Michael Johnson, or Mike “The Rock” Johnson, as the Betenbough Homes team calls him, is a trade partner who is no stranger to hardship. He’s also no stranger to trusting in God for miracles. After living through addiction, committing to treatment, and finding freedom, he now offers jobs to others going through similar experiences.

Mike is known in the Permian as a hard-worker who will do anything that needs doing.

Anything, that is, until the vertebrae in his neck deteriorated and began to damage his spinal cord.

When Mike first started losing sensation in his fingers, he thought he was just getting clumsy. But the symptoms progressed.

His doctor ordered an MRI and explained that Mike needed major surgery to place a bar in his neck that would take the pressure off his spinal cord. But Mike was worried about losing his job and his home, so he put off having the surgery. He didn’t want to take care of himself at the expense of letting others down.

As time passed, Mike’s symptoms became debilitating. When he moved his neck, the pinched nerves would send what felt like electricity through his body. Mike lost feeling in both hands. He couldn’t raise his arms. He started losing his balance. Faced with such serious consequences, he was finally forced to have the surgery.

Mike has been working with Betenbough Homes in Midland and Odessa for years, even attending Jumpstarts with the teams. He shares his testimony openly and likes to ask others what God has put on their heart, so it was just natural that during his recovery, Mike reached out to Abe Fuentez, Odessa area development manager, and Stacy Bradley, Odessa warranty manager for prayer. They inquired about his needs, but Mike didn’t want to ask for anything. He just told them he needed prayer.

Abe, however, pressed for more information. Knowing Mike had been unable to work for several weeks, Abe asked if he had any needs besides prayer, including his bills. Mike confessed that he was worried about losing his job and his home.

Abe told Mike, “Don’t worry about your job. Let’s worry about you.”

Mike gets emotional just thinking about that conversation. He was told, “You’ve been a good asset to Betenbough. You’ve been there, and you’ve done good work. We want to help you.”

The leadership in Odessa and Midland began to discuss how they could raise money to help Mike with his bills. They considered a raffle or a fundraiser, but they concluded that the need was too urgent. So they texted everyone in their regions who knew Mike, offering the opportunity for them to donate their own money to help Mike keep his home. By the following Monday, the two regions had collected $2,000.

Jaron Dobbins, Odessa construction manager, and Jesse Gutierrez, Midland warranty manager, coordinated to meet Mike in the field and present him with the gift. Mike was speechless. In his own words, “My heart kind of melted.”

When Mike recovered from the shock, he thanked Jaron and Jesse, expressing his gratitude to God and Betenbough Homes.

Mike was able to catch up on his rent and camper payments, allowing him and his wife to keep their home. In addition to the financial gift, Jaron and Tyler Cullum (Odessa construction manager) found light duty work for Mike that allowed him to get back to earning a living while still safely recovering from his surgery.

“Generous stewardship met the needs of a trade partner who is one of our own. There’s a brotherhood that exists. We saw a need, we talked about it, and the Holy Spirit guided us into feeling like we needed to take responsibility for this. God invited us to directly be a blessing as we have been blessed.”

– Daniel Skolfield

Mike’s x-rays show his neck is healing well. His balance is back, his endurance is growing, he is regaining movement in his arms, and sensation is slowly returning to his hands, which the doctor said could take up to a year. He gives God all the glory for his healing and provision, knowing it was the Lord Who directed the Betenbough Homes team to bless him.

When asked how Betenbough Homes has impacted his life, Mike says, “For me, there’s no better people in this world to work for.”