February-June 2021 Update

June 2021 Update

Dear Supporters, Family, and Friends,

Greetings from Fukuoka, Japan.

In this June 2021 Ministry Update, we want to share with you some wonderful news.

Sometimes being recognized amongst your peers is a humbling experience but wonderful in all of its ramifications.

Therefore, we realize most of you would like to be aware that Vanguard University of Southern California, our Alma Mater, is recognizing Colette and I as recipients of the “Distinguished Service Award” at the 2021 Annual Alumni Awards.

If you would like to participate, we have shared the link below so you can register under “Lead and Learn,” a virtual event series, the 40th Annual Alumni Awards on 6/17/2021, celebrating several VU alumni.

The Zoom event will be at 12 noon California time and will end at 1:00 PM. For us in Japan, that will be at 4:00 am, but some of you will have time to join in the middle of your day.

We encourage you to register and join this wonderful event.

https://www.vanguard.edu/giving/alumni/alumni-awards-2021

We are so excited to share that one of our Japanese friends received Christ in one of our services. After a long time of attending our Gospel Class at the Community Center and coming to church, Oga-san with the help of many of our church people, decided to give her life to Jesus. Oga-san had attended several Gospel music clubs in Japan and loves to sing, but it was right after Christmas when she said she was 99% ready to make a decision for Christ! On a Sunday morning, she made a decision to receive Christ in front of our church family! We have not been able to meet in our regularly rented place due to the Pandemic. We were all gathered in our missions home when she made that decision. We knew that she was ready for discipleship, too. So after a few classes, we also set her baptismal date for Easter 2021.

We were surprised as all week long the weather forecast for Easter was 100% rain, except for Saturday. So, we changed the date to Saturday. Colette and I had the privilege of walking into the the Sea of Japan with Oga-san. She said to me, “Please do not drop me… I am afraid of drowning!” We reassured her that we were going to make sure she would come out of the water. People asked her if she was cold as the baptism was in the ocean. She said, “I was cold but my heart was warm.”

Oga-san is currently continuing her discipleship training and we marvel seeing how God is changing her life day by day,

Oga San Ready to be baptized

Oga San baptismal service

Praying before our Sunday service

Incidentally, our Momochi Symphony Church continues to meet in our missions home. At first we had two services and then we were online only. Now we have only one service and continue broadcasting on Facebook Live.

All over our Missions house.

We continue to search for the right building or property for our church. Some of you have sent special offerings and we thank you for that. Some of you are still thinking about it.

We want to give you a chance once again to help our church move to its own place. Now more than ever before we need our church to have its own place in order to continue worshipping and setting up outreaches for the future.

Momochi Symphony Church

If you would like to donate for our church building,

here is the link for giving to the Gonzalez Momochi Symphony Church.

https://giving.ag.org/Give/Details/4ffeb04d-1842-4f79-8e20-ca3450dd60b7?CookieCheck=1

***Be sure to check Class 60 Comments Project #5562

Prayer Requests:

1- Pray for the Momochi Symphony Church Building.

2- Pray that more people can volunteer to help our church plant.

3- Pray for Colette as she will have dental surgery on June 17th for one of her molars.

4- Pray for the pandemic to finish so that Japan can open for travelers.

Thank you for your support and prayers. We have heard from some of you, really surprising us with offerings and support. Thank you.

May the Lord bless you and we work together.

Juan Carlos and Colette González

AGWM Missionaries to Japan

Sharing with new acquaintances

January 2021 Update

As we entered the middle of January 2021, we were placed on a National State of Alert for all over Japan. That meant that we who live in Fukuoka needed to abide by the State of Emergency regarding the Corona Virus.

The National TV news and count of infections in Fukuoka on that day.

This meant that our Momochi Symphony Church went Online only, again until February 7th, but it could mean a little longer. For many days the Numbers of people infected in Fukuoka were higher than 200. As of yesterday (2/1/2021), Fukuoka city had numbers lower than 200. That’s part of the different levels of warnings that the Japanese system has in dealing with this pandemic. Please continue to pray with us for wisdom and how to better minister to people in this present situation.

Recording crew, computer presentation, video, sound, worship, translator, and all trusting in the Lord Jesus!

While online, we continue to minister to people in Japan and abroad, since our church service is recorded in Japanese and English.

Colette speaking for MSC

Continue to pray with us as the search for our church building moves forward. We pray for good location, a building that can house more than 100 people and in the right price. We pray for this daily.

Finally, pray for strength as we continue doing all ministry activities “online” or “in-person.” There are many activities and meetings plan at the local level, national level and international level, too. We have plenty of meetings on the Zoom application including the Church Planting Committee for Japan and our new Japanese Bible Study online. Please pray we can keep up with the schedule.

Juan Carlos and Colette

We truly thank you for your partnership with us, and for your prayers. どうもありがとうございます。

January 2021 cold but sunny days.

January 2021 snowy days.

October, November, December 2020 Update.

Happy New Year!

We take this opportunity to thank you for your faithful support to our ministry, your care and prayers for a successful partnership as we reach out to the “Never Reached” in Fukuoka and all Japan.

Christmas 2020 and New Year’s Highlights

We took a step of faith for our 2020 Christmas outreach. As you may know, the school rental space for our church plant is not available due to the pandemic, therefore Momochi Symphony Church (MSC) has been meeting in the tatami rooms of our missions house. From here, we also have been sending out the Sunday messages over Facebook Live. Needless to say, we have become rather proficient in doing “church” over the internet, as the early months of 2020 required us to have an alternative to not meeting at all. We have been online since early 2020, and the views have been more than we expected. We have had Bible studies online, led by our associates, and we have made children’s bible story videos, too. Who knew that was going to happen?

While coming back to in-person services, we knew that our limited space was not going to be enough for our Christmas outreach. We began to knock on doors of several places including some hotels where we have had evangelistic venues before. Two of these locations were willing to work with us but they were very expensive. As a church plant, we are always very careful with the funds we have.

One location was the Fukuoka SeaHawk Hilton Hotel. It is an icon in our city and a very professional place to deal with a crowd for our Outreach. There would be hand sanitizers, chairs would be set up following the country guidelines, and many other precautions. They showed us several rooms, some of them for large venues and very expensive. The other hotel seemed to be cheaper but still out of our reach.

But God… This is where we see your prayers, your partnership with us. We began to pray and asked some of you to intercede for this time. We met with the SeaHawk Hotel representative, telling her we are a local small Japanese church that every year celebrates Christmas with the community, but with a limited budget. After talking with the management, she came back and agreed on our price and placed us in the Olive Room, which sits 375 people! However, only 137 chairs could be set up. We advertised in the local magazine and passed out personal invitations. Colette put together an ensemble of church members, and volunteers came as never before. On Christmas Sunday, we went early to set up with the staff of the Hotel who were extremely helpful. We were ready by 10:15 to open the doors of the Olive Room which was transformed into a “church” setting for that morning. We were pleasantly surprised as 77 people showed up, some of them to celebrate Christmas for the first time, and all this in the middle of this corona virus pandemic!

Though this was an outreach, we emphasized how our church truly worships Jesus Christ. The Gospel message was presented, and at the end of the altar call 5 hands were raised. We have begun to learn more about those who made decisions, one a Chinese lady married to an international chef getting ready for baptism now.

One more lady, the wife of our real estate agent, loudly raised her hands! We have begun to follow up with her. As Japan is less than 1% Christian, when someone makes a decision in such an event, it may take years before they really come to the Lord. This is due to culture, religion, background, and family pressures. The relationship with our real estate agent’s wife has been key as she has been advocating for us to be able to find a place for MSC.

As some of you know, we were in negotiations for a three story building for MSC. However, last August 2020 we had to let it go for lack of funds. We can’t take a loan here in Japan and our goal is to be able to buy it with cash. Some of you have been waiting to help us as soon as we get an actual building. We have seen many buildings and houses, but the Lord keeps impressing on us and through our leaders not to settle for less, rather find a place where our church can grow, ministries can flow, and future outreach can happen.
We need to know how much we can count on, so we can make a bid on a location. A step of faith again, but it is God’s timing that we are trusting.

Would you please consider sending your best offering to our church plant account? Thank you.

Here is how you can send it online:
https://giving.ag.org/Give/Details/4ffeb04d-1842-4f79-8e20-ca3450dd60b7?CookieCheck=1
Mark it class 60, in the comments write:
Gonzalez Project 5562 Momochi Symphony Church Japan

Or send a check to AGWM:
Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 Boonville Ave.
Springfield, MO 65802

On the memo write: Juan Carlos & Colette Gonzalez Project #5563 Class 60

One more favor:
Please send us your church or personal email where we can send you our updates.

Contact Information:
Website: https://gonzalezinjapan.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juancarlos.gonzalez.140
email: juancarlos.gonzalez@agmd.org

Family News:
Our daughter Nicky and her husband Adam (teachers in San Antonio, TX) continue to raise our two beautiful grandkids. We are so proud of the way they are raising their own kids in addition to studying and teaching at Christian schools.
Our son Stephen married his wife Sabrina Serna on April 21, 2020, and have just been hired as Jr. High pastors for Orange County First Assembly. Pastor Drew and Lecia Smithson are taking a step of faith even during this pandemic. Please keep them in your prayers are they serve the Lord.

Prayer Requests:
Strength for this New Year while we search for a building for Momochi Symphony Church.
Pray for leaders to step into positions in our church, and for us to know how to delegate.

Lastly, thank you for your faithful support through the years, we need you more than ever before. You have given to missions, at times before your own needs, and continue reaching out with us. Thank you and please stay with us this new year. We love you.
Juan Carlos and Colette

Update July, August, September 2020

Building Project for Momochi Symphony Church.

Momochi Symphony Church Building update

While we could have never anticipated the impact of the Covid 19 in our lives, we never knew it would place a bump in our church building project. To make a long story short, the three story building which was put on hold for us to buy, we had to let it go as the owner could not wait for us any longer. We waited for more funding to come in but time was of the essence for the Real Estate agency. We are however looking for a new building and site. Why is this important now? The real estate market is good, the church needs a place to meet, for the future ministry to children, youth and families through art, music and ESL. This is all part of the vision. Following the Covid restrictions being lifted, the church was not able to go back to the rental premises due to the fact that it is a school. Right now the church meets at our house and “online.” Here is our request: would you consider helping us by sending an extra offering for Momochi Symphony Church? Would you pray for this effort to happen before the year is over? Let’s make 2020 the year to remember in Missions in Japan.

Here is a link for easy giving on line: https://giving.ag.org/Give/Details/4ffeb04d-1842-4f79-8e20-ca3450dd60b7?CookieCheck=1 Be sure to check Class 60 Comments Project #5562

Thank you so much for staying with us during this Pandemic, we love you and thank you for reaching Japan with us.

Juan Carlos and Colette González. AGWM Missionaries to Japan

May, June 2020 Update

Covid 19 has spread in Japan but not that fast, yet it managed to keep most citizens inside for a three month period already.

What have we been doing? The video update depicts our missionary work and highlights our prayer focus.

Update June 2020

Your prayers and support are so important, thank you so very much.

Juan Carlos and Colette González AGWM Japan

https://www.facebook.com/juancarlos.gonzalez.140

April 2020 Update

In the middle of the CoVid19 Pandemic, we continue presenting the message of Hope for anyone who needs it.

April video update

We’d love to hear back from you. Also follow us on Juan Carlos Gonzalez Facebook page where you’ll see more videos and pictures of our daily life. Here it is: https://www.facebook.com/juancarlos.gonzalez.140

We still walk to keep our minds and bodies healthy. God is in control

“God is on the move” is our saying all through these months. We are experiencing how God is reaching and saving in the middle of all uncertainties. God is providing and healing those that need a touch. We could write with amplitude of phrases but the theme is that God is healing and proving Himself real to many. May God also move in our hearts in this season of great wonder. God is on the move.

Video Update March 2020

Juan Carlos and Colette González
AGWM Missionaries to Japan

Our video update to encourage our Pastors, Churches, friends and family.

March 2020 Update

Dear Supporting Churches, Family, and Friends.

We have been under strict measures in order to avoid the Corona Virus infection in our city of Fukuoka (2.2 million people), Japan.

Schools, gatherings of 15 people, unnecessary events, etc. have been suspended for the last month already.

Colette leading MSC in worship

Though our church plant has gathered in our house for the time being, we are aware that our work must always be ever changing and adapting to the new reality, the law, being careful to care for one another

.

MSC church plant service

Our present situation here in Fukuoka, Japan is improving and we see the city coming back slowly. We are not minimizing the situation, but we have seen God’s hand working in our city, our neighborhood. There is a sense that God is doing a new thing. It is permeating all through our church people.

For that reason, we are sending you this message to say “Thank you” for your support, your prayers, and for continuously presenting to the church the cause of foreign missions.

We have seen some very trying days here in Fukuoka, Japan, but God has been faithful. Let me assure you that you will experience the same care from our God.

Please know that we are praying for you, your churches, your members, and your family wherever you are.

We are continuously doing the work you sent us to do, even in these difficult times.

We are resolute in presenting the Gospel of Jesus here in Fukuoka, Japan more than ever before.

Pray for us as we pray for you. Together let us continue doing the work of presenting Jesus to this generation.

May the Lord bless you and make you strong in this season of faith building.

Your Missionaries to Japan.

Juan Carlos and Colette González

Colette and Juan Carlos 2020

On another note. Our Stephen and Sabrina’s wedding is scheduled for May 30th, 2020 in Santa Ana, California.

Would you please pray for them? If you wish to send them a note, please email Stephen at:

automator0501@gmail.com

Their goal is to be in ministry (Youth, Church) as the Lord guides them.

Stephen and Sabrina 2020

December 2019 Update.

So much to say, so little time… little town of Bethlehem… I can hear the tune of this Christmas Carol in my web based application. It does not play in Japan very often, of course, perhaps in our churches.

Preparation by our volunteers, missionaries, and many friends…

Today, it is Christmas Day and I can recount the many hours of preparation and anticipation to celebrate the birth and coming of Jesus as a baby. The Gospel choir worked for months, the children’s choir sang, staff put hours, and volunteers, too.

Singing and worship was at the center of our service.

The results were 88 people attended and heard the message of Christmas in The Christmas Sunday service, culminating with 66 people gathering to celebrate with candles and carols the birth of Jesus.

Christmas service

Lightning of the Advent candles by our volunteers.

As I pondered this morning, I am engulfed with an incredible sense of love from our Lord Jesus. As a missionary in Japan, we have been here for over 25 years now, and we are finally seeing some results, not without being changed ourselves. The Lord Jesus who came more than 2,000 years ago is still transforming us according to his purpose and likeness.

May the Joy, Peace, Hope, and Love of this Christmas also transform you today.

Merry Christmas

Thank you for helping us in 2019, let’s do even more in 2020.