Here are our most recent prayer letters. Enjoy!
Carter Connection January 2023
Dear Praying Friends, Over the last several months, our families (the Carter family, as well as our church family here in Japan), have experienced several significant “new starts”. As we thank God for His grace to give us these new beginnings, we also continue to trust Him to help us and guide us in them, so that His goodness and faithfulness is on full display as He walks with us! A (re)start of community outreaches Since Covid started, our church family has had to focus our outreaches primarily on personal interactions with family and friends while we waited for the social fear of Covid to gradually subside. Throughout this time, God has continued to help us make new connections; to share with new people the good news of the Gospel. And while that continues, we’ve also been excited to begin to expand once again into reaching more of our community through different events to reach out to even more people. This Christmas, we had two major Christmas events, one specifically for children, and one geared toward families. In each event, we were so thankful to see many first-time guests, as well as those who had come to previous events before Covid. Over the two ...
Read moreCarter Connection September 2022
This summer, Japan had its biggest wave of new infections since the beginning of COVID. New infections hovered around 200,000 a day during the entire month of August. Now, as we head into September, we’re thankful that the infections are starting to die down. Though the surge of new infections has slowed down the easing of restrictions, we’re thankful that it hasn’t hindered the gathering of our church family. God has been very faithful to us! We’ve had a few infections here and there, but nothing serious, and our church family has continued to faithfully gather together throughout the summer. Summer Family Camp For many years our church has been part of a summer camp where Baptist churches in Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures (states) gather together for a few days of preaching and fellowship. Due to Covid, this was the first time in three years that we were able to have this camp together again, even in the middle of the wave of infections. God protected everyone who attended, and we were all thrilled to see brothers and sisters whom we haven’t seen for a while. God used a Japanese missionary serving in the underground churches of a nearby country to ...
Read moreCarter Connection June 2022
Lack of parking spaces. I hadn’t realized how much I’ve missed this problem. How thankful I am to have it once again! As the COVID restrictions have been gradually easing here in Japan, Sunday services have also been gradually getting fuller and fuller. New families, new believers, and those who haven’t been able to come in a long time are once again filling the seats, connecting with one another, building relationships, and working to reach those around them. God is good! Did You Hear!? In our last prayer letter, I got to share with you about one of the ladies who trusted Christ named “Yoko.” She was one who was saved recently through the Bible study of another missionary lady in a nearby city. The other day, Bethany was at a park with Asher, and Yoko happened to see them off in the distance. She excitedly came up to Bethany and said, “Did you hear!? Did you hear!? I trusted Jesus!” The joy in her heart was clear to see! God had graciously called us to be faithful in planting the Gospel and another to water that seed, as God produced the bountiful work of salvation in her soul. And in holding ...
Read moreCarter Connection March 2022
Over the years, we’ve seen people from all walks of life come to know Jesus through our ministry here in Japan. Some of the stories of how people have come to know Jesus have been incredible. Let me share with you the accounts of two women who have been rescued and redeemed by Jesus. Both have an eternal future that is secure because of who they now are in Christ. Both have begun their walk as followers of Jesus, but the path that has led to their salvation, and the path that they will be on as followers of Jesus are quite different. (Real names have been changed to protect privacy.) A Tale of Two Salvations Eiko had come into contact with Kenji, a young man in her workplace. They both were interested in each other, and as they got to know each other, she quickly discovered that Kenji was a Christian, and that his faith in Jesus meant much more to him than how so many around her viewed religion. One day, Kenji invited her to meet his parents who were also Christians, and to visit the church they attended (Akigawa Baptist Church) to see more of what Christians believed. That ...
Read moreCarter Connection January 2022
For the last few months, as we’ve been able to meet together, it’s been encouraging to see our church family continuing to grow in many different ways. Our outreach events have helped many new people to hear the Gospel, and we’re seeing consistent growth as a church family as well. Our Father is so good and kind in how he cares for us! Outreach Events- They kept showing up! In November, about a month and a half after the emergency status in Tokyo was lifted, we held our first “tentative” outreach event with a Thanksgiving dinner Sunday. I had no idea how many people would come, as people were still a little wary of Covid. So, we decided to hold the event at our church, and set up tables to see what would happen. In no time, our little auditorium was filled! That Sunday we had 9 first-time visitors, along with many friends and family members of our church family who had been away for nearly a year. So, for Christmas, we decided to rent a hall to have more space, and hold two events back-to-back. On Saturday, December 18, we held a children’s Christmas event, and then on Sunday, December 19, ...
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