photo: Andrea with Linda & Tim Anderson. Linda and Tim stopped by to visit us for a week in August while returning to Minnesota following a short term mission project in China. Linda, who is my (Tim Johnson’s) cousin and her family have been praying for my family since 1951 when my folks first came to Japan as missionaries. That’s almost 60 years of prayer for the “Johnsons in Japan”! To have them finally visit here with us was a real honor.

Dear prayer partners,

Thanks very much for remembering us and our work during the month of August. In short, on our end it felt very busy and fast…but we also had wonderful days of rest and play. Those two feelings don’t always combine easily. Maybe we just got really busy playing and relaxing quickly?!?  At any rate  we give thanks to God and to you once again as we enter the Fall schedule.  One of the  highlights for us  in August was a visit from my cousin Linda and her husband Tim who pastors the Covenant Church in Red Wing, MN. They stopped by for a week in Japan on their way back to Minnesota from China where they had served on a short term mission team. Here are some photos… 

Akagi Bible Camp

Thanks for praying for the camps we mentioned last month. I helped out at the Elementary Camp, Andrea cooked at the Jr/Sr High Camp, and our kids all participated in a camp. We saw evidence of many young people being challenged in their faith and making decisions to follow Christ. From our Isesaki Church a young 7th grade boy, Ryo, returned home and expressed his interest to his mother (who is a believer) in getting baptized. Please pray for us (and Ryo) as we follow up with him. We would appreciate your continued prayers for the Akagi Bible Camp (ABC) and the manager (Ken Tsuruki and his family) as we enter the Fall, needing to make some very hard budget decisions in the face of a tight financial situation. Here are some photos from the Elementary Camp that took place on 7/27 – 7/30:

Gunma Harvest

As I type this I am preparing for a special music outreach which is starting tomorrow, Sept. 6, in the village of Shintomura. There is no church yet in this location and we have been meeting for over a year on a monthly basis to pray specifically for outreach to this village. On four dates this Fall (Sept. 6, Oct. 4, Nov. 8, and Dec. 6) we are renting a room in a community center in Shintomura and inviting folks to join us for some music lessons. Anyone interested in learning piano, guitar, or electric bass are being invited through a simple flyer to come and join us. As of today I still don’t know if we will have any new people from Shintomura actually participate, although it appears that 7-8 of us “regulars” who have been praying  for this outreach will be taking part. Our prayer is that God would use these simple steps to connect us with local people, particularly those who may have a real hunger and thirst for God. Here’s the link on our website which goes into more detail. I will update the story soon.

Family Stuff

Andrea began her teaching schedule at church and is gearing up to begin teaching her university classes in October. Right now she’s spending a lot of time with Lilla as she gets going on her homeschooling program. So far so good.

Sky’s doing pretty well as he takes off each morning to head off to his school. We worried that he wouldn’t want to keep going if his sister was “staying home” but so far he seems to be in pretty good humor about it.

Sam’s doing well as he settles in to the beginning of 8th grade at CAJ (Christian Academy) in Tokyo.

We seem to be most grumpy and “out of sorts” with each other on Saturdays. After going in different directions all week we’re finally back together under the same roof… but not always sure how to show that Christ-like love to each other! Anyone else out there ever experience this? Maybe the “Saturday blahs / attacks” are a special joy/trial promised to families in ministry??  Well, so there you have a glimpse of this morning 🙂  Thanks for prayers for all of us as we continue maturing into that great and loving family that God sees when looking down on us…

Email Address Reminder

Our new email addresses:   tim.johnson@covchurch.org /  andrea.johnson@covchurch.org

Thanks for changing your records now.

OK, so here’s the short list you can put on the fridge:

1. Akagi Bible Camp / follow up with Ryo
2. Music outreach in Shintomura (Sept. 6, Oct. 4, Nov. 8, Dec. 6)
3. Andrea’s teaching
4. Our kids’ schooling
5. The alpha course which starts up again at the Isesaki Church next week

Your partners in prayer and mission,

Tim & Andrea Johnson

Sam, Lilla & Sky