Ben and Becca Johnson

December 2020 Update

Merry Christmas Team!

As Christmas draws very near, we want to join in the joy of the season with all of you who have been such an important part of our life and ministry in Thailand.  To celebrate with you, we want to give you a special gift.  It’s a humble gift, but it comes from hearts that are very thankful for each of you! 

To find out how to receive this gift, please read to the end of this update!

Because our gift to you is focused on Christmas, we want to use this update to share more of the details of what we’ve been up to during the past month.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, we need teammates.  So it is with great excitement that we can announce a new member to our team!  Julia Sloan just made it through assessment earlier this month and hopes to join us in Chiang Mai this June. 

She will be an elementary school teacher at Grace International School and looks forward to help us with our facilitative church planting work as well.  Please pray for Julia as she works to finish training and raise support in time to come in June.

In late November, Ben traveled with a team from Cool Shade of Life church to the village of Baan Naa, in Chayaphum Province.  We went there to connect with the group of new believers that is coming together and is interested in starting a new church.  We visited some group members who are elderly and sick.  We held a worship service where Ben shared the gospel and how he came to faith.  And we spent a lot of time talking with local believers and folks who are interested in this Jesus.  Please pray for Baan Naa, the group of new believers, and those who are slowly expressing interest in the message of the gospel.

For more pictures and video from Ben’s trip, click HERE.

Last week Saturday, the Sure Foundations Foundation hosted a Christmas outreach for kids in Baan Mueang Goong, which is the little Thai neighborhood next door to us.  SFF invited Cool Shade of Life to come and help lead games and activities.  Many Thai people believe that Christmas is the celebration of Santa Clause’s birthday.  But during this event, the teachers shared with the 57 kids and 25 adults who attended the story of Jesus’ birth and why he is so important to our eternal life.  Please pray that all who heard about Jesus would come to personal faith in him!

For more pictures from the Christmas outreach at Baan Mueang Goong, click HERE.

Ben continues to teach adult Sunday School at Cool Shade of Life Church each month.  This month, he shared the life of Joseph from Matthew 1:18-25.  He shared how a man who came from what seemed to be a defunct line of kings could humbly protect and prepare the One who would take up the name “Son of David” to become King of kings and Lord of lords.  Please pray that Ben’s lessons for the adults and Becca’s lessons for the teenagers would produce fruit for the King!

While we were sent to Thailand to bring the gospel to the Thai people, we are finding that God is blessing us with many opportunities to bring this same gospel to fellow missionaries.  As strange as it sounds, being here 5 years makes us veterans in the eyes of some other missionaries.  We have seen an increase in people asking us for advice and confiding their struggles and joys with us.  While this isn’t our primary work here, we see this as an important way to empower the greater work of the Kingdom.  Please pray for listening ears and wisdom to offer gospel-soaked words of encouragement and advice.

Now for the important part:  The Presents!!!

We want to share with you a little of what Christmas looks like for us in Thailand.  We will be putting together a special blog post with pictures, videos, and descriptions of how we spend our Christmas holiday.  This coming Wednesday, December 23, you should receive an email with a link to this special gift post.  It’s not a lot, but it’s our way of saying, “Thank You and Merry Christmas!” for all you do for us!

Until then,

Blessings!

Ben and Becca Johnson