Hallelujah! We have too much to cover, so we are diving right in! On July 1, we contacted the same elementary schools where we distributed Gospel tracts in front of the school gates as the students were being dismissed leading up to Christmastime. We praise God that these doors stayed open for us, and the school closest to our church auditorium was especially enthusiastic about giving us permission once again due to the testimony that God has allowed us to build with them! We did the school-gate outreach on July 10, and we praise God that, once again, the majority of the students, approximately 300, gladly received our tracts! Please pray that God would use this to help new families and children know Christ!

On July 15, we provided a Vacation Bible School program for the Boso Grace Baptist Church in the city of Oami-Shirasato, a church we have been helping, which is located an hour and a half away from our home. I was given the privilege of playing the cello, leading songs, and teaching the lesson, while my wife led the games and activities and also played the violin and piano. God brought three children to this program, as well as many of their family members and adult visitors who have yet to trust Christ. One of these adult visitors ended up trusting Christ later in the month at our church’s three-day evangelistic summer program, “Open Church,” while hosting 15 delegates who came on the FBMI Japan Missions Trip through our missions agency!

The FBMI Japan Missions Trip has been in the making since 2020. After a series of cancellations, God allowed us to host this group of 15 delegates four years later. However, to say that demonic forces fought hard against this trip would be an understatement, and now that we have seen the amount of impact that God has allowed this group to make, we can understand why. After a nearly missed flight, the first 11 delegates arrived on Wednesday, July 24. We praise God that we also had a first-time visitor brought by one of our regulars for our midweek service that night! The remainder of the group, whose initial flight was cancelled at the last minute, arrived at 4:00 a.m. on the following day. The “Open Church” program was held on the following three days, and we praise God that between the three services, which many of our church regulars attended, God gave us three first-time visitors. One of the adult visitors, who also came to the Vacation Bible School, ended up trusting Christ as her personal Saviour! In addition, one of the men who is not yet saved but who has been coming to our services regularly came to all three days of our program. On the last day, he had told me that, though he still was not placing his faith in Christ, his attitude towards the Gospel had changed and he was starting to seriously consider Christ! Please pray that he would trust Christ soon! The group transferred over to Osaka on Monday to serve at the Senri Newtown Baptist Church’s Summer Children’s Program, “Summer Bible Blast,” on Tuesday. God gave us over 80 children in attendance, with a majority of them being first-time visitors from non-Christian homes! My wife and I had the privilege of translating for the group, and we praise God that two children trusted Christ that day! On Wednesday, my wife and I returned to Kisarazu ahead of the group to hold our midweek service, and our visitor from last week returned! Over at the Senri Newtown Baptist Church, five of the trip delegates committed to surrendering as missionaries to Japan should God give them a clear call! Praise God, the Gospel still works!

Danielle’s Journey

Much of this month was spent preparing for the missions trip and the “Open Church” event that would take place at the end of this month. I designed, printed, and cut the flyers that we passed out in front of the elementary school. Most of the children were excited to receive the flyers, and some even remembered us from Christmas when we had given them flyers for the church’s Grand Opening! We then had the privilege of running a Vacation Bible School for the church about an hour and a half away. Three young children and their parents attended! I was able to fellowship with them after the event, and we really enjoyed our time there! Then, the missions trip began! It was my job to plan and delegate for any meal preparations during the trip, as well as take the group on mass transit and navigate the group, while Go took who he could in the car. During “Open Church,” I ran the reception table. It was so exciting to see visitors walk through the door and even more exciting to see one of them get saved! They all said that they hoped to return! The day after “Open Church,” we all boarded the train, the bus, and then the bullet train to Osaka to help with the “Summer Bible Blast”! There were many first-time visitors, as well as regulars, who attended! I had the privilege of helping in the three- to five-year-old class to translate where needed and help with the craft. It was so nice to see everyone again, and I was so happy that some of the children I worked with while training there still remembered me! Please pray with us that these events will have a lasting impact!

Your friends and co-laborers to Japan,

G0 & Danielle Oishi