First, I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and support, which allowed us to finish deputation and make it to the field. We are at 100% of our support, and I am now writing this letter from our home in Japan! Much has happened between this letter and the last one.
Our deputation officially started in November 2020. Though things were a bit slow-moving initially, God soon pushed us faster than we could have imagined. After driving tens of thousands of miles (around 50,000, if my calculations are correct), 52 flights (if you count each segment) crisscrossing the USA multiple times, and visiting every state except Alaska (we had a brief layover in Hawaii on our way to Japan), we have officially completed deputation. We are beyond thankful to all of the churches, pastors, church staff, and faithful brothers and sisters who sustained us through prayer, visiting, encouragement, giving, and hosting us through this journey. We truly could not have done it without all of the help we received. We are incredibly thankful to all of you from the bottom of our hearts.
February was our last month of deputation. On February 9, my wife and I flew to Dallas, Texas, for a meeting at Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva in Lewisville. I was able to preach, while Pastor Ben Frandsen translated my message into Spanish. This church was such a blessing to us, and we felt right at home with all of them. They voted that night to support us! The next day, we flew to Orlando, Florida, to be with two other churches that Sunday. On Monday, February 13, my wife and I spent the day together celebrating our 18th anniversary! God has been so good to us over these years.
On Tuesday, February 14, my wife and I flew back to Dallas, Texas, together. She continued back home to Sacramento, California, while I remained behind to attend a fantastic Missions Conference at Parkside Baptist Church in Mesquite. On Saturday, I flew to the Columbus, Ohio, area for one last meeting on February 19 before returning home to California!
Upon returning to California, we only had one week before our move to Japan. We worked at a breakneck pace to pack all of our belongings! On our final Sunday in the U.S., February 26, I had the privilege of preaching the evening service at our sending church, Regency Baptist Church. It was a bittersweet and humbling night, as the church truly honored us. Words cannot describe the emotions we felt that night.
Finally, on March 1, we departed San Francisco to Osaka, Japan. We arrived in Japan on March 2, where Bro. Go & Danielle Oishi and Pastor & Mrs. Eriya Ogawa of the Senri Newtown Baptist Church greeted us. They helped us load up our 18(!) suitcases/storage totes and take them to our rental house in Minoo City (Greater Osaka area). The following few weeks were quite hectic as we worked to get settled into our home and unpack everything. Bro. Go and Mrs. Danielle were also incredibly gracious to help take us around to complete all of the official things we needed to do and help us with our children while we made many trips to get things we needed. We are forever grateful to them for all of their help, as well as the wonderful testimony they have left behind here at the church.
In my following letter, I will go into more detail about our time in Japan and how God is already working! Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for us, as now the work truly begins! I have just started language school, and my wife will also start soon. We have much to learn!
Finally, I wanted to share our updated field address and phone number. The old phone number and address still work as well, but if anyone wanted to send something directly, this would be the best address:
562-0031
Osaka-fu, Minoo-shi
Onoharahigashi 6-13-14
+81 070-3981-8076 (Japan)
In His service,
Brendan Morgan
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- Checking all of our luggage at the San Francisco Airport
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- Exploring our new neighborhood in Japan!
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- Senri Newtown Baptist Church, Minoo, Osaka, Japan
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- My message being translated by Pastor Ben Frandsen of Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva
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- Our final service at Regency Baptist Church with the Jeremy Lumagbas family
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- • Even if for only a couple of hours in the airport, at least we can all say that we have been to Hawaii!
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- My wife and I with Pastor & Mrs. Palmani at Fort Cooper Baptist Church in Inverness, Florida
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- Me with Mrs. Jomhong, missionary to Thailand at Parkside Baptist Church, Mesquite, Texas
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- Receiving our first letter from family back in America!
