Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you know, Jesse and I are the third generation of Johnsons to work in Burundi. His parents served the Lord here until 1996, and Jesse's dad's parents worked here in Burundi for fifty years. Grandpa is buried just a few meters from the house where we live now, but that is only one of many reminders of the Johnson legacy.
One day Jesse and I were shopping with Shabani, a Burundian friend, in the central market. As we walked, Shabani and I both noticed a young boy flipping through a giant wad of cash. Shabani stopped and asked him, "Did you steal that money from Jesse?" The boy, who I had never met before, replied, "No! He's a Johnson. I wouldn't steal money from a Johnson!!"
To catch a taxi to our house from town, you just have to ask the driver to take you to the "Johnson place," and 90% of the time he'll know right where that is.
Whenever I start speaking Kirundi in town, people stare in shock and ask how I've learned Kirundi. I have discovered that all I have to say to satisfy their curiosity is, "My husband is a Johnson."
We also see daily evidence of the love, generosity, and patient teaching of the word that Dad, Mom, Grandma, and Grandpa dedicated themselves to while they were here. Many of the visitors that come to our house each day mention that one of these faithful four saved their lives during the war. Others talk about help with school fees, in times of sickness, and in times of hunger. Many Sundays the speaker is someone Grandpa or Dad discipled.
All of this is fresh on our minds since Jesse's Grandma Eleanor Johnson went to be with the Lord this past Tuesday. The first person I had to tell was a woman who had worked in Grandma's home many years ago. She was waiting on the porch to see if we could help her kids and grandkids with school fees, but the first question out of her mouth was "How is Madame Johnson?" When I told her Grandma had gone home, she turned her face to the wall and cried. Burundians don't cry. Then she turned to me and said, "She was such a wonderful woman of God. She always loved us. She always helped us. I will have to go home and tell everyone." When I told her of the local church leaders' plan to announce Grandma's death on the radio, she replied, "Good. EVERYONE will want to know. So many people loved her." What a tribute to an amazing woman. May all of us be motivated to be the kind of person she was.
Please pray for Jesse's dad as he travels back to states on Tuesday for the funeral, for Ken as he is already there, and for the rest of the family as they grieve. The funeral will be held on September 24, Elliot's birthday. Two different celebrations of life…
Thanks for your continued support and prayers,
Joy, Jesse, and boys
