Praise the Lord! In the midst of unusual times, God has given us plenty to praise Him for and a mountain of reasons to stay encouraged on the road! It is our prayer that all of our praying and supporting co-laborers in His Great Commission will also be encouraged as we list His praises once again.
Our month began in Palm Desert, California, where we enjoyed a tremendous meeting after an hour and a half of soul winning just one day prior. Not too far from there, we finished our final, scheduled Spanish-church meeting on our calendar that following Wednesday in Los Angeles, California. The pastor there was one of the regular speakers at the Bible college that I (Go) graduated from, so it was a very special time of reunion, where the investor was able to enjoy the fruit of his investments as a college chapel speaker. The pastor there made the decision to support us financially on the same night that we presented! What an awesome privilege it is to partner with faithful men whom God used to mold me during my training!
We concluded the last of our California meetings before our trip in July with another meeting in Atwater. The church there also voted to partner with us that same night. This city became another one of our special places, as God has now given us two supporting churches out of that city! In addition to all of this, as a part of the process of gathering the right paperwork for our entry into Japan, we needed to attend a biometrics appointment back in our home city of Wildomar, California. We were slightly concerned about the timing of this mandatory appointment; however, God has allowed us to schedule this particular appointment two days before our long drive back to the Midwest! Our God clearly knows and is in control!
At the start of our drive was our meeting in Spanish Fork, Utah, with one of our good pastor friends. From there we had just that night, the following day, and the first part of Saturday to make our 24-plus-hour drive to our next scheduled Missions Conference in Oak Creek, Wisconsin! God gave us traveling mercies once again, even through the white-out conditions in Wyoming and Nebraska! The conference itself was a wonderful time of reunion, as both of the other missionaries represented were already our good, long-time friends. The world around us changed very quickly during this conference, but we all chose to stay encouraged; and, with that, God blessed and gave us a tremendous time.
Thankfully, almost all of our remaining meetings stayed on our calendar in the form of live-stream meetings from their church property. Newburgh, Indiana, was the first of these meetings. We did everything as we always have; we went soul winning, played special music, presented, and preached! We then returned to Wisconsin for another tremendous meeting in Galesville and then back to Indiana for a meeting in Berne. There at our last meeting, the pastor decided to take us on for support! Praise God! We are thankful for those who step out in faith—even in times like these!
At the end of the month, we saw that the church in Palm Desert, California, had sent in support. In addition, we have gained four new supporting churches from our previous meetings and one new supporting church that we have never been to or even contacted! Also at the end of the month, our shipper and consignee for the 2020 Japan (Not-So-Olympic) Outreach has confirmed their services! Our needed travel document that we had the biometrics appointment for also came through! Hallelujah! God is still stirring, so we must continue to work!
Your friends and co-laborers to Japan,
Go and Danielle Oishi
