Nearly six years ago, John Reeves, and the leadership of RADIUS Church, graciously asked my family to move to South Carolina to partner with RADIUS Church. After seeing what God was doing at RADIUS Church, how could we not take this opportunity to serve alongside you? The RADIUS family welcomed us and helped make South Carolina feel like home. It has been amazing to see the mission of RADIUS happen before our eyes. We witnessed churches planted, disciples made, and generosity lived out. The Johnson family is honored to have been a part of what God is doing through RADIUS. We hope that we have helped move the mission along. 

Another opportunity has presented itself for our family and we feel God has opened this door for us to walk through. This June, we will be moving back to Texas as I join the staff at Faith Bible Church in Houston as the Lead Teaching Pastor. I am excited about the opportunity to use the gifts that God has given me to help lead and shepherd Faith Bible in the coming years. While this ministry opportunity is exciting, we are not looking forward to saying goodbye to RADIUS. 

When you are part of a family, you grieve and cry together, and we have done that. With tears in my eyes, I write these words. It was an honor to cry with many of you as you endured pain and loss. Trials and hardship bind people together like nothing else. You will always have a massive place in our hearts! 

As a family, you laugh and celebrate, and we did much of that. I am sure there will be videos and stories that will come out of hiding to remind us of all the fun times together. Most of them will be at my expense. The Johnson family will cherish all these memories. 

I want to share several things we learned and will take with us forever, hoping you don’t take them for granted. 

• RADIUS: we are responsible for the people in our radius (where we live, work, and play). 
• Pray the truth about yourself. Authenticity (Real Faith) happens when we tell the truth, which starts with God.
• Live open-handed: Our stuff is not ours anyway. We are stewards of God’s resources. This is the heart of generosity at RADIUS. 

There are more, but these are the highlights. Lots of places talk about these things, but RADIUS truly values them. We will happily leave some things in South Carolina: Clemson vs. South Carolina, pulled pork as “bar-b-que,” and “hey bo.” 

When Paul left the church in Ephesus after nearly three years of ministry, he said to the elders, “I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house. I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus... for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole plan of God. Acts 20: 20-21, 27. I hope those words will be true of me as we leave RADIUS. 

Thank you for allowing me and my family to serve alongside you these last five-plus years. I appreciate your friendship. Thank you for allowing me to use my gifts here at RADIUS. Thank you for investing in Terri and my kiddos! Thank you! We have some time before we move, so I look forward to finishing strong and enjoying our final times together. 

Russell

The Johnson family will be in Lexington and serving at RADIUS until the end of the school year. Please join us in prayer for them as they transition and move. We will miss the Johnson family greatly, but we can’t wait to see the fruit multiplied for Christ by Russell and his family back in their home state of Texas.