Johnny Rowlett Ministries APRIL newsletter
On The Road with Gale and Johnny Rowlett
California
We had an amazing, busy, but successful trip to this beautiful state. We didn’t even have two days in a row that we didn't have ministry to do. We started in the incredible valley of Temecula. The greatest thing we get to do besides seeing people come to Jesus, is meet His incredible co-laborers. Let me just say that California is alive and well and full of amazing men and women of God. For example, Pastor Mike Gratkze and his amazing wife as well as Gary Gilleon and his wonderful wife. This team is doing some of the most impacting work in southern California. While working with them, I spoke at a Senior luncheon, mens breakfast, a speakers forum and two church services. God really touched many lives. We loved being connected to such amazing people.
One of the highlights was being able to hang out in San Diego with none other than Mary James and her husband Dan. We then headed over to Sonora, CA. We were amazed to find out we were at the gate of Yosemite National Forest. Tom and Donna Modrell took us on a personal sightseeing tour. We then headed over to San Jose and did the coolest church ever. It was called City Encounter church, it was held at the world famous IMPROV. Pastor D’Andre was an amazing host. Lastly, we stopped at the “Cowboy Capital of the World” as advertised by the city of Oakdale. We got to do a concert with my favorite family band called De-la-Croix. God showed off!
Our Journey Home...God is Faithful!
Well, I wish I could say it was smooth and easy but this turned out to be our most difficult stretch. A trip that should have taken us about 2 days ended up taking almost 5. Weather and breakdowns almost got the best of us. We decided to not lose heart and not grow weary in our faith. All we wanted to do was get home for Easter. I am grateful to say we were able to spend Easter Sunday with our kids and our church family.
Monthly Funny
What started as a really tough day, with being re-routed from Wyoming to Colorado and then finding out our new path was also closed, ended up with hilarity. We had just found out we were going to be stuck in a small town in Utah that was unfamiliar to us. On top of that bad news I had just spent quite a bit of money on batteries, hoping it would fix the volt meter issue rather than having to replace an even more expensive alternator. We found a place to park and stay the night. Both Gale and I were at an edge that we both knew but chose not to discuss or even acknowledge. We began the process of putting down the levelers on “OZ” our motorhome. I was standing outside and watching them come down as Gale was pressing the buttons and watching the gage inside. when we got it just right. Gale stood up to walk away. As she did she accidentally laid on the horn. As you can imagine it scared me beyond what is healthy. We laughed until we cried
Loss of a great man
While on tour in Santa Cruz California, I got the news that my Grandpa Thurman had passed away. We had to make last minute arrangements to get back home (Bartlesville OK) for his funeral. We are so grateful for some of our ministry partners that helped make that possible. Im not going to say that it wasn't hard to say goodbye to Grandpa, but I will say that it turned out to be a wonderful family time. God used it to minister to one another and bring our focus back to him. The thing that was most important to me was being with my mother during her dads passing. As the oldest grandson it gave me a platform to speak and sing a message of restoration to the rest of the family at the graveside. My mother was heart broken, but filled with love and support from us kids. It was also my great honor to be a pallbearer with my father (Pic above). It made me beyond grateful to have my father still in my life. My parents are incredible people who played a major part of what I do today. I am grateful for my family.
