Team Brazil Update: A Lot Is Happening!“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:58)

The last few months have been very busy as we abound in the work of the Lord. Our labor has definitely not been in vain. We are so thankful for our supporting churches and praying friends. Your prayers and support allow us to focus on God’s calling for our lives. There is too much going on to try to put into a small letter, but here are some highlights from the past few months.

Pastor Rodgers and All Saints Day

Every year, the entire church goes to the cemeteries for a day of soul winning. This time, our church, along with the Rodgers family, went to 4 different cemeteries in 3 different cities and passed out approximately 6,000 John and Romans and tracts. Several people were saved, as well as several folks contacting us afterwards via WhatsApp. It was a pleasure to host Pastor Shane Rodgers and his family from North Harrison Baptist Church in southern Indiana for a few days at the end of October and beginning of November. They helped us preach, teach, paint, and canvass. They also came to help our ministry on November 2, which is All Saints Day here in Brazil. Thousands go to the cemetery and light candles for their dead loved ones on this Catholic holiday.

Pastor Hanks and Camp

In mid-November, I had the privilege of preaching to over 100 teenagers at a Youth Camp five hours north of Taubaté. The teens were so receptive and responsive. The altars were full every service, and many, many decisions were made for the glory of God! While I was there with my wife, some of our church people were at a Family Camp in another city, where Pastor Scott Hanks from Heritage Baptist Church of Lawrence, Kansas, was the keynote speaker. From that camp, they came to Taubaté for a few days. He preached Sunday night to our church and to our Bible institute students on Tuesday night. It is exciting to be able to host groups and pastors from the States, and we are so thankful for their efforts to come visit. Both groups were such a blessing!

Christmas Cantata

The weekend before Christmas, our church choir had the privilege of proclaiming the Gospel message through a narrative of the Christmas story. We presented on Saturday in Pinda (the neighboring city) at Missionary Keith Putnam’s church and on Sunday at our church. They did a beautiful job. As a church, we also found sponsors to “adopt” 56 kids. Every sponsor bought their child a pair of tennis shoes, a toy, and a clothing article. For many of these kids, this was the only gift they received for Christmas. We invited the sponsors, the kids, and their families to participate for the cantata and gave them their gifts afterwards. This is something we have done every year for the past three years. The auditorium was packed with many, many visitors, and several decisions for Christ were made.

Bible Institute Graduation

On Saturday, December 28, we had a graduation for the Bible institute. Guilherme and Diego both graduated after years of hard work, perseverance, and faithfulness to their studies! We are excited to see how God will continue to use the lives of these faithful servants. They are both on staff at the church, and Diego will be assisting me with the church plant in Caçapava this year. We are also thankful for the good enrollment this semester and look forward to continue teaching and training servants for the Lord!

Salvation Story

Mario, a 15-year-old teenager, visited our church because of an invitation from a friend. He got saved and started coming to church. He brought his mother, as well as his twin sister, but his father did not come. I went to visit the family and was able to meet and lead their father Ricardo to the Lord! The family has been faithful to church since, and it is exciting to see Ricardo, along with his wife, wanting to study in the Bible institute this semester!

On a personal note, it was great to have our daughter Abigail visit us for two weeks over Christmas break. She is in her second year in Bible college. We are very proud of Abigail and our son Daniel.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

In the service of the King,

The Ed Johnson Family
Church-Planting Missionaries in Brazil Since 2008