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.

**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.

Greetings! So much has happened in our lives since our last update in February!

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.

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)

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

As we have mentioned before on our blog there are MANY exciting things happening in Japan right now. We received this e-mail from Dan Iverson, the MTW coordinator for Japan. (To view a video link plugging this project check out John Piper’s site.) What an amazing opportunity for Nagoya!

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“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.

Recently we have seen many mainstream news reports portraying negative aspects of Japanese culture reporting about economic, psychological, corporate, and societal ills. This is contrasted to the many reports we receive from the mission field about the growth of the church, conversions of unbelievers, and the spread of the Gospel throughout the country. Praise God the Spirit in moving in this dark and lost place and praise God for your partnership in the advancement of the Gospel to the Japanese people! What an exciting time for us to have the opportunity to join our team in Nagoya.

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

We like to provide links for you to see the work happening in Nagoya.  Happy reading.

Click to read the Bakelaar’s February update!
Click to read the Bakelaar’s January update!

Since it is the end of the year and we are bombarded with various reviews of the previous year we thought we would write our own “fall in review.” Sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to discuss all that is happening with our team in Nagoya so here is our attempt to educate our readers about what has been happening on the field.

• The Wilson’s moved from language school in Tokyo to join the team in Nagoya. The Wilson’s are focused on music ministry with Tom’s specialty being choral ministry.
• November 1 the Nisshin Church celebrated its 10th Anniversary.

10th Anniversary Picture of Nisshin Church

• In November the Church Planting Institute Conference (CPI) took place where over 300 missionaries and national leaders gathered to become better equipped to church plant in Japan.

Picture Taken During 2009 CPI Conference

• [At CPI] there were 25 Japanese pastors and staff people who attended the special Japanese gospel track I [Bruce Young] led. The three national pastors all did an excellent job leading their sessions. And for the first time all 25 attendees continued on through all three sessions rather than leaving to attend other seminars! (Taken from Bruce Young’s prayer letter)
• Chubu Bible Institute seminary classes: This is the second year to teach the spiritual dynamics class with 15 vibrant, young and gifted leaders in attendance. We talked about the motivations for ministry and daily life with Christ driven out of a growing gratitude for the debt paid by Christ. The last day Susan and I led a session on cultivating a healthy marriage. I think this was a highlight of the three days for the students. They expressed gratitude for being prepared this way. Very little is said about Christian marriages and yet with divorce rates soaring in Japan the church needs to speak out to provide leadership in this area. (Taken from Bruce Young’s prayer lettter)
• On December 19, eight people joined the family of Christ in baptism at Nisshin Church.
• Over 200 in attendance at the Nisshin Church for the Christmas concert and candlelight service.

As you can see the fall has been filled with exciting news from the field. We are anxious to join the team and praise God for all the work he is doing. This last excerpt from Bruce Young really encouraged Cathalain and I to remember how active our God is in pursuing the lost!

I had the opportunity to preach [at the Nisshin Church] two Sundays to a “full house.” God is obviously working in the lives of many Japanese of all ages thru this church. One retired man said that he lost all purpose in life when forced to retire due to illness, but when he found value in Christ simply because he was loved by Him, this totally changed his life and gave him peace in retirement. A young college student committed her life to Christ the first week I was there and it was so encouraging to see other students huddle around her to pray for her and support her in this decision. Saturday night we met with three business men at Starbucks for a Bible study. One of the men is a new believer and it was exciting to see how he was trying to reach out to the quiet and introverted man in the group.