As we begin the new year, I am reminded of Paul’s resolve. “…This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13, 14) Regardless of the means, or the capacity in which God chooses to use me, my desire is to continually be molded and shaped as His vessel, until I am completed in His presence in glory.

Christmas Service

Christmas is a special time for our church, simply because of the interest Christmas draws to Christianity during this season. It is a great opportunity for our church family to reach out to their family and friends to hear the Gospel through the story of Christmas. Because we were so limited on space at our church for our Thanksgiving outreach, we decided to rent a hall for our Christmas service. God blessed the service immensely, with 52 people attending, and 10 visitors; 3 of which were first-time visitors. Again, my neighbors Norio and Mieko came, and Norio jumped in to help out throughout the time he was there. Please continue to keep them and the other unsaved friends and family in your prayers!

Visitors Throughout the Year

God has been continuing to bless us with a church family that consistently reaches out to their family and friends with the Gospel. In 2014, we’ve had 103 visitors, the highest number of visitors that our church has ever had!  Out of those, 52 of them were first-time visitors. Those numbers represent countless personal invitations, thousands of pamphlets passed out, and many, many people praying for them! For those of you who prayed, THANK YOU!!

New Visitors

Over the past several months, we have been very encouraged to see several Christian visitors who have started to attend our services, including several families in which the father is a Christian. The need for strong Christian men in our church is evident, and God may have answered that need through these families. I am very thankful for the way they have already jumped in and become actively involved in our church. Wow! What an encouragement! I earnestly pray that God uses them mightily to draw unsaved fathers and husbands to Himself. Please pray that God would use us to encourage and disciple these families.

Please continue to pray for us in the coming year, that God would protect our physical and spiritual health, that He would bless our family and our church, and that he would give us faith to follow whatever paths He has in store for us.

To download a pdf version, click here.

Family Camp

Every year in the month of August, our church gets together with several other independent Baptist churches in the Tokyo area for Family Camp. This is a time of much needed Christian fellowship and preaching. This year we were able to have several ladies attend, as well as a man named Mr. Hanagaki, a noodle restaurant owner who was saved recently. Because of his busy schedule, he and his wife (who is still unsaved) were only able to attend one day. However, while they were there, their hearts were touched by the time they were able to spend with other Christians. This year I was able to teach several young adults throughout our time at camp. Please keep these young people in your hearts as you pray for us. They are among the next generation of Japanese who will win their country for Christ.

Akigawa Baptist Church Family

In our church, we are constantly praying for and reaching out to the families of our Christians. Currently, we do not have any Japanese families in which the entire immediate family is saved. Therefore, the reality of unsaved husbands, wives, parents, and children is constantly in front of us. There are two ladies in particular for whom I would ask that you pray.

Sachiko Kawasaki has been a dear friend for many years and has faithfully served the Lord at our church. Her daughter is saved, but her husband is not. He actually comes to church quite often and he and I have gotten close over the years. Sachiko’s parents live several hours away and her elderly father’s health has started diminishing over the last year. She has been going back to take care of him as often as she can. While caring for him, she and her daughter consistently present the Gospel to him, begging him to trust Christ. His heart has gradually become tender, but he has yet to trust Christ. Please pray.

Another faithful Christian lady named Reiko Ito has been witnessing to her husband for many years. He has come to our church events on several occasions, and has even gone to help with the tsunami relief a few years ago (we witnessed to him a lot during that trip).  Last month, while she and her daughter were talking about how God has been blessing them, he told them that he did not want to hear about their God anymore. Obviously this is heartbreaking to Reiko and her daughter, Louie. Please remember to pray for Mr. Ito.

There has been some encouraging news too, though! Reiko’s oldest daughter, Sari, who is unsaved, started working at a day care center in downtown Tokyo and her immediate supervisor is a strong Christian who attends an independent Baptist church for the military nearby. We’re praying that he will be influential in leading her to Christ. Sari has also started to come to church occasionally. Please pray for her salvation!

Thank you so much for your faithfulness! We are continually overwhelmed by how vast and glorious Christ’s bride, the church, is, working to further HIS glorious kingdom, strengthening HIS body by giving toward each other’s needs, and praying for each other. How blessed we are to be part of that body of Christ!

Serving Him,
The Carters to Japan

To download a printable PDF version, click here.

Home Church Visit

As missionaries, one of the obstacles that is difficult to overcome is the disconnect that naturally happens between home church (or supporting church) and missionary. For many missionaries, it is very difficult to explain living conditions, the culture, spiritual obstacles, and the people to whom you are ministering, simply because there is often no frame of reference that can be used to adequately explain those things without actually being there. Last month, we had the privilege of having our pastor and several members from our home church come to visit us for a week and a half. They came specifically for the purpose of ministering to us and understanding how we live and minister so that they could better pray for us and our people. Words cannot describe what an encouragement this was, and still is, to us. Not only because of the encouragement that we personally received, but also because our church family in America was able to build ties with our church family in Japan. We are very thankful for the sacrifice that they made, both financially and in their time away from home, to come to be such a blessing to us.

Annual Church Cookout

Church BBQ

While our American church family was here they were a huge help in preparing for our annual church cookout. The cookout is a prime opportunity for our Japanese church family to invite their lost friends and loved ones to spend time with Christians and to hear the Gospel. We were able to condense what is usually a week-long preparation into just two days. Needless to say, I was happy! We were even able to build a makeshift canopy tent out of blue tarp and bamboo poles to provide shade from the heat that day. We ended up with a fantastic turnout with 71 people in attendance! Many of the visitors were family members of our Christians, including several of the husbands for whom we have been praying. I was able to preach a simple Gospel message to them and throughout the day we were able to have conversations with several of the visitors concerning salvation. Please continue to pray for the families of our church folks here!

“I’m From the Spirit World!”

One Sunday morning, several months ago, I was walking to the church after parking my car and I came across a lady and her six year old grandson who was playing on the sidewalk. I said hello to them and the young boy looked up, and seeing I was a foreigner, he suddenly stood up from playing and asked very intently, “Who are you?” I replied, “I’m from the church,” which is pronounced “kyōkai” in Japanese. His eyes opened wide in slight disbelief. He had misheard me. He said, “WHAT!? You’re from the yōkai!?” Which is the Japanese word for the spirit world! I burst out laughing and explained to him that I was from the nearby church, and they were welcome to come visit. Well, a few minutes later, the grandmother obliged the curiosity of her grandchild and came to church. The next week his mom came to church and they have been coming faithfully since. Praise God!

We are thankful for your faithfulness to us and ask that you continue to pray for the families of our church members. There have been both small victories as well as a few setbacks. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

Serving Him,
The Carters to Japan

To download a printable PDF file, click here.

English Class Visitors (Continued)

In our last prayer letter, I mentioned several English class ladies, who had started to come to our Sunday afternoon Bible class. I am happy to say that Mieko, Sumie, Yoshiko, and Yuechin have been continuing to come faithfully, studying God’s Word, and learning more and more about who God is. Thank you so much for your prayers over them. There is still a long road ahead of them as they continue to learn more fully their need for salvation, and the gift of redemption offered to them by Christ Jesus. So please continue to keep them in your prayers!

The “Blizzard of 2014”

In February, we experienced similar weather to what many of you back in the States are “enjoying.” In Tokyo, there is very little snowfall. We usually get a few inches of snow in February or March, which clears up after a few days. But this year, in mid-February we were hit with the biggest snowfall in 45 years which accumulated over a foot of snow on one weekend, followed by the biggest snowfall EVER RECORDED (over a foot and a half) the next weekend! Our area shut down for several days because traffic just couldn’t get anywhere. It took us a while just to drive out of our neighborhood, simply because the streets are so narrow that there was no place to shovel the snow to clear a path wide enough to fit a car! But again, God used this time for His glory, in that as our whole neighborhood was out shoveling snow, God gave us the chance to meet and get to know several people that we had never met before, as well as continue developing and strengthening our relationship with Norio and Mieko (see the December 2013 prayer letter) as we got together to help out different areas of our neighborhood.

Sanae’s Sweet Salvation

Sane Nakahara started coming to church in October of 2009. Through the years, she has come faithfully, many times asking questions about the Bible, God, and the necessity for salvation. The questions haven’t always been easy. But over the years, her heart has been tenderly drawn by the Holy Spirit to a desire to become a follower of Jesus. At the end of February, we had supporting pastor Darrell Hurst and his wife Grace come visit us for a few days, and during the midweek service, Pastor Hurst gave his testimony. While our church folks were fellowshipping afterwards, Sanae said to me, “Steve, I want to have that passion to serve Jesus like Mary Magdalene and Mary, Martha’s sister did.” I replied, “That’s a good desire to have, but you need to understand WHY they had that passion to serve Jesus. They didn’t serve Jesus because they wanted to be accepted by Him, but rather, Jesus had already accepted them in their sinful condition, and they were responding to the forgiveness He gave them, by serving Him out of thankfulness. There’s nothing that you can do in your own strength to be accepted by Jesus. But He WILL accept you the way you are, and then you too can serve Him out of thankfulness.” She thought about the answer I gave her for a few minutes, and then asked for everyone’s attention. “All right, everyone. I’m going to ask Jesus to save me!” So we prayed there at the table, asking Jesus to save her as she was, surrounded by her newly joined brothers and sisters in Christ! Sweet tears of joy flowed that evening as another precious soul joined our family in Christ!

To download the printable PDF version, click here

Mission Board Transition Process

    If you recall in our last prayer letter, the mission board of our sending church, Shawnee Baptist Missions has been discontinued, and so we have been in the process of finding a new mission board to go out under. Since our mission board is a VERY important part of our lives as missionaries, this transition CANNOT be done without due diligence, and prayer, and following the leading of the Holy Spirit, both on our part AND on the part of the mission board that will be taking us in. That being said, we are very thankful for God’s provision and for his direction. There is a possibility that another great independent Baptist church in the area will take us in through their mission board, so please pray for wisdom, and guidance throughout this potential transition. We have been involved in weekly meetings with the pastor of the church’s mission board for the last couple of months as part of their vetting process. So we covet your prayers for the decisions that need to be made in the days ahead.

Because of this long transition process, it has taken a while to get this letter out. We are thankful for your patience and understanding. Our furlough has been going well, as we have been trying to compress the mission board transition, catching up with family, and trying to raise some much needed support in the time that we have in the States. God has been very gracious to us, and we have been able to see several new churches indicating that they will take us on, and have been soaking every spare minute with our families, knowing the much dreaded time to say “goodbye” is drawing near.

Meanwhile, Back in Japan…

    While we have been back in the States, the work in Japan has been going well as my parents cover for us while we are gone. Thanks very much for praying for them during this time, as their workload significantly increases while we are gone.

Before we left for the States, we were able to hold our annual church cookout, where we invite friends and family to spend time with our church family, and to hear the Gospel. In our last letter, we asked that you especially pray for the husbands of the ladies in our church. Praise the Lord, three of the husbands came, and we were able to continue to build our relationships with them and several other new friends and family members of our church folks.

Signs of Growth

    It has been very encouraging to see the spiritual growth of the members as they not only learn more and more of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, but also as they apply what they learn in their lives. Over the past several months, we have seen several members start tithing, which is a huge step of faith for them. Of course, it helps with the finances of our church, but also, it is an incredible testimony to the other younger members of our church family. Praise the Lord!

We also were privileged to have a Japanese missionary to an undisclosed location in Asia who came to present his ministry to our church people. God really worked in their hearts, and our church voted to take him on for support! Hence, we now have our first supported missionary!

It is refreshing to see our folks who have been on the receiving side of gifts of grace, also on the giving side as well. Please continue to pray for the growth of our church family, not only in numbers, but also in spiritual growth.

Serving Him,
The Carters to Japan

To download the printable PDF version, click here.

The First Ten Years!!

This April, we celebrated our first ten years of being in Japan. We are continually in awe of God’s grace as He works among the Japanese through us. Our church was kind enough to celebrate it with us, and it was such an encouragement to hear their testimonies of how God let us be an influence in their lives. We took some time to go through the past ten years, through the different transitions our church went through, and it brought back a lot of memories of how the church started, and how it has grown so far, and of the people that God brought into our lives. As I write this letter, I am so thankful the faithfulness of all of you who have been so faithful to us, by praying for us, and by financially supporting us these first ten years. Thank you!! After looking behind to see God’s grace and mercy in our ministry so far, I am excitedly looking forward to what God is going to do in the next ten years, as He allows us to be used by Him!

Summer Furlough

This summer, we will be heading back to the States for a 3 month furlough from mid-June until mid-September. One of the reasons for this is that our home church, Shawnee Baptist Church, no longer has the capability to operate their mission board, and have informed the missionaries that we need to transition to a new mission board. Please pray for wisdom as we seek God’s will for this next step in our lives. We will also need to raise a little more support while we are in the States. We are also REALLY looking forward to seeing some of you as much as we can while we are there! If you would like for us to schedule a meeting with your church, please email me at cartersjapan@gmail.com, and we will do our best to come see you.

Teen Camp

In our last prayer letter, I asked that you would pray for our teens during youth camp, which took place at the end of March. This was the first time for our teens to get to go, and we were excited to see six teenagers go with us to youth camp. It was a long trip; about 8 hours each way, but it was WELL worth it! Our teens were really encouraged to see so many other Christian teenagers. There were a total of 150 teens that attended camp this year from Baptist churches throughout Japan. I was privileged to preach in one of the sessions, and I am thankful for one of the teens that got saved during the service, as well as several decisions to serve God. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Upcoming Church Cookout

We are always trying to get create open doors for our Japanese Christians to invite their lost friends and family to church, and to hear the Gospel. One of these opportunities is our annual church cookout. This is especially an important event for our Christian ladies, as many of their unsaved husbands will actually come to help cook and set up! Last year, 6 men, including 3 unsaved husbands come to the cookout, and this year, it looks like most of them are already planning on coming back to help. This is a great chance for them to hear the Gospel, so please pray that for the Holy Spirit to convict them of their need for salvation! Well, the end of the page approaches, so I will close by saying how thankful we are of your faithfulness to us. God bless, and Lord willing, we will see some of you this summer!

Serving Him,
The Carters to Japan

To download the printable PDF version, click here.