Thank you for praying and giving to help reach the people of Osaka for Christ. In Osaka, Japan, less than 1% of the population has trusted Jesus for salvation. Most have never heard the story of Jesus or anything about how much He loves them. Your faithful intercession and generosity undergird us as we saturate Osaka with the love and hope of Christ.

Opportunities for the gospel abound. Deep in Southern Japan lies a city of nearly 3 million people: Osaka. While the Japanese government is open to gospel workers, less than 1% of Japanese know Jesus personally. Most have never heard the story of Jesus and have no idea how God’s love can impact their lives. Amid this darkness is the “Saturate Osaka” team, working to shine the light of Christ across the city and communicate the love and hope of Jesus.

God’s unexpected solution. Last December, a non-believing event organizer invited our team to participate in a community festival in our local street market. We were given a booth, provided we offered a product for sale or included a game where participants could win prizes. The organizer suggested giving away Bibles. We prepared for 100 and gave away all the prizes before the event ended. Each prize bag included a toy, information about our ministries, a gospel tract, a Christian comic book, and a Japanese New Testament. The booth and the prizes were a hit!

The organizer invited us to host another booth for this year’s festival in September. We ordered 120 Bibles and made prize bags. The event day was non-stop work for our team as a steady stream of children lined up to play our game and check out the contents of the prize bags. Most of these children have never heard of Jesus. They were excited about the toy and candy, but we noticed many of these precious children devouring the Christan comic book and thumbing through the first Bible they had ever held in their hands. Even though there were dances to honor false gods and mobile shrines being carted through the festivities, the light of the gospel was shining bright. In total, 120 Bibles found their way into the homes of Japanese families, who likely had never had the printed Word of God under their roof. Even with the increased number of Bibles, we still needed more.

Since the festival, we have seen new community members attend events they learned about at our booth in the street market. We have also been invited to host a similar booth at a school’s fall festival later this month. Through your generosity, we can have this kind of influence in our community. Together, we can “Saturate Osaka” with the gospel.

Join us in prayer.

• Pray Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it,” over the Bibles we distributed. Pray the Bibles are read and believed.
• Pray that the relationships that began at these street festivals will continue to grow so we have additional opportunities to share the gospel in Osaka.

Thank you for partnering with us to reach the nations for Christ. We appreciate your sacrificial giving and prayers as we labor together to solve the world’s greatest problem: lostness.