Wow, we have survived a month in New York City!  Tonight we write this update from Washington DC where we are staying with dear friends for what they call a “detox” weekend.

Tobin Fell in Love with NYC

Family, Conflict-Resolution & Spiritual Nourishment

What do all these things have in common?  These were some of the topics we looked at this week in our training.  There was a two fold emphasis for the week.  The first was looking at how to maintain a healthy emotional and spiritual life on the field.  This looked at our lives as individuals, within a family, and as a team member.  The second emphasis was on conflict and learning about our own style of handling conflict.  This was particularly helpful as we both struggle with handling conflict positively and thinking of conflict as something that can be positive within a team. Once we identified how we dealt with conflict the entire group learned strategies to resolving conflict. This week was particularly meaningful and applicable to our current lives and definitely an important aspect of life on the mission field.

No More Homework!

Yes, we had homework this month.  One project was to create a learning contract.  The learning contract is in essence a sheet of goals.  The difference in this approach was to specifically organize the goals by categories, write why the action was needed, have a time frame to complete them and to have ways to measure each goal.  This process was very positive in having us look at areas where we are doing really well and look at areas we could challenge ourselves to improve.  The most important area we both wanted to emphasize was our prayer lives, individually and corporately.

The second major assignment was a final presentation to give before the group about our time in NY City.  We chose to take from “All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” and spin it as “All I Needed to Know [about CCMI] I Learned from Tobin.”  You can look at the PowerPoint we used to aid our presentation.  As you might guess there are many inside jokes and the slide show doesn’t have the personal comments we made to the group.

Sharing in a Celebration Lunch Today

Behind the Scenes

Each week there is an in house e-newsletter published.  Check out the final newsletter sent to all the participants for a more in depth recap of the week.

The Good, The Bad and Looking Ahead

The great news is we have completed all our training with MTW and in essence are ready to buy our plane tickets for Japan…at least once we raise the rest of our support. The bad news is our saga with our house has seemed to end negatively.  Yesterday we thought everything was a go, but today we learned our contract fell through.  As you can imagine we are feeling many emotions, but ultimately trusting in God’s sovereignty to direct us.  This is an urgent prayer request that we would have wisdom on what to do next.

Currently, we are emotionally and physically exhausted from this past month.  This first week back we are going to try to spend a few days resting in Southern Virginia.  We will then continue to support raise until the remaining 25% is pledged.  Please let us know if you have any contacts or suggestions as we round out support raising!

Tobin's Picture of Exhaustion

Many Thanks and Praise

We first want to thank you for supporting us so faithfully in prayer, finances, word of encouragement and love.  We are so blessed by your partnership in our ministry and know God is using you to spread the Gospel of Christ to the Japanese.

Second we praise our God for a wonderful month preparing for overseas mission service. We were protected, we were challenged, our eyes were open to blind areas within our lives, we were loved and encouraged, we were provided for and ultimately when you sum the month up we were richly blessed.  This training is invaluable to us and will only become more meaningful once on the field.  Praise God for answering so many prayers in such BIG ways!

*CCMI – Cross Cultural Ministry Internship

PILAT* – How do you learn a foreign language?

This week we went through PILAT training with facilitator Nancy Craig.  The goal of the program is to equip missionaries with strategies of how to learn a language through phonetics training and various techniques so the participants leave more confident and comfortable in learning a new language.

Although it sounds obvious learning a language is crucial for missionaries.  Language is used to communicate the Gospel effectively and is a window into the culture of the community so missionaries can contextualize their message.  We aim to be learners of the culture we are joining and truly loving the people is learning their language and culture.

Part of the training includes practicing vowel and consonant sounds.  You might wonder how in the world this helps, but have you ever thought about the way we say “p” in America versus how another country might pronounce “p?”  At points if you would have walked in the training you would have seen us looking into small mirrors to watch our mouths and heard us repeating lots of sounds.  The experience provided many opportunities for laughter! Overall this helped introduce our mouths to sounds from all over the world and helped train our ears to hear subtle differences.

Phonetics Exercise

Another part of the program was learning different strategies when first arriving in the country. What are helpful monologues to memorize?  What is a language helper? What is a language route?  These were only a few of many questions we tackled throughout the week.

For two days we had the privilege of working with a language helper.  During this time we went through language “laps” and “rules” with our helper.  Cathalain was in the Japanese group while Michael was in the Spanish group.  (This experience was meant to help us know how to better utilize a language helper.  Since Michael knew Japanese the instructor desired for him to be in a language group he didn’t know.) This experience helped show how to best utilize a language helper.  We both were surprised how quickly we picked up the language through the PILAT method.  This was encouraging knowing how difficult Japanese is.

Japanese Language Learning Group

The week was intense.  We definitely feel as time passes and especially once we are on the field we will be grateful to have had such wonderful language training.

*Program in Language Acquisition Techniques

Behind the Scenes

Each week there is an in house e-newsletter published.  Check out the third newsletter sent to all the participants for a more in depth recap of the week.

Update from the Home Front

This week we have still been working to close on our home.  As you can imagine this has been a trying experience since we were supposed to close over a month ago.  Please pray all the parties involved would be able to finally finalize the sale of our house!

We also received news this week the Cost of Living adjustment went up again in Japan.  This means our budget has increased slightly which requires us to raise an additional $200/month.  Please pray as we continue to raise the rest of our support.  After New York we will have finished all the required MTW training…only finances are holding us from leaving.

*CCMI – Cross Cultural Ministry Internship

Teaching ESL

This week our field ministry team prepared and taught a week long intensive English program.  There were over 20 students from over 12 different countries.  Michael led the “beginner” class every morning for two hours.  Cathalain assisted a little while helping to take care of Tobin.  As Tobin’s first ministry assignment we were grateful for how the Lord used him.  He helped break down walls very quickly and many of the students loved on him!  It was neat to see how God uses even small babies for His Glory.

Some English Students w/ Tobin

Our prayer last week was for the Lord to help with the classes in bold ways because we definitely felt our lack of ability and need for Him.  As always he showed up in mighty ways and the classes were a blessing to all involved…especially us as leaders.  Today one of the students stopped us before leaving and insisted on praying for us.  This was such a powerful moment to be prayed for and blessed by one of the students we were reaching out too and then in return be able to pray for Him. What a picture of the Kingdom of God.

Michael Teaching English

Pray this week seeds were planted in students lives, they would all come to faith in Christ, and become connected to Astoria Community Church (or another local church).

In the Classroom

This week the emphasis was on Church Planting.  Bill Yarbrough, MTW International Director for Latin America/Sub-Saharan Africa facilitated most of the sessions.  Although there was time spent on details of how to church plant more time was spent talking about growing our own lives spiritually and remaining healthy amidst much stress on the field.  How can we be effective if we ourselves lose sight of the message we are bringing to the nations?

Other points of discussion included why plant churches, what is a church, planning church plants, how does ethnography relate to church planting, stages of church planting, the spirits role in church planting, models for church planting, and the message, the role of nationals in church planting.

Pray Japan would see a national led church planting movement.  Pray for national leaders to rise up and have callings to stay in their homeland to start churches!

Our Teammates

We were pleasantly surprised to find out some of our future teammates in Nagoya were attending the training for 10 days.  We were able to have two meals together and spend time getting to know Triston and his wife Kim, unfortunately their daughters were at home.  Since we committed to the Nagoya team three additional families have also decided to join the team. Praise God for raising up workers as the harvest is plentiful!

The Craven Family

Around Town

We keep very busy between field ministry and classroom sessions.  Having a baby changes the logistics of running over to Manhattan for some quick tourist moments.  As we are discovering nothing is “quick” anymore! Last weekend we were able to take some time and walk around Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue, and some side streets.  Tobin especially enjoyed FAO Schwartz.  We told him he could have whatever he wanted…all he had to do was ask.  He isn’t too into material goods because he never said a word about wanting anything.

Tobin at FAO Schwartz

Behind the Scenes

Each week there is an in house e-newsletter published.  Check out the second newsletter sent to all the participants for a more in depth recap of the week.

Pray Continually…

Please pray this upcoming week we would be well rested.  We will be going through PILOT which is a language acquisition program…basically learning how to learn a language.  (Ours being Japanese.)  Pray this would be a great introduction as we will be learning Japanese for the rest of our lives!

*CCMI – Cross Cultural Ministry Internship

The Adjustment

We both were anxious about living in NY City for a month with a 6 week old.  At first Cathalain was quite overwhelmed with how physically exhausting each day was and learning how to buy affordable groceries.  We did not expect 103 degree weather in NY!!!  As the week has come to an end we have both been able to settle, create a routine, learn the transportation system, and even cooked meals at home for most the week!  Praise God for a quick transition time and the ability to feel settled in the city.

The Community

One blessing out of all MTW trainings is to spend time with other missionaries preparing to leave for the field.  There is a special bond as we all are experiencing similar emotions and living transitional lifestyles. There are 12 missionary families, 10 interns, 3 staff families, and 4 mentor families.  Praise God for calling more people to serve internationally!

Picnic in Central Park

In the Classroom

Every afternoon we spend about 3 1/2 hours in a classroom setting.  The topics this week included team dynamics, evangelism, contextualization, and aspects of culture.  All these sessions are meant to enhance our understanding of how to love and serve better as we head to Nagoya.  Thus far both of us have been challenged in our thinking which has opened us up to ask questions about our own hearts.  Please pray we would take time to synthesize all the sessions so we truly do apply the principles we are learning.

Michael Taking Notes

Our Assignment

Another part of the training is to serve within a local church.  We have been assigned to Astoria Community Church. Our role has been to plan and implement a one week intensive ESL program.  This week we worked with our team members to publicize the class and plan the curriculum.  Next week we will be implementing the class.  We have no idea who will show up on Monday so please pray.  Pray we would effectively teach the students, represent the Church well, and for the students to be open to the Gospel.

Behind the Scenes

Each missionary is assigned to a committee, after all we are Presbyterians.  Michael is on the administrative committee and Cathalain has been assigned to the newsletter committee.  (Tobin was not assigned…his focus is enjoying life.)  Please check out the first newsletter sent to all the participants for a more in depth recap of the week.

Please continue to pray for us as a family as we continue our time in New York City.  This is a very beneficial and very intense month!

*CCMI – Cross Cultural Ministry Internship

Greetings from New York!

We arrived safely today for the MTW Cross-Cultural Training in New York City. We will be here July 1-30.  This month we will spend half our time serving with a local congregation and the other half of our time in a classroom setting studying different topics which will better train us for the mission field. Please pray for spiritual growth and that we would leave better equipped to serve the Japanese.

Our Past Month

This past month has been filled with many transitions!  We were able to visit and share our ministry with two churches at the beginning of the month. We then packed up our house and moved in with a dear friend from our church. We spent the last weekend in Lakeland with our church’s youth group at Daytona Beach for their annual beach retreat. We enjoyed our time with the high school youth we had gotten to know over our time at Covenant and it was a welcome relief from the hustle and craziness of life. We then said goodbye to our friends at Covenant Presbyterian after morning worship and headed up to Virginia. It was a sad time for us to leave behind our good friends in Lakeland, yet exciting to be moving closer to getting to Japan. Please pray for our home to close.  This was supposed to happen last month but has been continually delayed.  Please pray for us as we move into a life with so much transition and instability.

2010 Covenant Youth Beach Retreat

Tobin’s Turn

Tobin turned six weeks on Tuesday and has been adjusting well to all the change. He has had two airplane flights so far and has done really well on both of them. We are certainly blessed to have been given a “laid back” baby who seems content no matter where he is or what situation we drag him into. Please pray for Tobin to grow up never knowing a day where he doesn’t call Christ his Savior.

Tobin's First Airplane Ride

Wrap Up

As we begin this final training, we feel that we are nearing the final stretch before being able to head to the field. We have a total of 75% of our support pledged.  This leaves us with 25% to raise before we can head to the field. When we return to Virginia after New York we will be meeting with churches and continuing our support raising.  We are looking forward to joining the team in Japan and help share the gospel to a people and culture where Jesus is widely unknown. Thank you for all your prayers and support of our itineration and training. We’re very appreciative of you and are thankful to have you partnering with us in our ministry to the Japanese.

In Him,

Michael, Cathalain, and Tobin Carter

“All the nations you have made will come and worship before you O Lord; they will bring glory to your name!” Psalm 86:9

Recently we ran across an article about “The World’s Most Expensive Cities 2010.”  Tokyo was ranked #1 and Nagoya #4.  Where was New York City?  Surprisingly 29th!  To read more check out the article at http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109909/the-worlds-most-expensive-cities-2010.

To donate on-line: https://www2.mtw.org/donations/donate/default.aspx
Don’t forget to join our Facebook Group: “The Carters in Nagoya, Japan”