Leaving A Mark

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21)

Evelyn Johnson, wife of Tom Johnson, missionaries to Bolivia for 44 years, passed away Sunday night September 20, 2010. Funeral services will be held at Walnut Grove Bible Church in Bonner Springs, KS on Thursday September 23, 2010 at 5:00pm.

This week’s blog is devoted to the life of this incredible servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I first had the honor of meeting Tom and Evelyn on a missions trip to Bolivia in 1996. I got to stay in their home and experience a level of hospitality that many talk about, but few get to see. I saw a couple completely devoted to God and each other. Both of them left the comforts of home at an early age to minister the word of God in the third world nation of Bolivia. Their children were born and raised on the mission field, and all came back to the US when they were grown. Tom and Evelyn had to say goodbye to them while they continued their ministry to the children of Bolivia with a national outreach ministry called “OANSA”. Those of you in the US would recognize that as “AWANA” – the English acronym for OANSA in Spanish. Tom and Evelyn travelled tirelessly throughout Bolivia establishing this ministry and overseeing it in over 800 churches in the country. Keep in mind that travelling in Bolivia is quite a bit different than in the US with our interstate highways. “Quite a bit different” is the understatement of the ages. Only those who have experienced third world roads could appreciate the rigors and hardships of this type of ministry. Yet they ministered with “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (I Pet 1:8). After 44 years of faithful and dedicated service to the Lord and the people of Bolivia, Tom and Evelyn “retired” (ha ha) and moved to southern Arizona. For the last 10 years or so, they have continued ministering the word of God to the Spanish speaking community near Tucson.

Tom and Evelyn were never the type to receive recognition for their service. They are some of the most humble people I have ever met. But when they retired, we hosted a “Tom and Evelyn Johnson Day” at Crest Bible Church. Tom is the son of our founding pastor, and was sent out as a missionary from here when I was 6 months old. On that special day, we commemorated a life of service to Jesus Christ in Bolivia. Tom and Evelyn sang and gave testimony of their lives in Bolivia, and it was one of the most moving experiences I have had. All they talked about were the people they had impacted for the gospel. They said nothing of themselves or their trials. The entire testimony was simply a litany of person after person who had come to know Christ and been established in the faith who was continuing to carry on the vision of reaching others for Christ. Someone once coined a cute little acronym that joy is living life in the following priority: Jesus, Others, Yourself. That is a perfect description of the life of this dear lady and her first class gentleman of a husband in their service to their Lord.

The Bible says there is “rejoicing in heaven” when someone gets saved. Tom and Evelyn have set of quite a few parties in their days. Now Evelyn has had the honor of being the life of the party herself. Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” That seems odd, but God’s ways are not ours. While we grieve the loss, heaven welcomes a true saint of the faith. Her works have followed her, and she is at rest from a life of labor for her Lord and Saviour (Rev 14:13). She ran the race of life in a full sprint to the end, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of her faith.” (Heb 12:2). She will need several boxcars to haul away her rewards. May all who read this strive to be half the servant Evelyn Johnson was for her Lord.