To the Market we Go

Well, we've been working hard trying to get our house ready to go on the market!  We are so thankful for the body of Christ and all their help!  Not to mention my amazing husband who has been working so hard and the AMAZING weather we have had down here!  Is it Spring because it sure feels like it!  We are hoping to put it on the market in a couple weeks!  In case anyone's interested ;)    

We added a little color to our front door to add some curb appeal! I really like it and think we should have done it sooner!  

fixing up a few little projects outside!

and the day was not without accidents although this had nothing to do with all the projects we were working on.  This more had to do with a little brother and a sippy cup.  I never knew a sippy cup could be used as a weapon but leave it up to the 17 month old to figure that out!! 

Ambassadors

I love seeing how God uses so many people, circumstances, and most importantly  His WORD to encourage me lately.  I know He is always there working in my life, I think I am just a little more aware of it lately!

I have been reading through 2 Corinthians during my personal Bible study time.  This morning I was reading chapter 6, where it says,
 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are AMBASSADORS of Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." - 2 Corinthians 6:17-20

Being Ambassadors of Reconciliation is something that our church preaches often and something both Rob and I have thought about A LOT lately.  God has done amazing things in both Rob and I's life.  We have come to trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ through His death on the cross.  God has SAVED us.  And our lives are forever changed because of that!  We are NEW CREATURES!  And it is because of this that our desire is to be Ambassadors for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  To let the world know of God's amazing love and how He has demonstrated that through the cross.
 We know this to be true, with everything that we are!  We believe in this message and know how God can change lives through this amazing truth.  This is why we are selling all our stuff and leaving everything we've ever known to move to the other side of the world, to share the message of reconciliation with Southeast Asia, to be "Ambassadors of Christ!"

Here We Go!

Since sending our support letters in December, our life has been quite the whirl-wind, and we are just at the beginning of all this!  We have heard that the sooner you are able to get rid of things, the better.  So, January has been full of craigslist listings, trips to Goodwill, and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of.  As September seems fast approaching, we feel pressed for time!

We met and signed a contract with a Realtor a couple weeks ago to sell our house.  For some reason doing this made all that is happening in our lives VERY REAL to me.  Although we have no idea what God's plans are for this house, we love this place.  Having children and the memories of them in your "home" just makes a place so special.  Rob and I have been married for 7 1/2 years and we have lived in 9 (yes I said 9!!) different places since we have been married.  So I was never attached to any one place, well, until we had our kids.  Leaving the house we rented when I was pregnant with Clay until he turned one taught me this.  I will never forget Rob and I cleaning up that little house after we moved all our stuff and going into Clay's empty room where I couldn't hold back the tears!  There are so many memories of Clay's first year of life in that house!  And our current house holds even more!  I know quite a few tears will be shed when we have to leave our precious home!

Although these walls hold such great memories, in all reality, our lives are not about where my child learned to walk, how many times I pushed our boys on the swingset in our backyard, or the countless hours of story books being read in the living room, our lives are about living for our Lord and Savior!  And although we are very fond of our lives here in New Orleans and all the people and places that we hold so dear to us, they are not what is of most importance.  So, is all this transition hard, absolutely!  Will we miss New Orleans, our house, all the memories, and people, absolutely!  But are we completely at peace about where God is calling us and what He is calling us to do, ABSOLUTELY!  Are we excited about this next season of life, ABSOLUTELY!

I have been journaling off and on since I was a teenager.  My teen year were when my faith became very real to me and I began to understand the privilege of living our lives for the Lord.  Since then I have often written the last lines to be "Lord, I want to go and do whatever You have called me to do.  Here I am." While that desire has taken me to very unexpected places, the reality of that desire rings so true in where God is taking us.  Although there are many details to figure out, much to do, and a lot to say "good-bye" to, we are convinced that this is the journey God has called us to.

So, Lord, I want to go and do WHATEVER you have called me to do, even if that takes us to Chiang Mai Thailand!

Big News!!

We have some exciting news!!!  Rob and I have been on quite the adventure over the past 6 months.  Since graduating from Moody Bible Institute we have always felt like God would lead us into full time ministry one day.  We didn't know when or how, but we knew that we felt called to serve together.  In 2007-2008 we taught at an international school in the Philippines.  It was an invaluable time for us as a couple to search our hearts and see if God was leading us to full time ministry overseas.  While Rob had always had a desire to serve overseas, I (Christina) have always felt like God would call me to ministry but never thought it would be overseas.  Until we spent that year in the Philippines. God really showed us the incredible NEED there is overseas for people to come to know the LOVE of Jesus Christ.  This was a need we could not ignore.  God began to change my heart in a way I never thought He would.  He truly began to stir within me a passion for overseas ministry.

We came back the summer of 2008, feeling like we would love to go back overseas but knowing that it wasn't the right time.  A few months later we found out I was pregnant and knew that this season of our lives would be focused on starting our family.  So, we planted ourselves in New Orleans, LA were Rob works for a local house raising and Shoring company and we began to be a part of a core group that helped to start a church (http://www.crescentcitychurch.com/)  In 2009 we had Clay and in 2011 we had our little Zeke.  It wasn't long after having Zeke that Rob and I made a goal to be at a place were we discussing and looking into what God would have for us next by the time Zeke (our youngest) turned one in August of 2012.  

While we had this goal, God was already working.  We received a mass email in May concerning a need for a Site Volunteer Coordinator for Southeast Asia.  The location for the position would be in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but we would be coordinating volunteers for 5 different countries in Southeast Asia.  The more we looked into the position, the more God began to show us that this was something we really had a heart for and that would utilize both of our gifts.  They were specifically looking for a couple who could work together!  Emails became interviews which turned into a trip to Chiang Mai to see if this was really where God was calling us.  Soon after our trip in October of this year, we were officially offered the position and it didn't take us long to accept!  So, we will be moving to Chiang Mai (Lord-willing) in September 2013!

The Site Volunteer Coordinator is a very key position.  Basically we would be assessing needs and coordinating volunteers to come to 5 countries in Southeast Asia whom will help with various projects, including teachers, construction projects, computer projects and various other needs.  We are excited to serve in this way and truly feel like we can impact Southeast Asia in a mighty way by and through the hand of God.  

We have already begun to prepare for this transition as you might imagine, it is a monumental task!  We  are already selling/ getting rid of things and preparing our house to be put up for sale!  (Anyone interested??? :)  The biggest task of all is that we have to establish a group of partners willing to financially support us and our ministry..  Being that this is a ministry position, we need to raise funds to cover our expenses.  In order for us to be able to go in September of 2013, we need to have people committed to financial partnership with us totaling $4,000 per month to cover all our living and insurance expenses.  We also need a total of $20,000 in one time gifts to help establish our new house, buy a car, and cover the cost of our training and language learning expenses.  If you would like more information about our family and what we will be doing or are interested in financially partnering with us, we would love to add you to our mailing list.  Please email us at randcjohnson (at) hotmail (dot) com.    
    

Taken on our trip to Thailand in October with the city of Chiang Mai in the background.