Glory to God! By His grace, we are now officially in the fourth quarter of our deputation, with close to 80% of our support raised. Five supporting churches were added to us this month, among many other blessings; and we are excited, as always, to share with you what God has done this month.
We continued in our new territory with a meeting in Delta, Utah, and then one in Idaho Falls, Idaho. God gave us great favor in these meetings. During our snowy journey, we received two miraculous phone calls. The first was from our supporting church in Beaver Creek, Oregon, where we have had the opportunity of reaching Japanese exchange students hosted by their Christian school. It was the wonderful news that Lei Takamizawa, the very first young man I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with during our time there back in September, had accepted Christ as his personal Saviour! We have been praying for him since our time together, and it was wonderful to hear that more fruit has been reaped from the seeds that were sown. The second call came from another one of our supporting churches in El Cerrito, California. During a layover in Japan on the way to a missions trip to the Philippines, the missions director there had surrendered to the mission field when witnessing the darkness of Japan with his own eyes! Seeing fruit such as this makes us even more excited about what God will do during the 2020 Japan Olympic Outreach!
Our next meeting took place in DuPont, Washington, where the church there voted to partner with us financially that same night! For that meeting, we had the privilege of lodging with our dear friends who allowed us to use their guest home as our base when traveling in the Northwest for the last time before our first term in Japan. It is difficult to believe that we are now in the goodbye phase of deputation! As we left Washington, we received a letter from them, letting us know that they have prayerfully decided to support us individually as a family! It is difficult to part from our friends in the United States but encouraging to know that each of these families and churches has a part in what God allows us to do.
Deputation continued as we traveled back through Pocatello, Idaho, for a meeting, and then down into Dudleyville, Arizona. While we were there, the church in Bacavi, Arizona, on the Hopi Reservation that we presented to last month, contacted us to let us know of their decision to partner with us! Blessings continued at the next church we presented at in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the congregation voted right away to have a monthly part in our ministry. Praise the Lord! This has truly been a month where much prayer and financial support have been added.
The church that we had the privilege of presenting to next was in Arizona City, Arizona, and there the Lord blessed us with an increase that is far greater than money. Not only are they a praying church, but they have produced one of the young men going with us on the 2020 Japan Olympic Outreach, who is currently training not only to be effective on this outreach, but also to have a possible future ministry with us in Japan. We were introduced to his family, who all, by faith, have fully supported his calling. Glory to God for more laborers—our greatest prayer request!
We ended this month with an hour and a half of soul winning in Palm Desert, California. The first of March is when we present, and we are excited to see what God does, as He has clearly given us favor already with the church here! Thank you for your part in all that we praise God for.
Your friends and co-laborers to Japan,
Go and Danielle Oishi
