Prayer Requests

Please accept my apologies for not updating the blog this week. There are updates in the works, please keep checking.

For now, I have a serious prayer request:

We have 6 children at Good Samaritan that are ill. Simion has pneumonia, Josofina has Malaria and four children have a serious infection (Alinafe J., Ida, John [Blessing's brother] and Rufina). Three of these children have AIDS. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, availability of medication, transportation to and from the clinic, protection from spreading these illness among our other children and complete healing. I will post pictures in the morning. Thank you for your faithfulness to checking the blog and supporting Good Samaritan.

In adoption news:
Savannah-Hope's adoption has finalized in Malawi. The next step is to obtain the adoption visa from the U.S. Embassy in Malawi. The Visa appointment can not be scheduled and the visa can not be issued until the National Visa Center in the U.S. logs-in Crystal's approved immigration paperwork. Apparantly this could take another few weeks. We are hoping for a miracle! Please continue to pray that the paperwork gets logged-in and processed quickly. The window for Crystal to come home as scheduled on April 5th is rapidly closing. We serve a might God who holds this adoption in His hand.

Update from Crystal

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Today Crystal visited Savannah-Hope's home village. Here are her thoughts on the visit:

I imagine that every American who would visit this village would walk away with some thoughts in common, such as extreme poverty. You can't miss that the children are barely dressed. The ones that have clothes, they are tattered and torn...barely hanging on their bodies. They have worms, both in their bellies making their stomachs bulge out, but also in their skin making little mountains all over their arms, legs, and head. There is dirt everywhere. The homes are one room mud huts with grass roofs and mud floors. There is no furniture, no electricity, no glass windows, and no water. The people are extremely filthy.

But then there are other thoughts that may be more individual. For me it was my kids. I couldn't help but think of Amelia, when I saw a 7 year old girl with a bucket of laundry on her head and a baby tied to her back. Or think of Izabella, when I saw a 4 year old girl selling tomatoes on the side of the road with a 2 year old the size of Maggie tied to her back. The roads are so dangerous, and she is working just to live. Only 4 years old and completely unsupervised. I thought of my boys, when I saw seven year old boys walking with machetes chopping down corn in the field. I think of my children and their decorated bedrooms, warm blankets, shoes, toys, hair bows, car seats, parents. My children have parents...two of them. They get to be educated, they don't have to work. They don't lay in bed at night shivering begging God that they may have a bite to eat tomorrow. They don't have to worry that a wild animal may get into their house, or their grass roof may cave in or catch on fire. My children have so much, but only because God has allowed us to provide that for them. This could have been us. I could have been born a Malawian woman and had to watch my children starve and beg for food. I could have been sick and sent my child with strangers to a far away land so she could live. This has been a completely life changing experience. I am not coming home the same person or the same mother. I wish that Shane and the kids could have made this trip with me. I just hope that I can find a way to portray what I have seen to my husband and children.

The Adoption was granted!!!

The adoption was finalized today at 5pm (10am TN time). This adoption is truely a miracle and gift from God. Thank you for your prayers! Romans 8:28

Crystal scooping Savannah up into her arms after arriving in Malawi late Tuesday night.

Self portrait. Crystal is just beaming with joy and love for this sweet child.

Savannah-Hope in her ERGO carrier.

Pray! Pray! Pray!

Please be in prayer for a new Court Hearing scheduled for Thursday March 20 at 8:30am (1:30am TN time). Please pray without ceasing.....

They made it!

Crystal and Mrs. Miller arrived safely to Malawi as scheduled, Praise the Lord! Crystal's luggage made it, Mrs. Miller's did not. They are both healthy and doing well. More details to follow after Court Hearing.

The Adoption Court Hearing is scheduled for today at 2pm (8am TN time). Please be in prayer for this hearing!

Here are some updated pictures of Savannah-Hope

New Pictures!!!

Late last night I received a new digital memory card in the mail from Thandie. I quickly placed the card in my camera and my heart exploded with joy from these new pictures.

On their way

Please be in prayer today as Crystal Johnson and Mrs. Miller begin their journey to Malawi. They will leave today from Nashville, TN. They are expected to land in Malawi on Tuesday March 18th at 10pm (1pm PST). They will be staying at the Gentry's house. Thandie will be moving Savannah to the Gentry's in the morning before their arrival.


Please also be in prayer for the 200 lbs of luggage these ladies will be carrying with them. Among the 200 lbs are these 6 blankets for our Good Samaritan staff babies.



Special thanks to Sharon Martin at Golden Rule Travel who made the travel arrangements.

Round House Photos

One side of the kitchen.

The other side of the kitchen

One of the two bedrooms. This photo was taken in the doorway.

Same bedroom, picture taken from the opposite wall.

Thanks Mrs. Carrier for sending me the photos! I was only able to stay in the Round house for a couple days and then I broke my leg and moved into Thandie's house. The round house is getting a new roof. We are hoping to put a iron sheeting roof on so it will be able to withstand the rainy season.

Please scroll down to the post below to view the **edit**. I mistakenly associated Mrs. Miller to not the "wrong" church, but just not her church. Oops! I also left out the word "no" when describing the amount of funds that have been received for the container project. Another oops! Can you tell that the "Easter Push" has started at my church? We have been on the buses every night inviting the community of San Diego to church. It is has been wonderful. Many have been saved every night and many others have signed up to visit the church on Easter Sunday. But I am a bit wore out, so I am going to use that as my excuse for my blogger mistakes :)

Brief update

**Edited**3/13/08
The children and staff are doing well at Good Samaritan. The only child that is ill is Ida. She was released from the hospital over the weekend but its likely she will have to go back as she is not doing well. Please continue to pray for Ida. One of our other girls that suffers from AIDS is having a flair up of lesions on her body. Please also be in prayer for her.

Mrs. Miller from Bible Way Baptist Church in Milton, Florida will be accompanying Crystal Johnson (Savannah-Hope's mom) to Malawi. They will be staying at the Gentry's house. Crystal should finally be able to hold Savannah-Hope in her arms on March 18th! Please continue to be in prayer for the adoption journey as it isn't over yet. Specific prayer for the Court date and Embassy Appointment would be much appreciated. I will let you know the dates as soon as they are set.

Praise: One of you faithful blog readers felt led to cover the CT Scan medical bill for our Garden Boy Kwondoni. Thank you so much!

Container Update: Still no funds have been received to send our container. Keep praying!

Prayers for Ida

Ida has been hospitalized. She is suffering from severe diarrhea. Please pray for Ida. I can't even begin to explain what a special child she is and how much she means to the children and the staff at Good Samaritan. Please pray for a quick and complete recovery for Ida. And a cure for AIDS.

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Here is a picture of the round house on the Good Samaritan campus. It looks a bit different now because it has up graded security bars on the windows and doors. I am sure I have an updated picture somewhere but I wasn't able to find it quickly so this one will have to do for now. The reason I am posting this picture is because this is where Mrs. Miller and Crystal were going to stay with Savannah-Hope during their trip. Unfortunately the round house suffered some rain damage this week and needs a new roof. Or we need to seal up the windows and make a giant swimming pool, either way it is unlikely that they will be able to stay there. So we are reconfiguring our lodging options. I am sure we will figure something out. Please be in prayer for the funding to fix the repairs on the round house as well as wisdom in the decision making for the Crystal and Mrs. Miller's lodging. The travel dates have been secured. Mrs. Miller and Crystal will arrive in Malawi on March 18th and will leave on April 5th. So far it looks like Brother Gentry will arrive to Malawi the day they leave, but his plans are still in the works.

Slow news day

There isn't much news to report, but I am going to ramble out another post for you faithful blog checkers....

I have been home-sick x 2 this week. I am so home-sick for Malawi and the children there. But I also have been home-sick from work this week with the flu/virus. Everyday one area of my body feels a bit better and then a new area gets worse...but what an opportunity to praise the Lord for my many blessings! I have paid sick leave! WooHoo! I also have a nice warm safe dry place to recover and access to top medical care if necessary. WooHoo! I have also had practice being a "listener" instead of a "talker" since my voice is gone. It was amazing timing to get Savannah-hope's immigration approval while I was at home because I would have been pretty distracted at work with the news. My plan is to go back to work tomorrow and Saturday. I am hoping my voice returns especially by Saturday because there will only be two of us on shift and I will need to speak.

Thank you to those who remembered to pray for my last box. It arrived to Thandie one day early! There were no fees, drama or delays! WooHoo!!! I was able to send Savannah-Hope some vapo-bath soap and some other comforts that sick babies in American enjoy. Also sent lots of socks and the next size up in p.j's. I am praising the Lord for his great mercy with this box....there is no way that it weighed what it said it weighed at DHL. They weighed it twice because they too knew it was much heavier than what the scale showed. But I only had to pay according to what the scale said. I know the Lord lowered the weight on the scale....WooHoo!!! This box was half the price it normally is. What a blessing! And now Thandie has it!

Please pray for Ida as she is suffering from diarrhea. My heart aches for this girl. I was able to talk to her on the phone about a week ago. She is such a blessing! It's so hard to see her suffer from one illness after another, but the thought of her leaving us one day is more than my heart can take.

Thank you for praying for our caregivers and staff members. All but one are back and feeling better. Please continue to pray for Mary as she is still not feeling well.



Please continue to pray about the container project. Brother Gentry is scheduled to leave for Malawi in 4 weeks. This container must be shipped before he leaves. No funding has come in for this project. Please pray that the Lord will provide the funding. This container will help us reach more of the World for Christ. For more information on how you can help please click here.

Approved!!!! Savannah-Hope is Coming Home!!!

Savannah-Hope's immigration paperwork arrived tonight and has been approved!!! The Johnson's are overjoyed! Six months ago today (Sept 4th) Savannah left her village and started her journey home. It has been a long wait. The whole time Crystal has prayed for God's direction and confirmation that she and her family were on the right path. Today's date is "March 4th" or as we see it "march forth". Crystal is calling first thing in the morning to arrange travel dates. If you are reading this Mrs. Miller...expect a call and pull out your suitcase! Its time to go!

Mistaken Identity

I originally published this post on Feb 21, 2008. I have to admit now that I guessed on who these cute baby boys were....and as it turns out I was wrong. I thought the youngest one was James Douglas and the older one was Heath because these are the two baby boys who live on campus. In reality the youngest one is Samuel, Henry's son. He doesn't live on campus, but was visiting and Thandie was able to snap a quick picture for us. So I am *bumping* this post to the top with their correct identities.

Good Samaritan Baby updates:

This is an updated picture of James Douglas. He is Rodney's son. His grandmother picked out his first name and I picked out his middle name. Douglas is "church family" name. At my church just about every pastor or leader on staff is named Doug. So this little guy has a Lighthouse Baptist Church middle name. Standing behind James Douglas is his sister Heather. She has grown so much in the past 6 months, I hardly recognized her.

Here is the first picture of Samuel to be posted on the Blog. He is the son of Henry, President of the Good Samaritan Bible College. I posted about his birth here.

And this beauty queen is Savannah-Hope. She was named by her daddy who is anxiously waiting in Tennessee for her to come home. "Hope" is Crystal's middle name. Shane and Crystal Johnson's have submitted the extra paperwork that was requested of them, to the immigration office in Memphis this week. We hope to have an answer in the next two weeks. Please continue to pray for Savannah's adoption journey.

Bikes! Bikes! Bikes!

Here are the bikes being loaded off the container

Here are some of our bigger boys on the new bikes.

Here is James and his bike!

Junior found himself a bike with training wheels that holds a soccerball....what more could a boy ask for?

Here is Simion and Nathaniel sharing the toddler trike.

Please continue to pray for our next container. Without the funding to ship containers these sweet children wouldn't have bicycles. And they wouldn't have Gospel tracts to pass out in their native language. There are so many other items that we have been able to send on the container that have been a blessing not only to the children of Good Samaritan but to the country of Malawi as we continue to spread the Good News. For more information on how you can help send the next container to Malawi click here.

Sick Caregivers and Staff

According to the Malawi Government, an orphanage our size should have 11 caregivers for the children with at least 9 on staff at all times. The Lord has blessed us with some wonderful caregivers "mothers" we and the children call them. We may not have the "quantity" that the government would like to see but we make up for it it in "quality". We also recognize that the Lord is running our children's home and with his power and presence he can do mighty things with small numbers. Well it is time to test our faith....our caregivers are ill. And many have left the campus to return to their villages or have been hospitalized. We need your prayers!!!! We are so blessed that the Lord has given us obedient children who love the Lord and are good stewards of the property and home that the Lord has provided. Many of the older children look our for the younger ones. Just like a family does when the mother gets sick.

Prayer requests for the Ill caregivers

• Dorothy- Malaria and body pains


• Esther (not the Matron) - tooth pain, body pains, diarrhea


• Mary - hospitalized for heart palpitations and pneumonia


• Miss Simon - Body pains, fever and malaria


• Mr. Banda the tailor - malaria, body pains, fever


• Kamoto the garden boy - hospitalized for SEVERE diarrhea


• Annie the 4th grade teacher - hospitalized for unknown reason, weak and pale.


• Aunt Barbara the kindergarten teacher is on maternity leave

Pictures from the Celtel Party

Do you remember the Celtel Party? I posted about it here.
A new television!!!!!

The children were thrilled.

The children enjoyed games.....

Even baby Savannah-Hope enjoyed the party.