Dear Praying Friends,

My Daily Challenge...

C. S. Lewis observed that “Joy is distinct ... from pleasure. It must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing.”

He was on to something. I'm less than four weeks out from my departure for the Czech Republic, Lord willing, and life is full of the stabs, pangs, and inconsolable longings of joy. I am looking forward to the start of a new adventure, but this has been a season of sitting in the good-byes. They are beautiful and poignant because they are so rich.

I'm about a week out from vacating the home my parents moved into 59 years ago. After Easter, there will be an estate sale and then afterward it goes on the market. Yes, it's just stuff. And this process is revealing my attachments to things. But the deepest and most meaningful attachments are the people. When I consider the people in my life, I realize that I have an embarrassment of riches.

Over the past month I had the opportunity to attend two retreats at Ingalls Creek, the retreat center in the center of the state that has been such a formative place from my youth, and of which my parents were among the original board members.

The first one was the 4th annual "Living Well" retreat, geared for those of us going through the transitions common among the 50-65 crowd, and I'm right in the middle of that! The theme this year was Moving Forward. (Appropriate, maybe?) It was a very rich time of fellowship and sharing, a lot of laughter, and to be sure, some tears. I had a chance to present some of my own journey with the group, and be uplifed in prayer (see photo below).

A few weeks later I participated in another retreat, "Taste and See." The snow had mostly disappeared and the spring wildflowers were in full bloom. This was guided by Gisela Kreglinger, the German theologian who led the 2023 Wine Pilgrimage I participated in. She spoke about the long tradition of wine in the church and in worship, and how to heal the (relatively recent) troubled relationship between the church and wine. We explored how savoring beauty with our five senses--fine wine, good food, natural beauty, and life-giving fellowship--is to savor the goodness of God, and draw us into worship of Him together.

These were themes we explored on the pilgrimage in 2023 that began to shape my own thinking and which ultimately set me on this course to serve in the Czech Republic. It was a fitting "book-end" to this journey--from the pilgrimage that began reshaping my vision, to this retreat at the end of this nearly two-year process of preparation for the next chapter.

It was especially meaningful to me, because many in attendance represented different threads of my life journey. It was a joy to see friends experience for themselves (instead of my clumsy attempts to describe it) the awakenings I experienced during the 2023 pilgrimage. It was also a joy to see separate streams of my "world" interact and integrate with one another. And it was a joy to share some lavish wines from my parents' wine cellar (see photo below) and to watch conversations, community, and rich fellowship emerge around it.

I went to Ingalls Creek a few hours early, before the last retreat started, in order to release my parents' ashes into the rushing creek. This quiet moment of returning my parents' physical remains to the soil and water of this beautiful world that God created for us, felt fitting and right. I watched the sandy plumes travel swiftly in the torrent downstream, flowing through this special piece of land that contained many years of their blood, sweat, tears, and laughter.

So yeah, these weeks have been full of book-ends...markers between life as it was, and life as it will be, with all its pangs, stabs, and inconsolable longings that point to a greater reality and a coming new creation.

Even now, I sometimes have to catch my breath; I catch myself thinking, The Czech Republic? Am I completely nuts? (Time will tell, I suppose!) It's a place that for most of my life I hardly ever gave a second thought about. Yet now I have been "seized by the power of a great affection" for this curious, perplexing, beautiful little nation in central Europe, and a desire to make known there the nearness of God and his Kingdom. I don't know what that will look like. But that's part of the adventure, isn't it?

The Latest...

I'm in the final stages of sorting out the handful of things that will be "rescued" from the estate sale--beside the few personal effects that I'll be taking to Prague, there's a small closet-full of things that will be stored with friends. The estate sale is scheduled for the weekend of the 26th of April, after which this house will go on the market.

As of right now I still do NOT have any word concerning my Czech visa, except that it is "in process." I'm nearing the end of the 60-day window of time when I would expect it to be completed and returned to me together with my passport. Provided the visa arrives in time, my scheduled departure is late morning of Monday, May 5, from the Pasco airport. The ticket has been purchased (mostly refundable, but expensive to re-issue), along with my first month of lodging in Prague (not refundable). In addition, I have registered for a six-week language course starting in mid-May. So a fair number of things are riding on a timely arrival of my visa. But...this all lies squarely in God's hands, and there's little I can do on my end to speed things up.

My partnership development is on track! The Lord--and so many of you--have so generously and faithfully joined me in prayer support and financial support. I am so blessed and overwhelmed. In addition to the many commitments to pray for me, I am now at approximately 95% of my financial support goal! The amount remaining is less than $250 per month. This is such an encouragement to me. Thank you!

He makes me lie down in green pastures. --Ps. 23:2 FOR YOUR PRAYERS… Praise God for the generous support that He has provided, through many of you, both in terms of finances and also the people who have been consistent prayer supporters and encouragers of me on this journey--praise God, and thank you! Please pray for my Czech work/residence visa; Pray that as I wait, the Lord would quiet my heart and bolster my trust, and that I would yield to His perfect timing for the visa--and all the things that are tied to it. Please also pray for the remaining tasks to be accomplished between now and when I leave--my final packing, selling my car, preparing to sell my house, dozens of little details--and for grace in that moment that I close the door for the last time and walk away from this house that has been my home base for all my life. And finally, pray for my introduction into life in Prague. I have contracted a short-term rental until the first week of June, and so I need to find a permanent place to live in fairly short order, and also begin the process of securing my long-term residence and work visa; I also hope to begin an intensive six-week language course to get me a leg-up on full-time language study which would begin in the fall. It will be a busy summer. Pray also for my own orientation, as I begin to develop the daily rhythms and learn how to live life and function in a new place...for a life-giving community of people and for good integration with my new colleagues with the Czech Evangelical Alliance. Blessings in Christ,

CONTACT: Scott R. Johnson 1016 McPherson Ave Richland, WA 99354 mowglisj@gmail.com ~~~~~ SUBSCRIBE TO MY EMAIL LIST ~~~~~ FINANCIAL SUPPORT: I am receiving support & pledges on the Alongside Ministries Donation Page To donate or set up recurring donations, click on above link, select my name from the "Fund" drop-down menu, enter the desired amount, and recurrence information. Alternatively, checks can be sent to: Alongside Ministries PO Box 610 Langley, WA 98260 West Side Church people: You also have the option of contributing to my support via your regular giving to West Side (You can set this up with the finance office.) Funds designated for my support go directly to my support account at Alongside Ministries.