Dear Family and Friends:

At this season of Thanksgiving, all of us—Mike, Cindy, Emily and Luke—want you to know how very thankful that we are for you. Knowing that you are invested in us gives us determination and eager anticipation of one day sharing the results of our partnership together before the Lord.

We sincerely believe that it is because of people like you that God continues to bless and preserve our nation. People who not only believe, but obey the truth.

With all of that in mind, we would like to try to explain how God has been at work in our ministry this year and how you can celebrate with us and help us.

Emmy provides a great example.

In 2007, she was a woman in a precarious situation. As an African living in Japan on a work visa, she was living with an African man who was married to another woman back in Nigeria. He was living there illegally and helping others do the same.

Unhappy with this life, Emmy began looking for hope online. She came across our Jesus2020.com website and indicated that she had not yet prayed to receive Christ but wanted more information.

She started getting help right away, receiving our 30-Day-Next-Steps daily series of e-mail messages. She was connected with an Online Missionary who gave her reasons to believe. And she got connected with Mike in the weekly Bible study on Sunday evenings.

In one of the sessions, the lesson was from Matthew 13, a stern warning that ends with “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

After this lesson, Emmy wrote back:

"Believing is accepting without question or doubt. To be certain. To feel him in your life. How does that happen/come about? By grace? God given? Personal effort? or...... Its strange. I have no doubt that God exists. How come i don't get this 100% certainty about Jesus Christ?

More conversations followed, and suddenly Emmy visited my Thursday afternoon chat session to let me know she was ready. I was so surprised, because it was 3:00AM for her in Japan! She had broken up with the married man and kicked him out of her home.

Japan has a population of over 126,000,000, and the world's third largest economy.

It is one of the least-reached nations in the world, with less than 2% of the poplulation identifying as evangelical Christians.

She assured me after I led her in the sinner's prayer that there was no turning back. I helped her find a church, Calvary Chapel Yamoto, in her own city, and she's been attending there since then.

Earlier this year, Emmy reported that in going door-to-door to share her faith, she encountered members of another church. This church had no pastor and very little understanding of the Bible. They asked Emmy to come and teach them at times.

And last month, Emmy graduated from our Online Missionary training. This month, she even signed up to host chat sessions herself! Emmy has come full circle!

As a committed follower of Christ, Emmy is in an extremely strategic position. Japan is a 10/40 window country. Though blessed with great material wealth, it is impoverished in its knowledge of God. The native Japanese people are among the least-reached people of the world, with fewer than 2% evangelical Christian. Yet Emmy is there legally, with a good job and income.

You helped us win Emmy, build her in her faith, connect her to a local Christian movement, and send her out to win others. In a nutshell, that’s what our ministry is all about!

We are so grateful to the Lord for you! We well understand that we don’t do this ministry alone. No, God’s call on our life included the need to enlist a small army to stand with us. Some send, some pray, some support financially—and all can thank God together! We are an army, because we are in a war for the hearts and minds of people like Emmy; and praise is a big part of the battle for this army. We expect we will all be able to rejoice together for whatever part we each played in God’s big story of redemption! For now, stories like Emmy’s just give us a preview of what that will be like!

Thank you again for the part you play!

Love, in Christ

Mike & Cindy

“One day closer!” (Romans 13:11)

P.S. Would you share a few current prayer requests on our response form? Cindy and I would love to pray with you for those requests.

(Acrobat [PDF] version of this letter available here.)
Exactly what is it that Mike does at GMO?