Praise the Lord! Happy New Year! The year 2023 was an incredible year full of miracles, and we anticipate in faith that the Lord will do even greater things in 2024! Allow me to recap all that God did last year. In March 2023, we completed our time of training and preparation at the Senri Newtown Baptist Church in Minoo, Osaka, and saw our last soul saved there on one of our final days. In April 2023, we took our first pastorate as the interim pastor of the Immanuel Bible Baptist Church in Nayoro, Hokkaido, to cover for another missionary family, and God allowed us to see a total of 16 souls trust Christ during our 6 months there! Finally, in October 2023, we planted our first church, the Kisarazu Hope Baptist Church, and God gave us an incredible Grand Opening, with 23 first-time visitors and 1 soul coming to Christ on Christmas Day! In 2023, God allowed us to see a total of 18 souls come to Christ. Since starting the Kisarazu Hope Baptist Church, we have had the privilege of hosting 4 missions trips from supporting churches in the U.S., and 33 different people have come to our different church services, not counting our visitors from the United States! We are so thankful for your continued part in it all!
We would like to begin this month’s report covering some of what did not fit into our previous report covering December 2023, as God has done so much. Back in Minoo, Osaka, we received the wonderful news that the younger sister of the last soul we had the privilege of leading to Christ there got saved at their Christmas Eve Service! Please continue to pray that the rest of this dear family of 7 would come to Christ, and that the 2 who are now saved would grow in Him. That same day, here in Kisarazu, Chiba, we held our last Grand Opening Christmas Service, and we wanted to mention that 2 of the many visitors who came that day were volunteers we met at a local historical museum, a part of a group of people in Japan who are known to be some of the most difficult to reach, as they are so deeply rooted in the history and culture of idolatry in Japan. Three of our visitors came from contacts that our group from Ohio made by playing pickup basketball! Trying out all these unusual methods in Japan and seeing what God did through all of them has taught us that God works in ways beyond what makes sense to us. On December 30 & 31, we held special New Year’s Eve fellowships at our home to get better connected with the people who have come since we started. After our December 30 fellowship, we went to one of the properties, owned by our faithful attendee from Hong Kong, to dedicate it to the Lord. We praise God for not only allowing us to see lost people hear the Gospel message for the first time but also to see saved people grow and be used of the Lord!
We had our first youth activity on January 5, and throughout the month, we have been able to connect with the contacts God has allowed us to make thus far, both saved and unsaved, on a much more personal level through visitation and special activities in our home, such as cooking and English conversations. On January 7, we had 2 more first-time visitors come to our church, both yet to be saved but desiring to come regularly. We took our first offering on that day for a church that was affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake disaster.We had a saved visitor from the U.K. start attending our church on January 28, and he has come faithfully every week since. The lost Japanese man who introduced us to the lady who got saved on Christmas Day has also come faithfully every week. The Christian man from Hong Kong and his 2 sons have also come faithfully since our fourth week of holding services here when he came as our very first visitor. I just mentioned 7 people who are now attending regularly, and currently, our church office, which we are also using as a temporary auditorium to start off in, can only seat 10. We maxed out our parking-lot space towards the end of the month, and as many of our visitors have mentioned wanting to bring more visitors, we anticipate that we will soon be maxing out our church office/auditorium! We praise God that we are already looking for a larger meeting space for our Sunday services! We currently have a potential meeting space booked for Resurrection Sunday that, if all goes well, may become our new meeting location. It is located right on the northern edge of town in the Kaneda neighborhood, where all the new development is taking place and the population is growing rapidly. Thank you for praying for God to open the right door for us! The next big event on our church calendar is Friend Day on February 11. Thank you for praying for God to open the right door for us and that God would continue to build His church!
Danielle’s Journey
Thank you so much for continuing to pray for us. Things have settled down a bit, and we are beginning to get into a rhythm of life in Kisarazu. God has been adding to the church quite frequently, and I look forward to when He will add children and ladies as well! I have been in contact with the lady who got saved on Christmas, and she has said that she would love to come but has been very busy with work and family. Wednesday evenings often just consist of my husband and me right now, so we send a text to those who are saved, asking if they have any prayer requests. She has replied many times, once even mentioning the salvation of a friend. It is exciting to see her spiritual understanding, but we would love to see her attend a church service and grow in Christ Biblically! I also have many lessons prepared for children, with games and crafts to go along with them. We want to be ready for how and when God decides to grow these ministries! Thank you so much for your constant prayer; it means so much to us!
Your friends and co-laborers to Japan,
Go and Danielle Oishi
