We’re here! Well, we are commuting to GA each night. Please e-mail, text, twitter, facebook or call (whew that is quite the run down of social networking tools) if you want to get together. We’ll probably be hanging around the Japan table in the exhibit hall so be sure to stop by!
Traveling To and Fro
This past week we spent the week traveling to Brevard, NC to attend the Living in Grace Conference put on by the spiritual life department at MTW. I have quite a few family members along the way and Michael and I were able to visit with almost all of them. Before and after the conference we stayed with my grandmother in Asheville, NC who lives next to my aunt and uncle. We enjoyed the opportunity to visit with them and Michael even tried out the new Tiger Woods Golf game! On the Sunday after the conference Michael and I were asked to speak at the church where my grandmother plays the piano, Faith Fellowship. The church is part of an assisted living community and has two services, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. We were excited to share with the church about our ministry in Japan and enjoyed worshipping with them.
As we are approaching the field more quickly we are grateful for all the time we have with family. It was a blessing to see so many of my family and for Michael to continue building relationships with them as well.
Living in Grace…the Conference
It is hard to describe the experience we had, but I will do my best to update you on the LiG conference.
First, you must realize Ridge Haven is situated within the beautiful mountains of western NC. Every day and night we heard nature’s chorus all around us. One afternoon during a break Michael and I hiked to a waterfall on the camp property and after taking the scenic route, aka getting lost, we decided to play in the lake for an hour. We finally got the hang of riding the water bikes, but it was a great picture to watch my 6′ 4″ husband try to balance his weight on the bike. We certainly laughed with, or at, him as he fell off many times, but in truth I wasn’t much better!
Free time was pretty scarce during the week, but neither of us would have changed the schedule of the conference. All week we sat under the teaching of Dr. Kooistra and learned more about, well GRACE. Topics such as idols, repentence, forgiveness, the love of God, humility, prayer, worship, etc were touched upon. The most helpful part of the conference were the small group break outs and the personal application times. This was not a conference where attendees were supposed to come and gather nuggets of inspiration and then go home with new information. Instead it was a conference where as individuals and as couples you were challenged to wrestle with the material you were hearing and actually start APPLYING the material to your own life immediately. The week was instrumental for both Michael and I and even after having been home we are still reviewing the material.
The conference provided the opportunity for Michael and I to spend a great deal of time together. This was an unexpected blessing after such a hectic Spring. We are so grateful to be serving with a missions organization that really emphasizes the spiritual life of their missionaries. It is easy to work too many hours and feel burdened/pressure in ministry and MTW really tries to equip its missionaries with the truth of the Gospel as they head to the field. Another blessing was being around other people who are experiencing the same circumstances as we are. Sometimes it is lonely living in two different worlds, the intinerating world and home. To share in the challenges itineration brings with those around us was refreshing!
We appreciate everyones prayers during this week and again thank you for your partnership!!!
These are the LiG participants going to Japan with Bruce Young (far left)
Greetings! Cathalain and I have been so thankful over the past few months for your faithful prayers, words of encouragement, and support. It is a privilege to partner with you to reach the unreached in Japan.
Speaking at Home
As you might recall in our last update we were just about to speak at a Mission’s Conference in our home church. The weekend was such an encouragement to us. We are so blessed by our home church, Covenant, and their continual support and prayers. We were especially touched by a 4 year old boy in our congregation who has been faithfully praying for us EVERY night and who also gave us $1.02 he saved from his own allowance for our ministry. What a sacrifice and a wonderful reminder of God’s goodness!
Traveling through Virginia
After the mission’s conference we headed off to Virginia for eight days. While in Virginia we were able to speak to two church congregations, meet with three pastors, attend Presbytery, and Cathalain even found time to play guitar for the women’s retreat at my dad’s church. Whew! As exhausting as it sounds the Lord blessed us with a few days to spend some quality time with family and to just plain relax! We are grateful for the opportunity to start building more relationships with churches in Virginia and continue to bolster the relationships we have.
Support Update
Our last update reported we were currently at 25% of our needed budget. We are excited to share that we now have 30% of our budget. In addition to the 5% increase, the church that we spoke to in Arcadia, FL has decided to support us. We have also had the opportunity to speak to a few local churches and last week I attended a presbytery meeting of our neighboring presbytery. What a huge blessing, encouragement, and answer to prayer!
This Summer
In early June we will be attending the Living in Grace Conference at Ridge Haven in North Carolina. Cathalain’s grandmother lives in Asheville and we will be speaking to her church and potentially another church there as well. The following week I will be attending General Assembly which is in Orlando this year. This is a great opportunity to meet many pastors in the PCA, put a face to a name, and begin to develop relationships. We also are scheduled for another trip to Virginia in late July to continue visiting with churches.
We are so thankful for your partnership in our ministry and grateful for the sacrifices you make for the sake of advancing the Gospel in Japan!
!!!We NEED your prayers!!!
Thank you all for praying for our trip to Virginia. We were able to meet with five different pastors/churches, attend presbytery and Cathalain went to a women’s retreat where she assisted with the worship. It was a great time of developing relationships with churches and pastors as well as a good time of relaxation. In the middle of the week we were able to stay in Lexington for a few days of rest and relaxation.
Our time back in Florida has paralleled our time in Virginia. We have been able to speak to pastors and churches, such as Holy Trinity Presbyterian in Tampa and we have also been able to relax, such as camping at Fort DeSoto with some good friends from church.
Again, thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray as we continue to speak to churches, pastors, missions committees, presbyteries, and individuals. Pray also for our upcoming travels this summer.
On a final note, Cathalain and I received an exciting surprise this past weekend while driving home from a Mother’s Day celebration with her family. If you look back to the February 24th entry, you will see a picture of us speaking at Grace Presbyterian in Arcadia, FL. We learned they will be supporting our ministry as a church. We have enjoyed getting to know the people at Grace Presbyterian and are very excited for their partnership. Praise God!
It is always a blessing to spend time up north in Virginia! We are taking advantage of the time Cathalain has off for Spring Break and come home to Lexington.
While here we will spend time in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Winchester, Charlottesville, and at mom and dad’s in Lexington.
Please pray for our time as we meet with churches, pastors, the Blueridge Presbytery, and various individuals.
This weekend we will be participating in Covenant Presbyterian’s Mission Conference. (This is the church where we are members and currently attend.) The visiting missionaries are as follows:
David and Eleanor Fiol – MTW India
Andrew Lamb – MTW Atlanta
Richard and Robyn Cranes – MTW/MINTS – Miami
Esaie and Natacha Etienne – MTW Haiti
Michael and Cathalain Carter – MTW Japan (That’s Us!)
We will be speaking to the kiddos at 9:00am Saturday (3/21/09) morning and at 11am to the entire group. In the evening we will be speaking to youth in the church at 7pm. If you are interested in attending the conference the cost is $3, which includes a brunch on Saturday morning. Please contact Covenant for more information.
The Lord has opened many doors as we travel around talking with churches in our area. In early March we participated in St. Paul’s mission’s conference. Dan Iverson was the keynote speaker for the weekend. This was awesome because he has been in Japan for 20+ years and led Michael while he interned in Japan. Dan’s leadership was a great part in Michael’s calling. It was a blessing to spend time with Dan and his wife, Carol, and talk about Japan, the future vision for Japan and thank the Lord for his continual work in Japan. The weekend was a whirlwind but left us energized and excited!
Last weekend we had the opportunity to speak to Grace Presbyterian in Arcadia, FL. Although we didn’t personally know anyone in the church initially we left feeling as though we had many new friends. The church blessed us through their proclamation of the Gospel, genuine interest in our calling, warmth and encouragement.
Link to the newsletter Grace put together before the week before we arrived.
Below you will find the flier for St. Paul’s mission conference. We thought this was really neat. Make sure to look at the tree carefully!
Happy New Year!
Dothan, Alabama
We started off the new year by traveling to Dothan, Alabama for a visit with the Newsome family. The Newsome’s are our team leaders in Nagoya, Japan and are spending this year on homestay. It was fun spending time with them and their five kids. We heard many stories about Japan and it was wonderful catching the vision for the future of the Nagoya team. The main goal of the team is church-planting in the east side of Nagoya.
In addition to hanging out with the Newsomes we also met Tom and Teresa Wilson who are another couple on our team. They were home for a few weeks and happened to be in Dothan, AL as well. We had a great time of fellowship and learning more about each other. This really encourages us as we move closer and closer to full-time ministry in Japan.
Tunica, Mississippi
Michael’s roommate in Chiba, Japan is now a farmer in Tunica, Mississippi. Thanks to the generosity of a family in our church Michael and I were able to spend a three day weekend visiting in Tunica with Michael’s roommate and his Japanese wife, whom he fell in love and married while doing short-term missions in Japan. We will head back home tomorrow, but have enjoyed touring the farm, frozen in the cold weather, a great time of playing games and I even received my first lesson in making sushi. (Picture below.) I am far from perfect, but I am sure will only get better over time.
Michael has officially completed both his master’s degrees!!!! He graduated with a master’s in teaching English to speakers of other languages from University of Central Florida and a master’s in biblical studies from Reformed Theological Seminary.
We are both very excited for his accomplishment and excited to move forward in raising support. Thus far we have raised approximately 15% of our monthly support needed to go to Japan. We are grateful for the generosity of our partners in ministry.
I thought we could start introducing the Nagoya Church-Planting team to our readers. I am starting with the Bakelaars because I just received a prayer update from them. Peter has a gift in graphic design so all of their letters are VERY creative.
Peter and his wife, Diane, have been serving in Japan since 1990. They have four children ranging from 10 to almost 20 years of age. As many missionary couples they are involved in various ministries on the team. Currently Peter overseas the English Program. This is an evangelistic program used to introduce Japanese to the Church and provides an opportunity for sharing the Gospel. They also assist in the International Christian Academy of Nagoya, discipleship, special events and the list continues.
If you are interested in reading about their experience in Nagoya, Japan check out their monthly e-newsletters.
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
