Gracias a Dios

This is an exerpt from my journal on the night I flew back to the states in June, I pray that God will touch your heart the way that he has touched mine:

6/16/10
Lele, 16yr. old boy who is deaf and mute
Richie- 12yr. old boy, special need (maybe autistic)
Travis and Pablo- 13yr old and cannot read

"I feel like I am being drawn to not only the disadvantaged but the disabled. Lele (deaf and mute) wants to learn to read, Richie wants to write his name, Travis wants to read and no one else is going to do it. God equip me, equip us! Again I say I will go wherever you send me and do what you want me to do. You may have to hit me over the head with it but I will go. Thank you for going before me. Jesus came for those who were sick, he came to bring peace and the sword, He came so that we may have life to the full. He came to give prostitutes, thieves and fishermen a chance. Jesus helped people out of the dirt. God help me to follow his example. I don't know why I was born into a middle class white family and Richie was into the drug infested slums of Roatan. I don't know why Judas was the one to betray Jesus. I don't know if God chooses who receives salvation and who doesn't. I can't answer these questions, but I know that Jesus never turned anyone away. He loved and offered himself to Anyone who came accross his path. Lord I cannot stop the tears right now. My heart is broken for those boys in Roatan. I have no idea what your plan is or where you are going to take us. They need role models, they need education, they need food, they need safety and they need love. You brought them into my life and I am depending on you to walk us through this. Every step, Poco a Poco. God, you love Richie, Pablo, Memphi, Bebe, Travis, Tommy, Jarvick, Ken, Gus, the donut girls, Lele, they are your children. Bare with me in my frustration and anger God. I hate their situations, I hate the darkness and sin around them. Bring Freedom! God please."



God is doing some amazing things on the island and I am honored to be a part of it. I am nothing special and in all honesty I feel like I fell way short of what God called me to this past year but I walk in His grace just like you. I cannot wait to see the ways God moves this year. Please join me in prayer, you are at the front lines of the battle when you come before God. "The prayers of the righteous are heard," thank you. If you would like to support in the purchase of more sports equipment, school uniforms, food and other miscellaneous costs that come with serving on the island you can send a check to the below address. I am blessed to be supported by the school so any money that comes my way goes directly to projects on the island. Thank you and Much love

- Harrison
rhjohnson44@gmail.com

Harrison Johnson
4321 Poplar Creek ln.
High Point, NC 27265

Community

The summer is coming to an end and I am preparing to head back to the island (home). Many things have taken place this summer including a lot of amazing experiences with the Lord. He has revealed himself to me in ways that I never would have imagined and I have seen him moving in the lives of people all around me. It has been an honor and a blessing to be around this. If you would like any details or just some testimony of how great God is, shoot me an email. I am enjoying my last two weeks here in the states and really trying to soak up some quality time with friends and family before I go back to the island for God only knows how long. This year is going to be completely different than last year and I cannot wait to see the ways God is going to move. When I decided to stay another year, God gave me comfort in knowing that he was going to build great community and fellowship on the island. God has led some amazing people down to work in the school and at other places on the island, I am so excited about this community that is already chasing Gods heart. Orientation has already started with the new teachers in Roatan and I got this email from out principle tonight,
"Hey Harrison!!!
Boy you have missed some amazing devotional time with the new staff!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT HAS BEEN POWERFUL!!! It´s like you can breathe God in when we get together to sing and pray. Can´t wait to have you here with us."

Glory in the Rockies!

Most of you know that I love the woods and for the past few years I have spent my summers working for a Christian wilderness camp. This summer I was given an incredible opportunity to work for an organization called Solid Rock Outdoor Ministries. I was invited to come out and guide a trip with my old boss from the other camp I have worked at. Even though it was a volunteer job, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to work for an organization that is in the same class as NOLS and Outward Bound. So I just returned yesterday from WY/CO, here is a little rundown of the trip.
I arrived in CO on the 21st where I spent some quality time with a friend from college then drove up to Laramie, WY. Luke and I prepared for our trip for the next two days and I got acquainted with how things are run at SROM. Preparations include, planning the backpacking rout, safety assessment, packing food, preparing spiritual application for the week and thinking through all other logistics. Our group arrived on the 23rd from Oklahoma and we hit the trail in the Wind River Range of WY the next day. I was blown away by the maturity of these seniors in high school and the ways that God was already moving in their lives. We got to spend 6 days in the Rockies taking in God's creation. There was a lot of hiking, literally a trillion mosquitos, great conversations and interesting meals. One day on the trail we did a solo with the students. This means we spread them all out across the mountain side and they have to spend the entire day alone with nothing but their bible, notebook and water. It is meant to give them an opportunity to remove distractions and seek God. As we called them all back we had set up three stations for them to rotate through. First, one of the youth pastors prayed over them then the other youth pastor washed their feet and last Luke and I served them communion. It was an awesome opportunity for us to serve and honor those students. Many of the students left encouraged after this week and amazed by what they realized they could do. Some of these students had never even been camping and now they were cooking their own meals setting up tents and hiking 12 hours straight. It is awesome to watch someone push themselves to a point they didn't know they could. And even better is to see someone doing that in a community that supports each other the way that Christ intended.
After the trip I went back to Ft. Collins for a couple of days and again was able to spend some great time in Christian community. The people of Colorado are just a different breed, everybody's trying to change the world, I love it!