STORY OF REDEMPTION | a journey from brokenness to hope in Jesus

Michael Johnson was part of Leaders Collective’s sixth church planter cohort. He joined while preparing to launch a church in Rantoul, Illinois. This is a bit of his story.

After falling in love with an often overlooked community, our family moved to Rantoul, Illinois, in October of 2018. We started a Bible study with a few families in town, but since I had never pastored or planted a church before, I felt like I didn’t measure up to the other church planters in my Leaders Collective cohort. I soon found out not even a global pandemic could stop what God was doing in our small town: In the fall of 2020, we launched Rantoul Community Church (RCC).

We started RCC in a forgotten place for forgotten people. People like Michael, whose incredibly difficult circumstances left him feeling on the margins of society. At just 23 years old, Michael lost two of his three kids in a house fire and ended up with burns over 70% of his body while trying to save his boys. Before Michael even left the hospital, his fiancé informed him that she was leaving him and taking with her their surviving daughter. After months of surgeries and therapy, Michael was released from the hospital, but he soon turned to drugs and one failed relationship after another to numb the pain.

Looking for a fresh start, Michael moved to Rantoul two years ago. I came across a post of his online, expressing an interest in meeting new people and finding a church, so I messaged him directly. Over coffee, Michael opened up about the fire and his fiancé—and the changes these events had on his life. I invited him to join us on Sundays, and he began attending our worship gatherings and a community group sporadically. He soon befriended Scott, a big guy at our church with an even bigger heart. Scott found Michael transportation for his new job, but Michael’s destructive patterns ultimately caught up with him again—landing him a short stint in jail.

During Michael’s time in jail, Scott mailed him a Bible. As Michael began reading, he realized, “At my lowest, God found me and said that He is not done with me.” Although Scott and I had previously tried to get Michael into a Christ-centered residential treatment program in town, this time Michael himself took the initiative. He left prison and joined the “Jesus is the Way” Prison Ministry. Michael is not only sober now, he is a different man. He is a man who loves God’s Word, a man who is reaching out to reconcile past relationships. Michael is a man who is walking in faith and obedience. Recently, Michael shared his testimony with our church family, ending with these words:

“I never thought things could be like this for me, that I was too broken. But now I know different. If God can use me, he can do this for anyone.”

Please join me in praying for more stories like Michael’s. Pray that many more people who feel forgotten and overlooked would find their way into God’s story. Pray that the single moms and the fatherless drawn to the streets of Rantoul would see Jesus and find a family at RCC. Pray also for our leaders as we seek to grow our elder team and shepherd this growing flock. As I seek to love and serve our church family, pray also for me, that I would consistently care for my wife and four kids sacrificially. Pray that the community of Rantoul would be transformed by Jesus as our loving church family makes his grace known in our words and actions.