Vance’s View September 19

Vance’s View

September 20, 2017

Greetings from Battle Ground!

Carol is currently in Minneapolis where she has joined the Global Fingerprints team for their annual training and team building. The fact that she is there is a major answer to prayer. Sunday morning, September 17 Carol’s 90 year old mother, Vera, slipped and fell in her bathroom at our house. After going to two emergency rooms it was confirmed that she had broken five ribs and cracked two more.

Thankfully, she received excellent care and Carol’s sister committed to taking Carol’s place at the hospital (thank you Annette) and Carol left for Minneapolis the next morning. She will return on Friday, September 22.

Carol and I enjoyed our time with churches this past month! September 8-10 we were in Oroville California with they Evangelical Free Church there. Met some very dear people and renewed our friendship with many more. I will not mention names or this will start looking like their church directory. The weekend was very relaxing and the time at the church was very significant for us.

This has been true of the thirteen other churches we have visited!

The coming weeks see us visiting Trailside (Anchorage) Sept. 24; Central Bible (Centrailia) Oct. 1; Trinity (Boise) Oct. 8 and Chewelah (Chewelah) Oct. 14-15.

Carol was able to spend a week in Manila at the training for site workers and visiting the site of the EFCA Reachglobal’s tenth and newest Global Fingerprints site. If you want to know more go to www.globalfingerprints.org or Fb.com/GlobalFingerprintsEFCA. There are forty-eight children waiting for sponsors.

I, Vance, am retiring in nine days. Carol will continue to work for the mission in her new role with Global Fingerprints. If you choose to continue your financial support, just send it to the same account, it will go to Carol not me.

I have been following several of the Filipino pastors who are attending a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is such a blessing reading about how they are enjoying the time spent fellowshipping and networking with the other EFC movements throughout Southeast Asia. Thank you for allowing us to be part of this.

In His service and yours,

Carol and Vance Johnson

Reachglobal, the international outreach arm of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA).

Vance’s NEW email: vancejoh@gmail.com

Carol’s email: carol.johnson@efca.org

Vance’s mobile: (360) 702-9463

Carol’s mobile: (360) 702-9581

Vance and Carol’s Ministry Description for 2017

Vance and Carol’s Ministry Description for 2017

Introduction:

Vance is still a full-time employee of the mission. Carol is transitioning to being a part-time employee. Our salary in the past was dependent on my status and even though Carol went through the whole application process, she was not “technically” an employee.

Vance:

• I will be visiting the Philippines at least twice this year and next, where I will be assisting with further training of church planters who are currently planting 15-20 churches inside the area that was affected by the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda). The next trip is February 5-27, 2017 where I will be visiting Tacloban, Cebu, Leyte and Bantayan Island to train and encourage church planters.
• I have been asked by our Asia Regional leadership to visit churches in Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho and present personnel needs and ministry opportunities in Asia. I have already visited five churches here in Clark County and will be going to others through the month of March 2017. Primarily this is to meet with pastors, deacons/elders and mission committee members.

Carol

• She will continue being the primary homemaker for the five us living at our residence.
• She is currently discovering what the “site coordinator” for Global Fingerprints does. This is the Reachglobal program for child sponsorship. Carol would be working with partners in Manila who are planting churches among the urban poor.
  • This would be a half-time position.
  • It would require a trip every year to meet with the ministry partners in the Philippines.
  • She would be involved in connecting donors with recipients.
  • She would do promotion, raising awareness of this ministry opportunity.

Carol and Vance

• The mission gives us six months to visit churches before our 66th birthday (Vance, September 2017). This means that March to September Carol and I (mostly me) will be traveling to supporting churches and individuals to thank them.
• We will also be talking to them about considering supporting us (mainly Carol) after September 2017 so that she can serve the urban poor church planting ministry in Manila.

Conclusion:

Carol and I want to thank all of you for your faithful support, especially during this time of transition.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Dear Friends, Supporters and Family,

Carol and I just enjoyed our first Christmas here in the United States with family in twelve years, and it was delightful. We celebrated with Vance’s siblings; our family; our church; and Carol’s family. Maybe we were making up for lost time. It was so precious that on each occassion, we were reminded that the incarnation of Jesus was the reason for our celebration.

We have had snow (very small amounts) on three separate days and that has been fun, in its own way.

We wanted to thank everyone who prayed for our recent trip to the Philippines. God answered your prayers. We were able to visit with many dear friends, even flying to another island to visit a family that we have grown close to. Yesterday we learned that they are expecting their third child.

We were able to sell our things and pack up and move out of our small apartment. We were even able to drive four hours north on the island where we have lived and visit the homes/families of two of the young ladies that have worked for us.

Vance will be going back in the first half of February to help with an ongoing leadership development with about fifteen pastors who are leading church plants. Please pray that God will provide the necessary finances (about $1,200) so that I (Vance) can do this.

Speaking of finances, we are still on full time salary with the mission through the month of September 2017. Pray for Carol as she considers a part-time position with the mission after that. She is being asked to be the “Global Fingerprints’ site coordinator” for the Philippines. Global Fingerprints is a program developed by Reachglobal (our mission agency) which sponsors children for nutrition, education and health. There are children in a Muslim neighborhood in Manila, Philippines who are being reached for the Gospel by an onsite ministry team that could benefit from such a program. Pray for wisdom regarding this opportunity.

Our family has greatly benefited from being together for the past seven months. We are still working through issues and seeking a long term way to meet the needs that continue to exist. Continue to pray for this.

Tomorrow is the start of 2017, at least in this time zone, and as we look forward to a new year we are reminded that like Israel, God has brought us this far and He is still in control.

In His service and yours,

Vance and Carol Johnson

email: vance.johnson@efca.org carol.johnson@efca.org

mobile phone: Vance (360) Carol (360)

mailing address: 6608-A NE 259th Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604-9553

After Seminar

Monday, September 5, 2016

Cebu City Philippines

We are in the United States (Battle Ground) but I am in the Philippines to help facilitate a leadership development program. This was the first of six modules that will be spaced over the next three years. I have been asked to participate in the future ones as well. The past week has been a real joy. I have renewed friendships and been delighted by the hospitality that I have received! I attended our home church here, Harvest Community Fellowship, where I was welcomed with open arms.

The seminar was attended by fifteen invited pastors and church workers. Several of them have been my students at the college and five of them I had never met before. They spoke three different local languages but they all could understand English, yeah! About ten of them could speak the local language that I know and it was special to communicate with them in that medium.

We all share an interest in starting new churches all over the country. It was good to hear some of their stories and to pray with them. Most of the time was spent in small discussion groups where we answered questions which the facilitator has proposed. Often we prayed for one another, sometimes with tears. It was a very moving time.

The week was “bookended” by attendance at our church and the second Sunday I preached from Hebrews 8 about the priesthood of Jesus where it focuses on his “better” priesthood and his “better” covenant. One phrase really touched me: and their sins I will remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12). They took such good care of me.

Our pastor is training the lay leaders to participate in the service and they lead the communion service. The Sunday I was there was the first time for this layman and he was so overwhelmed by the experience, that he cried.

I want to thank you for holding us up in prayer. Carol and I so appreciate you all.

Because of the better Priest,

Vance and Carol Johnson

Two Months Later

September 3, 2016

1. Praise God for safe travel back to Washington State and a fairly smooth transition back to North America. We are living at: 6608 NE 259^th Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604. Our email remains: vance.johnson@efca.org Our cell phones are as follows: Vance (360) 702-9463 Carol (360) 702-9581.

2. Pray for the process we are going through to seek additional resources for our family. We have found a counsellor and good medical help.

3. Praise for an excellent time here in Cebu with the first of six leadership development seminars. Met with 15 pastors and enjoyed the time very much.

4. Pray for our plans to return to Cebu, Carol and Vance, in October to close up our house and liquidate our household. Praise God that many things have already been taken care of.

5. Praise God that the college has 22 new students that started classes in June 2016. They join about 60 others.

6. Praise God that the national church, the Evangelical Free Church of the Philippines, has adopted a goal of planting another 42 churches in the next five years!

7. Please pray for Davao City. This is the largest city on the island of Mindanao. Last night (Friday) a bomb went off that killed 12 people. They are not sure who is responsible.

Thank you for your ongoing involvement with Carol and I, especially during this time of transition.

In His service and yours,

Vance, for Carol

RiceTerracesETCPLuzonOct2015

Last Two Weeks

Carol and I traveled to Manila on Monday, October 12. We were picked up by Daryl and Sharon Germaine. Sharon is Carol’s sister and they have lived just south of Manila for almost the same amount of time that we have been in the Philippines.

We traveled north of Manila, up into Northern Luzon to an area around Banaue where the people have built terraces that have been there for 100’s of years. They are truly amazing. You drive for many miles and they are going up the mountains. Many are still being used. I suggest that you go online and look at them. They truly are world famous, for good reason.

We spent four days traveling and just being tourists. It was so enjoyable. We stayed in simple accommodations and ate good local food (lots of rice). It was cold, saw my breath one evening, and it was so nice to not be sweating.

The Next Week

After going to church on Sunday (October 18) the four of us, Daryl, Sharon, Carol and I went our separate ways. Carol went to spend four days with her sister and brother-in-law out in the “province” and I stayed in Manila (along with twenty million other people).

I had received an invitation from our sister school in Manila to teach Church History to sixteen students. It was just delightful. They took good care of me in so many ways. The students, although nervous about their language ability, spoke to me in English all the time. They were even patient with me when I lapsed into Cebuano, not their language but the language of the people where I live.

We were in a small room with a whiteboard and fans for about seven hours a day. I planned on using my computer to show a presentation but my computer refused to cooperate so I shifted to the whiteboard, and it seemed to go very well.

I want to express my gratitude to all of you who pray for us, give generously and encourage us in so many other ways. The past two weeks would not have happened without you.

In His service and yours,

Vance and Carol Johnson

Serving with Reachglobal in the Philippines

Vances View September 28

*The First Few Days*

We arrived back in the Philippines at about Monday, September 14 at 10:30 PM Manila time (that is about 7:30 AM Monday morning on the west coast of the United States). We had an uneventful flight from Seattle to Inchon, Korea and then onward to Manila. At the Manila airport we took the “free” shuttle to the terminal which serves the airline we flew on to Cebu. There, we sat inside for four hours to fly one hour south to Cebu, our home away from home for the past thirty years.

Jet-lag has effected us more than in the past. Of course, you need to combine that with a lot of humidity and heat and we were finding it hard to stay awake during the day until just recently

Even though we have felt sleepy, we have gotten a number of things checked off on the To-do list:

• haircut ($1.75 and that includes a generous tip)
• battery for car ($85.00, ouch)
• air-conditioning recharged ($20.00) in the car
• grocery shopping (thank you Carol)
• two trips to the bank
• three trips to immigration (40 minutes one way). Why three? Don’t ask. . . The government now wants to see our marriage certificate which needs to be certified by their embassy, even though it is the original. See, you shouldn’t have asked. This means we are well on our way to a one year extension of our visa. Yes, praise the Lord.
• went to a couple of malls, ate out twice and enjoyed taking some walks.
• went to Tacloban (30 minute flight) for two days to spend time with a family that is opening a restaurant.

I did find out that I will be teaching three very interesting subjects in November:

1. Contemporary Theology. I have taught this several times, and enjoy it very much. The students will read several short articles on about thirteen topics and then prepare a reaction essay which they will summarize in class. Then the whole class will discuss and I will give some further comments and talk about further resources.
2. Preaching Contemporary Issues. This is a new topic for me and I am still putting together ideas about how to proceed. Basically it will be a preaching (homiletics) class which will, by nature, be more topically focused, rather than a book study.
3. Church History 2. This is about the history from the Reformation (1500’s) until the present. It is an excellent chance to show the students their spiritual roots.

Carol and I enjoyed worship yesterday with our home church here in Cebu, Harvest Community Church. They are just a small church but are seeking to plant four additional churches. It is truly humbling to be with these people.

Well, I should close for now but before I do I just want to say thank you to everyone for praying and giving so that we can finish the course that is set before us. This month has been one of the best months of giving we have experienced in the past thirty-three years!

In His service and yours,

Vance and Carol Johnson

Reachglobal, Philippines