UPDATE: June 1, 2026
Hello everyone!
First, we want to thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. Those of you who are already supporting us monthly have been such a blessing to our family and ministry. Your generosity has helped carry us through an important season, and we are excited to share some incredible updates about what the Lord has been doing over the last few months.
Over this past season, we intentionally stepped back to seek the Lord’s direction. During that time, God began laying a solid foundation and giving us a fresh vision for the future. Now, we feel more prepared than ever to move forward full steam toward Japan.
After resigning from WGM, we spent a lot of time praying about the path God wanted us to take. We explored several different opportunities, but none of them felt like the right fit or brought peace from the Lord. During this transition, some of our supporters still wanted to continue giving financially, so donations were temporarily processed through the FGEA. However, since the FGEA is not designed to permanently process donations for individuals, we were advised that the best long-term solution would be to establish a nonprofit organization.
Praise the Lord, He had already been preparing the way!
Last year, God impressed on us the importance of creating a name for our mission Facebook page. That name, Mission 16:24, became the obvious choice for our new nonprofit ministry. Since then, we have assembled a board of advisors, completed paperwork, received nonprofit approval through the state of Arkansas, obtained an EIN, and opened a nonprofit bank account. We were also able to launch online giving directly through our website!
Currently, we are also working toward becoming an affiliated ministry with the FGEA, which would allow us to operate under their 501(c)(3). Through all of these steps, God has continued opening doors and confirming our direction. Mission 16:24 is now officially moving forward as the ministry through which we will raise support and pursue the call to Japan.
We also want to share a quick side announcement. If you have not already visited it, please check out our brand-new website:
www.mission1624.life
Building the website was a long process for Mike, but it is finally complete and fully active. Already, visitors from multiple places, including Canada, have checked it out! The website gives us a way to share our vision more clearly, provide updates, and present the ministry in a more organized and professional way.
Now for the biggest announcement of all.
Over the last several months, we have been praying and seeking the Lord for direction concerning what ministry in Japan would actually look like. Questions kept filling our hearts:
How are we getting to Japan?
What will we do once we arrive?
Where is God leading us?
After much prayer, we feel very confident in what the Lord is calling us to do.
We are moving to Japan to plant a brand-new church.
This is a huge step of faith for our family. We will not be partnering with an existing organization in Japan. Instead, we are simply stepping out in faith and trusting God to guide every detail along the way.
This journey will happen in several phases.
Our first step is to take a two-week survey trip to Japan. During that time, we will be praying for God’s direction, exploring different areas, and meeting with realtors to better understand housing opportunities.
Right now, we strongly feel drawn toward Nara, Japan.
Nara has a population of around 360,000 people, similar in size to Tampa, Florida. Yet while Tampa is estimated to have hundreds of churches, Nara only has around 4 to 6 churches serving the entire city. The need for the Gospel there is overwhelming.
Located between Osaka and Kyoto, Nara is often overlooked in missions work because it is not one of the major tourist-centered cities. It may not have the fame or spotlight of places like Tokyo or Kyoto, but it desperately needs Bible-believing churches and the message of Jesus Christ.
We could spend pages talking about the spiritual need in Japan, but the reality is simple: people need Jesus, and God is calling us to go.
Our goal is to make this survey trip either in September or January, since those are typically the most affordable times to travel. In order to make this trip possible, we need to raise approximately $15,000.
After returning from Japan, we will focus heavily on building our monthly support team. Our goal is to raise $8,000 in monthly support to cover both ministry and living expenses.
If you are not already supporting us financially, we would ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with us. You can visit our website and click the donate button to set up monthly giving or give a one-time gift toward the upcoming Japan trip.
Most importantly, we ask for your prayers. Please pray that God would continue opening doors, providing finances, and preparing hearts in Japan.
We also want to celebrate and thank some incredible churches and supporters who have helped us recently.
A huge thank you to Hope Chapel for hosting a bake sale that raised $1,000 for our ministry! Hope Chapel has been such an amazing encouragement to us, and it means so much that their children’s ministry chose to support missions in Japan. Thank you to all the kids and workers who helped make it possible!
We also want to thank the wonderful people at Radiant Life Church. They recently organized a garage sale fundraiser and raised $1,300 to help support the mission. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who donated items, volunteered time, and helped make the event successful.
God is truly using so many people to help make this vision possible.
Once again, thank you to everyone who continues to pray, give, encourage, and believe in what God is doing through Mission 16:24. We are praying that our support team will continue to grow as we move into this next season of ministry.
Please help us spread the word. Share our Facebook posts, tell others about the ministry, and share our website with friends and family who may feel led to partner with us.
This mission is about far more than one family.
This is about all of us coming together to expand the Kingdom of God in Japan. We want to see strongholds broken, lives transformed, and the Gospel preached to people who may have never truly heard the name of Jesus.
As the verse behind Mission 16:24 says:
1 Chronicles 16:24
“Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.”
UPDATE: May 31, 2026
Mission 16:24 has been officially accepted as an affiliated minister of the Full Gospel Evangelistic Association. That means that we are able to operate fully under their 501(c)(3) for all non profit purposes! All donations are tax deductible. Please click the link above to donate today!
UPDATE: May 12, 2026
We officially launched our new website (www.mission1624.life) to the public!
UPDATE: April 23, 2026
We are so excited to announce that Mission 16:24 is taking steps to become a Non-Profit organization to make donating much easier. This week, we got approved in the State of Arkansas with our Articles of Incooporation for a Non-Profit Oraganization. We also received an EIN from the Federal Government. We are now working with the Full Gospel Evangelistic Association to become an associated ministry. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at helmick@mission1624.life.