Just over one year ago, we shared with you the adoption story of Zion Johnson, son to Michael and Christi Johnson. In the year that has followed, their life has been – in Christy’s words – “a whirlwind.” The following excerpts are from a letter we recently received from Christi, detailing the many significant changes in their life. Little did they know when they said yes to the Lord, and brought Zion into their home, it would spark a chain of events they never could have anticipated! We hope you are encouraged, lifted up and inspired by the way the Johnson family seeks the Lord!
The last six months have been a bit of a whirlwind. We were working on renovating an old foreclosed farmhouse. It took us ten months to redo every square foot. In the midst of us seeming to get everything we had ever wanted in a house, we sensed God asking us if we would give it up if He asked us to.
God, in His gracious wisdom showed our family that following Jesus is more than living what we deem our “dream” life. So, at the end of December, our family made a big move across the country to make the name of Jesus known with Michael pastoring a church in Montana.
We now can see how God has used the last nine years to prepare us for exactly this - especially with the adoption. You see, after the adoption came a long period of isolation. Life changed and people moved on, while it seemed that we were just trying to survive. I have never felt so alone, but God taught me that He is the only one that can satisfy.
Because of this, I had no fears when Michael brought up the idea of moving to Montana. I knew that if I had no one (like I felt already), I had God. Little did we know, a church in Montana had been looking for a pastor for the last nine months. Our house and land sold right away, and we moved the week after we spent Christmas with my family in Florida. When it was all said and done, we lived in our “dream" house for two months, and part of that time was spent in Texas with Zion’s urological surgery. God worked out every detail of our move better than we could have ever planned.
Once getting here, we experienced the worst winter they have had in 20 years, but we all survived! Our kids have done amazing. We have begun homeschooling for the first time and we are just starting to get in a good rhythm. Of course our families were all sad for us to move so far away, but have all been supportive. It is a hard realization that holidays are not going to be spent with them anymore. But more importantly we are so fortunate that we are able to show our kids that Jesus is worth giving up everything for. Montana is a largely unreached mission field. Evangelicals number less than 10%. The geography itself is one of our greatest challenges as many communities, churches, and pastors and their families are isolated. The climate is also challenging with temperatures as low as 35 below in the winter, and exceeding 100 degrees in the summer. We know we are not taking the easy path, but we are on an adventure we didn’t plan!
In the last year, God has taught us more about Himself than anything. We knew that adoption was going to be life changing, but didn’t know how vast the impact would be. Through the hard times, God was shaping us for a greater purpose. We had no idea that He was preparing us to do something with our lives that we didn’t think was possible. I look back on our life with such thankfulness for the people that have helped us get to where we are today. Adoption sparked a life altering change in our hearts. We are forever indebted to the TTF for making such a grand impact in not just our son’s life, but our entire family. Our prayer is that with each passing year, we look back in awe of how great our God is.
- Christi Johnson
We are in such awe of all God has done in and through the Johnson family, and can’t wait to see what the future holds for them! It is because of the many generous donors who support our ministry that we are able to bless families such as theirs. Your contributions have made an incredible difference – first for Michael and Christi, then for Zion, and now for an entire region of the country where many will now hear, maybe for the first time ever, the life-changing message of Jesus Christ!
To join TTF in helping bring children home to their forever families through Adoption Aid, we humbly ask that you consider donating today.
