To God be the glory! It has not been since our first month of deputation in June 2018 that we went through an entire month traveling to just one outside meeting. We are grateful that most of our meetings originally scheduled for this month have either already rescheduled or have allowed us to present our ministry over the Internet! Even with an open calendar, God has allowed us to minister and serve in various, creative ways!
The first of these opportunities was the invitation to type out and record the plan of salvation in Japanese by a pastor in Brazil—a nation that holds the second-highest population of Japanese people outside of Japan! Speaking of opportunities to reach the Japanese, Lei Takamizawa, a Japanese exchange student whom we witnessed to last year who ended up trusting Christ back in February, has grown tremendously as a child of God over the last few months! He will be returning to Japan this July; please pray that God will use him to lead his family to Christ, as this is his greatest desire!
During the first part of April, God allowed us to “stay at home” with our kind and hospitable friends in Northwest Indiana. While we were there, God gave us the opportunity to be featured on the Grace to Grow radio program and to give a live update at their church in Hammond; they have been our faithful partners since the beginning of our deputation! On top of this, we prerecorded a few music specials and presentations to churches that had to be rescheduled. Just sending in a video led to a church expressing a desire to partner with us financially!
Before leaving Indiana, God allowed us to get together with some of our friends in the area to assemble and distribute special care packages with a Gospel tract attached to give out in parking lots from our vehicle, using a six-foot-long pole, as a creative means to pass out tracts during these times. Many people gladly accepted, and we are praying that these tracts will make an eternal impact! We continued with our creative outreach, as we switched locations to the prophet’s chamber offered by our faithful partner in Goodrich, Michigan. There we went to many of the local grocery stores and bought just a few items at each store in order to give a Gospel witness to the workers and shoppers! We trust that God will use these efforts.
My wife and I decided to surprise the people here at Goodrich by visiting these many families who have supported us for over a year with our instruments, bringing live special music to their doors. The children were also given a surprise on Resurrection Sunday, as candy baskets were delivered to them using six-foot-long poles! We have spent over 30 hours encouraging the saints and reaching the lost in these ways, and we are excited about what God will continue to allow us to do in the days ahead! In the midst of all of our running around, God has blessed us with a new partner in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and an individual partner in Indiana! We are humbled by the faith of God’s people, even during difficult times!
As the title of this letter suggests, the global travel bans have forced us to come to a decision that this would not be the most prudent year to host the Japan Outreach originally planned for this upcoming July with our 46 delegates. Please pray that God would allow us to negotiate full refunds from all our travel agents so that these funds can still be used for His glory! We have already decided to hold this trip in 2021, and my wife and I are still planning to embark this summer to reach the many fearful hearts in Japan. We ask that you begin praying for the 2021 Japan Outreach!
Your friends and co-laborers to Japan,
Go and Danielle Oishi
