and the book of Job!
God Bless,
Matt Johnson

It´s been a while...

2007-06-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

Wow, sorry it has been so long since I last updated the blog. Life has been pretty busy down here the last month or so. My team leader had been on vacation and that meant more responsibilities for me while he was gone. We celebrated Fathers Day yesterday with just over 100 people in attendance! Praise God! We have been blessed with growth recently in the youth group and even baptized a few people this past week! Again we praise God for all the work He is doing here in Venezuela! I am getting ready to move to the town of Cua where the church is located. We have been arranging the house where we live and fixing it out. Right now we have a problem with the electricity. When we use the microwave, we have to turn the lights off in the kithchen. When we use the washing machine, we have to turn off the lights and unplug the regrigerator! Wow, definitely a different experience.
Well, I will be starting a small group for guys soon (something that is needed in the youth group). I also preached two weeks ago at youth group for the first time and it seemed to go pretty well! Thanks for all your prayers and support! The church is growing here in Venezuela!
God Bless,
Matt Johnson

Where's the Beef?

2007-05-22T20:02:00.000-05:00

Well, life down here has been busy lately. I apologize for the lack of posts. We are currently working at the new locale the church rents and are hoping to have our first service there this weekend! These past few weeks have been spent carry concrete blocks, bags of cement, and cleaning the building on top of regular ministry commitments. I will hopefully have some photos and video up when I have more time! Thanks so much for all your prayers as things are moving right along with the new location! Well, I thought I would take some time to talk about life down here in Venezuela. Things are run very differently here than in the States at times. We often experience shortages in certain types of food in groceries stores down here. No need to worry too much, I am eating well. However, it isn't always what I want to be eating. For instance right before I arrived in March, there hadn't been sugar in the country for about a month. Just a few weeks back we couldn't buy eggs or milk because there weren't any, and now there are rumors going around that there might not be any beef either. Luckily, most of these shortages last only a few weeks and things get back to normal. I just hope we don't experience anything like this long term. Well, more about the church: On Mother's Day we celebrated with about 115 people in attendance at church! Last week in youth group we had about 35 students! Praise God! I think one of the new girls wants to get baptized soon as well! I will keep you up to date on that as I know more! The language is coming along as I study every day. I am not quite to the point where I can do public speaking, but I am progressing! Praise God! This next week I am going to start math tutoring with one of the girls from the youth group. She is bringing here brother who also needs help and is not a believer. Please pray that this would be a great chance to start a relationship with him and eventually share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him! Thats all for now!
All For God's Glory,
Matt Johnson

When 40% is worth mentioning!

2007-05-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

It seems that Wednesday nights are always popular at churches for being prayer night. Well, here in Venezuela is no exception. Every Wednesday night at Siempre Con Cristo church we host a prayer night. It seems that the world church in general has a hard time getting members to attend what might be considered a rather boring time at church. Right now we are blessed to have about 25-30 people in attendance at these prayer times. That might not seem like much but when you consider this comprises about 40% of the entire church, that makes it worth talking about! We are so blessed to have members in our church that are passionate about prayer! Because of this God blessed the church with a new location to rent that more than triples the size of our current location! We are in the process of fixing up the new place and hope to move in in a couple of weeks! I plan to have pictures/video up of the new location soon. I will also post pictures of the old locale so you can get a feel of how awesome this really is! Keep up the prayers! Lives are being change! We celebrated 3 baptisms in April and are baptizing another lady this Saturday!
God Bless,
Matt Johnson

Poco a Poco...

2007-05-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

Little by little I am adjusting to life here in Venezuela. The language is coming along as I am learning new words everyday. Every Friday I meet one on one with a language tutor at one of the schools here in Caracas. It has been great working with her and improving my speaking, writing, and reading skills. Little by little we are prepping the new location where the church will be meeting. It is so cool to see God provide for His Church! We can't wait to start holding services in the new locale. We will also have office space which the church desperately needs. Please keep praying that everything would finish well and we would be ready to move into the new place soon!
Little by little I am finishing up the paperwork I need while in the country. I am getting ready to get my Venezuelan ID card and drivers license. Hopefully by the end of next week I will be done with those. It just seems that things move so slowly here. Well, we celebrating another baptism on Saturday! Thanks for all your prayers and support!
To God Goes All the Glory,
Matt Johnson

April Highlight Reel!

2007-04-24T12:06:00.001-05:00

God Answers Another Prayer!!!

2007-04-12T00:42:00.000-05:00

Commute to Cúa!!

2007-03-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

Certifiably Healthy!!

2007-03-29T13:43:00.000-05:00

Driving in Venezuela is much different in the US. Yes, they do drive on the right side of the road, but the rules of the road down here seem to be merely suggestions. Though they aren't as stringent on rules, you do have to have two different licenses to drive here. I received one of these today. I can drive on my US license for the first 3 months upon entry. After that I will have to apply for a Venezuelan drivers license. The other form you need is called a Certificado Medico. This certifies that you are healthy enough to drive a vehicle. The test consists of: blood pressure being taken, reading a few lines from an eye chart, and the doctor listening to your heart beat. I was pretty excited I passed, though outside of being in a coma, it is difficult to fail the test. I don't think the doctor administering the test would have passed himself. When I walked in to the room, I had a ball point pen stuck in my hat by my ear. This keeps the pen accessible in case I have to write or sign anything. The doctor asked me if this was a special microphone for my hands free cell phone. I said, "Nope, just a pen." I think he would have had a hard time reading the lines on the eye chart! Well, the prayer time was wonderful last night! Tonight we have two small groups I will be leading worship for!

God Bless,
Matt Johnson

First Venezuelan Video!!!

2007-03-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

Does this Country make me look fat?

2007-03-26T19:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my first church service in Cua! They had a nice welcoming meal for me after the second service. It was good to see some old friends and meet some new ones as well. Apparently I have put on some weight since I was hear left. One of the ladies remembered me from my time here as an intern and her first words to me were: Wow, you have some more fat in your cheeks since last time! (rough translation) I forgot how brutally honest Latinos can be! Yes, they notice things like hair, weight, clothes, and they aren't afraid to tell you about it. Today is our day off so I went downtown with Chris (team leaders wife) to run some errands. I had to cash a check at the bank to convert dollars to bolivares (Venezuela's currency). The bank works a little bit differently here than in the states. First as you walk in you go to the old "take a number" machine. Then everyone stands in one large blob and you watch a screen flash up numbers in a seemingly random order. When the sign displays your number you walk to the teller assigned to you. I had to show my passport as a form of identification to cash my check. This was followed by a picture. After endorsing the check, I had to include my thumb print directly beneath my signature. Talk about security. We then went to the cell place in the mall to get my cell phone! Cell phone plans are prepaid down here so you just buy a card with a certain amount of minutes, and then purchase more as needed. Unfortunately minutes cost quite a bit so everyone sends text messages instead. Man, I am not even good at texting in English let alone Spanish! Purchasing the phone also required a print from my thumb as well as my index finger. Ah yes, there is nothing quite like being 24 and relearning how to do everything all over again. This really is a high adventure life style and one that takes some patience as well! Tomorrow we have an office day at one of the churches. This coming Sunday I am leading worship at the Cua church! Well, I will write more as I have more to share!

God Bless,

Matt Johnson

First View of Venezuela

2007-03-24T08:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of Catia La Mar, Venezuela. This was my first glimpse of Venezuela as I flew in Friday night. I had two wonderful flights and some wonderful news! I found out yesterday that my Visa was approved! That is very exciting and I hope to get it soon! My team leader and his wife met me at the airport and we headed to his house. That is where I am staying this weekend, till I move in with my host family. I looks like I will hit the ground running so to speak. We have youth group today so I will be headed there this afternoon to help out! Well, I look forward to sharing what God is doing!

Blessings,

Matt Johnson

Packed and Ready to Go!!

2007-03-22T20:42:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. As of 8:40 PM, March 22, I am packed and ready to head to my new home. I think this is the earliest I have ever been packed before flying somewhere. Usually I wait till about 2:00 AM the night before. I am pretty proud of myself! Tomorrow is going to be a full day of traveling split between driving and flying. I will hopefully have the chance to send off an email to everyone either Friday night or Saturday morning. Please pray for safe travel for me tomorrow and that all my luggage shows up as well! Well, I think I am going to get a snack and hang out with my parents before I go to bed!
God Bless,
Matt Johnson

Cleveland Ohio and Louisville Kentucky!

2007-03-14T23:22:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was dedicated to spending time with my forwarding agents in Cuyahoga Falls and my exit interview (or "PDI") with Team Expansion. (The picture above is the proverbial "Cuyahoga Fall". Yeah, it's man made, but still more impressive than Springfield Falls here in Illinois...) Thursday through Monday morning I was in Cuyahoga Falls with Jonathan and Jen hanging out, watching movies, playing Settlers of Catan, and making sure we were on the same page as far as missions stuff goes. It was good to see them once more before I leave. They play such a huge role in my ministry. It is so great to have your best friend as your forwarding agent. It is good to know that someone who is 100% behind my ministry is handling my finances. Well, enough buttering up the Claytors... Tuesday I was at International Services (IS) in Louisville all day. I spent the day in meetings with all sorts of different members of IS. They are the support staff here in the States serving all 300+ Team Expansion missionaries on the field. They are also a huge part of my ministry. They have made my transition to the field pretty painless. I can't thank them enough. It is hard to believe that I am leaving in just over a week. I am having all of these crazy emotional swings. One minute I am extremely excited, the next nervous. However, I know this is where God wants me right now, and that gives all of this an underlying sense of Peace!! Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support. Please pray for safe travel next Friday as I fly to the field! I look forward to sharing all God will be accomplishing through me as I minister to the people there!
All for God's Glory,

Matt Johnson

Goodbye!

2007-03-05T18:25:00.000-06:00

Final Touches

2007-02-24T13:36:00.000-06:00

It is hard to believe that a year and a half after applying to go full time with Team Expansion I will be leaving for the field. I have a few finishing touches to put on some things before I leave. Health Insurance paperwork must be filed, plane tickets bought, and I have to decide what I am going to do about Social Security. These are some of the things you never think about when going in to missions. There are others like: who will be included in my living will, what kind of life insurance do I want on the field, who gets power of attorney in case something were to happen to me? However, all of the paperwork must get filled out before I can begin to serve overseas. Well, I can't tell you how excited I am especially since my departure date is now just less than a month away! I hope to say formal goodbyes in person to as many of you as possible. Please continue to pray for me when I reach the field as I will need your prayers more than ever. We are in this together. And in the end, may God receive all the glory!!

Matt Johnson

Deperature Date!!!

2007-02-17T22:34:00.000-06:00

Wow, I have been waiting to write this post for about the last 8 months. I can't believe I am finally doing this. Well, after talking on the phone at length with my team leader, we decided it would be best for me to go ahead and go to Venezuela on a tourist visa. This means I will have to hop out and back in to Venezuela every 3 months. We are still hoping my transient visa comes through, but if that doesn't happen we will begin working on a visa as an English teacher. Well, I will be buying my plane ticket this week and will be flying out sometime the weekend of March 23-25th. Thanks for all your prayers. There are a few more things I have to finish up before leaving so please pray I can get these things done in a timely manner.

All to the Glory of God,

Matt Johnson

Dare2Share

2007-02-11T21:33:00.000-06:00

I had the privilege of attending a conference with my youth group last weekend. This is the first time I have been to a conference as an adult chaperon! I guess it sort of made me feel old. Anyways, it was an excellent conference on how to share your faith with someone. They gave practical tips and ideas about how to present the gospel message easily and effectively. I was exciting to watch groups of kids go and evangelize on Saturday for a few hours. Youth: Keep up the good work!

Fasting on Wednesday!

2007-01-26T13:46:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I will be fasting for my Visa this Wednesday, January 31st! I sent out an email explaining things and asking for my supporters to fast with me as well! I have had some people respond already and I am very excited and encouraged by that! Let me know if you have any prayer requests that you want me fasting about on Wednesday!

All to Glorify God,

Matt Johnson

Test Video

2007-01-18T19:55:00.001-06:00

Video Capability Added!

2007-01-18T17:23:00.000-06:00

Well, now that I have discovered the beauty of videos, I don't think pictures will ever be the same. Hopefully I will be able to figure out how to post these videos directly into the blog rather than as page elements on the side. I hope to have videos once every few months so you have more to see than just text and pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Online Photo Album!

2007-01-18T12:32:00.000-06:00

Blogger has recently added a way to link my photo albums to my online journal. On the links portion of the page to the right, you can click and access my photo album. I plan to keep this updated once on the field so you will be able to see some of the pictures I have taken. This will serve as another resource in addition to my newsletter to keep you informed of what I am doing in Venezuela! Right now, I just have a few trial photos in the album. When I get pictures from my Mexico trip I will update the album. Thanks for the continued prayers and support!

God Bless,
Matt Johnson

Another Great Trip!

2007-01-13T09:59:00.000-06:00

Well, the trip to Juarez, Mexico was a huge success. We were able to build houses for two families as well as present them with some house warming gifts. I really enjoyed the opportunity to serve and brush up on my Spanish in the process. I will definitely post some pictures when I get them. Right now I am in Minnesota visiting with my future Venezuelan roommate. Well, he isn't Venezuelan, but I will be living with him when I head down there. I will update you all soon. I will also be sending out my 2006 end of the year report shortly as well. Thanks for all the continued prayers and support!
All the Glory to God,

Matt Johnson

Prayer Request Answered!

2006-12-27T00:48:00.000-06:00

Thanks to those of you that prayed for God to open a door for me to serve in Mexico for a week in January. I will be going to Juarez, Mexico to help translate for my old college ministry. I am also running the Sunday morning service that we will be having at the worksite. This means preaching in Spanish and English! Please pray that God would speak through me to both the college students and the Mexican families that come to the service! I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

God Bless,
Matt Johnson

A Chance to Serve in Mexico (Prayer Request)

2006-12-22T13:39:00.000-06:00

I am asking that you all pray that I may have the chance to go to Mexico the first week of January with my old college ministry group. If there is room, they have invited me to go help translate for the group and help minister to the two families we will be building homes for. Please pray that if it is in God's will that I get to go on this trip. I look forward to possibly brushing up on my Spanish before heading to Venezuela.
All for God's Glory,
Matt Johnson

College Retreat

2006-12-22T13:30:00.000-06:00

Well, at the beginning of December I was able to hang out with some college students from MacMurry and Illinois College. My good friend Brian from First Christian in Jacksonville asked me to help him with music for the retreat. I was delighted to join him. I had the pleasure of helping lead some 25 college students in worship that weekend. I have included some pictures from the retreat to the right!
God Bless,
Matt

Visa Update!

2006-12-14T12:43:00.000-06:00

Wednesday I visited the Consulate in Chicago to drop off the last piece of paperwork that I needed fro my Visa! The lady that processes the Visa's in Chicago is taking my paperwork down to Venezuela by hand for me on Monday! She is going home to visit family over the holidays and offered to do this for me instead of mailing the paperwork! Hopefully this will speed up the process. Please pray that she doesn't forget anything when she packs and that my paperwork is approved quickly! Thanks for all the continued prayers and support!

All the Glory to God,
Matt Johnson

One Last Trip To Chicago!

2006-12-09T15:30:00.000-06:00

On Friday (Dec. 8th) I received what hopefully is the last piece of paperwork I need for my Visa! I was able to get a letter signed and notarized at my doctors office stating I am in good health. This Tuesday and Wednesday I will hopefully be making my last trip to Chicago for the Visa. After submitting this last piece of paperwork my application should then be sent overseas and processed in Venezuela! Please pray that nothing gets lost in the mail so I don't have to start this process over again! I do have copies of everything, just in case! Thanks so much for all your continued prayers and support! I hope to report soon that I have a Visa!!1

Successful Trip to Chicago

2006-11-30T23:09:00.000-06:00

What a great trip to Chicago! I got to spend time with some friends as well as accomplish some things on the Visa front. I took a work contract I received up to the Consulate on Tuesday. They accepted it and also told me what else I needed. I am in the process of securing a medical note from my doctor stating I am in good health. Once I get this signed and notarized (hopefully on Monday) I will return to Chicago to hand in this last piece of paperwork!! Supposedly this will be the last thing I need for my Visa. Once they receive this they will submit my paperwork for review. Please keep praying for the Visa! We are getting closer! Thanks so much for the continued prayers and support! God Bless!

Matt

National Missionary Convention

2006-11-20T23:09:00.000-06:00

What a blessing! It is great to be around people that are like minded. And a missionary need not look any farther than the National Missionary Convention. I spent the weekend in Indianapolis attending workshops, hearing speakers, and worshiping with several other missionaries. I was able to attend a few workshops on church planting and training nationals. All the workshops were very beneficial and it was great to hear from experts on the field.

VISA NEWS
This week I received a work contract from my team in Venezuela. I need to submit this along with a new application form that should be faxed to me shortly. These two items will hopefully push along the Visa. I am hoping to join my team at the start of the new year but that is still contingent upon the paperwork. Thank you for all your continued prayers and support!!

All the Glory to God,
Matt Johnson

Traveling to Chicago with the Band!

2006-11-02T15:50:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I joined PJ Summers and the Simplified band to play a few places. We started with a retreat in Oregon, Illinois. The retreat featured 75+ youth from a church in Wheaton, IL. Then we traveled to the suburbs of Chicago to lead worship on a Sunday night at the drummer's home church! What a blessing to serve the church and lead them in worship Sunday night! I also had time on Monday to make a much needed visit to the Venezuelan Consulate in Chicago. I spent some time talking to the lady that issues visas there in the office. There is a new application that I have to fill out and submit along with a contract that I need to get from my team in Venezuela. I was glad to finally find this out so I can get started on hopefully the last pieces of paperwork I will need for this visa! Please keep the visa situation in prayer. We are one step closer on the process, but not done yet!
All to the Glory of God,
Matt Johnson

Prayer Request Update

2006-10-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all of you that prayed for me. The biopsy came back on the mole and it was not cancerous. It was pre-cancerous but not malignant. Thanks again for your prayers. Now please keep praying that my Visa will come through so I may leave soon! All the glory goes to God!!
God Bless,
Matt

Update for September

2006-09-19T16:19:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are two weeks in September and I still don't have much to report on my visa. I called the Consulate in Chicago the end of last week. They told me they had no news for me. This means that my paperwork, as far as I know, is still outstanding. I am not sure where it is currently. Please keep praying as this is starting to wear on me. It can be frustrating since this is the only thing I am waiting on to leave the country. I appreciate all of the prayers and support and I know this is in God's hands. Well, I will write more as I find things out! Thanks again for all the prayers! God Bless.
Matt Johnson

Another Visa Update...

2006-08-30T16:59:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I just found out from my Team Leader in Venezuela that the Consulate had the wrong Matthew. Apparently when they went back yesterday to see when it would get mailed back to the US, they found out it wasn't the correct person. Apparently the Embassy down there has never received my paperwork. Right now we are in the process of calling the Consulate in Chicago to see if they have any information. We are essentially trying to locate a tracking number that would have been assigned to the paperwork when I initially submitted it. Well, I will keep all of you updated as I find out more. Please keep praying as I was hoping this was resolved but it appears now there may be much more work to do. Please pray that they haven't lost my paperwork (including my passport) and that God would work all of this out.

God Bless,
Matt Johnson

Visa Update!!!

2006-08-24T16:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I got the big news from my team leader today. My Visa has cleared Interpol as well as the Ministry of Religion in Venezuela!! Those are two huge hurdles. Apparently it is pretty much a done deal. It is sitting on the desk of the guy that puts the final stamp on it and mails it back to Chicago, so it is almost done! Praise God! He is faithful. Originally I was told this process could take anywhere from 3-6 months. However it has managed to be almost completed in about 2 months! I can't tell you how excited/nervous I am. I can't believe I am actually going to be living my dream very shortly! What an Awesome God we serve! Well, I will let you know when I solidify a departure date. It should be soon!!

All to the Glory of God,
Matt Johnson

August 15, 2006 Update

2006-08-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

The commissioning services at my home church this past weekend were wonderful. I am now at 70% of my budget! This means that when I get 10% more pledged I can head for the field! This is also contingent on my visa coming through. However, my team leader is back from his furlough and is going to try to help push my visa through in Venezuela! Please keep praying that God would provide my visa in His timing when I have 80% of my support! Thanks again for all your continued prayers and support. I can't believe that this is actually going to happen. I hope to be leaving for the field very soon.
All the Glory to God,
Matt Johnson

End of Camp

2006-08-12T09:58:00.001-05:00

Well, the camp season is now over. It was a wonderful summer. I had the opportunity to see many lives impacted and changed by Christ as well as hang out with many of my supporting churches. I now have 60% of my monthly budget raised and will be fundraising full time till I finish my budget. My team leader is back in Venezuela from his furlough and will be trying to help push my visa through from his end. Well, thanks for your continued prayers and support. Please keep praying for my visa and the rest of my fundraising! God Bless. All the Glory to God!

Matt Johnson

A Prayer Request!

2006-07-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody! I have another prayer request for all of you. This Sunday I am meeting with the missions team at South Side Christian Church. Please pray that God would speak through me and that He would cast His vision for His ministry in Venezuela! Pray that South Side would catch that vision and desire to partner with me. Please also be praying for my visa. I hope to be able to leave for Venezuela as soon as it comes through! I love you all and thank you for your prayers!
All the Glory to God,
Matt Johnson

One Month Later...

2006-07-15T00:18:00.000-05:00

So, it has been a month and haven't updated for a while. Sorry about that. It has been a busy month of camp, traveling, and fundraising! I now have 60% of my monthly budget raised! Once I hit 80% I will be able to buy my plane ticket. This will solidify my departure date. Well, I was blessed by another week of VBS at South Side Christian Church! It was great to hang out with nearly 200 kids and difficult to explain church planting to them. But I think I got the point across. I have one more VBS at Literberry Christian Church. This will conclude my VBS's for the summer. Please keep praying for my visa, as I am also waiting for it to come through before I can leave. Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support! All for God's Glory!!
Matt Johnson

Visa Information

2006-06-17T12:02:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday I made the drive to the Consulate General of Venezuela. I turned in my application and passport to apply for my visa. I now have to wait as my application is sent to Venezuela to get approved and then sent back to Chicago. Please pray that God's hand would be in all of this. This process can sometimes take as long as 3 months. Pray that the process would be expedited and that the Visa would be approved. I am still on the fundraising trail and have 40% raised so far. I am speaking at 3 different VBS's this summer. Pray that those would be open doors to a few more churches that would be interested in supporting me. Thanks so much for the continued prayer! To God Goes All the Glory!!
Matt

Louisville and LSCA

2006-06-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

Well, the past week I have been in Louisville, KY. I spent some time with the new summer interns with Team Expansion this year. I was good to meet other people that have a heart for missions and are excited about serving God! I had a few chances to sit down with the interns going to Venezuela and answer some questions for them. I also spent the week hanging out with some very good friends of mine. These are friends that I could possibly be serving with in Argentina some day. We have a dream to start a coffee shop and target college age as well as young adults.
Well, staff training starts this week for summer camp. It will be exciting to meet other staff members. This is the last week before campers begin showing up. I am still in the support raising process and training to obtain my visa. I currently have 40% of my budget raised. Please pray that God would continue to provide supporters! Please also pray that my visa would go through quickly!! Thanks for your prayers! God Bless.
Matt

Back on the Fundraising Trail!

2006-05-13T15:54:00.000-05:00

Well, now that I am back from Colorado it is time to really push fundraising till I leave in August. I have about 70% left. This seems like a lot but I know it is very acheivable and God will provide! I have a meeting Saturday May 20th with Rochester Christian Church, and Tuesday May 23rd with West Side Christian Church. Please pray that God would speak through me as I cast a vision for His ministry in Venezuela! Thanks for all your prayers and continued support. I also found out that I am going to be the missionary for First CC in Jacksonville's VBS. This means I am presenting for Kindergarten-6th Grade. God Bless! To God goes all the Glory!
Matt

Back Home!

2006-05-11T19:36:00.000-05:00

Well, MTI was quite the experience these last three weeks in Colorado. I can't begin to tell you everything that I learned. It was so exciting to live in Christian community these last three weeks. What a blessing! Well, summer is finally here. I start working at Lake Springfield Christian Assembly soon. I will be there all summer and working as the groundskeeper. I really look forward to staying in touch with my supporting churches and forming new relationships during the summer. I have to finish up my support raising as well this summer, so I plan to be pretty busy. Please keep praying that God would form new ministry partnerships so that I can meet my departure date of August 17th! To God goes all the Glory!
Matt

Second Week of Training

2006-04-30T17:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, time really does fly out here in Colorado. Maybe it's the elevation, maybe it's the snow, maybe it's the 7 hours of class a day. Whatever the case may be, my time here is really moving fast. This last week was quite the emotional rollercoaster. The majority of the week was spent talking about conflict styles and transition into a new culture. We even had a hostage scenario on Wednesday. Friday was a wonderful balance as spiritual vitality and the Sabbath were discussed. It is amazing how much their is to digest and sort through in just one weeks worth of class. God has really taught me a lot these last two weeks and I look forward to my last week here. Thanks again for everyone's prayers. I will be flying out of Denver this Saturday, May 6th. If you could be praying for safe travel I would really appreciate it! To God goes all the Glory!!
Matt

First Week of Training

2006-04-21T18:07:00.000-05:00

Wow, what can I say. MTI has been an incredible experience so far here in Colorado. My emotions and intellect have been stretched so far, but for the best. The community here is incredible. God really has called some incredible people into the mission field! It is also interesting to see all the different denominations that are here to train. I can't help but think that this was partly what Jesus was praying for when He prayed for unity among all believers. Please keep praying for the country of Venezuela and the political unrest. I also just found out from my team leader that I need to start applying for my Visa as soon as I get back from Colorado. God bless you all! To God goes all the Glory!!!
Matt

Sunrise Service in Colorado

2006-04-16T20:53:00.000-05:00

Well, my flight made it in to Denver yesterday and my good friend Daesha was right on time to pick me up. I had the pleasure of hanging out with Daesha's wonderful family this weekend. This included three church services. I was able to hear Daesha's father Eric speak Saturday night at their church service. Excellent message. I think I would really enjoy him as a teacher. Sunday I was able to attend the sunrise service at their church. The service was held in the atrium. It is quite picturesque since the front is glass pained and it looks out on the mountains and Pikes Peak! What an awesome experience.

Tomorrow I start training at Missions Training International. I have classes five days a week for the next three weeks. I really look forward to this time of refreshment, renewal, and spiritual growth. Thanks again for all your prayers. My fundraising is kind of on hold for the moment while I am here in Colorado. When I get back though I anticipate it jumping back into high gear! All the Glory to God!
Matt
PS> I forgot my camera but if I can borrow one I hope to take some pictures and get them posted on this sight.

Macomb and McDonald's

2006-04-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

I had another wonderful weekend! This past weekend I was able to return to Macomb, IL and my campus ministry. I shared with them on Sunday night and a few more prayer warriors joined the ministry team! It is so exciting to share the passion that God has given me for the lost and to see other people catch that vision and support the ministry! This Wednesday I also had an awesome experience. I went to meet what I thought was going to be 4-5 prayer supporters at McDonald's. Well, when I got there I was surprised to find 12-13 people that were eager to hear about my ministry. They then got up and we prayed in a large circle right in the middle of McDonald's. What a way to start the morning! One more exciting announcement. I met with Tim Rowles from Abundant Faith and they have officially decided to support me!! I may also have the chance to speak there on a Wednesday night! Thanks again for all your prayers. I hope to start sending out my monthly support letter in April. I will be in Colorado for three weeks of spiritual, cultural, and team building training. That will be the highlight of the first newsletter! All the Glory to God!!
Matt

Meeting with a prayer team

2006-03-29T14:08:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody! I just wanted to let you know that this coming Wednesday morning I am meeting with a group of ladies that are praying for me at McDonalds! Alright! I am very excited to meet them and share my ministry plans with them. They are already praying for me and don't even know me. How cool is that? Some more news. I had an excellent meeting with Steve Stewert from West Side Christian Church the other day. It is so enjoyable to share ministry plans with another person and to hear their plans as well. We really do serve an awesome God that loves His people! One more note. In just two and a half short weeks I am leaving for Colorado for 3 weeks of training. Pray that God would give me safe travel and really prepare my heart, soul, mind, and body for the ministry He has planned for me. If you have any prayer requests you would like me to pray for, please email me at mjohnson at teamexpansion dot org (replace at with @ and dot with . , this is to cut down on spam email) If you haven't received one of my prayer cards to hang on your refrigerator and would like one, you can email me your address as well and I will send you one!
All the Glory to God!!
Matt

Another Pray Request Answered!!

2006-03-20T22:07:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all of you who were praying for my trip to Collinsville and Jacksonville. This weekend was a great trip. It was quite refreshing to spend time with some good friends and also a great time of sharing at their church. I was able to speak to the Sunday School class that my friends attend at their church, Copper Creek Christian Church. I think I encouraged some people in the Sunday school class and I was definitely encouraged by their enthusiasm. Thanks to all of you who prayed for my meeting with the missions board at First Christian Church in Jacksonville. They caught the vision for my ministry and decided to support me!! I now have 30% of my monthly budget raised! Thanks for your prayers, God is faithful and He does answer them!! I have a meeting with the head of the missions board from West Side Christian Church tomorrow. Please pray that God would speak through me at that meeting as well! To God goes all the Glory!!
Matt

Collinsville then Jacksonville...

2006-03-17T22:34:00.000-06:00

Well, here I am at Tim and Liz Casey's house! It really is great to hang out with old college friends and reminisce about the past! I also had the opportunity to get a hold of a gentleman at First Christian Church in Jacksonville. I will be presenting to their missions board on Monday night! Please pray that God would guide that conversation as well! It is really exciting to see how God is opening doors for me to speak at multiple churches!! Thanks so much for all your prayer and support. I can't emphasize enough how important all of you are in my ministry! If you have any prayer requests please send them my way so I can pray for you!! To God goes all the glory!!
Matt

Another trip, some more prayers, another partner?

2006-03-15T22:01:00.000-06:00

Well, this weekend I will be road tripping to the Collinsville/Belleville area this weekend. I am visiting some good friends from college, the semi newly married Tim and Liz Casey! I am also going to sit down with some of the leadership at their church and talk about my ministry in Venezuela! It is very exciting to see how God is opening doors for me to talk to people and how excited people have been so far to hear about God's plan for my life! Please pray that God would speak through me this weekend as I meet with them and cast God's vision for His ministry for me!! Thanks so much for all your prayers and support so far! To God goes all the glory!!

Matt

Prayer Request Answered!!

2006-03-07T20:46:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Koke Mill Christian Church to support me in my ministry! Monday night God answered that prayer! I now have 20% of my monthly budget raised! I am meeting with a gentleman from Abundant Faith Church on Thursday at 5:15pm. I am also eating breakfast with another man from Hope Evangelical Free Church on Friday morning at 6:30am. Pray that I would let God speak through me and that both of those churches would catch God's vision for the ministry He has laid out for me! Thanks so much for your continued prayers! God does answer!! To Him goes all the glory!!
Matt Johnson

2006-02-26T13:12:00.000-06:00

New Update

2006-02-26T13:06:00.000-06:00

Well, thanks to everyone that has picked up a prayer commitment card at church and turned one back in. I have about 15 prayer warriors right now!! I hope to have a list of about 75-100 some day. That is the goal. Here are a few more prayer requests. Pray for maintained relations between USA and Venezuela. It seems like the politics just get a little bit hairier everyday. I have a meeting scheduled March 10th with a missions board member from Hope Church. Pray that God would speak through me at that meeting and that they would consider partnering with me in my ministry! Well, that's about all I can think of now! Thank you so much for your support as this wouldn't be possible without God's people interceding in prayer! To God goes all the glory!
Matt

Prayer Warriors!!

2006-02-13T18:22:00.000-06:00

Well, now that I am back from Candidate Lab in Louisville, KY, it is time to swing support raising into full gear! So, time to wake the prayer warriors! Yes, this is your chance to partner with me in my ministry to really see this thing to fruition! I am asking everyone to pray that God would raise up people and Churches that would desire to partner with me in my ministry! I hope to have a forwarding agent soon. I hope to start publishing support raising percentages so everyone knows how close I am to reaching my budget! Remember, I hope to be on the field by August! Again, to God goes all the glory! Philippians 4:6

Candidate Lab!!

2006-02-07T16:33:00.000-06:00

Well, this week (Feb. 5th-11th) I am in picturesque Louisville, KY. I am currently in the middle of what they call Candidate Lab! It is all the ins and outs of what I need to get done before I leave for Venezuela. We have covered things such as prayer support, fundraising, forwarding agents, and a bunch of other things. And, there is more still to come, it's only Tuesday. Another prayer request: As of late I have really been feeling down. They say that everyone goes through the desert before their ministry time and I hope this is just my desert. Satan really does step up his level of attack when we step out to serve our Heavenly Father. It is very discouraging and emotionally, spiritually, and physically draining. Pray that I would seek God in the midst of all of this. I know I will come out stronger and more reliant on Him. This is what I desire, I just wish the desert part wasn't coupled with it. To God be the Glory in all that I do!!

And so it begins!!

2006-01-31T21:12:00.000-06:00

Well, with much anticipation to what the deputation process is all about I officially started the financial fund raising ball rolling! It is a little bit easier going into this process knowing I have people praying for me and a prayer team assembled! Thanks to all of you for lifting up my request the other night. For those of you who don't know, I gave my first official presentation to a missions board yesterday. I presented in front of the missions board at my home church, Koke Mill Christian Church. I called a few people, last minute, and asked them to pray while I gave my presentation. Mostly praying that I would speak clearly and that I would cast the vision that God laid upon my heart after being in Venezuela this summer! The presentation itself went very well I thought. Please pray that Koke Mill CC would make the right decision as far as to what extent they want to partner with me as I endeavor to serve God in Venezuela! Thanks again for all your prayers and support! I hope to be setting up more appointments with more churches soon! August 17th is all too quickly approaching. Also, if you could be in prayer for the week of February 5th-11th. I will be traveling to Louisville, KY for training with my sending organization, Team Expansion. During this week I will be really setting up a time table for everything that must get done before I leave for the field in August. I also hope to have a job description and personal ministry plan established. Any questions? Feel free to email at mkjohnson1@gmail.com, or call my cell: 217-494-1836. To God be the glory!!!

Prayer Request Answered!

2006-01-21T22:34:00.000-06:00

These are the type of posts I enjoy publishing. I hope to see lots more of these!
Thanks to all of you who have been praying that I might find a job. I had an interview on Friday, which I posted a prayer request for, and sure enough, Friday night I was offered the job! It is a temporary job I have until April 14th. This works out beautifully as I have training in Colorado for 3 weeks that starts April 17th! Man, God really works this stuff out really well. He is definitely way better at managing my time then I am! Well, more to come as God answers more prayers!!

Job Interview Prayer Request

2006-01-18T21:33:00.000-06:00

Hey Guys!
Here is a new prayer request for everyone. I will be interviewing for a job on Friday and hopefully (if I get it) starting the following Monday. This has potential to be pretty sweet as it is a temporary job and ends right before my training will begin in Colorado! Not to mention I can pay for some of my training with the money I earn from this! Thank you everyone for all your continued support!

News and Views from Matt

2006-01-17T00:08:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone! I decided to create this blog to keep everyone updated on my desire to serve God in Venezuela! Hopefully I will visit this blog frequently and update it on all things related to me and Venezuela. Well for starters, I will be presenting my plan and heart to my church next Sunday, January 22nd. This will be a time for me to inform my church what my job will be in Venezuela, what things I will be doing specifically there, and my time frame for leaving. (Which by the way I hope to be leaving some time mid August, around the 17th hopefully).
February 6th-10th I have a week of training in Louisville, KY. During this time I will be writing out my personal ministry plan, learning all there is to know about my sending organization, Team Expansion, and learning the ins and outs of mission life. I would like to close each blog with my current prayer requests. The name of this blog says it all. Please pray for Venezuela and consider that to be an understood prayer request! My first would be my presentation at church. Pray that God would speak through me as I present my heart for the gospel and God's heart for the lost. Pray that individuals and churches would partner with me prayerfully and financially. I will be sending out individual support letters shortly and I will also be calling churches and talking with them as well. God Bless all of you!