Hallelujah! The Lord has done it! By the grace of God, we are writing this special praise report on the third day of December on our one-way flight to Japan to begin our permanent ministry there. November was our last month of residence in the United States, and the Lord truly made it a very special month for us in countless different ways. We are thrilled to share with you what God allowed us to be a part of in our final deputation days.
We were truly blessed to have scheduled meetings until the day of our departure. The final Missions Conference of our deputation took place in Parkersburg, West Virginia, where God allowed us to see a series of miracles. Two out of the five other missionary families represented there were our close friends, and we had the privilege of expressing our gratitude for their friendship and faithfulness at a local Filipino restaurant. After our meal was finished, one of the missionary men and a personal friend of mine, Garry Tingson, a Filipino missionary to Australia, was able to lead the cashier, Mandel, to Christ! While he was witnessing, I had the privilege of witnessing to a lady named Natasha, a staunch Atheist. Though she did not get saved that day, she listened intently, and I believe a very crucial Gospel seed was planted that I pray would take root in the future. The very next day, we took a young teenage boy from the church named Devin, with a strong burden for missions, to that same restaurant after going out soul winning. After that meal, I had the privilege of leading our waiter, Andres, to Christ! While I was witnessing to him, there was a couple sitting at the corner of the restaurant praying for Andres’ salvation. It turned out that they just happened to be visiting from Pennsylvania. When Andres got saved, there was rejoicing in the entire restaurant, and Mandel was rejoicing with us! Immediately afterwards, we continued knocking on doors, and a man named Perry was won to the Lord! We are thankful for the 6 hours of soul winning that God gave us during this conference. On the closing Sunday, God gave us $3,500 to cover the tract courier expenses for the 2021 Japan Olympic Outreach through the sacrificial investment of a man who has requested to remain anonymous. My wife and I are overwhelmed by the goodness of God.
Upon returning to California, my wife and I were hit hard with Coronavirus symptoms and had to stay home for two weeks, after which God gave us a full recovery. Our final local meeting was rescheduled to the end of the month at what would become our very last church service before departing for Japan. We suddenly found out that our departure was near when the Japanese government issued the crucial COE document on the 12th, which arrived in our mail on the 19th, granting our long-term entry into Japan! We immediately applied for the visa the very next day, and it was miraculously issued and delivered to our mail on the 30th! My wife and I both were able to obtain our international driving permits and have our final church service with our home and sending church in the meantime. It was a very sweet time of thanking those who have invested their lives in us, especially for my wife, who is a product of the Faith Baptist Church of Wildomar and the Faith Baptist Academy. During this service, a young teenager came up to me and told me that he had made the decision to surrender his life to the mission field!
On the same day that the visa arrived, we booked our flight, our 14-day quarantine lodging, and our private transport to get there. In addition, our viewing appointment for an apartment in Osaka was booked for December 21! All that needs to be done now is to receive a negative COVID test result and enter the borders here in just a few hours when we land. Thank you so much for your prayers all along the way!
Your friends and co-laborers to Japan,
Go and Danielle Oishi
