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

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

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

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

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”

Our New Addition
On May 18 the Lord blessed us with our first son, Tobin James Carter. He was born at 8:38am, was 8lb 11oz, and 21.75 inches long. He has been a wonderful addition to have in our home and has attracted many family members to our house to come see him. (His website is www.cartersan.com/tobin if you want a more in depth look!) Please pray for our son to never know a day without calling Christ His Savior and King!

Our Timeline
After some ups and down with the contract on our house we are set to close on June 15. Please pray as we are packing and continuing to sell all of our furniture. We have already started transitioning our things to Virginia, but could especially use prayers as we close out the purchase of our home.

On June 28 we will be leaving Florida and dropping our belongings at my parent’s house in Lexington, VA. On July 1 we are traveling to NY City for a month long MTW cross cultural training. In August we will move back to Virginia and will continue to raise the additional 30% of our support which we still need before leaving for the field. Please pray for the many transitions and the anxiety we feel of having a newborn in New York City for a month!

Support Raising
I am traveling to speak at the Potomac Presbytery in Northern Virginia on June 1. Cathalain and I are still actively visiting small groups in Florida and will be visiting a few churches to share about our ministry in June. Our official send off from Covenant, our home church, will be June 20. The following week we are on the annual beach retreat with the Covenant Youth. Please pray as we continue to actively share about our ministry and partner with churches and individuals.

Licensure
In May I had the opportunity to preach at the Southwest Florida Presbytery meeting. The next step for Licensure will be going before the committee to be reexamined on the Bible Portion and then go before the Presbytery at the September meeting. Please pray as I prepare for exams, for the ability to clearly articulate my thoughts during the examinations, and for the examiners to have wisdom.

We thank you all for your continued prayers and support. You are a constant source of encouragement during this whole process.

Many Blessing,

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

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”

John Piper in his book entitled, “Let the Nations be Glad” writes that when it comes to missions there are three types of people.  Goers, Senders, and those who are disobedient.  We must ask ourselves which category do we fit in?  Maybe all three!  One important aspect goers and senders share is to call upon God in prayer…continually.  This post is designed to give you an idea of how you can prayer for our mission and for the lost nation of Japan.  If you still wonder why we pray we would encourage you to look at a guide Wycliffe has developed. It is the most succinct and helpful snapshot we have found on the subject.

Praying specifically for the Carter Family

• Pray for Michael’s upcoming licensure exam (Monday, April 19 in the morning) and practice preaching to the youth group (April 21).  Specifically pray for his ability to clearly articulate the answers to the many questions he will be asked.
• Pray for the expected birth of our son, Tobin James, in early May
• Pray for the transition from Lakeland to Virginia to New York at the end of June
• Pray for our last cross-cultural training in NY City from July 1-31
• Pray for the last 30% of funding to come in so we can be approved to leave for the Nagoya in fall 2010
• Pray God would strengthen our marriage through much transition and we would look to him first, continually be faithful in the word, and be faithful in our prayers

Praying for the MTW Nagoya Team

• Pray for eight churches to be planted in the next ten years within Nagoya
• Pray for the Nisshin Church as they begin their tenth year of ministry
• Pray the team will be able to reach out and come alongside those who are visiting the Nisshin Church and get to know them better. Please pray they would be enabled by God to shepherd those who are presently in the church and who are in need of discipleship and training.
• Pray for the new musical ministry being led by Tom and Theresa Wilson (especially the three new choir groups meeting across the city)
• Pray for the English conversation students who hear and interact with content from the Bible each week as part of their class

Praying for the Nation of Japan

• Pray for those who are currently studying the Bible. Please pray that not only will they grow in their knowledge and understanding but that their hearts would be opened by God’s  Spirit to put their faith in Jesus.
• Pray for men to rise up and become nationals leaders within the Presbyterian Church in Japan (especially keep in mind Christ Bible Seminary located in Nagoya)
• Pray the Japanese would be equipped to reach other Asian Nations

Resting

Opening of the Eyes

Hiding from everyone!

———————–

“Attempt great things for God; Expect great things from God.” – William Carey, Father of modern missions, missionary to India

“Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7)

Dear friends and partners for the sake of the gospel in Japan:

Today we ask. We ask God. We ask the owners. We ask you to pray. We will make the owners (and their agent/creditors) an offer in a few hours (about 11am today, Mar. 11; 9pm Mar. 10 USA EST).

Prov. 21:1 The king’s (and owner’s) heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

God has provided over $870,000 that is now in hand or committed over these last weeks. These actual funds and pledges have come from Japan land sale, two large matching fund pledges, a virtual flood of smaller email commitments from $100 up from the USA and Korea, our 3 Japan MTW teams pooling resources, and Japan Christians’/churches’ partnership. Exciting to see the body of Christ pull together to see this strategic endeavor for gospel progress in Japan happen. We have seen how raindrops and little streams come together to form a river!

More still needed in email pledges/commitments this week as negotiations continue. Major renovations are needed for the building to be turned into a campus for CBI and a downtown church plant. (You can see the building on the video at the link.)

Please pray for this project! This is huge, impossible if God is not in it. That gives us peace.

Japanese laborers key to reaching Japan! CBI seminary is strategic. We will not reach Japan if God does not raise up a legion of godly, Holy Spirit-filled, doctrinally sound, practical Japanese pastors/church planters/ leaders. Christ Bible Institute (CBI) and Seminary (CBS) is crucial to our MTW Japan goal of a Biblical, indigenous Church Planting Movement (CPM)

Please pray with us. More information below, and also through the John Piper link and video at the top.

Your partner in the gospel, for the sake of God’s glory among the lost millions of Japan,

Dan Iverson

More Information on the CBI Building project

Email pledges/commitments only at this point. But, we do need to know how much we have above the $870,000 already in hand or committed. Please do not give yet! We need to KNOW that this is a “go” first. If God moves the heart of the owners and givers, and these two amounts come together, with added necessary renovations, we will then provide giving information and ask those who pledged to give. We will need most of the pledges to be given as soon as we let everyone know that God brought all this together. Or, God may then provide an even better land and building situation, as we saw in Chiba 5 years ago (all the prayer and pledges were prep for something much better than our initial plans).

None of us can financially support all the worthy needs that come our way. But, we are are telling our many MTW Japan prayer partners and supporters from all 3 MTW teams because this is a strategic project that will support and help gospel progress in Japan. We are sure you want to pray for this. And, as we have already seen, many do want to make a one-time gift commitment to it.

Seminaries strategic: We have been in Japan 23 years. We see steady progress, but it is slow. Until we begin to see a multitude of godly, Holy Spirit-filled, gifted, well-trained Japanese pastors and church planters raised up, and until we see church multiplication and reproduction regularly taking place, it seems that we are not going to see this dark land reached. For church multiplication (healthy churches starting healthy churches that start healthy churches) we need
many more Japanese leaders.

City Center Nagoya Church plant also strategic: The CBI staff and students have already started a growing international church worshiping Sunday afternoons in the crowded, borrowed Nisshin Church facilities where they meet in the suburbs. They now plan to start a city center church in this new building, if God gives it. Read more about it at the link above.

Nagoya: Nagoya proper is 2.2 million people, and metro Nagoya is about 4 million people. As the Apostle Paul went to the cities to reach regions, so do we.

Why the rush? The company that owns the building is going bankrupt. As a religious corporation, our position and ability is not so good once it goes to auction. Also, CBI and their Sunday afternoon international church plant are growing. Our MTW church plant where they meet for class and worship is also growing and needs them out for their own space needs. And, to move downtown makes the seminary accessible to a much wider area.

Is this a good deal? It is a buyer’s market right now in Japan. Also, the land alone is worth $1 million. We are basically getting the 30-year old, steal and concrete building for free. The company who inspected the building for us wrote in their report that to construct a new building now of this size and quality would cost about $1.6 million. So, together with the land worth $1 million alone, we believe this is a great deal for the Kingdom ($2.6 million value, in one sense).

Why am I so much behind Michael Oh, our CBI president? Michael is a godly and gifted man. God has His hand on Michael and is blessing his ministry. You can hear his brief but powerful plenary testimony at the recent Urbana conference. He was also one of the main speakers at John Piper’s pastor’s conference in 2008. You can also find that message at John Piper’s website.

Support Raising

The last few months have felt a bit like a roller coaster. We are currently at 50% of our total support pledged and were informed last week our one-time gifts will generate into approximately 10% of our needed budget. We have been blessed to continue working during itineration and thus have not needed to live off our MTW account. This is how we have been able to save such a large percentage. Praise God! This means we have 40% or $4,000 monthly left to raise. Please pray individuals and churches would be moved to partner with us in the spreading of the Gospel to the Japanese, pray we would not rely on our own strength but trust God in this sometimes overwhelming task and for additional contacts with individuals and churches.

Licensure

After returning from my year-long internship in Japan with MTW I felt a burden to become better equipped so I could better serve the Japanese as a career missionary. This involved receiving further education in Biblical Studies and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Now after much prayer and discussion with our team in Japan and the pastor’s at our home church I have decided to become further equipped by being licensed in the Southwest Florida Presbytery. This will allow me to fill the pulpit, if necessary, for the Japanese preachers in Japan. In February I went under care of the Presbytery, will be examined by a committee in April, and be examined by the entire Presbytery in May. Please pray as I prepare for exams, for the ability to clearly articulate my thoughts during the examinations, and for the examiners to have wisdom.

What’s Next

This spring we will continue speaking at churches and Presbyteries in Florida, attend our home church mission conference, and I will be traveling to various Presbyteries in Virginia and hopefully Maryland. Praise God…in early May we are expecting the birth of our son and our house will be closing on June 1! What a relief and blessing. On July 1 we will head to New York City to spend the entire month at our last official MTW training. After July we will continue to travel and speak with individuals, churches, and presbyteries throughout the east coast and look to go out west to Arizona and California where Cathalain’s family lives. We are still hoping to leave for Nagoya in September. Please pray for endurance, for the birth of our son, and receptiveness as we speak throughout the country.

We truly are grateful for your support of our ministry. We are blessed by your faithfulness in prayers and financial support. Thank you for being such an encouragement to us!

Many Blessings,

Michael and Cathalain 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

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”

Michael fishing with guys from the Church

Celebrating Cathalain’s Grandma’s 80th Birthday in Pooler, GA