Blogging in the Dark

So, today I'm sitting typing out this post in the dark using my cell phone for internet access. Our electricity here at home has been pretty unreliable over the last year and the power company decided it was time for a fresh start. So the power is off all day while they do repairs and upgrades. It's a pain but we hope totally worth it. I can use the BBQ to heat water for coffee and  instant soup so all's good!

Some of you may remember from our last post that we promised you an exciting 2018 financial update, well we are still working on that but it should be coming your way very soon. For now Karen wanted to share a little about her time in the States where she attended the Member Care or Missionary Care training that I mentioned in our last post.

Well, I have to start by saying thanks to those of you who sent us extra last month to help cover the cost of my training. I had such an amazing month that started with a visit to some very dear YWAM friends in Boston. It was so fun to visit with them and meet the newest member of their family.

From there I headed to Richmond, Virginia where I met my four wonderful roommates. We shared a big old house for three weeks and I have to say these amazing ladies were a highlight of my trip. The training itself was incredibly packed with information. We started every day at 8am and finish an hour before dinner which gave us a little time to start on homework which we continued to work on in the evenings. Every day we covered at least three different topics related to Member Care, some times even four. The topics were things like practicing personal closure, biblical peacemaking, helping others resolve conflict, trauma debriefing  and so many others.  I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to learn from some amazing people who have been doing Member Care for years all over the globe.

After the three week training ended in Virginia I headed off to Florida to attend the International Member Care Consultation where we received more teaching but mostly heard from YWAM Member Care people from all over the world. It was a great time of sharing vision and talking about the need for Member Care in YWAM.   I was also very pleased that the week after I returned to Costa Rica God allowed me to use so much of my training through a very difficult situation on our base. God knows what we are going to need long before we do. 

Lunch with some friends from home

Here in Costa Rica, the last two months have been packed and we want to share just a couple of the most exciting developments with you. The first one is that our January Discipleship Training School (DTS) is preparing to go in to 4 different locations in Africa and  Asia to serve unreached peoples. This has been very exciting for Karen and I to watch. The DTS is being lead by a number of our Frontier Missions staff, all most all of whom have gone through our bible school and seminar. Our role is as support staff, helping to make connections in various nations, looking over budgets, helping with pastoral issues, etc. It is incredible to see the vision that God gave us over a decade ago bearing fruit that will go way beyond our reach. Several of the young men and woman are praying about long term service with a particular unreached people group and are in the beginning stages of forming a team. We will continue to give updates as this new vision takes shape.

We also want to share about Douglas' upcoming trip to the international frontier mission gathering in South Asia. This is an annual event where YWAM Frontier Missions leaders from around the globe gather to fellowship and share contacts and ideas. He attended last year in Colombia and it opened many doors for us.  This year he will be attending as the representative for Central America and the Caribbean. Obviously the cost of getting to the other side of the planet is pretty major and we was not thinking that we would make it this year especially with Karen's recent travels but as Douglas was talking with our base director about it he mentioned that the base might have miles that they could use to buy his ticket from the US to South Asia. Once he confirmed that was the case then we was able to use our own miles to get from CR to the states. So with the airfare covered it seemed that God was opening the doors for Douglas to attend. There are still some travel expenses and the conference itself but the majority of the trip is paid for. The total that is left is right around $500 and we are praying that it will be completely covered before He leave on the 12th of March.

Well, that its for now. We will keep you posted about the South Asia trip and our "exciting" financial update. In the meantime if you would like to make a donation towards trip costs you can do so through the link below.

Blessings! Douglas, Karen, Gabriel, and Zachariah.
Serving with YWAM San Jose, Costa Rica

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Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from the Johnston family! We hope your Christmas season has been blessed!

The last couple months since we last wrote have flown by. We finished up our time in Portland, Oregon right at the beginning of November and started our prolonged journey home. We spent about 10 days in Texas, three of them at a leader’s conference with YWAM in Tyler and then a week with my family in Fort Worth. It was good to catch up with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids. We have not lived in the same area for over a decade now and we really treasure these times together. From Texas we headed to the Bay Area in California to visit my family on my dad’s side and to spend some time with a couple of supporters and friends that we have there. 

We flew out of San Francisco on Thanksgiving and arrived safely back in Costa Rica the next day. Our reentry was a bit rough. Costa Rica is very humid and cool in the mountains where we live. It’s the perfect environment for mold and we returned to find out house full of it. While we were in the US we imagined arriving home and settling in to relax, finally back in our own place. So as you can imagine it was pretty rough to find the place almost unlivable. We had to wash literally every item of clothing and bedding in the house and it took several weeks for us to get it back to “normal.”

                Meanwhile, over the last few months I have had a number of invitations to teach on World Missions at several of the different YWAM bases in Central America. Unfortunately I had to turn down a couple of invitations but I was also able to postpone a couple until we got back. So, in the craziness of a mold filled house, I got to teach, first a week on the books of Kings and Ester in the Bible School, followed by two weeks on World Missions, one week in Panama and the other in Nicoya, the northwest corner of Costa Rica.

                The Panama trip was the most eventful by far. Zachariah and I got all the way to the border only to find that I have grabbed Karen’s passport instead of my own. I don’t think my family will ever let me forget it either. As we boarded the bus to head back to San Jose Riah looks at me and said,” Daddy, we need a miracle.” Feeling very stupid by this point I replied, “I don’t think there’s any miracle here, just daddy’s stupidity.” Less than 5 minutes later I got a call from Karen letting me know that a friend who lives close to the border of Panama   was in San Jose and was bringing the passport to us. Riah looked at me and said something I will never forget, “See Daddy, you just need more faith!” I don’t think I have ever felt so humbled. We stayed the night with our friend and his team of fellow YWAMers who are pioneering a new work on the Caribbean coast and the next day we headed back to Panama. It ended up being an excellent week of teaching. I have been working on developing a World Mission curriculum but this was my first opportunity to teach it and I was very glad to have the opportunity.  

                After returning from Panama I had one down day and then headed out again for Nicoya. I was able to teach the same material and make some improvements. Karen and the boys joined me on Thursday for a couple days and then we all headed back to San Jose together on Saturday. We took a detour and hit a beach on the way home. All in all it was a great three weeks of teaching although it was nice to finally get home and settle in for Christmas.

As has become somewhat of a tradition we had fun again this year decorating Christmas cookies and passing them out to our neighbors. Baking is pretty rare here and Costa Ricans love American baked deserts so they were a real hit. 

Looking forward to this next year we have a number of exciting events coming up soon in the next couple months. Part of our vision is to be able to provide ongoing pastoral care to our missionaries serving unreached peoples around the globe. There is an international Member Care ministry within YWAM that provides trainings around the globe for individuals involved in pastoral care to missionaries and they are offering a 4 week training in Virginia/Florida from the 15^th of January through the 10^th of February. Karen will be attending on her own and I will be staying here in Costa Rica with the boys. We are excited for her to be able to get some professional training in this area. It will enable us to minister at a new level.  However, it is also long time to be apart, so your prayers are appreciated. Financially we have been able to put together enough funds (and mileage) to buy the plane tickets but we still need about $800 to cover the cost of the training.   

In the next couple weeks we will be sending out an exciting 2018 financial update where we will share about God's faithfulness and also our needs for the upcoming year.

Many Christmas and may God bless your New Year!

 Douglas, Karen, Gabriel, and Zachariah

Event Reminder!

Greetings from the Great Northwest! Here is a quick reminder about our scheduled events thus far with some details and directions: 

• We are scheduled to share at Countryside Community Church in Sherwood this Sunday the 23rd, at all three services, 8:15, 9:45, and 11:15am. We will be giving a ministry update as well as a short devotional. 
• Address: 18810 SW Kruger Rd, Sherwood, OR 97140
• Church Phone: (503) 925-0689

• Also we have a Mission Evening scheduled for Saturday the 30th of September. It will be held at John and Wendy House's home. All are welcome!  
• Here is the address for you: 20235 SW Edy Road Sherwood, OR 97140

• As well we will be share at Aims Community Church in Corbett on October 8th. The service starts at 11am and it will be followed by a Harvest Party where we will be sharing as well that runs from 12 to 2pm. 
• Address: 44510 SE Connett Rd, Corbett, OR 97019
• Church Phone: (503) 695-2813

As well for those who might be interested we are available to share in small groups or at your church. Just write us at dkgzjohnston@gmail.com or call us at home: 503-695-2946 and we can arrange a time. 

We hope to see you all soon! Thanks so much for your prayers and support. 

Blessings, 

Douglas, Karen, and the boys.

Coming Home (and other news!)

My best friend's boys with my boys
Second generation campers. 

As Douglas and I sit here listening to the rain we realized just how quiet it is in our house right now. We are enjoying the quiet but at the same time we miss our boys terribly. They, on the other hand, are probably enjoying their time in the States so much that they hardly think of us.  For those of you who don't know, years ago, my great grandfather founded Trout Creek Bible Camp, a Christian summer camp focused on bringing the Gospel to kids who might not have had the opportunity to hear it at home and on discipling those who have.  In the past couple of  years we have tried to make it a priority for the boys to attend whenever it's possible. This year was a little more complicated but with the help of my parents we were able to make it happen. A few weeks ago my parents came to Costa Rica for a visit and then the boys flew home with them to attend camp. As is usual they both  had an amazing time and we are so thankful that they had the opportunity again this year.

We took advantage of the parents visit to hit the beach!
Can you find Karen under her hat?

As the boys are having fun in Oregon with the Grandparents, Douglas and I are working hard here in Costa Rica. The week after the boys left was the last week of our Islamic Studies Seminar. We had a great last couple of weeks of teaching and ended with a graduation dinner at our house. We are already gearing up for next years seminar and are excited about the amount of interest. 

The other thing that is keeping us from thinking about how much we miss our boys is the up coming International YWAM conference that is being hosted by our base here in Costa Rica. We are preparing for around 700 YWAM missionaries from around the world who have already started arriving. The focus of the conference is on YWAM's university which trains and equips Christian around the globe. The conference runs from the 5th to the 9th and Douglas and I are involved in helping with some of the logistics. 

Two days after the conference ends we will be headed to reunite with our boys in Oregon! We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible and just hanging out. We have a couple of events already on the calendar that we would like you to know about. First, we will be sharing for a few minutes at Countryside Community Church on Sunday the 24th of September in all of there morning services. We have a missions evening planned for a week later on the 30th, also at Countryside, where we will be sharing more in depth about our ministry and the changes that have taken place in the last year (details to follow). Then on the 8th of October we will be sharing at Aims Community Church during their morning service. That day there will also be a mission focused harvest dinner at the church (details also to follow). We will be sharing at some point at Aletheia Christian Fellowship and will get dates asap. 

Let us know if you would be interested in having us share at a small group or bible study. We love any opportunity to talk about missions and share what we do here in Central America.

Blessings, Douglas, Karen and the boys 

Just wanted to share one last picture with you from Zachariah's b-day party which we mentioned in our last post. It was such a blast!  

Gabriel is the tall blond kid in the middle and Riah is the one in the blue shirt next to him.

Happy 4th of July!

As the first half of the year comes to an end (we have no idea how it could possibly be July already) we are looking back at some things that have ended and forward to others that are about to begin. As of course, there are also some things that are ongoing and feel like they will never end.

Hiding behind the base boards. SUPER GROSS!

Those things that feel as if they will never end are mostly to do with being homeowners, which as most of you know, can be a great blessing and some times a whole lot of work, especially living in a tropical climate. Since we moved in we have been doing many projects and one of the ongoing ones is getting rid of all the baseboards in the house.    

Usually baseboards are considered a good thing but when they hide ant colonies and black mold it is time for them to go! Douglas has also been working super hard on remodeling our bathroom and we are getting close to the end. Some of you may have even seen this picture of our tub sitting in the middle of our living room, it's temporary home of course! We have now moved to the bathroom where it sits waiting to be installed. Someday...

Looking back on this last month, some of you might know that during May/June Muslims celebrated their holy month of Ramadan and at the same time, all over the world, Christians gathered to pray for our Muslim brothers and sister that they would find the truth. We here at YWAM San Jose took a couple days and together we join in the 30 days in prayer and at the end of Ramadan we gathered for a time of celebration and, of course, feasting.  Douglas and I spent all day cooking. Actually, Douglas started a day early making homemade pita bread! Yum! We also ate Dolma which is a dish from Iraq, Lebanese lentils and rice, Egyptian seasoned chicken, and of course hummus, tzatziki, falafel and couscous! It was a great time of fun and fellowship as we prayed for Muslim peoples around the globe. 

• If you want some more information on the 30 Days of Prayer movement just click on the link below to visit their website. https://www.pray30days.org/

Another major even was that last week we had the return of our DTS (discipleship training school). As we mentioned in our last post we had two short term teams out doing ministry, one in Near East and the other in South East Asia. They had some amazing stories of God's faithfulness as they shared the good news with all kinds of people. As well some of the students caught a vision for long term ministry among unreached people and we hope to help some of them get there in the near future. 

Looking forward, tomorrow, as most of you celebrate Independence Day in the States we will be celebrating Zachariah's 11th birthday! Can I believe that my youngest is turning 11, NO I can not! We will be celebrating at a Trampoline Jump Center with several of his friends from the community. It should be a blast!

A little less then a week after that we will be starting with the Islamic Studies Seminar. We are super excited to be leading this seminar again for the first time since 2015. A week ago we thought it might not happen as we were not sure we were going to have any students but in the last week we confirmed that we should have at least 4 students we are hoping for 6. The seminar will run for 5 weeks this year instead of 6 to give a couple of our students an opportunity to arrive. We are confirming teachers, printing schedules, and will start preparing the classroom in a couple days!

And last but not least, at the end of this month my parents will be coming for a visit which we are all super excited about (yes even Douglas)! The crazy part of their visit is that the boys will be heading back to the States with them to attend summer camp and Douglas and I will follow but not for a whole month. It will be interesting to see how we all survive such a long separation. But the boys are super excited to be able to go to camp two years in a row and we all believe that it is worth it. As I said Douglas and I will follow in September and be in the States for about two months maybe a little longer. We are super excited to be coming for a visit this fall and hope to hang out with most of you!

Thanks for joining us in the adventure!

Karen and Douglas

Rain on the Tin Roof

As I sit down to write this update the rain is pounding on the metal roof and occasional thunder booms across the sky. These last couple months have been so full that the rainy season really snuck up on us this year. That leak that I never got around to fixing during the short dry season has decided to start dripping in earnest… onto my night stand. 

The 10/40 Window JoshuaProject.net

When we sent our last update I (Douglas) was headed to Cartagena Colombia for an international Frontier Missions gathering with YWAM. Frontier Missions, by the way, is the branch of missions work that focuses on getting the good new about Jesus out to people who have never heard it before. Most of those places are located within a large stretch of land sometimes known as the 10/40 window covering North Africa all the way to Japan and is home to almost half the world's population.

The gathering was a wonderful experience. I was able to get to know mobilizers who, like us, work to send missionaries to the unreached. I was also able to meet many missionaries who are working directly in the 10/40 window, planting churches and bringing the good news to many people. It was amazing to see these two halves of what we do come together. During the gathering I was asked to be the Frontier Missions coordinator for YWAM Central America joining two other leaders, a Jamaican lady who coordinates FM in the Caribbean and a Nicaraguan fellow who works mobilizing the Latino population in the US.

What this means for us is that our roles here in Costa Rica are changing. We have stepped out of most of our logistical roles and now our main focus here will be mobilization and training of new missionaries, working both here at the YWAM center and also with local pastors and churches.  Karen’s role will be primarily Member Care which means that she will be responsible for providing follow up and discipleship for potential missionaries as they prepare to go and long term care once they are on the field to help them stay healthy.

@ the Guatemala Zoo - can you see the baby hippo?

Our DTS serving short term in the Near East and South Asia

 We are very excited for this change, it is something that has been our passion for years and finally being able to focus most of our energy on it is an answer to much prayer. Our last few weeks were spent putting together Frontier Missions publicity for our YWAM regional conference that took place in Guatemala the first week of May. We have even been given a small office space here at the YWAM base and yesterday we were donated three desks and chairs, so we are official. : ) Right now we have a small team of people that will be working with us. A couple of them are currently leading our Frontier Missions Discipleship Training School (DTS) that is on outreach in two locations in the Near East and South Asia.

This new season of ministry, while exciting, is also going to be bringing new challenges for us as family. We will be traveling a lot more within the country meeting with pastors and doing training and mobilization in local churches. Also I will be doing more travel around the region doing similar ministry in YWAM bases throughout Central America. In the next couple months we will be continuing to establish our team and new ministry. We have a couple of teaching opportunities coming up and we are also beginning to prepare for our Islamic Studies Seminar that begins in early July.

As a family we have been entering a new season as well. Both the boys are participating in a weekly soccer club and we just got Gabriel started in swimming classes. He is an excellent swimmer and we hope that he will be able to compete someday soon. Riah is asking to take Karate again and we are looking for a place so he may begin training. We are all trying to take better care of ourselves as it is so easy to just keep working and let our health suffer.


Our homeschooling has moved up a notch as well. We have added in a couple of subjects that we have been weak in order to make sure both the boys are where they need to be. Their school schedule is pretty intense but they are both hard workers and super smart. The boys are growing fast. Gabriel is growing a centimeter per month according the the doctor and it is becoming normal that we finish dinner and he looks around as asks, “What else is there?” Riah has not started his growth spurt yet but he will catch up soon enough. If they were both growing as fast as Gabriel we would be in serious trouble.

Personally it has been a rather complicated transition. We have had several close friends leave the country over the last couple years and it has been a rather lonely stretch especially for Karen. As well, We are realizing with all these new ministry opportunities and with our growing boys that we are needing to increase our monthly income. We are trusting in the Lord that as he brings new opportunities he will also bring the finances needed  to walk in them.

As missionaries we live off peoples gifts and donations and so we would like to invite you to pray about becoming a monthly supporter. If God puts it on your heart to join us financially it would be a great blessing to us and help us to move forward in this new season. Just click on the link below for more information on how to join our financial team. We also have already felt that our need for solid prayer warriors is more necessary than ever. If you love to pray and would like to receive special prayer updates please write us at dkgzjohnston@gmail.com

Thank you all again for joining us in this grand adventure. May you be blessed!

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel, and Zachariah

For information on how to join our finanancial team or how to make a donation click here.  

Karen's honest feelings toward blogging!

In our world today there are so many different ways to communicate in written form.  From texting to Facebook and of course Blogging! As a missionary I am so thankful for all of the different ways there are to communicate but for those of you who know me well know that for me my most natural form of communication is verbal! I struggle to express myself in written form and every month or so Douglas or I express a desire to communicate with those of you who care to know what we have been up to and then about two months later we finally find the time and the energy to sit and write this blog. I wish I was like so many of my friends and family who love to sit and write and share in written form but that is just not me. So here we are again writing a blog about two months later than we would have liked and as always it is a challenge for me to decide how and what to communicate with all of you. But we value all of you that take your time to read about our crazy lives and love to share about the exciting things that God is doing here in Costa Rica and around the world.

So lets see what has happened since our last post?

Seeing as it was last September much has happened! So to try and sum up!

In Early November Mom and Dad Johnston came for a visit so Douglass Dad could teach in the Bible Core Course. It was so great to have them here with us for a little bit.

On  the 16th of December we celebrated the 8th BCC (Bible Core Course) Graduation. It was such a Joy to see 9 students from 7 different countries participate in this three month intensive course. It was a particularly momentous occasion for Douglas and I as this will be the 8th and final BCC that Douglas will  lead. Next year this school will be led by a good friend of ours and it has been so great to see how God has raised up the next leader for this course.

Christmas was shortly after that and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate in our new house with Good friends.  

Our hose at Christmas time our snowman friend that me and the boys made this year, the tree, the boys watching a Christmas movie, while I mix sugar cookie dough.

That is Gabriel on the roof of one of the houses and in the distance other guys on the roof of another of the houses.

During the few weeks we had off for Christmas and New Years we agreed to help out with a ministry connected to our YWAM base called Homes of Hope. We helped host a team from the States that came to build three homes for three needy families here in Cost Rica. The homes are build in only two days and it is an amazing thing to be a part of.  




Another major event for our family was Zachariah deciding to cut off all his hair! This may seem like a simple thing to most of you but it was a major decision for my son who has wanted his hair long since he was old enough to have an opinion. He likes it and we all think it makes him look older which he also appreciates.



We returned to Costa Rica about 10 months ago from our year long absence and since then we have not had the time or finances to visit the beach for more than a short day trip but at the beginning of this month we were so blessed to be able to head to one of our favorite beaches here for two nights. it was such a wonderful time to rest and relax as a family. Not to mention do a little surfing and work on our tans.

So that's whats been happening in our family. Now what has been happening in our ministry here is Costa Rica? To tell the truth there has been way too much to give all the details so we will have to stick with the highlights.

Of course as mentioned above we completed our 8th Bible Course which was a major accomplishment. What we didnt mention is that 5 of the students decided to stay on and do a 2 month outreach. We formed two teams, one that is working with local churches in northwestern Costa Rica. The second group is currently serving in a majority Muslim country. We are very excited about both groups but especially the second one. As most of you know, our vision is to mobilize Latin Americans for missions work with people groups that have not heard the gospel so it was great for us when some of the students felt called to minister in that part of the world, even if just for a few months. We have also had two other short term teams go out to that part of the world as well a Discipleship Training School that also has a Frontier Mission focus. It is being led by a couple our our Frontier Mission team members.

Here is a link to the video one of our teams produced talking about their experience. Listen to the Voiceless

Here at the YWAM missions center Karen and I have committed to serve in logistical areas until the end of March. It has been good, especially since we were absent from Costa Rica for most of 2015 and a part of 2016. We felt that we needed to invest in the missions center for a while to help strength the infrastructure. That being said our hearts are set on Frontier Mission and starting April, for the first time since we have been serving here, we will be focusing our energies almost completely  just on mobilizing, training, and sending Latinos to unreached nations. For us, April marks a major shift. To be able to focus on Frontier Mission completely will be a dream come true.

Please be praying for us during this transition. We are excited for the new things that are coming and to be able to focus ourselves on what we are most passionate about. Pray that God will open doors for us with local churches and that we can continue to develop our Frontier Missions team.

If you would like to support us financially as we walk into this new season you can you can donate directly by clicking the Donate via PayPal button below or by following the link to our Donation page for more information.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

Many blessings,

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel, and Riah

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New Beginnings (and some endings)

 The last few months have been so eventful it has been hard to find time to communicate but finally things are settling a little so here are the highlights of our crazy summer. (which is actually rainy season for us.)

First off since our last post both our boys had Birthdays. In July Zachariah celebrated his tenth birthday. He was very excited to finally reach the double digits. Then just this last weekend Gabriel turned 12! We can not believe that he will be a teen in just a years time although he is definitely tall enough. He has grown sooo tall this last year. It has been such an incredible blessing to have these silly, playful, intelligent, gentle, and often crazy boys as part of our family.


The biggest change and most important piece of news it that right at the end of July we were able to move into our new house. We had written about it back in May as a possibility but within the next couple weeks after writing, our old house sold and things started to move quickly. For about two months I ran all over the place filing papers and calling banks. It seems like a big blur but we have now been in our new place for 8 weeks. It is a bit of a fixer upper and at times the amount of work to be done is overwhelming but it is an answer to much prayer. It is easy to get to and large enough to host many people. Plus it has extra room for the boys homeschooling and plenty of room for them to run and play. We are very, very blessed and cannot believe that we are actually settled in our own place again after so long.

Another big event from the last weeks is that we just returned from a huge YWAM conference in Kansas City. Some 3500 Ywamers from around the globe gathered together along with the International House of Prayer (IHOP) for a week of teaching, fellowship and worship. It was great hearing about what is going on around the globe, both the successes and the challenges. The focus of the teaching was on bible translation, reaching the least reached around the globe, and how the gospel changes societies as it enters different areas of influence such as business, education and healthcare, to name a few. It was a great time for networking as well and we were able to make some excellent new connections.

Family!

Since we were headed to the US anyway we decided that Karen and the boys should take advantage of the trip and make a short two week stop over in Oregon. Karen's parents are moving from their home of 40 years and Karen was able to help with some sorting and packing and spend some special time with her family.

Friends!

Plus the boys were able to attend the last week of summer camp at Trout Creek Bible Camp with there two best stateside friends who happen to be the sons of Karen's life long best friend. What a Blessing!

Fresh Bibles ready to be broken in

So what's next? Right now we are in the process of starting our next bible core course. This will be school number 8 since we started it here in Costa Rica 6 years ago. Since then 70+ students from 15+ different nations who are now serving the Lord on 5 different continents and many nations have complete this course. It has been a great privilege to be able to serve in this school and we love it every time. Looking beyond the school we have been working hard to put together a team of people that are focused specifically on Frontier Missions. We have several short term teams that will be heading out in the next year and even have a few long term people that are headed out as well. The Bible school will now become part of a year long training program to prepare people who want to work with Unreached Peoples long term. Many new doors are opening and we are excited for this new season.

A couple of prayer requests:

• The Bible school is always an intense and tiring time. Pray for extra strength and energy and for Karen in particular as she serves at the base and shoulders most of the homeschooling. 
• Pray for our Frontier Missions team. That God would help us to gather the right people and build a healthy team.
• Pray for our finances as we enter into this new season. With the boys growing, the new house and new ministry opportunities our monthly expenses have grown. Pray for an increase in God's provision.

That's it for now! Blessings,

Douglas, Karen, and the boys.

Rivers, Houses, and Ministry Trips

Two months have flown by since we got back into Costa Rica. At the moment we are still living here on the YWAM facility in our little room and it has been quite the adventure. Our place backs right up to the river and every time it rains the river becomes a raging torrent. But when it is nice we get to enjoy the wild life. So far the boys have seen a good sized crab trucking down river, a nutria, a possum, and numerous tropical birds. Plus the raccoons that do laps on the tin roof in the middle of the night. (Not to mention the good number of rats that frolic by the river.)

Our old house Before...

and after!

Our house sale/purchase process is moving ahead steadily.We've been working really hard on our home on the south side of San José and it has already sold. Now we are waiting for the bank so we can sign papers and get our check. Praise the LORD!

The house we hope to buy!

Once we have the money in the bank we can start moving forward with the purchase of the new home close by the YWAM center. We went back up last week to chat with the owner and take a few photos. The house is everything that we have prayed for and we are very
hopeful that it will soon be ours.

We greatly appreciate your prayers for the loan process. We will need to get a loan for about half the value of the house and getting loans here is very complicated and difficult. Plus interest rates hover at around 9% average. We are praying for a miracle and trust that God has something wonderful for us.

Gabriel, Riah and a good friend

Bit by bit we have been entering back into base life and ministry. In many ways it has been very good to live here at the facility because it puts us in contact with many of our single missionaries who live here as well. The boys got right back to work on their tree house and have added a second floor. So far we have had no major accidents although there have been a couple close calls.

Karen has stepped into the role of Personnel Coordinator where she oversees our long term staff, helping to ensure that our base community functions well and that people are able to move forward in their passions and giftings. I (Douglas) am serving again as part of the leadership team and I have stepped into oversee some of the logistical areas of the base as well. Our missions community serves as a platform for a half dozen different ministries, at least as many training courses, and hosts some 50 short term teams annually who come to serve in various locations around the country. Our roles help to ensure that things run smoothly and that our missionaries don't burn out from exhaustion.

Karen and I with some friends from YWAM.

In addition to our work here at the center we are moving forward with our vision to set up a frontier missions team. Although it is not official, we have two couples who share our passion for the unreached who we hope will be joining our team. Together with two of our potential team members, Vernon and Maylenn, both Costa Ricans, we were able to travel north to a small community near the border with Nicaragua. We were able to speak with representatives from several churches who want to get more involved in missions. We talked about local opportunities as well as the challenge to take the Gospel to those who have never heard it.

Sharing about missions with a local church.

God is opening up doors for us to share in churches around the country and we hope to be doing more of this sort of trip in the near future.










Looking towards the next few months we want to communicate a special need. In early September YWAM will be hosting an international conference in Kansas City, Missouri. This would be a great time for us to reconnect with fellow missionaries from around the world, hear what God is doing in our mission and also a time to be refreshed. We have felt that as much as we are not looking forward to traveling again so soon this is an important conference for our whole family to attend. They will be having a special program for the kids and it is such a crucial time for them to connect with other missionary kids like themselves. With airfare and hotel the cost should be around $2,500. This is an extra expense beyond out normal donations and we will have to raise all our own funding. So if you would like to make a special donation please just click on the "Make a Donation" tab above for more info.

Thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and support!

Blessings the Johnstons,

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah