Johnson Special Need Bulletin Feb2009

Johnsons

The

serving in

Hungary

Special Need February 2009

In the course of reviewing our personal and ministry financial status at the beginning of this New Year, we discovered plenty of reasons to praise God for his faithfulness and provision. Even though our “promised” monthly support over the last year indicated a monthly shortfall of $400-$600 per month, our financial review of 2008 revealed that all of our donations (both committed support and onetime special gifts) for the year totaled precisely what we needed. So, we’re extremely grateful to God and to you for your continued sacrifice and partnership with us. This personal audit also revealed the details of some other financial pressures we’ve experienced over the last 2-3 years. While our basic, “budgeted” monthly support needs have been essentially met by the faithfulness of God’s people over the last several years, it’s been those “unexpected” expenses (primarily medical) which continue to be a major burden on our finances. The situation has been further complicated by the economic realities we’ve been experiencing in Hungary in recent years – inflation, rapidly rising prices and very poor US Dollar exchange rates (meaning we received less and less Hungarian currency each month even though expenses were rising). We’ve written you about these issues before and no doubt you’ve heard of other misionaries experiencing similar things in other parts of Europe and perhaps elsewhere. To be perfectly honest, we received practically no response to our July 2008 newsletter when we first mentioned this need. As we’ve mentioned before, our medical insurance policy with Blue Cross Blue Shield is essentially a maternity/surgery policy. Office visits and prescriptions are NOT COVERED. These expenses must be paid “out of pocket.” The bottom line of what this has meant for our family over the last 36 months is out-of-pocket medical, dental and optical expenses totaling more than $14,907. The breakdown is in the chart above. During our brief furlough this past summer, one church and several individuals decided to begin supporting us monthly. Praise the Lord, this basically took care of our previous monthly support shortfall. However, we’re still facing these current medical expenses and once again we’re asking for prayer and consideration from God’s people. Our next furlough isn’t scheduled for another 18 months, but the truth is we may need to return to the US earlier and for an extended period of time if we can’t relieve this debt within the next several months. With all the responsibilities we share and the positive things going on in various aspects of our ministry here in Hungary, it is difficult to imagine having all this interrupted by an “extra” furlough. Thank you for allowing us to share these somewhat personal needs with you. If you have further questions, please let us know. We’re aware of the new issues related to the US economy these days and are praying for God to provide while teaching all of us to increase our reliance upon Him. In a certain sense, as foreigners living in Europe, we’ve been dealing with these kinds of economic pressures for a number of years now. Thanks for your continued prayers for us and this need in particular. Should God lead you help financially, you can send your tax-deductible gift to the following address or contribute online at www.abwe.org/give:

ABWE

P.O. Box 8585 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585 Please designate your gift to account #11064 – Chris & Debbie Johnson Several days ago, we celebrated the day of our arrival in Hungary 14 years ago. As we look back, we’re so grateful for God’s calling on our lives and the ministry He’s enabled us to have thus far in Hungary. We recognize the vital part you’ve played in partnering with us and know that you really are co-laborers with us. May God continue to give us spiritual fruit in Hungary — fruit that remains.” Thanks in advance for standing with us during these challenging times!