September 30 Praise Reports and Prayer Requests

Here are praise reports and prayer requests for this week.   

Praise Reports: 

-Praise the Lord: Rick's arm is back to normal

-Praise the Lord: Rick's feet are much, much better also

-Praise the Lord: for the feeling of unity and closeness together and with the Lord on Sunday mornings 

-Praise the Lord: for meetings we were involved with this past week in town about a men's fellowship and networking among churches!

Thank you for praying for the following with us: 

- Please keep praying for a complete healing of Rick's feet. 

- Pray that Cindy will not succumb to a 'bug' that's going around and not get sick


- Please continue to pray for the completion of the church website - and for the last things necessary to be a registered charity in Northern Ireland. We were able to get calvarybraidvalley.org domain name and are now setting up the site.

-We still pray for a worship leader (although worship is working out OK right now by using 'canned' music) as well as for the rest of a team - children and youth workers, to be developed now so that we will be prepared for what the Lord might bring us.                                                       

- Pray for Leo and Cheryl Rose in Inverness Scotland. This pastor, originally from America was very helpful to me personally when needing direction as to establishing the church, has had their application for permanent residency turned down by the UK authorities. This is distressing to us, but devastating to Leo and Cheryl, who have been there a long time. They're considering what to do as they only have 8 days to appeal. They may have to go to an immigration detention centre, while waiting for the appeal to be processed.      

Thank you for your faithful prayer support,
God bless you,
Rick and Cindy Johnston

September 23 Praise Reports & Prayer Requests

Here are praise reports and prayer requests for this week.   

Praise Reports: 

-Praise the Lord: we had children at church for the first time and it went quite well as they remembered us and how much they are loved.

-Praise the Lord: the bank account for the new church has been accepted and is set up now.

-Praise the Lord: The women's Bible study morning and evening meetings are going extremely. The women are so hungry for the Lord, they've never had anything like this before!!  

-Praise the Lord: for a barbeque we had with a couple who used to be part of Harvest. It was a good time (great craic!) and we now know how better to pray for D and MH. We pray for them to return to fellowship with the Lord - and us, if that be the Lord's will.

Thank you for praying for the following with us: 
 
- Please keep praying for a complete healing of Rick's feet. There is still pain in the heel which spreads to the the bottoms of the feet when I'm standing for a while or else walking on hard ground. I've been a bit of a stubborn ninny about seeing the doctor about this - but I'm expecting God's touch on me. Wisdom needed, perhaps?

- It's getting better, but my (Rick's) arm is a bit swollen after being stung by wasps and brushing against stinging nettles. Yes, I'm taking an antihistamine, but I'd like prayers for a speedy healing nonetheless... it's quite itchy. 

- Please continue to pray for the completion of the church website - and for the last things necessary to be a registered charity in Northern Ireland. We were able to get calvarybraidvalley.org domain name and are now setting up the site.

- Pray that we will get affiliated with Calvary Chapel Association quickly

- Pray that we will remain sensitive to the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit.

- We pray that the Lord shows us where He wants us to be, what strategies to make and for Him to open doors.

- Pray also that the Holy Spirit will move in and through the worship.

-We still pray for a worship leader (although worship is working out OK right now by using 'canned' music) as well as for the rest of a team - children and youth workers, to be developed now so that we will be prepared for what the Lord might bring us.       

Thank you for your faithful prayer support,
Blessings,
Rick and Cindy Johnston                   

      

September 16 Praise Reports & Prayer Requests

Here are praise reports and prayer requests for this week.   

Praise Reports: 

 

-Praise the Lord: Our visas arrived yesterday morning. Hallelujah! It's great to have them in hand.

 

-Praise the Lord: the bank account for the new church is now able to proceed.

-Praise the Lord: for a good youth meeting last Friday night.


Thank you for praying for the following with us: 

- Please keep praying for a complete healing of Rick's feet. There is still pain in the heel which spreads to the the bottoms of the feet when I'm standing for a while or else walking on hard ground. 

- Please continue to pray for the completion of the church website - and for the other things necessary to be a registered charity in Northern Ireland. We were able to get calvarybraidvalley.org domain name and are now setting up the site.

- Pray that we will get affiliated with Calvary Chapel Association quickly

-We still pray for a worship leader (although worship is working out OK right now by using 'canned' music) as well as for the rest of a team - children and youth workers, to be developed now so that we will be prepared for what the Lord might bring us.                                                        

- Pray for Rick's involvement with Kairos, a prison ministry, with which he goes in once a month. In particular, please pray for a 4-day inside outreach that will be in the middle of October. Also, this Friday he'll be going in for a monthly reunion meeting with some former participants.

Thank you for your faithful prayer support,
Rick and Cindy Johnston

Trust In The Lord With All Your Heart

This morning I turned over a daily scripture card and guess what? Again, the message that has been coming to us over and over showed up. Quoting Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5 it said: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” This is a favorite verse of many and a guiding principal for most, but do we it really follow it? I know that I’ve sure been tested on this lately.
 
If we look at this Scripture, we see first what we are to trust in. Not our-selves, but the Lord. Our natural tendency is opposite: we want to trust our own logic, our own experience, our own amazing brilliance. But God is saying: “Trust me instead.” As we trust in God’s wonderful faithfulness, we learn that He won’t let us down. Moses said, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God…” ‘Faithful’ means utterly dependable, so we trust a God who’ll not let us down.
 
This trust of Him is tested. We trust the Lord the same way we come into relationship with Him – by faith. Faith is tested also, in order to strengthen it. When all the craziness was happening to us, with the church we were here to serve with being dissolved and with it our permission to stay in the country, we had to seek the Lord trusting that He will guide us. God spoke to my heart many ways with the same message: ‘I will do a work you will not believe, even if you were told it.’ He did his part – giving guidance and direction, I just needed to do my part, to trust in the Lord with all my heart.
 
So we’ve stayed put, and sure enough, God gave us new sponsorship for a visa to remain here where He has led us, he gave us a few people to begin the new church with and he has given us more people to grow the congregation. I do love the dynamic of our meetings Sunday mornings. We are also going through the book of Joshua, and boy, it is full of examples of a faithful God doing what He promised, but in ways that are completely illogical, completely beyond our own understanding!
 
To be honest, sometimes I look at our small group on Sunday morning and I wonder if the Lord’s word to my heart will come to pass, but then I’ll get a wee nudge from the Holy Spirit to remind me to trust in him and not look at circumstances. So we can relax, let out a sigh and ‘trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not lean on our own understanding.’ It’s an exciting adventure to live life entrusting ourselves to a faithful God – one who will never let us down.

Pastor Rick

September 9 Praise Reports and Prayer Requests

Here are praise reports and prayer requests for this week.   

Praise Reports: 

 

-Praise the Lord: for our car being repaired and a special donation that came which covered half  the cost  

-Praise the Lord: for the proper request for biometrics that came this past week (long story). We had to pay for our biometric data to be recorded again, but this will really enable the UK visa to be issued!

 

-Praise the Lord: the first week of the woman's study went extremely well. The ladies are very excited and encouraged to be meeting and have something just for themselves.

-Praise the Lord: for showing us that the doors are closed right now for doing a work in Belfast

Thank you for praying for the following with us: 

- Please keep praying for a complete healing of Rick's feet. There is still pain in the heel and on the bottoms of the feet. It is not likely to be plantar fasciitis, the pain is concentrated in the heel and ankle. 

- Please continue to pray for getting a church website set up - and for the other things necessary to be a registered charity in Northern Ireland. We were able to get calvarybraidvalley.org domain name and are now setting up the site.

- Pray that we will be sensitive to the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit.

- We pray that the Lord show us the places to be, what strategies to make and for Him to open doors.

 -Pray that whenever CBV meets, the presence and power of the Lord will be experienced and the Holy Spirit will be free to move amongst us.                        

  

-We still pray for a worship leader (although worship is working out OK right now by using 'canned' music) as well as for the rest of a team - children and youth workers, to be developed now so that we will be prepared for what the Lord might bring us.          

Thank you for your faithful prayer support,

God bless you,

Rick and Cindy Johnston  

September 2 Prayer Requests

Thank you for praying for the following with us: 

-You can keep praying for a complete healing of Rick's feet. There is still pain in the heel and on the bottoms of the feet. It most likely is plantar fasciitis 

- Please continue to pray for us in setting up a church website - and for the other things necessary to be a registered charity in Northern Ireland.

-We have a need with getting a bank account for the church. Since Cindy and I are in "limbo" while the visa application is in process, the bank cannot open an account for the church. Pray that this will be resolved quickly.

- Pray that we will be sensitive to the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit.

- We pray that the Lord show us the places to be, what strategies to make and for Him to open doors.

Thank you for your faithful prayer support,

God bless you,
Rick and Cindy Johnston