Dear Praying and Supporting Friends,
Family News
We would like to apologize for the delay in this letter. Rebekah went in for a follow up ultrasound on the nodule in her thyroid. This time a biopsy was ordered and it was discovered that the nodule is turning into cancer. We have consulted two doctors and one would recommend no surgery but natural treatment, while the other prefers surgery. We are take our middle son to Bible College. We will be pursing treatment while in the states. Pray that we will have wisdom to do the correct course of treatment.
Jeff has completed his first year of Bible College and did very well. He is looking forward to coming back and serving God as a missionary in Brazil. David has finishing up his senior year. He is excited about enrolling in Bible College in the fall. Lee is going to miss his brothers terribly.
We are now on Facebook. If you would like to see our prayer letters, as well as updates on Rebekah’s health situation, they will be posted there as well as on our website www.bryan2brazil.com
Ministry News
Have you ever wondered how far God would go to win a soul? Last month God took us on a 40 hour round trip journey to the north. It began when our Brazilian mission board, MBIB, received an e-mail from a man named Dr. Pedro in Primavera do Leste. He was asking if our board had a missionary who could come and pastor his church. Dr. Pedro also asked if there was someone who could come and preach an evangelistic conference for them. Fellow missionary, Garry Tyler, sent me the e-mail and suggested we go up and preach the conference and check out the church. Our family marked the meeting and started our 20 hour trek north. Keep in mind that not all roads in Brazil are great. We were on one stretch for four hours that required that we literally take turns to go through the part of the road that had pavement. It was an adventure! We arrived in Primavera and met the couple who had sent the request. The city is only 30 years old and Dr. Pedro is one of the first lawyers who arrived, 30 years ago. He rents a small building and meets with four other people each service. On the weekend they run a bible club for the children in the city. I preached and on Saturday my wife taught bible clubs. Praise the Lord one little 13 year old boy named Francisco gratefully accepted Christ. We found out afterward that young boy had been abandoned by his mother and he lived with his father. He had been coming off and on for a few months but had never made a decision. We planted the seed with several people but no one else took up the offer of God’s salvation. Pray that the others who heard the gospel will continue to think about it and accept Christ someday.
We returned to Sao Paulo in time to take the boys to the teen retreat in Limeira, run by our good friend and fellow missionary Garry Tyler. David and Lee were blessed to hear their uncle, Carl Johnson, preach some great sermons. It was a refreshing and challenging retreat.
Easter Sunday Rebekah had a visitor in her children’s class. Elana had attended church faithfully with her aunt but did not know she was going to heaven. Elana accepted Christ on Easter Sunday.
For the last two months God has allowed us to travel and preach in churches all across Brazil. It has been an interesting thing to see how churches here in Brazil are doing. We have preached evangelistic meetings, family meetings and have learned what is needed here in Brazil. It was a really unique experience and a great blessing.
ELO
Our ELO publishing ministry is doing well. We have been able to get good Christian books into a number of new churches. We were also able to print two new books to add to our product line. We are very excited to be able to help other churches grow their members.
In His Service,
Bryan and Rebekah Johnson
