July was spent around home for us, but it was no less busy than the rest of the year! We spent many hours in Cokeville, beginning with Independence Day celebrations. While we didn't have any official "ministries" that day, we spent time just being there and getting to know more of the residents. We made a few contacts, and are hoping to continue building upon those initial conversations in the coming months!
More recently, we were able to have several good days of Vacation Bible School, along with a community lunch outreach in Cokeville. VBS gave us the opportunity to meet several children and their parents, and to give away three Bibles to children as prizes. We had a total of 13 children attending, with a high of 11 on the last day.
We were also thrilled to have about 100 people come to the community lunch on Friday, out of the 535-person population of the town. We give thanks to God for the special financial gifts that were given for the lunch, and for the help of Pastor Sprecher and Friendship Baptist Church with VBS.
Please keep praying for the ministry there in Cokeville - we have been preaching through the Gospel on Sunday nights and are especially praying for the salvation of those who have been attending every week. An additional prayer request is that, from seeing salvation come to those attending, the body will begin to grow and eventually become an independent church who can call their own pastor.
August will be busy, especially as James has duty for the first half of the month. Pray for safety for James and his troops as they are out training. Elizabeth will be at home working, ministering, and preparing for (hopefully) moving in September.
Future Plans
Once James is home again, we will be looking for housing in Cache County. We are desiring to move this September and begin working in earnest in the Cache Valley. Please be in prayer for that search, as housing prices have jumped since we first looked at them three years ago. Pray also for our team members, the Adanks, as they are working through the home buying process and looking for jobs over in the valley.
Looking forward a few months, we have been asked to go back to the Arch Ministries fellowship in Florida this coming January, and to provide a list of needs we have for the church plants. We plan to place the list on our website and try to keep it updated along the way. We are thankful for Pastor Tim Potter and the others at Arch, for their hearts to see more churches planted in the US and churches revitalized across our nation.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and loving support! We look forward to sharing more with you as God continues to lead us in His perfect way!
For the Sake of His Name,
James & Elizabeth Johnson