The change of seasons seem to come and go at a dizzying pace. Yet the steadfast grace of our never-changing Father continues to flow upon us, and through us, for which we are deeply grateful.

Summer Outreach Cookout

In the beginning of May we held our annual summer cookout just a few weeks after our Easter event. We asked you to pray for those who would be under the sound of the Gospel during this event as it seems to be something that many of the unsaved friends and relatives of our church family are not only willing to attend, but something that they look forward to. For the last two years, I’ve had Japanese pastors preach and give their salvation testimony specifically for the purpose of showing those who attend that Christianity is not simply a “western religion.” God has greatly used these pastors and I am so thankful for the privilege of working alongside them in reaching the Japanese. This year marked our highest attendance yet, with 104 people attending the event. Nearly 50 of those were visitors, with 23 being first-time guests. During the service, Shuya (wearing the black shirt and shorts), one of the teenagers in our neighborhood who attended both our Easter event and the cookout, expressed an interest in understanding the gospel. After the service, I spent some time talking with him, and it was clearly evident that he was ready to be saved. That afternoon, he put his faith in Jesus to save him. Praise God! We have been inviting these teens for quite a few years, and this was the first year they attended. God is so good. Please pray for Shuya’s growth since he is the only Christian in his family. And for the other teens who still need to be saved.

School Graduation

In the end of June we finished up the second year of our Christian school, with two young men graduating. One of them is a member of our church named Rui Sakurai. He has been an incredibly faithful young man, riding his bicycle to church each week from several towns over. This is about a 40 minute bicycle ride each way. We are so thankful to God to see how much he has grown spiritually over the past several years. He has been my “tech guy,” uploading sermon podcasts each week, and helping out with different projects that need to get done. Please keep him in your prayers as he is seeking God’s wisdom in preparing for his future studies.

Upcoming Summer Camp

We have several events for outreach and to encourage spiritual growth this summer including a 3 day family camp that will be held with several other Baptist churches in our part of Japan. Please continue to pray that through these events, God will continue to draw people to Himself. Pray that our church family will grow in their love for our Father and for others.  Thank you for your dedication in praying and giving for the encouragement of your brothers and sisters in Christ here in Japan, as well as for those who we pray one day will be, in God’s grand and magnificent timing. May He receive all the glory!

To download a pdf version, please click here.

In the three months that we’ve been back in Japan, God has done so many things to show us how magnificently glorious He is. The fact that He is willing to use us in any way at all is a continual testament to His unending grace!

Youth Camps and Conferences

In the end of March, we took six of our teens to the annual youth conference in Kyoto, about 6 hours away by car. One of the teens was a girl named Sakuya who, although had not come to church before, was deeply interested in Christianity. One of the ladies in our church had been witnessing to her, and invited her to come to the youth camp. For her, it was very eye-opening to see so many Christian teens who loved and followed Jesus. While she didn’t get saved at camp, I believe this was a significant step towards her salvation. I did have the opportunity to speak in one of the services, and was encouraged to see a young man from another church trust Christ during the invitation. According to his pastor, it was a HUGE answer to many years of prayer. God is so good!

Two weeks later, I headed to the Philippines to speak at a youth conference at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Catarman, where missionary Layne Jones has been pastoring for many years. The difference in the culture, as well as the reception to the Gospel was amazing to me. In the three days that the conference was held, there were at least 10 professions of salvation, and one young lady surrendered to go to their Bible College. I heard later that three other young people came to Pastor Jones after the conference expressing their desire to attend Bible College.

Easter Sunday

I arrived back to Japan the day before Easter Sunday. Our church family had done an amazing job in preparing for our annual Easter event, and it was incredible to see the ever-increasing flow of people who came to the park where the event was held. God blessed immensely! We had 110 people attend the event, with 77 visitors. Several children and teens raised their hand indicating that they had trusted Christ during the invitation, and we’re looking forward to following up on them. Several of the adults also came up to me afterward, thanking us for letting them come, and sharing how they understood for the first time how the resurrection of Christ was so key to Christianity. These are parents who, for the most part, have very little connection to Christianity, and so to hear them reflect on what they learned was so exciting to hear. Again, these are just the beginning steps toward salvation for them as we pray that not only their minds, but their hearts will continue to become open to the Gospel.

Children’s Program

The week after Easter Sunday was the official kickoff to our completely revamped children’s program. Over the past year, we have seen an increase of grade-school age children attending. While Bethany, my mother, and another lady in our church have been doing a wonderful job of teaching the kids, it was clear that for the benefit of the children who were coming, and for the children who would be coming in the future, we needed to have help. So in early March, we held a “Sunday School Promotion Sunday,” where we presented the new children’s program to our church family in the hopes that they would be willing to have a part in training the following generation of children. The response was amazing! Something that was so encouraging to me and Bethany was that one of their main concerns was that they didn’t want to miss being in the services. But we had enough adults and teens volunteer that we’re now able to put them on a rotating schedule, which helps them to keep the consecutive number of missed services down to a minimum. I can’t wait to see what God does through the children’s program to draw more children to Himself, but also what He does through this to strengthen the faith and maturity of our believers who get to see God using them consistently to reach and train others.

Salvations and Visitors

Throughout the past several months we have also been encouraged to see several new families start attending our church. The Takai family is a young couple with four young boys who moved from downtown Tokyo to our area in January. Mariko (Mrs. Takai) is a Christian, but Hiroki (Mr. Takai) is not yet, but loves being in church. They’ve been very faithful in attending the services, and it’s exciting to see both of them listening intently to the preaching and teaching, as well as to see their boys participating in Sunday school.

One of our ladies, Elizabeth (she’s from Peru) has been sharing the Gospel with her co-worker Mari for the last three years. Mari would come to church off and on as her work schedule would allow, but over the past several weeks, it was evident that her desire to understand the Gospel was increasing. During the last several mid-week prayer meetings, we were able to spend time with her, answering her questions and showing her what it meant to be a Christian. Last Thursday, she seemed to want to be saved, but still held back. So I invited her to think about what she had read and heard concerning the Gospel that night, and to put her faith in Jesus. Elizabeth followed up with her again later that evening. Sunday morning, Mari came to church, excitedly saying over and over, “I believe Jesus! I believe Jesus!” She had trusted Christ that Thursday night! Praise the Lord!!

Upcoming event

In the next several weeks, our church family will be preparing for yet another major outreach event, our church cookout, which will be held on May 3. This is one of the events where MANY unsaved friends and family members are willing to attend, and even listen to the Gospel being presented to them. It has consistently been an event that has allowed us to interact with and develop relationships with people who would have never been willing to step foot into a church building, yet have become more and more open to hearing and accepting the Gospel. Please pray with us that we will see friends and family members trust Christ through this event.

Thank you for all of your sacrifice: both in time praying, and in financial giving, that enables us to love and serve our brothers and sisters here in Japan, and to share the glorious Gospel with those who will hear. May God receive all the glory!

To download a pdf version, please click here.

A missionary’s heart is always in more than one place. When you are on the field, while your heart is fully with the people that you serve and minister to, there is always a sense of longing for your family and friends you’ve left in America. And when you’re back in America blissfully enjoying the time with your dear loved ones you’ve missed while on the field, you sense a different longing. It’s an intense longing for the family of brothers and sisters into whom you have poured your heart. Both families are loved dearly. Both families are longed for deeply. Oh, for the day when both families will be together in the presence of our Father!

A Family Reunion in The U.S.

Furlough in the States was a much needed time for us. It was a time to recover from several intensely busy years of serving in Japan, as well as a time to reconnect with our loved ones and spend cherished time with them. Because we were able to stay longer than usual, we were able to see some family that we haven’t seen in close to 15 years, and some younger family members for the first time! This was also a time to reconnect with churches who have been faithfully praying and supporting us through the years. While we are never able to see all of our supporting churches in one furlough, it was so encouraging to see those that we were able to see. I am also very thankful for several new churches that chose to partner with us in reaching the Japanese. While we were in the States, our home church family was such an incredible blessing to us in how they loved and encouraged us. It was also so helpful for me personally to spend time with my pastors, gleaning as much knowledge and wisdom from them as I could so that I could better serve my brothers and sisters in Japan.

A Family Reunion in Japan

        On January 11, we said our goodbyes to our family. This time the pain of leaving was much deeper for us than it usually is as we were leaving our oldest son Tyler behind for college. God was (and continues to be) so gracious to us in giving us the strength to leave family again. As our flight neared Tokyo, the overwhelming sorrow of leaving was being overtaken by the overwhelming desire to see our family in Japan: my mom and dad, and our brothers and sisters at Akigawa Baptist Church.

      Our first Sunday back was, again, a blissful family reunion. While the intense busyness has already begun, it has been so good to see the spiritual growth of our brothers and sisters in our absence. God is so good! There have already been several blessings in just the two weeks that we’ve been back that I will be sharing in our next letter.

Some things to pray for

        There are several health issues for which we would greatly appreciate your prayers.

• Asher’s asthma. While in the States, our youngest son Asher had a severe asthma attack. He received excellent medical care in the States, and we are hoping to find a good doctor here in Japan who can continue to give him the treatment he needs.
• Bethany’s carpal tunnel. After arriving in Japan, it was determined that Bethany’s carpal tunnel was severe enough to require surgery. She had surgery on January 25. Please pray for a speedy recovery.

Thanks so much for each of you who’ve been praying for and supporting us! I so deeply wish that I could have gone to each of you to thank you personally for how much you mean to us. One day…

To download a pdf version, please click here.

Over the past several months we have had the privilege of sharing how glorious God has been to our brothers and sisters in Japan with churches here in the States. We have been to over 30 churches in the time we’ve been here, and in each church we have been greatly encouraged to see God’s glory manifested in the lives of our brothers and sisters here in the States as well. How great God is! How immense is the vastness of His Kingdom! How intricate is His providence as He prepares us and equips us to serve Him! How intimate is His grace to each of us in uniquely empowering and strengthening us for His glory!

The Gospel displayed in the color of our hair

While Bethany and our youngest child Asher were shopping one day, a friendly store clerk saw Asher’s red hair and asked, “Where did you get that red hair?” (Neither Bethany or I are redheads.) As Bethany was thinking about how to answer, Asher simply exclaimed, “Jesus!” With that simple response, the door was opened for spiritual conversation and for Bethany to invite her to church. While she hasn’t put her trust in Christ yet, our new friend has been faithfully coming to church over the last two months (even while we were traveling out of town to other churches) and has been listening intently to the preaching.

One day, when Bethany was back in town, she stopped by the store to see how our friend was doing. In their brief conversation of catching up, another coworker overheard their conversation. She came over and said, “I’ve been looking for a good church to go to.” Bethany mentioned that one thing we love about our home church is that they are so committed to teaching the truth from God’s Word. Our friend agreed, “Yes, they do!” and proceeded to invite her to come with her the next Sunday, which she did. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in the hearts of both of these dear ladies.

Meanwhile, Back in Japan…

We are thankful for how our church family in Japan is continuing faithfully in our absence. This summer, we started an early service on Sunday, primarily to address two challenges that our church family was encountering. The first challenge was to alleviate the space issues we’ve been having from the growth in church attendance. We also have several faithful church members who do not speak Japanese as their primary language and have difficulty understanding the preaching and teaching in the services, which have all been in Japanese. We decided that the early service would be most profitable to be held in English as it would be the best way to promote spiritual growth for those who are more comfortable with English. As is all change in routine, the new service time has taken some time for our folks to adjust to, but it is steadily picking up steam and is becoming a great source of encouragement to our church family.

Norio and Mieko Kobayashi are neighbors that we have been working with for the last 7 or 8 years and have been dear friends of ours. Mieko was saved and baptized a few years ago, and Norio has interest but isn’t saved yet. Norio has always been a huge help to me in preparing for different events we hold at our church. For the last several years, Norio and I get to spend a day together smoking turkeys in preparation for our church Thanksgiving service. This year, I was encouraged to hear that Norio has asked to continue the tradition with my dad in my absence. These steps of relationship building have always been such a critical part of sharing the Gospel with the Japanese. Please continue to pray for Norio’s salvation as well as Mieko’s growth as a Christian. Like Norio, there are several other unsaved husbands that also need prayer for salvation.

Thank you so much for giving and praying for your brothers and sisters in Japan. In our travels to different churches, we have been continually humbled and honored to meet those of you who pray for us regularly. Thank you!!

Serving Him,
The Carters to Japan

To download a pdf version, please click here.

It has now been a month since we’ve returned to the United States. Although it’s only been three years since our last furlough, there have been quite a few instances where we’ve experienced “reverse culture shock.” The incredibly low cost of fruit and vegetables, and the ease with which we can throw things away, as well as the continual outpouring of love from our family, church family, and supporting church families has been incredibly refreshing! Of course, as many missionaries experience, there has also been the struggle to re-learn how to live and function in the ever-changing American culture. How often we find ourselves relying on our Heavenly Father to give us much needed grace and wisdom!

New Supporters Needed!

One of the purposes for this furlough is to raise support for several key areas of growth in our ministry in Japan. God has been very gracious in allowing our ministry to grow, and with that growth are areas in which we need your help, both financially and in prayer.

Church Growth

The first of these areas is the growth of our church. Due to the high cost of property in Japan, any expansion beyond our current situation will require a significant investment. Because we are reaching the capacity of our small auditorium, we will be holding extra services to accommodate the current growth. At some point in the future though, if God allows our growth to continue, we will need to relocate. In our area of Tokyo, the average price for 3,000 ft² of land (without a building) is $250,000. Our current building sits on 1,300 ft² of land which gives us the space to hold forty people and three cars.

Christian School Growth

The second area of growth is our Christian school. We will be starting our second year and have already had several inquiries of families who have a desire to enroll their children. This is in addition to the 17 children that are currently enrolled for the upcoming school year. A dear Christian brother who operates an English language school in our area has graciously rearranged the schedule of their school to hold their classes in the evenings which has opened up the building for us to use for our school during the day rent-free. The maximum capacity for the school is around 20 students, at which point, again, we will need to find a new place to meet.

Our goal is to find a location that is suitable for both our church and school to operate in the same location. This will require a significant increase in funds, both in the short term and in future monthly support. I believe that in the long term the benefits are significant and will allow us to have a multi-generational impact that will provide a much-needed foundation of Biblical instruction for our Japanese brothers and sisters. Please pray that God will allow us to raise the needed support while we are here. If you have been following our ministry but have not yet partnered with us, please consider this time as an opportunity to begin doing so. For those of you who have been continuing to pray for and support us throughout the years, THANK YOU!! We are so encouraged by what God is doing.

Prayer Requests

Please keep several people in your prayers who are adding on to their already heavy workload in our absence.

• My parents, Dave and Glenda Carter, as they take the full load of our responsibilities of the church.
• Missionaries Jim and Amy Smith, who are taking on the full load of the school responsibilities.
• Jenna Powell, who will be flying to Japan to teach in the school in Bethany’s place while we are in the States.

To download a pdf version, please click here.

Easter Record Breaker

    For us, Easter is such an exciting time. In a culture where death is rarely discussed because of the insecurities that encompass it, it is a time where we as Christians can boldly and joyfully proclaim Christ’s victory over death and the grave. In a nation where Christianity is such a small part of the culture, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ has surprisingly started to draw a curious interest to many Japanese over the last several years. For the last four years, before our Easter services, we’ve held an Easter egg hunt followed by a Gospel presentation as an opportunity for our church family to invite their friends and families to hear a clear Gospel presentation of the Resurrection.This year, we had the highest ever attendance of any single day in the history of our church with a total of 110 people who came to the different services throughout the day! It was a special day for us as we saw many whole families attend and parents sitting alongside their children as they listened intently to the Gospel being preached.

A Visit from a Dear Friend

Annual Cookout

In the beginning of May, we held our annual cookout and tent meeting which has evolved into quite a big event. Over the last several years we have consistently had around 70 people attend the event. On the day before we hold the event we always cut the grass along the river to clean it up and set up tents for the big day. Each year, several people from the area have stopped by to thank us for cutting the grass for the community. 🙂 We let them know about the cookout, and always invite them to come. Last year, one neighbor, Mr. Kudo, saw all the preparation work and actually started to help us set up the tents. He was having so much fun that I invited him to the cookout! He and his wife came and had a great time, and even volunteered to cook the burgers with other church folks! We were able to get to know each other throughout the year and when the time came for the cookout this year, he was all in again. He and my other neighbor, Norio (whose wife got saved last year), are good friends and they spent the day helping me and dad haul equipment and cut grass. With A LOT of our church family helping out, the preparation day became a great time of fellowship.

Mom and Dad’s 40^th Ministry Anniversary

Furlough Preparations

Serving Him,
The Carters to Japan

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

The kingdom of God is immense. It is immense in the scope of its magnitude and power. That God allows me to play any role in it at all is a testament to His grace, specifically towards me. Over and over, I see my miserably inept attempts to show others His glory, and I see how He chooses to use those meager attempts to show ME how He draws men to Himself through those attempts. What a joy and relief to know that His kingdom is always in HIS hands!

This reality has been shown to me many times, but in the past several months I have been specifically reminded of God’s magnitude and power in the lives of two men: Takamasa and Shuntaro.

It took thirteen years…

I met Takamasa, literally, the day after my family and I arrived in Japan thirteen years ago. He had come to welcome us to Japan and we hit it off the day we met. Since that time we have been praying that God would work in Takamasa’s heart. I have spent many hours witnessing to him and showing him his need of a Savior, but it has always seemed to fall on deaf ears. While we were good friends, it seemed to me that nothing I said would convince him to see that he needed Jesus. I have mentioned him quite a few times in my prayer letters and I’m sure many of you have prayed for him through the years.

About a year ago, Takamasa got a job in downtown Tokyo and, because of the busyness of his job, we haven’t been able to stay in touch like we used to. On a Friday night a few weeks ago, I got a call from Takamasa and as we caught up with each other he told me of some very difficult things going on in his life and he wanted to ask me what I thought he should do. I told him the first thing to do was to take care of the most important issue, his salvation. He replied, “I’ve been really thinking a lot about that over the past couple of days.” So I asked him if he was ready to trust in Jesus and without a second’s hesitation he said, “Yes, I am.” So over the phone we prayed together and Takamasa asked Christ to save him! To hear him repent of his sins and profess his faith in Jesus was one of the most overwhelmingly glorious moments I have experienced of seeing God work in a person’s life in a way that was completely out of my hands. For those of you who prayed for Takamasa’s salvation, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!! Please don’t stop praying for him though. He is still going through a lot of difficulty and still needs us to pray for him. And pray for his spiritual growth as your brother in Christ, too!

An encouraging email

Another young man named Shuntaro has been a true blessing to me. He is currently studying to take the bar exam to be a judicial clerk and often gets in on just the tail end of a church service because of his busy work schedule. As a very young Christian he is always hungry to learn. Many times after a church service we will take time to study the Bible and discuss questions he has relating to the Scriptures. Recently, Shuntaro and I talked about what baptism is and why Christians get baptized. I then followed up on the topic and sent him an article on baptism. After reading the article, Shuntaro sent me this encouraging email and I thought I would share it with you:

“Thank you! I read the article about baptism. I did not know baptism is so important. I think today is a defining moment in my life as a Christian. I had not understood why the people I respect so much are often Christian, like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Manny Pacquiao and the doctor of the hospital I go to. They knew Jesus and the Bible well, and God made them marvelous men. Now, I know I can endure any hardship because I’m Christian and I think I want to be the Gospel that people around me can see. So I want to obey Jesus’ commandment to be baptized in the future. Thank you!”

To download a printable pdf, click here.