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Carter Connection February / March 2021

Thanks so much for how you faithfully pray for us and partner with us! It seems that 2021 is turning out to be another interesting year; a year in which we once again get to put our full confidence and trust in our Heavenly Father as He sustains us and cares for us through life’s twists and turns.

The Third Shutdown

In our last letter, I was able to share how last September we had the joy of reuniting as a church family to gather for services. Unfortunately, as the New Year holiday went into full swing, the COVID infection numbers in Tokyo started increasing dramatically. So in early January, the government once again decided to declare yet another emergency status for Tokyo. Part of this is due to how condensed the population of Tokyo is. There is also a massive effort to salvage the Summer Olympics which were scheduled to be in Tokyo last year, but because of COVID have been rescheduled for this spring. Maybe.

For us as a church family, it means that, once again, we would have to abstain from gathering together for services. So during this time, we have resumed internet only services via Facebook Live and YouTube. Our church family is able to gather during the week in small group settings, so we are taking advantage of that as much as we can. The emergency status is scheduled to continue until March 7, so we have just a little bit left.

During this time, we needed to take a short trip back to the States to care for a hurting loved one. By God’s grace and providence, because our church was doing online services, I was virtually able to be on both sides of the planet at the same time. I was able to pastor our church family as well as care for our family in the States. Thank you, Father!

A Resource Hub for Japanese Ministries

For those of us who speak English, having a plethora of great biblical resources to help you shepherd your church family is a huge benefit and blessing. Because of the small number of believers here in Japan (less than 1% of Japanese consider themselves Christians), those resources are much harder to come by for those who pastor Japanese churches. Many of our fellow-laborers here have a much harder time finding resources that are designed for the Japanese people. For a while, it has been my desire to do something to help our national pastors and missionaries here to have access to things that will help them as they shepherd their church families. So this January, we launched a resource hub called kyoukaihelp.com. (“Kyoukai” means “church” in Japanese.)

kyoukaihelp

While still in its early stages, I am looking forward to seeing how it will provide an opportunity for pastors and missionaries here in Japan to be able to share things they have learned in reaching and shepherding the Japanese, as well as to share resources they have found useful in their ministries that would help others. Please pray for this aspect of ministering to the Japanese! And pray for our church family as we look forward to gathering once again in March!

Thank you for how you care for us by going to the Father on our behalf and giving so that your brothers and sisters here can be encouraged and strengthened!

To download a printable pdf, please click here. 



Carter Connection December 2020

As 2020 draws to a close, it’s definitely been a year in which God has broadened my perspective of serving Him here in Japan. It’s had its share of both trusting Him in the times of foggy uncertainty as well as rejoicing in the moments He reveals his glorious plan for us.

What is church like in Japan with COVID-19?

From mid-September, Tokyo started allowing people to gather again, although with strict “suggestions” for how a gathering takes place. For a typical church like ours, it means that every church attender wears a mask (not a big a deal here in Japan as this has been a common practice for decades), the windows must remain open to allow airflow (winter will be veeery interesting…), and we must maintain enough space in our seating. This is the most difficult issue, as our main “auditorium” is essentially an oversized Japanese living room, where before COVID seating 30 people was doable but tight. Now, we’re limited to around 15 to 20 in our Sunday gatherings, and use an overflow room when the auditorium gets full. This, along with those in our church family who are either themselves or have family members in the high-risk category, has reduced our church attendance by about half. That being said, God still continues to grow our church family.

How God Works Through COVID to Care for His Children

Here is just one of the different ways God has been working through our church family. Ikuya and Sachiyo Suzuki started coming to Akigawa Baptist Church in 2018. The story of how they came to be with us, along with Ikuya’s salvation can be found here. (As a side note, one day when you meet Sachiyo, BE SURE to ask her about her salvation story. It will blow your mind.) THIS story though is about how God used Ikuya and Sachiyo to bring two dear ladies to our church family.

In the apartment complex that Ikuya and Sachiyo live in is a dear Christian lady named Mrs. Tamura. For years, Mrs. Tamura had been riding the train for an hour and a half each way to go to her church in downtown Tokyo. But her knees started getting weaker, and she just wasn’t able to make the trip. For 8 months, she had been unable to go to church, struggling with not knowing what to do. It was right around this time that Sachiyo’s mom, who also lives in the same apartment complex, fell and fractured her hip. Through another Christian, these two ladies met, and started helping each other as they recovered together. They soon became fast friends.

Not long after they met, COVID came on the scene and shut down Tokyo, including our church’s Sunday services. This led to us starting our online streaming services so that our church family, (and anyone else who wanted to) could watch and participate as the Bible was being taught. Sachiyo, who had gotten to know Mrs. Tamura through her mom, invited Mrs. Tamura to join her and Ikuya as they watched the Sunday message. After watching the sermon together with them in her living room, Mrs. Tamura was so excited, she begged them to make sure they came over every Sunday so she could watch. As the COVID shutdown eased and we were once again able to gather together on Sundays, Mrs. Tamura couldn’t wait to come to church. Not only that, a few weeks later, she brought along Sachiyo’s mom to come with her, and now the four of them come to church together every week. Each Sunday, Mrs. Tamura tells me how blessed she is that God brought Ikuya and Sachiyo to her so that she could be part of her new church family. God is so good! Thanks for your part in this too!

To download a printable pdf, please click here. 



Carter Connection September 2020

Round 2- Here we Go Again

Eight weeks was about all we had. After the three-month COVID-19 emergency status was lifted here in Tokyo, we were excited to finally gather together again on the first Sunday in June. But it didn’t last long. The following month, as people started to get out and about again, the infections in Tokyo started climbing at a very rapid rate. In less than two months, the infections shot up to twice what they were during the peak of the emergency status.  This time however, the government chose not to call an emergency status, but did shut down public gatherings, asking everyone to do what they could to help stop the spread. Because our auditorium is very small, and it was already consistently full, we decided to stop gathering and go back to only live-streaming again in August. So how has that affected our church family and our ministry?

Digital Outreach

Our online outreach has continued to gradually increase, as more people are watching our live-streaming services and listening to the audio podcasts. I am really looking forward to seeing the long-term impact of this aspect of reaching Japanese!

Honestly, I feel like I’m getting to experience YOUR end of missions outreach as the supporter. Just like you, while I know God’s word is going out, I only get a small glimpse of the impact it actually has. While I see the numbers grow of people listening and watching, I really do wish I could see the story of the person behind each number! Through it all, it’s been very encouraging and exciting. Because Japan is so digitally immersed, it really seems to be a viable way to help so many more people come to know Jesus, and learn to grow and abide in Him. In conversations with some of our church family, we’ve already come up with another way to help their out-of-town loved ones who don’t have access to a good church near them, (like so many others here) to learn about the Bible. But more on that in another letter. That project is still in its infancy.

Caring for Church Family

While we understand the massive potential that digital outreach has here in Japan, our church family is still our main focus. Helping our church family to grow in their love for Jesus and their love for one another without that corporate gathering as a church family has definitely been challenging. Midweek Zoom meeting services, small group discipleship, phone calls, texts, and group chats have all been keeping us busy caring for our brothers and sisters. And for the most part, I think we’re doing pretty well in growing together as a church family. That being said, I do think that for some, the fear of COVID is overwhelming, and it’s hindering their faith in God. For others in our church family, the lack of gathering together is causing spiritual lethargy. So please keep us in your prayers as we work through this together, that God would glorify Himself in each of our believers, and that through this, their faith in Him would be strengthened rather than weakened.

Having the Edwards here, the missionary family who came to work with us this year, has been invaluable. Having another missionary to share the load has been so encouraging. God’s timing in all this continues to amaze me in how He cares for us!

On a personal note, in July our daughter Brianah headed back to the States to begin her life as an adult. I think Bethany and I are recovering from the loss of not having her with us. But man, it takes time. I hate goodbyes. God’s been so good to our family though, and we’re so thankful for our home church in Louisville who has been so helpful in taking her in and helping her get adjusted to life in the States.

Thanks so much for praying for your missionaries even during these uncertain times. It means so much to us!

(For a printable version of this update, click here.)



Carter Connection May, June 2020

For us, it’s been just over two months. Like most churches around the world, we also found the necessity to change the way we meet. And while the change has been difficult, it has helped our church family to grow in ways we didn’t expect.  

How COVID-19 Affected our Nation

At the end of March, just a few weeks after our last prayer letter, Tokyo essentially shut down. And for good reason. The rampant spread of the COVID-19 in other large cities, and the fact that we were one of the most condensed cities in the world reflected the oncoming doom that many in our city felt. This also came with the realization that Japan has the highest proportion of elderly in the world, with 1/3 of the nation being over 65 years old. It didn’t look good for us.

Yet God was very gracious to us. While there was a significant infection of COVID-19, it didn’t spread nearly as much as everyone was fearing. And while there were a lot of unknowns because of the lack of testing, the deaths were proportionately few in comparison to other cities. This may have had a lot to do with the culture here, with wearing masks being very common, and physical contact like handshaking and hugging relatively nonexistent. We will see over the next few months how significant the economic effect will be for Japan, as only essential places of business have remained open, much like the U.S. That being said, we are grateful for how God protected so many of us here in Japan. It could have been a LOT worse!

How COVID-19 Expanded our Ministry

 While Tokyo shut down, our ministry took a turn that none of us expected just a few months ago. And, to be honest, I think it’s helping with one of the struggles of outreach that many of us here in Japan face in reaching people for Jesus.

There’s a saying in Japan: “The threshold of a church is very high.” The phrase points to how emotionally difficult it is for the average Japanese to walk into the doors of a church building. It makes sense if you think about it. Less than 1% of Japan are Christians. This means that while most Japanese recognize the worldwide existence of Christianity, very few are willing to pursue what it means to follow Jesus enough to be willing to step across the threshold of a church. There is a real fear of getting “sucked into a cult,” even if they are invited by their trusted Christian friend or loved one.

Preparing for FB Live Service

Preparing for FB Live Service

There was an obvious answer to this, and yet embarrassingly, I was oblivious to it. As the Tokyo shutdown began, we were looking for the best platform to stream our services over the internet. LINE, an app that is used extensively in Japan, was my preference, as we had a group for our church already set up. For a few weeks we went that route, and it worked well. But one day, Bethany suggested we use Facebook Live instead. I quickly dismissed it, saying how embarrassed I would be that anyone who wanted to could hear me preach. But as I thought about that, the Holy Spirit hit me. “All this time, you’ve been trying to get people to come to church. Why not just bring church to them? Why not just remove the threshold of the church?” There are a few occasions when I really feel foolish. This was one of them. And with that, Facebook Live for Akigawa Baptist Church has begun. Our hope is that, along with our other outreach endeavors, it will be used as a tool to help more people to hear about the good news of Jesus.

Just today, the governor of Tokyo announced that the emergency status will be lifted. This coming Sunday, we as a church family get to gather together again. I can’t wait! But also, I’m so excited to have yet another way to share the goodness of Jesus with those here in Japan!

(For a printable version of this update, click here.)



Carter Connection March 2020

Over the past month we’ve seen a wide range of responses, from careless ignorance to unfounded hysteria concerning the corona virus pandemic. It is in these times that our church family (and I’m sure your church family as well) has been reminded of how our eyes must be firmly set on our Heavenly Father, Who is in control of all things, and Who deeply loves His children. We can confidently rest in His care for us, and by faith ask Him for wisdom to guide each step of our paths.

How is the corona virus affecting us here in Japan?

Because of its proximity to China, Japan is a popular tourist destination for Chinese. This undoubtedly had a lot to do with how quickly the corona virus made its way to Japan. During the initial stages of the virus entering Japan, not much could be done, simply due to not knowing the characteristics of the virus. About two weeks ago, steps to prevent the spread of the virus started ramping up significantly. Schools have closed for a month (including the two weeks scheduled for spring break), and most sporting and social events have been cancelled to prevent large groups of people from gathering. Panic buying has occurred here in Japan too, with the main affected commodities being masks, and… you guessed it, toilet paper.

For us personally as a family, our youngest, Asher, has been home from school for this month, which has given him the chance to catch up with English studies (he’s currently attending Japanese school). The English school where I teach to develop Japanese relationships and to supplement our support has closed for the month of March. While this will make the next month or two a little difficult financially, it has given me much needed time to focus on other much needed areas of our ministry (see below for details 😊).

Our church family has been taking necessary precautions as we meet. We are advising those with weaker immune systems and the elderly to stay at home. Because we have a weekly sermon podcast in place, it has made it easier for those who are unable to attend to hear the sermons. Thankfully, we haven’t had anyone in our church family who has been infected.

New Co-Laborers!

We are incredibly excited about two missionary families who are going to be training and working with us!

The Benjamin Edwards family has been working with Japanese in military churches here in Japan for about a year, and have decided to put the full focus of their ministry on reaching Japanese with us here at Akigawa BC. This is such a needed help! Having someone to help share the ministry load has been something that I have been needing for a long time. They got settled in about two weeks ago, and have hit the ground running. Ben is starting his language school training in a few weeks (depending on the corona virus situation), and the whole family has jumped in to immerse themselves in our church family.

Joe and Sierah Pliska are from our home church in Louisville. They came to see us on a missions trip last year, and while they were here, they felt God’s calling to reach the Japanese. On returning to the U.S., they began the transition to begin their missionary journey. One of the first steps of that journey is to spend a few months here in Japan to better understand how to minister to Japanese, and how to prepare for life in Japan. They will head back to the States to begin deputation in May. If you are looking for a missionary couple to support, I HIGHLY recommend the Pliskas! They are deeply needed here!

Please pray for both new missionary families in their transition to new stages in life, as well as for Bethany and me as we also begin the new-to-us role of training missionaries to minister effectively to the Japanese. And finally, pray for grace for our church family as they also adapt to their role in patiently supporting these two families to reach their fellow countrymen.

To download a printable PDF of this post, please click here.



Carter Connection January 2020

Now that the holidays are over, we’re all settling back into the rhythm of another new year. But with this rhythm is a renewed anticipation. What is God going to choose to do with me this year to display His glory? I can’t wait to find out!

Unexpected Guests

Miho has been a faithful part of our church family for over twelve years.  She is constantly involved in helping any way she can, and there is rarely an outreach event that she isn’t part of. But while she has been growing as a Christian, she has also been bearing the burden of her unsaved family, particularly her husband. When she became a Christian, her husband had forbidden her to get baptized, threatening divorce if she ever did. But for some reason he was ok with her coming to church every week. And so while submitting to her husband’s demands, she has continued to faithfully live out the Gospel in her family life. For our church’s Candlelight Christmas, I asked Miho to operate the PowerPoint for the service. The service was well-attended with many visitors, including 7 first-time guests. But there was one guest that we didn’t know about until later that night. Miho’s husband had slipped in after the service started and stayed until the closing prayer and slipped back out! This was the first time he had ever been to ANY service! Needless to say, we were overjoyed to hear the news. What’s more, during the New Year Holiday, he had gone over our church website, and gave Miho some really helpful advice on how to make it easier to understand for non-Christians who are interested in coming to church (which we gladly implemented). This may be the first step in his coming to salvation.  Please pray for him!

There were other unexpected guests who came for the first time to the Christmas Candlelight service. In our last letter, I mentioned Nozomi (translated Hope), a high school aged young lady who had started coming to church after being healed. She brought her mom and three younger sisters to the service! It really was exciting to share the beautiful, life-changing story of the Gospel to them and the other guests who joined us this year.

Yuuto

Yuuto and his older brother Takumi are nephews of Reiko Itou, one of our church members. Reiko invited them to our church cookout three years ago, and since then they’ve been coming to many church events with their mom. After the last Thanksgiving event, Yuuto started coming to church for the weekly services as well. The Sunday after the Candlelight Christmas event, Reiko told me that she thought Yuuto was ready to become a Christian. So after Sunday lunch, the three of us went upstairs to chat about the gospel. Reiko was right. Yuuto was SO ready! It wasn’t long before we gained a new brother in Christ! Praise God! Please pray for Yuuto as he begins his walk with Jesus, and also pray for his older brother Takumi, and his mother Hiroe (pronounced Heeroeh) to join him on that journey soon.

While some come to Christ after three years of faithful Gospel witness from Christian family members, others will take more than twelve years of faithful Gospel witness. Yet our brothers and sisters in Christ are faithfully sharing, praying, and trusting God to reach their loved ones. I can say with full confidence that they are incredibly grateful that you are willing to join them in boldly approaching the throne of grace on behalf of their lost loved ones!

To download a printable PDF of this post, please click here.



Carter Connection November 2019

For most churches, whether in the States or abroad, November and December bring many opportunities to share the Gospel with those around us. Here in Japan, it’s no different, and we’re excited for the opportunities God brings us!

Upcoming Events

Here at Akigawa Baptist Church, we have a plethora of opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus and help our brothers and sisters grow in His grace. In the next eight weeks, we’ll be having a 1) Thanksgiving outreach event, we’re launching a new 2) midweek discipleship course, holding a 3) children’s Christmas event as well as a 4) Christmas outreach event, and preparing for a 5) ski camp with Tokyo area Baptist churches. Along with the weekly ministry responsibilities, these events give us a full plate for sure, but a plate for which we’re thankful to have a part. Our church family has been busy preparing for these outreach events and inviting family and friends to join these events, which have been very instrumental in sharing the Gospel with hundreds of people throughout the years.

As a side note, these events are probably very similar to the November/December schedule for your church. As you pray for us, keep your pastors in mind as well. I have no doubt that they too have an incredibly full plate during this season.

Ministry Highlight: Sharing Bread

Sharing is a deeply embedded aspect of Japanese culture. We’ll often have people stop by the house to share some fruit or vegetables that they have grown in their garden, or a small snack that they picked up on a trip. We do the same as we build relationships with those around us. Over 13 years ago, God gave us a surprising resource that has enabled us, not only to share, but to provide a resource for many churches throughout Japan to share as well in their Gospel outreach ministries.

A few years after we arrived in Japan, we were pleasantly surprised (overjoyed) to discover a Costco being built about 20 minutes away by the expressway. Not long after, the store manager, upon discovering that we had a church, asked us if we were willing to receive day old bread to distribute to people. We unwittingly assumed it would be a few loaves of bread here and there. On our first trip to pick up bread, we were shocked to discover a full car-load of bread waiting for us! That was the starting point of a ministry that has continued for the last 13 years, in which we’ve sent boxes of bread to churches all throughout Japan. Pastors use this bread to care for those in their churches who are in need, for visiting the unsaved, and for outreach. From the time God gave us this ministry, we’ve sent out over $130,000 dollars’ worth of bread. I made a quick video highlighting this ministry if you’re interested in watching it.

 

Nozomi

A high school aged young lady named Nozomi (translated Hope) is a friend of a family in our church. About a year ago, she had been dealing with some serious health issues and the family asked that we as a church pray for her. After a few months of praying, God miraculously healed her! Soon after, she started coming to church to learn more about Jesus, and has been intensely learning as much as she can about Him ever since. She isn’t saved yet, but I have a feeling it won’t be long until she trusts Jesus as her Savior. Would you pray for her? And for others like her who are consistent in their learning about Jesus, that they too would put their faith in Him? Thanks for all you do in helping us reach those around us with the Gospel!

To download a printable PDF of this post, please click here.



Sharing Bread

Sharing is a deeply embedded aspect of Japanese culture. We’ll often have someone stop by the house to share some fruit or vegetables that they grew in their garden, or a small snack that they picked up on a trip. We do the same as well as we build relationships with those around us. Over 13 years ago, God gave us a surprising resource that has enabled not only us to share, but to provide a resource for many churches throughout Japan to share as well in their Gospel outreach ministries.



Carter Connection September 2019

As we approach the end of summer, we are so thankful for how God has given us the grace we need to serve Him over the last several months. Fall brings many opportunities to serve, and more opportunities to trust in His grace!

Summer Family Camp

August is the only month children have summer vacation. Because of that, it’s the busiest month for travel in Japan. The second week of August is the peak of that travel rush, but for a different reason. It’s called “Bon week.” It’s the week everyone travels back to their home town to celebrate and worship their ancestors, who are believed to return from the dead during this week. This is probably one of the most difficult weeks for your Japanese brothers and sisters here in Japan, as the families’ expectation for them to worship their ancestors can be intense. Several Baptist churches in the greater Tokyo area use this national holiday to encourage their church families by providing an opportunity to spend time with Christians from other church families.  This year, Pastor Uchijima (who spoke at our church cookout) and I were given the opportunity to speak. It was so encouraging to see men, ladies, and young people gather together after the services to springboard off the sermons to encourage each other in their walks of life.

Fruit That Abounds: Akira and Elizabeth Fujita

Akira Fujita was already a Christian when he started coming to our church 7 years ago. A year later, he started bringing his friend Elizabeth to church, and soon after that, Elizabeth trusted Christ and was baptized. It was my great joy to marry them a few years later. Akira and Elizabeth Fujita have grown to become an integral part of our church family, as they have a hand in serving in many different areas of the church. Elizabeth plays a key role in our children’s ministry, faithfully teaming up with Bethany to teach Sunday school. Akira edits and uploads the sermons to our church podcast each week. Akira and Elizabeth are fruit that abounds to your account. As you pray and give, you continue to invest in their spiritual growth. But what you may not know is that your investment in them is also being dispersed around the world.  

The sermon podcast that Akira uploads each week was originally set up for those in our church family who weren’t able to attend a service due to work or travel. Over the years though, it has become a helpful resource not just to our church family, but many Japanese Christians throughout the world. There have been regular listeners all throughout Japan, but also in over 20 other countries including the U.S., Canada, the U.K, Australia, India, and South Korea. It makes heaven that much more exciting to discover all the ways God graciously uses each of us to reach people that we may never meet until then! (Here’s a link to the podcast if you’re interested.)

The podcast does highlight a great need for access to good Christian material in Japanese. Because of the small ratio of Christians in Japan (less than 1%), it’s very difficult to find material that is designed specifically for the Japanese. Pastoral helps that are available to Japanese pastors are very small compared to the plethora of material available to English speaking pastors. We’re in the VERY beginning stages of something that may help our co-laborers here in Japan, but more on that in another update. 😉

Thanks for faithfully praying and giving!

To download a printable PDF of this post, please click here.



Carter Connection June 2019

God’s Kingdom is amazing! It’s so fun to see how He guides and conforms each of our brothers and sisters in our church family to display His glory through us. His power and glory displayed through our feeble faith is magnificent. Thank you Father!

Judy’s Recovery

Over the last several months, many of you have been praying for the recovery of Bethany’s mom Judy, who has undergone some complicated health issues that almost took her life. In our last letter, we were encouraged to report how her health had started on the upswing, and how she was recovering enough for Bethany and the kids to return to Japan.

We continue to be amazed and thankful for her recovery. It hasn’t stopped! In fact, she has recovered to the point where she is able to resume normal life at home! She has a team of doctors who are able to care for her, and for now, is very comfortable with staying in the States without the need to come to live with us in Japan. We fully believe that her recovery has been a direct answer to prayer. We are deeply thankful for your interceding to our Father on her behalf!

Back to Back Events

This year, we held two outreach events within two weeks of each other: our Easter event, and our church cookout. Both events were well attended. For our Easter event, we saw 107 people participate and hear the Gospel through the story of the resurrection. Several young teenagers responded to the invitation for salvation. Praise God! I was also honored to meet several ladies who have trusted Christ, but because of family pressure are unable to come to church. They told me how they study the Bible each week while listening to our sermon podcast, telling me about specific sermons that meant a lot to them.

Our cookout was held a week and a half later, and we were excited to see 84 people attend this year. I always ask a Japanese pastor speak at this event to help dispel the common assumption that Christianity is a Western religion. This year, Pastor Uchijima, from Okegawa Baptist Church presented the Gospel in a powerful way, and several raised their hands indicating a desire to know more about Christ. Over the years, each of these events have become great opportunities for us to share the Gospel with those around us, as well as build relationships with them to show them more of the glory and grace of Jesus.

Keiichiro

One of the ways I seek to build relationships is by teaching English. Keiichiro has been one of my students for the past three years. During that time, we have developed a friendship that has gone beyond studying English, and we often grab lunch together after class to talk together. Although he is a devout Buddhist, he prays with me before every meal as I thank God for our food. Earlier this year, as we were having lunch, Keiichiro told me that he was going to bring his family to our events. True to his word, the whole family came to both Easter and the cookout! Please pray for these dear friends, that they too would become part of God’s glorious kingdom.

( To download a printable PDF of this post, please click here.)