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Scroll down to see previous news postings ... January 17, 2005 Greetings Friends,
Our daughter Talitha came home from school for Christmas and New Year's. It was so nice to have her home with us. She is now back in school in Santa Cruz. She is working real hard on her studies and is doing very well. As we mentioned in our last letter, we were beginning a tower project that would increase our distance in the radio signal. We were given a sizeable gift to get started on this so we stepped out in faith. To God be the glory!! Through so many details - road blocks, fuel shortages, cables being held up in customs, trying to do this type of construction job in the middle of rainy season, connections for a team coming from the States to come and go in a certain window of time, safety in this high tech job of seeing the tower up, being paid for in full and now in service to reach out farther to people who need to hear God's word, is just plain Glory to God. So many details in a short amount of time only God could have known all of these details and needs. We all had the privilege to be involved along with many of you that prayed and helped financially. To God be the Glory!!! Along with the tower project, the team was able to hook up a security system, drill a well, hook up several other electrical needs, and many other jobs. The team came from Ohio and Pennsylvania for two weeks. They got a lot done in a short time. There are now back home adjusting to much colder weather than what they experienced here. We thank the Lord for each one that came and their willingness to fit in and help out where they could. They were such a help and encouragement to us. Speaking of weather, we had nearly perfect weather to get this tower built. In the middle of rainy season this was another blessing from the Lord. It was interesting, several different times there was bad weather all around us but in the area by the tower there was beautiful blue sky. To God be the Glory! Now that we see the new tower up 80 meters with its flashing red lights, what is next you might ask? When we started this project in January erecting the new tower, our transmitter burned out part of its electronics. We were able to send the transmitter back to the States with the team for repairs. We were sad it broke but God's timing was perfect. In the mean time we are borrowing a smaller 200-watt transmitter which we are grateful for. Would you pray with us that we can get our 500-watt transmitter fixed and back in service soon? Thanks! We are grateful to see such a project in place. We are trusting that more people can now have a clear signal to hear God's word. The programs we broadcast from Bible Broadcasting Network are solid Bible teaching. Perhaps you would like to tune into their station in North Carolina on the Internet and hear the good programming. We want to thank each of you that sent us Christmas cards, letters, and pictures this year. It was great to hear from so many of you and to hear what is happening in your lives. Sorry we haven't been able to answer each one of you personally but we do appreciate hearing from you. We are thankful for your letters of encouragement, for your faithful prayers for us and the ministry here and for your financial gifts. We trust that the Lord will continue to richly bless you as you head into this new year. Please continue to keep in touch!!! God bless you, Bruce, Jan and Talitha November 1, 2004 Greetings Friends, We trust this letter finds you all rejoicing in our Lord's goodness. It doesn't seem like another year is already nearing its end. We are sure for most of you there is plenty going on to remind you. For us here in Bolivia, we are entering into the hot and humid season. The days are much longer and there are quite a few more bugs. Speaking of bugs, there are some of the most colorful bugs you have ever seen here in the jungle. God surely is creative. We write to share with you an exciting project. Actually you all know of the raising of the FM radio tower. We received a nice gift to get well on the way with the construction. A Bolivian tower builder was here a couple of days ago to check things out and we have ordered the material to begin in ten days or so. We of course are thrilled with the Lord's provision, the technical help available and the answer to prayer to see this phase of the radio outreach expand. Some may not know this but our existing tower has served well but it isn't very tall for FM outreach. We have shared with you the possibility of reaching two other language groups in the future. This is progressing as well as three fellows are coming this next week to record the Bible and Bible lessons in the Yura language. We are excited to be able to help them with this. We are airing these Yura programs on Saturday and Sunday. Most Yura's live farther away and we are trusting that by raising this tower, we may have a good chance of reaching them as well. The technical people with their math and charts show a possible 20% increase in distance by raising the tower. This is very exciting for us as we are very close to reaching all the Chimane territory by radio. Since our increase in broadcasting time until 1 am and with the new better quality antennas, the signal reports from the country areas and jungle where the Chimane's live, have been very encouraging. The Lord has been very gracious for so many to hear great programs. His Word will not return void. Many are listening, we believe it. The sale of radios has slowed down a little bit but 370 are out there in a lot of different areas. Are you excited about such an outreach? There is a way you can help. There is some rather dangerous work coming up in the future around the end of December or the 1st part of January. It takes about a month to weld, paint and get the tower shipped here. Later we will be erecting it. This is where we need prayer support. We will remind you of this as the time gets closer. We also wanted to let you know that we haven't received all of the financial help that we need yet to complete this project. We are lacking approximately $2000 because we made some footing changes and cable size changes for higher wind needs. We don't have to worry about frost in the ground but wetter ground calls for bigger pads. If you would like to help with this, we would be very grateful. We have a work team coming from Ohio with technical help to put the antennas on the tower correctly, put up the lights and lightening protection. They will be coming the end of December. If you would like to help with the remaining need, please send your gift to our headquarters in Florida marked for the Chimane Radio Tower Project - Bolivia Address: New Tribes Mission 1000 E. 1st St. Sanford, FL 32771 Thank you dear friends. We are excited about this. So much help as already been provided. We don't lack very much to see this project completed. God Bless you, Bruce, Jan and Talitha Johnson September 21, 2004 Dear Co Workers, Greetings from Horeb, Bolivia! It is a very dry, windy day. Oh, did I mention the smoky conditions? These days in Bolivia, especially this time of year, there are many fires. It is the time of year when the country folks burn off old grass, make new garden spots and generally burn everything else. It has been so bad that several airports have been closed. There is so little visibility that the planes can't fly, well, actually the planes can fly, the pilots just can't see much. It is always good to drop you all a note. We praise the Lord for your continued support for the ministry here. There have been several things that have happened since our last letter. Most of you know we have installed new antennas that were designed and built by HCJB radio technicians. They did a great job and they are a 100% improvement over our old ones. We are planning the next phase, which is the raising of a new tower. We hope to do this in January 2005 with a work team from Ohio. We hope to put up a tower that is 80 meters high or around 240 feet. This height should help a great deal to reach our target area. We spent some time awhile back recording in another tribal language. We hope to do some more of that next month. The name of this group is Yura. Most of the folks live farther away than our radio station will reach. We hope to deal with this problem as we get more programs made. We are thinking of a possible relay station out in the jungle somewhere. A couple of weeks ago one of our co-workers passed away. His name was Frank Kempf, brother to Dean Kempf. He was 74 years old. This brother will be missed greatly as he and his wife ministered to the many sick folks. There is a large gap to fill with his passing. We will be trusting the Lord for someone to fill this need. Frank served the Lord faithfully for nearly 20 years here at Horeb. Several family members came all the way from Washington State to be with his wife and daughter during this time. They were such a help and encouragement to them. We would like to ask prayer for Vanessa and Kara as they have started their studies once again. Vanessa is in her fourth year with a physical education major and Spanish minor. Along with her work as an EMTI with the ambulance, work at the health club and helping with an Awana club, she is a busy gal. Kara is studying at Crown College and hopes to finish with a two-year Bible certificate. Talitha is home right now for a mini break. She is attending a new school in Santa Cruz and is in the 10th grade. She seems to be making the adjustments well. We would also like to ask prayer for continued financial support for the radio outreach and our ministry here. We believe God for big things and nothing is impossible for Him. So much has been done and the outreach is going on. We have been on the air just about three years now and we have sold over 350 radios. We have also extended the broadcast time to 1 am each day. We are very pleased about this. The bookstore, guestroom, computer room and artifacts building is 95% done. We would also like to ask prayer for the four fellows - Adrian, Rosauro, Celso and Sandario - who study hard to make Bible programs in the Chimane language. All our programs are 27 minutes long so there is a lot of material to record, edit and make into programs. We are grateful for these four fellows and their families. They too are dependent on God's people to help them support their families. Much of your support goes to help them financially to stay here at Horeb and work at the radio station. We would also like to ask prayer for the local Spanish church here in town as they finish up several jobs on their new building. Several work teams have helped build this new building. The ceiling, lights and fans were installed this past week. It is looking real nice. The radio outreach continues to reach out and we are very please with the many who now hear better with the new antennas. We still lack $300 to finish paying for these new antennas. We thank those of you who have sent extra to get these new antennas. We ask prayer for the upcoming Sharathon October 10th-12th. We will have three days where the listeners call in to help support the stations here in Bolivia. These stations are all listener supported. It is quite an undertaking but God's people make it happen. We are in the fifth week of our six-week literacy course here at Horeb with around 40 students. We would appreciate your prayers that as the students are taught from God's Word they will be open to all that He wants to teach their hearts these days. We would like to thank you again for all of your help and encouragement to us. We trust more may come to visit, work and help with the needs of the outreach here. God is faithful and we count it a privilege to serve the Lord in this way. Lord's blessings on you all, Bruce, Jan and Talitha August 2004 Dear Friends, Greetings from Santa Cruz, Bolivia! We don’t find ourselves here in Santa Cruz very often for any length of time but as many of you know we are here to get Talitha settled in her new school. Today is her first day with many others and we know she will be in for many new experiences as she starts the tenth grade. Kara is also here with us. Her plans are to fly back to the States next week with another classmate who is also here in Bolivia this summer visiting his parents. Classes begin for Kara at Crown College on August 23rd. Our first half of the year has been very busy but very profitable and greatly enjoyable. Our Lord worked out so many details for teams and families to come and for jobs to be done. We are very thankful how the Lord met so many needs. Jan and I will be heading back to Horeb on August 20th or so. We will be having a literacy course starting on August 23rd for five weeks. Most of you know that several work teams have come and gone and all the wonderful work they did has been a tremendous help to the Chimane people and us. They are very thankful as well. One of the teams put new roofs on the housing for the sick people. Our clinic looks great after the wonderful paint job the teams did. The new antennas are up and are working great with better coverage and cooler running equipment. Future planning for other work teams to come to finish needed repairs and upgrade the radio outreach is in the making. Please consider how you might help us to see these needs met. We are also working on many updates for our web page so you can see those improvements in the near future. We ask prayer for our four Chimane men – Adrian, Rosauro, Celso and Sandario - as they continue to study and record Bible lessons for radio broadcast. It is quite a large responsibility and they need much wisdom in the things that they do each day. We need prayer for the radio ministry and the financial needs. Our outreach has increased which has increased our expenses but we know that God is faithful, His timing is perfect and that He will provide. We do thank you for your continued support and faithful prayers for us and the ministry here. We are grateful to have this opportunity to get the Word of God out by radio. We believe as Romans 10:17 says, "faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God". Future plans are to record programs in two other languages, possibly some new co workers to help with these languages, work teams to build a new tower possibly in January, plus we are working on teaching our radio guys some computer lessons. Please continue to pray for Vanessa, Kara and Talitha as they are embarking on another school year. That the Lord would give them strength, wisdom, safety and help them in the many adjustments they will be facing these days. Please pray for Mom and Dad as they get use to an empty nest again after having the girls home this summer. Thanks again for your continued support and encouragement to us. We appreciate it so very much! Serving our Lord until He comes, Bruce, Jan, Kara and Talitha July 2004 Dear Friends, Greetings from Bolivia! We thank our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for the privilege to write you. We trust this letter finds you encouraged in His promises.
Talitha will be attending a Christian school in Santa Cruz this August with several of her friends from Tambo. We are thankful there is a good school, dorm and a few staff from Tambo that will also be teaching at the new school in Santa Cruz. The Lord is faithful to work out so many details in this transition. Also since our last update, we had a work team from our home church plus our Pastor and our two oldest daughters here from the States. They came to rebuild several roofs that needed to be repaired badly and to repaint the clinic. It was such a privilege to have them here and they were such a help and encouragement to us. They have since left and returned safely back to Minnesota. We are presently waiting for another small team of three men from Ohio.They will be replacing the FM antennas, doing some electrical work, and drilling two more water wells. We will have our hands full for the next two weeks. As mentioned several times in other letters, we continue to see the radio ministry reaching out to many people. The future as we are planning, praying and trusting the Lord for includes, possibly changing the FM station to AM so we can reach our farther. Our desire is to reach two other tribal groups. It is a great possibility in the near future and we need your prayers and financial help if you feel so led. This month we are planning on a couple coming to the studio with a Yura man to do some recording. He can read well and teaches in his own language. We are excited about this outreach, as it will minister to the Yura people who are in isolated areas. We could use prayer as we with others start this outreach to the Yura by radio. We are expecting some future plans to pull together this month about the outreach the Lord has put here by radio. We need prayer as HCJB, other radio advisors, and our field committee consider where we may be heading with this project. Would you please remember this outreach especially this month as many ideas are on the table and in our hearts to trust the Lord for? We need your help right now actually as we have gone through some special needs this month with radio expenses. We had to let two of our radio guys go for a month to recover from some expenses. If you would feel led of the Lord to give a little extra this month, we could really use the financial help. Thank you!
It was great to have our whole family together again for a couple of weeks. We have missed our girls very much while they have been away at school. Vanessa went back to MN a week ago but Kara is going to stay until August 17th with us. We are very thankful to have her and Talitha here with us with so much work going on and so many visitors. We praise the Lord for all of you. Please do remember the ministry here among the Chimane's. The body of Christ is advancing here and many more need to come to Christ, time is running out. With much consideration of your labor and gifts of love, Bruce, Jan, Kara and Talitha May 2004 Dear Friends, Greetings from Bolivia! We trust this finds you all doing fine. We are presently in Cochabamba getting a few things done - such as dental work, paperwork, bookwork, and visiting with fellow missionaries. This time of year is graduation time and as most of you know, this will be the last graduation at our mission school, Tambo. After 53 years, we are closing our mission school. This year marks a lot of changes here in Bolivia and many of these changes affect a lot of people. Many of our teachers and school staff will be looking to the Lord for other ministries. It will be a large exit of personnel the end of May. This matter is large and all of us here in Bolivia would first like to praise the Lord for many years of service the mission school and staff have given to so many kids, parents and the community around the school. We would also like to ask prayer in this transition as the kids, parents, staff and community say good bye to the location that has so much history and blessings of education and outreach to many local communities. For many this transition will be hard but God is full of grace to meet every need. We will be traveling to Tambo on Tuesday, May 11th. The graduation activities actually start on the 13th. We are looking forward to seeing Talitha again and to being a part of the graduation activities with her. Following the graduation we will be having our last field conference in Tambo for four days. This will be another huge change for us as a field. Following our time in Tambo, we are looking forward to Kara arriving on May 20th after her mission trip to Brazil. Then we will have a work team arriving from the Estes Brook Free Church in Minnesota. We are very excited about this! Vanessa will be with this team and our Pastor and others from our home church. Actually June will be full of lots of activity for us as another team from Kentucky will be arriving for a few days as well and a family from Michigan will be visiting the end of June. It will be a month full of work and good fellowship with other believers who want to serve the Lord. We are thrilled that these dear folks are coming! We are excited to report that there are plans in the making to increase our radio ministry outreach. As we look into these matters, would you be in prayer with us about the many details? The first phase is to build a higher tower. At present we have ordered the new antennas from HCJB and they could arrive the first part of July with a small work team from Ohio. There are a lot of details and needs if the Lord should lead you to pray or help financially This will be a big project but we are trusting with this new height and power output that we can reach all of the Chimane territory and two other language groups - the Trinitario's and the Yura's plus a larger group of Spanish speakers. Many of the country people will have a better chance of listening to the station as well. We know that in every step in a positive direction there can be attacks from the enemy. We ask for prayer as we trust the Lord for these many challenges. With these challenges comes the possibility for many more people to hear the Gospel and come to know Christ personally. There has been some concern these past couple of months for our personal support as well. It has been a bit low and May and June will be extra heavy expense months for us as well with flight costs and now the extra dental work that we have had to do - Jan with a root canal, Talitha needing to get four wisdom teeth taken out soon, and Bruce with some dental work as well. We are sure there are many extra expenses that come up for all of us but at this time we are facing one of those times. If the Lord should lead, we would be grateful for any one could help with these needs. We are looking at a need of around $2500 to get us through this time without being a burden to the field here. Thanks so much for your prayers and concerns for us. We appreciate so much each one of you and your help and encouragement to us these days and over the years. We trust the Lord will continue to richly bless each one of you. Love in Christ, Bruce, Jan and Talitha April 13, 2004 Dear Prayer Partners, Greetings from Bolivia! It is a beautiful day here today - a little warm but a nice day because our Lord has made all days with fresh blessings to be a part of. We are starting our third week of our literacy course here at Horeb. There are 80 plus students from various locations. There are a lot of young kids in the lower grades but they are here because their village school or teacher is unable to meet their schooling needs. We have several classes teaching the Bible and all of this is done in their own language. Yes, we do think it is a lot of work some times but what a privilege to be doing something to help others. These Chimanes will never have much but if they hear and receive the Gospel of grace and desire to walk with Jesus, their life will have a different meaning - a hope of eternal things to come. Their lives and surroundings are changing a lot as civilization is quickly moving in. We believe change will happen as they hear the Word of God more and more. We believe this because God says, His Word will not return void. Many of these Chimanes will be in heaven some day! We write also to share with you some special needs we have at this time. This summer we are expecting two work teams plus some others who would like to help do some projects for a few days. We have two big needs right now to trust the Lord for. The first one is for funds to repair roofs on housing for the sick folks. We have several buildings - they are small but the material and labor is around $700 per building. We have eight of these buildings that need the roofs repaired. Perhaps you could help or know of someone looking for a small project. We need to buy supplies ahead of time for these teams that are coming in June. The other need we have is to get a boost to the Chimane radio account. We are running pretty low on funds to finish up the bookstore and keep things going with the radio station each month. A neat thing happened a week or so ago. We found and purchased a new middle sized generator. Some funds were available through a project fund that helped a lot with purchasing this generator. We will use the old generator to replace our very worn out generator for the school. We are also thrilled to report an increase in our broadcast time. We increased it by 3 ½ hours per day. We are now on until 1:00 am each morning. We also added one hour of Chimane programs on the weekends. We praise the Lord for this, as we believe many more will be listening to these great programs in Chimane and also in Spanish.
If anyone would like to help, we would really thank you for it, as we believe God is already in the process of providing. We serve a great God. We believe He has and still is providing all of our needs through His people. May God bless you all richly. Thank you for your prayers and financial help toward this outreach among the Chimane. From the Bilingual training center, Horeb and the radio outreach, Bruce and Jan Johnson Gifts should be sent to the following address: New Tribes Mission March 19, 2004 Dear Friends, Greetings from Bolivia! At the writing of this letter we are out in Cochabamba for a little break. Our daughter, Talitha is off for a weeks vacation so we are spending time with her and others here in the big city. Talitha is also having her braces off which is putting a big smile on her face these days. We also wanted to update our web page some as we have several things to report. The last week of February, a work team from Ohio and Pennsylvania were here to help with some badly needed projects. We have been wanting to put in two more drilled wells which they completed. We are very happy with the water supply. One of the wells went in by our clinic and we are very happy about the near future to get clean drinkable water for the many that come here for medical care. The other well was drilled by house and that too is a very good well. We are very happy about having enough water especially when work teams come in June through August when the water supply is very low. The work team that just left this month also did a fair amount of wiring for lightening protection for the radio, also to hook up power to the new book store. We are excited about the book store project as it is getting near completion. We have nearly finished the inside. We have some wiring to do, the bathroom to finish and of course beginning to buy some books, tracts and other material to have a functional library for studying Gods word. Other updates are, a work team from our home church including our pastor and our two daughters will be among the group coming this June. We hope to do some roof repair and big painting jobs. The radio broadcast will see some changes as well. We hope to add 3-4 hours broadcasting each day as one of the jobs the last team did was to wire up an automatic system for shut down at midnight or one in the morning. We are looking forward to that as will be adding an extra half hour of Chimane programs also. The situation in Bolivia is somewhat quiet, no road blocks or talk of such but things do change fast as we all know the world we live in is full of changes. We want to thank all of you for your continued support and prayer. Many of you are directly involved in the ministry here for which we labor together. We thank the Lord for you. God Bless you all very much. Love in Christ, Bruce, Jan and Talitha January 2004 Dear Friends, Greetings from Bolivia! It has been two weeks since we left Horeb to go to Tambo, our missionary school that has been serving missionaries and their children for over 50 years. Most of you know that because of contingency concerns, we as New Tribes Mission - Bolivia have decided to close our school and move to Santa Cruz. The four days of rather intense meetings at Tambo resulted in much discussion on where our children will be studying starting in August. After the meetings in Tambo, Jan and I flew to Santa Cruz to check out a school there called the Christian Learning Center. Several mission boards are involved with this school. The Learning Center seems to be happy to have Tambo consolidate with them. Several of our teachers will be very welcome to fit in, teach and be a blessing. Our main concern at this time is where will the children stay. At this moment there are several fellows looking for possibilities and our field committee has gone to check out what they have found so far. There is much to trust the Lord for these days. Moving a 50-year ministry to another location is no small task. The political situation is calm right now but there seems to be big problems on the horizon. Some roadblocks to make political statements are probably on hold for right now due to a major bridge that collapsed. There has been a lot of rain in areas like Cochabamba, Trinidad and in the mountain areas. It does amaze me how God's plans are different from man's plans. A little too much rain can change a plan to block roads. Jan and I are planning on flying back to Horeb on Monday. We have enjoyed a few days away from the ministry demands. It has been cool and refreshing here in Cochabamba. We need to return next week as we are planning a three-day leadership course for the church leaders. In this particular course we will be naming three men who have been functioning as elders. This will be a first and we are looking forward to moving in the direction of seeing a self governing Chimane church. We are also preparing for a work team of seven guys that will be coming the end of February. We hope to replace the antennas on the tower, do some electrical and plumbing work and finish drilling a well. They hope to do all of this in two weeks. We need prayer these for the relocation of the missionary school. It is a very big move and God has already given much insight. We need wisdom, financial help and safety for the team as they travel down to help with these jobs. We thank the Lord for all you faithful prayer warriors and partners in the ministry here. The Lord surely has opened a big opportunity for Spanish and Chimane people to hear the Word of God by radio. Speaking of radios, we purchased 20 more radios to be sure we have plenty on hand for this course coming up. The price actually dropped some and we were happy about that. Our Bible translator, Wayne and Ruth Gill are back in the country. We are so glad to have them back for a time and see that as an answer to prayer in regards to Ruth's health. She appears in good health but needs to go back in March for more treatments. Len and Elsie Gill will be traveling the river for several weeks in their houseboat. There isn't a lot of water in the river right now so that makes travel difficult. They will be visiting the Chimane villages and schools. Dan and Judy Burke will be heading back to La Cruz on Monday as well. Dan will also be teaching in the course coming up. So, dear friends, please keep us in your prayers as we press on in this new year. We do appreciate you all very much. Love, Bruce, Jan and Talitha October 30, 2003 Dear Friends and Fellow Co-Workers, Greetings from Bolivia! It is always great to write all of you who keep up with the ministry here. Our gracious and merciful Lord continues to reach out to many through the radio among the Spanish and Chimane population. A few points of interest that we have been praying about that have taken place on our trip to southern Bolivia. Jan and I went to Simba land and helped record Bible lessons and music in their language. The time went really well. We were able to record the first 15 Bible lessons, 25 chapters of Genesis and 35 songs in the Simba language. We are in the process of making copies of the programs to send back to the Simba people to listen to. Of course there is a lot more to do but it is a start for these people to have Bible lessons to listen to in their own language. We also went to Tambo during that time for field day and enjoyed our time with Talitha so very much. She did real well in the events and it was fun to be together as a family. She went with us to Simba land for 10 days of vacation before heading back to school. We really enjoyed our time together. She seems to be enjoying school this year but is struggling in a couple of classes. Would appreciate your prayers for her. In our absence the station kept going but was hit by lightening two days before we returned and several pieces of equipment were damaged. We are back on the air but we can't receive the programs from the States yet as the receiver suffered damage. The radio outreach is experiencing a lot of trials these days. We sure are grateful that God is on our side. We aren't sure why he allowed the lightening strikes to come our way but we are thankful that there wasn't more damage. We have received quite a few calls asking why the station isn't on the air. That is a good confirmation that there are people who are listening. We have also sold several more radios. We are down to six radios on hand - time to restock again. We need your prayers and help as we continue on with the radio. We would really like to reach 100% of the Chimane territory. We can do this with a better antenna system and more power. We are preparing a formal letter to ask the government for the right to broadcast using a 1-kilowatt station. We would appreciate your prayers for this. We have found some very improved antennas that cost $1300. Our American radio technician that works with us has highly recommended these. We also continue to trust the Lord for the amplifier to increase our power. The people from Crown have the amplifier but it is not cheap. We are getting all the data together now, in the meantime anyone who would like to help toward the project, we would really appreciate that. Remember to send all financial gifts to the Chimane Radio account. Thank you!!! Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We count it a privilege to work with you at this end to get the Word of God out to those who have heard very little to none of God's plan of salvation. Thanks too for your continued financial support. We appreciate each one of you so very much. Lord bless you all, Bruce, Jan and Talitha Johnson March
5, 2003 Dear
Prayer Warriors and Friends, Greetings
in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!
We trust this letter finds you all encouraged in the Lord.
Since
our last general letter to most of you, we have not forgotten your labor of
prayer on our behalf. We are
grateful for your thoughts toward the ministry among the Chimane people.
We
also would like to thank you for your financial gifts that help meet our needs
here in Bolivia and our ministry outreach.
You have been so faithful. May
God richly bless you for your partnership in reaching Chimane’s with the
Gospel of Grace. In
our last letter we wrote about radios being sold.
At this point that number is reaching 180.
We would also like to give you an update on the generator needs we
wrote to you about. The parts
arrived last week at a much-reduced price.
We now have the generator up and running.
It is working really well. We
also have a diesel generator from our mission school that was delivered here
in January. We use it during the
morning hours when we need more power for recording and computer work.
The Lord and His people have responded to these urgent needs.
Some funds have come in to help pay for these needs.
The main thing is that we didn’t lose any broadcasting time during
all of these changes and repairs. Praise
the Lord many continue to hear twelve hours of great Bible studies and music
each day. The
bookstore project is slowing making progress.
The roof is now on; the outside walls are done and painted.
We are working on the ceiling and the landscaping outside.
We continue to need your prayers and financial help as we progress in
this. Please check out our web
site and see the changes that have been made to the building.
The address is: www.solomonsporch.org/chimaneradio.
Kara
and Talitha will be coming home for a week on March 15th for their
spring break. We are looking
forward to this time together as a family.
Kara will be graduating from high school in May.
Talitha will also be graduating from the eighth grade, which is also a
big event in Tambo. We are
planning to bring Kara back to the States after her graduation on May 18th.
We hope to spend the summer getting her settled in the States.
Please pray for us, as we need your help.
We will need a place to stay for about three months, some form of
transportation, and our tickets to travel to the States.
We thank you all for your consideration for these future needs that we
have. There have been many
faithful warriors of prayer to ask God for His will to be done and to meet
needs. He is faithful to meet
every need. We
also have a six-week literacy course that will be starting here at Horeb on
March 24th. We would
ask that you pray that the Lord would bring in the students He desires to be
here. Pray also for the teachers
as they prepare for this time. Items
of praise: 1.
We thank you for your continued prayer and financial help.
2.
We thank the Lord for good health to continue serving in this ministry.
3.
We are grateful for the continued open door for sharing the Word of God
in Bolivia.
4.
We thank the Lord for the continued sale of radios, the radio outreach,
and the bookstore in progress. Prayer
Needs: 1.
Bolivia is facing many political problems – a real sign of the times,
a lot of economic problems, and the country really needs a spiritual turn
around. 2.
Our travel plans for May. Kara’s
future plans. It will be hard
leaving another daughter in the States. 3.
Financially, we do need others who could help with the running cost of
the radio, bookstore and the cost of the new generator.
4.
Please pray for Adrian, Rosauro,
Mauricio, Sandallio, Selso and
their families. These are the men
who are helping with the radio. Please
pray for their spiritual and physical protection.
Their people are sometimes looking at these men with criticism for
making money by just sitting around.
Pray that they will remain steadfast in their faith these days. Thank you all for standing with us. We hope to see many of you this summer. May God continue to bless you richly. January 20, 2003 Dear Friends, Greetings from Horeb! We are always glad to write all of you a note. Thanks for being there! Daily activity here in Bolivia takes on many forms as the country is in the middle of roadblocks, general strikes, and basic unrest. Worldly people who want more of everything lead this. The quest for power and wealth continues with the drug lords here. Running a radio station from our end, we depend on gas or diesel for the generators. Right now the town is dried up – no fuel is coming in. I have this prerecorded message if I run out of fuel. We have used it once or twice since we have had the station running. At least the people out in the country understand why we are not on the air that way. Today we were supposed to start a Bible course for the Chimane schoolteachers but it rained hard most of the day yesterday and we only have about five people who have made it here so far. It is hard to travel when the river is full, there aren’t many trucks moving because of lack of fuel, and walking takes a lot longer. We hope to be able to start tomorrow now. The town even cancelled a soccer game yesterday because of rain, mud and no trucks to haul in the players. That was quite an unusual move. Our diesel generator is up and running. We had to do a lot of little repairs as it had been in the garage for 2-3 years just waiting to serve the Lord again. It sure is nice to have the extra power. Now we need to trust the Lord for the funds to pay for it and to keep it running.
We are sure that in your part of the world there are a lot of changes too. In the news there seems to be things happening all around the world these days. At present, there is still freedom to share the gospel of Grace, the God of creation, Jesus our Savior and the promise of His return. There are a lot of confusing questions in people’s minds these days. Many have questions that seem to indicate their lack of Bible knowledge. There is a hunger but many are leaning towards the works of righteousness and maybe I will get to heaven if I live right. Many are learning but can’t come to the knowledge of truth yet. We have been asking many questions among the Chimane as they now have radio Bible lessons to listen to daily. Is it making a difference? One thing is certain, God’s word does not return void. We can rest on the fact that God is at work by His Holy Spirit; people are being challenged in their thinking. I asked a Chimane the other day where he lived and how many families live where he lives. He said that there are 12 families there. Then I asked him if they all had radios. He said he didn’t know but he said quite a few of them had radios and that they listen to our station all day. I was glad to hear that, even if it was just a few hours that would be great. Most say they listen because it is the clearest, strongest signal. I hope they realize that the clearest, strongest signal is broadcasting hope for eternal life. We are doing fine here. Kara and Talitha have been back to school for a week now and seem to be adjusting well. We sure do miss them here. We had such a special vacation time together as a family and it was hard to see them go again. Vanessa just had her gallbladder taken out last week in the States. That was quite a surprise to us at her age. Her surgery went well and she seems to be recovering well with all the good care she has had from family and friends there. We appreciate all that have helped her these days. We are also enjoying having our co-workers, Dan and Judy Burke, back with us again. They came in last week from La Cruz and will be here until May. It is great having co-workers close by again. Our web site has taken on a new look and there are some more changes in the making. If you get a chance, take a look and see what is happening here in Bolivia. Thanks for your continued love, prayers and concerns for us here. We thank the Lord for each one of you and trust the Lord will continue to richly bless you in this New Year. Love in Christ, Bruce, Jan, Kara and Talitha October 19, 2002 Dear Friends, Greetings from San Borja, Bolivia! Time is moving along so quickly these days. We are already nearing the end of another year. We count it a privilege to write you and encourage you as Jude 1:1,2 says, “To them that are sanctified by God, the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied.” These words are precious to us who know Jesus as our Savior. Be encouraged, the year may be ending but eternity is before us. Many of you to whom this letter goes have been with us since we left our home church in 1982. Others of you we have met along our journey these past years. What a wonderful caring family you all have become. Thank you for having a heart for missions, praying for the many needs and helping in so many ways to meet these needs. May God richly bless you all for your faithfulness. Reflecting back you have heard about these needs and some of you have come to help physically with the ministry here. A year ago we turned on an FM frequency that was unknown to a large group of Spanish and Chimane people. This radio frequency is now broadcasting great Bible teaching in two languages twelve hours each day. Praise the Lord! You have probably heard this statement in our letters before but this is a gift to the people in this area to have something of eternal value to listen to, an opportunity for many to hear God’s Word in their own language. After a year, many lives have been challenged, lives have been changed and many seeds have been sown through the airwaves. The Chimane people are enjoying being able to hear Bible programs and weekly news items that concern them. We also have a goal of selling 100 radios that is nearing its mark. This is exciting, as we know they are buying these radios to listen to God’s Word. This outreach by radio is in its first year and many new doors of opportunity are opening up to discipline believers and help answer questions that they have. It wasn’t long ago that we were recording messages in our home with a boom box, a 12-volt battery, and one microphone. Today we have a wonderfully equipped studio and plenty of room to work and record. Besides providing a building and equipment, God also answered our prayers for fellow laborers. There are now four Chimane men who study, prepare, record and answer many questions by their people about the Bible messages they are hearing. What an open door for the Chimane church to grow spiritually. We also have several Spanish folks, members of the local Spanish church, helping out in broadcasting, operating the station, and being a part of the outreach. Praise the Lord with us! Thank you for your faithful prayers and giving. God has a plan to reach lost people in this area by radio and to strengthen the church. We would also like to share with you some needs that we have at this time. Without a doubt we continue to need prayer support. We believe nothing of eternal value is going to happen without prayer. These excellent Bible programs from Bible Broadcasting Network touch people’s lives. Many aspects of this outreach need prayer support from the making of the programs back in North Carolina to the listeners here in San Borja. One thing we know, God’s Word will not return void. We have shared our budget costs with you over these past months. To date we have no outstanding debts, which we are grateful for. Our proposed budget for next year is around $1,500 a month. This is a pretty small amount to run a radio station including labor. At present 40% of this goal has been reached. Would you consider this outreach? Perhaps a one time gift or a monthly gift? We sure could use the help to start out a new year. Plans for our bookstore have begun as the walls are up and the building is ready for a roof. Perhaps you would like to help with this outreach. Our desire would be to have it functioning by early next year. The Lord surely has given direction and desire to see these people reached. It is exciting! Our personal support has been in a squeeze these days too as the inflation rate is beginning to affect quite a bit. Our overall support, according to new requirements put out by our mission, is around 68% of what we need to live each month. We do need to see this figure up some for this next year. Would you keep this matter in prayer with us? We would like to invite you to visit our web site as a friend in Washington keeps this up to date for us. He has done a great job and we really appreciate all he has done to help inform folks about the ministry among the Chimane. We just returned from a visit with our girls. They had their annual field day events in Tambo and we enjoyed being a part of that with Kara and Talitha. We also had a week together as a family after that in the city of Cochabamba. We had a really special time together and thank the Lord for these times with our girls. Kara also turned 18 while we were together. It is hard to believe that she will be graduating in May. The years go by too quickly. Another prayer item is that we are looking at a trip back to the States in May for the summer to help get Kara settled into college. Please be in prayer with us about all that is involved in such a trip again – traveling back to the States, some place to live, a car, etc. Also wisdom for Kara as to what she should do after graduation. Vanessa is back in college too and seems to be doing well. The girls are all working hard and we are real proud of them. Thanks again! We thank you for your love and concern for us. May God continue to richly bless each one of you. Love in Christ, Bruce, Jan, Kara and Talitha
April 26, 2002 Dear Friends, Greetings from San Borja, Bolivia! Our cooler weather is moving in, feels great today. Winter for some of you especially up north is continuing on. April seems a bit late for snow! We are very busy here these days with a literacy course that will end next week. Up to this point it has gone real well. We trust these students will carry the message of God’s grace to their villages, being doers of the Word and not hearers only. Most of you know about the radio ministry that is reaching people in a very large area. The equipment is working well and we just sold our 33rd radio. Most of these have been sold to Chimane but a few Spanish folks have also bought radios. We thank the Lord for this tremendous open door to get these great Bible messages out twelve hours each day. We have shared with many of you a plan to expand the outreach by having written material available to the people as well. The Chimane have the Bible and study material available through our Bible translator. We also use this material here for the school and radio ministry. The plan is to help support the radio outreach by building a Christian bookstore where we can sell Bibles, Christian books, music, etc. to the Spanish and Chimane people. We live in an area of 20-30,000 people and there isn’t even one store that sells Christian material at this time. We would also like to sell Chimane artifacts. This will include things that they make – carrying bags, bows and arrows, combs, etc. We are working closely with a local church with the Spanish outreach of the radio. We are praying and making steps of faith to begin this building project this year. We already have a work team coming this summer but not all of you have heard about this upcoming outreach. We will need your help prayerfully and financially. This building will be pretty basic but the shelves, cabinets, and purchasing of the initial materials is where the cost is. The Bible Society and other sources have Bibles and materials available and they are cheaper when bought in volume. We are looking into these materials and the prices but we need to get the building up first. Would you like to help? If the Lord should lay it on your heart to help financially, please send your gifts to our mission headquarters in FL, marked for Chimane Radio, Bolivia - (Bible Bookstore). We are estimating the building cost at $5,000 and the beginning inventory at $5,000. We wish we could be more exact but like any other project there are usually a few hidden costs. This whole project is to help support the radio ministry, make Christian materials available to believers, and where we live is a tourist area so the sale of Chimane artifacts is a positive addition. If you have any questions about these needs, please drop us a note. Also check out our web site for further updates and pictures. Our web site address is: www.solomonsporch.org/chimaneradio. We are excited about this further outreach of God’s Word. Thank you for your help and prayers always. Love, Bruce, Jan, Kara and Talitha March 25, 2002 (see new images) September 2001 Greetings Dear Friends, We have been waiting for several months to write this letter of great encouragement! We haven't been back to Bolivia long, since the end of June, but there were many reasons for coming back early. As many of you know, this FM radio project has been in the making for several years. Since our return back to Bolivia it has been a high priority to finish hooking it up and in the meantime wait for the radio broadcasting license to come through. There has been great progress in the issuing of the license. We do understand it is nearly ready. We also found out that when one is applying for a license and have reached a certain point, there is permission to operate the station. So with that great piece of news we are more than thrilled to tell you we have been on the air now for nearly two weeks!! Isn't that great? Four fellows came two weeks ago to hook up the antennas, the satellite dish and receiver. It took nearly three days to get it all done. There were lots of little things to do and check out, but the end result was everything checked out fine. We did find out that one of our antennas had a cut in its cable and needs repair but we have sent it to Cochabamba to be repaired. The process of finding the digital signal from somewhere up in space was very interesting as the corridor for the audio signal is very small and takes exact coordinates to get the signal. Would you like to know what the first audio bits we heard coming to our receiver were? An old but great hymn called "Count your many Blessings", so appropriate!! General information for now as we organize ourselves and let people know that we are on the air is that we are on the air from 6:30am--1:30pm and 4:30pm--9:30pm. We are broadcasting three programs in Chimane each day and are planning for more. We hear great signal reports of 20-30 miles away which covers a great number of the Spanish towns, and at this point nearly half of the Chimane territory. This we really praise the Lord for! So with overwhelming thoughts of all the Lord has done here in these past months, let's not forget to pray that the Holy Spirit will draw many to salvation these days. Remember what it was like before TV took over, how many of our fathers and grandfathers listened to the radio. Well many people here live al ong ways from TV and the radio is their source of information. The harvest fields are ripe to harvest, let's pray many would desire to hear God's word and be saved! Many thanks for all your prayers and financial help these days. Please keep this outreach in your prayers. It is an exciting provision of God because He wants people to hear His word. Rom.10:17 As I went out of the house the other evening to turn the station off, I took several moments to look at the stars. They are very bright here. Just above our house sits the southern cross, a formation of stars. It has been extra bright these days. I turned and saw a red star in the sky and for a moment I thought, cool, we have a red star tonight! Then I realized it was the light on top of the radio tower. Just a reminder of the importance of the message of the cross and that it was being broadcast at that very moment. I really didn't want to shut the station down then. Footnote: please note this email has a different address. When writing us back please use this address: bruce_johnson@ntm.org Please send your emails to us in plain text. We receive email through a slow system that works great for short letters, in plain text. Very grateful to say thanks! God Bless!! Bruce, Jan, Kara and Talitha May 2001 The Johnson's are packing once again! It doesn't seem like winter anymore here in Minnesota as we have had several very hot and humid days. It reminds us of Bolivia. Bolivia is on the horizon for us as we are heading that way in June. We are thankful for nearly a year of wonderful fellowship with family and friends and of having the girls home with us each day. Vanessa has plans to continue her education at a college in the local area. She is continuing at her jobs and just bought her first car. She is returning to Bolivia this summer with a New Tribes Mission Summit team. She will be working at her alma mater, Tambo. Kara and Talitha will soon finish school. They are also sorting and packing for their return back to Bolivia. As we travel to Bolivia, we trust you will remember us in prayer as we adjust to culture, language and ministry outreach. God Bless! Thanks for checking out our web site. |
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March 2001 This has been a long winter in Minnesota and we are all looking forward to spring. Vanessa continues working for the ambulance service. She is experiencing long hours, handling radio calls, finding her way around and of course helping people in medical need. This summer she is trusting the Lord to go on a NTM Summit trip to Bolivia. Continuing her medical training and physical Ed programs are her plans for the future. Kara has learned a lot in school this year. She turned 16, has her driving permit and does real well in basketball. Talitha had her 12th birthday recently. This year all the girls in her grade are close friends. They have done a lot of things together. Both girls are looking forward to returning to Bolivia and to Tambo this fall. Bruce keeps busy with a variety of jobs. He is helping a fellow paint part time to help with the added expenses living here in the States. We have had many good meetings sharing the work in Bolivia. A good deal of time this furlough has been spent producing radio programs on the computer. It generally takes about 2 hours to produce a 27 minute program. He is also serving on the deacon board at church. Jan keeps busy with lots of hospitality events. We try to have at least one couple or family in for supper a week. Besides correspondence, book work, and ladies meetings, Jan finds time this furlough to get a long awaited job done, organizing the family photo albums. This has been a big job. Travels so far have taken us to Washington state where we visited with the Kempf's and the San Borja Farm and Christian Training Center board members. We had a great time of fellowship with all of them. We also traveled to Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. We will be traveling back to Bolivia some time in June. Thanks for checking out our web site. We also enjoy hearing from you. Any comments you wish to pass on to us about this web site are always welcome. December 7th We shipped the transmitter for our radio station, it arrived fine and is out of customs, no charge! We are very grateful for this! Vanessa is now working with a ambulance company, getting OJT now thats shes a EMTI. Kara is a starter for her basketball team, first game this Saturday! The girls and family are looking forward to spending these holidays together! Johnson Family (Updated November 26th) We are presently home from Bolivia and are living on a farm in Princeton, Minnesota. Bruce is working half days painting and helping out with odd jobs. He is also working on Chimane radio programs, preparing for the future radio station in Bolivia. Jan is enjoying having the girls home each day from school and keeps the chauffeuring service going. She also takes care of most of the correspondence, book work, and keeping the rest of the family where they need to be each day. Vanessa has been home with us for six weeks now. She received her EMTI certification and has gotten a job at a local ambulance service. She needs to finish some paperwork and get in her orientation yet but she is looking forward to getting started soon. She also enjoys working part time at a local health club. Kara has completed a quarter of school already. She did real well on her report card and is now enjoying basketball. Vanessa is helping the team with some of their playing techniques and enjoys that. Talitha did real well on her report card too and her teacher reports she is a joy to have in the classroom. She is enjoying the snow and time with family and friends. Much has been accomplished since our arrival here. We have traveled to Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Kentucky. We were able to get our slide presentation done and Call of the Tribes did a great job again. We always enjoy hearing from you who can contact us by email or snail mail. We trust this web site is informative and a source of encouragement to you. |
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Here it is the middle of January 2005 already. The holidays have come and
gone and the Super Bowl game they tell me is now in February. We have had a
cup full and running over with blessings since our last letter to all of you
in October. 
Our
last letter included several highlights, which included the closing of our
mission school. These days it looks pretty bare. There is a Bolivian Christian
organization that will be buying the property and moving onto the school
grounds. We are thankful the property and buildings will be used to spread the
Gospel message of Jesus Christ. 
We
are sending a picture of the work done to the housing by the Estes Brook work
team of 2004. We are very thankful for their labor of love. We are thankful for
others who gave so these much-needed jobs could be done. 
