Carter Family Update

Since several of you have asked about us, I thought I’d write an update. As many of you know we feel called to Japan. It all started several years ago at our annual meeting in Malaysia. We were at a morning prayer session where we all prayed for God to send missionaries to Japan and we felt like God said that we were the answer to that prayer. Still, we thought that didn’t make much since as we were happy and doing well at APTS. We wrestled with this for several months while God continued to tell us in multiple ways that he was sending us to Japan.

When we returned to the US we contacted Russ Turney about transferring to Japan. After a couple of months he responded by saying no and that the door was closed for us. We prayed about it, looked into alternatives, but still felt like God was telling us to go to Japan. God continued to confirm this call. So, in Feb. we went to Springfield and met with Russ, trying to figure out how we were supposed to start fundraising the very next day without any idea where we were going! Russ sounded much different in our meeting. He said that they did want to send us where God was calling us, and if God wants us in Japan than we would get there. He said that it would be difficult and that our budget would pretty much double and that he couldn’t guarantee that we would make it. Still, he agreed to let us fundraise by sharing our heart for Japan.

As we began fundraising God continued to tell us that we were doing the right thing. We were given multiple prophesies at various churches. Last month every church that we re-visited doubled the offering amount that we received from our previous itineration cycle. We are confident that God wants us in Japan and that he is going to get us there.

So now we are busy itinerating. We drove from Florida to Alaska at the end of Jan/ beginning of Feb. We are currently living in a 1 bedroom apt. in Nikiski, Alaska, very near Chris parents and sister’s homes. We have been busy driving and flying all over this large state. We have also enjoyed time with family. We got to meet Chris’ sister’s new husband, baby and step daughters. Chris also got to perform the wedding ceremony for my brother last Saturday. Physically I am doing much better.

Although I have some sort of flu today, I have managed to go several months without any real illness and that has been a blessing. Also my heart seems to be doing okay. While it usually beats irregularly several times a day, the cardiologist says that I am coping well and as long as I continue to do so and if I don’t develop any other heart problems, than no treatment is necessary. I am greatly relieved to be off of all heart medication with all the nasty side effects that came with them. I will have to continue to monitor my heart with checkups every 6 months, but otherwise no changes are necessary.

Adelaide has recently had some medical problems of her own. She was diagnosed this February with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. This is actually an autoimmune disease with no known cause or cure. Thankfully, so far she seems to have a mild case. For Addie it mostly means pain in her ankles and knees and reduced stamina. However, Addie is a tough little girl and most of the time you would never know that she has anything wrong with her as she just keeps on going. Lately she has been having a lot of stomach pain and the local doctor is monitoring her to make sure she isn’t developing an ulcer from the arthritis medication. Although it’s tough to see our little girl in pain, we are thankful that we were able to find an excellent specialist in Kansas City who is willing to communicate with us via e-mail and help us manage her pain. Besides the arthritis, Addie is generally doing well. She is enjoying playing with her 5 year old cousin, Cadence and with her Nana’s dogs. She still keeps up with her brothers, but also loves all things girly.

Wesley is doing well. Although he was disappointed to discover that he can’t go outside in the winter in Alaska in shorts, he has enjoyed the snow. He also excelled in his swimming class that he just completed and is hoping to take another one sometime.

Hudson is just as entertaining as ever. He just had his 3rd birthday. We celebrated it at the indoor community pool with all his local aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. He also has taken to calling himself “dog” and will correct anyone who dares to call him “Hudson”!

Chris is also doing well and keeping in good health. While he does miss his time of study in his office, he has enjoyed a lot of our recent family activities. He loves the beauty of Alaska and getting to spend a lot of time with his family. He is also working on on-line ground school and is learning how to fly his dad’s airplane.

As you can see a lot has been happening with the Carter family! We miss our APTS family. The kids still consider Baguio home. We hope that all our friends in the Philippines are keeping well. We have a lot of travel ahead of us and if any of you will be state side this year we would love to see you. Here is a glance at our travel plans, May- AK &so CA, Jun- NM, UT, MO (for Re-entry & Renewal), Jul-Sept- FL, Oct-? - MO, KS & IA (but based in the Kansas City area). Thank you all for your many prayers. We have seen God’s hand at work and appreciate all your concern and love.

Looking Ahead

Now that Lindsey is doing better, we are looking ahead to the future. We thought we’d share with you our game plan. Currently we are enjoying the Christmas season at home with Lindsey’s parents.

In January, Chris will return to the Philippines for two and a half weeks. While back in Baguio, Chris will teach a block course on the Pastoral Epistles. Chris will also assist in the hosting of the annual lectureship with the guest speaker he invited, I. Howard Marshall.

Then in February we will hit the itineration trail. We’re actually crazy enough to drive from Florida to Alaska in the middle of winter! LOL. We are looking forward to visiting friends, family and churches along the way in the following states, Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. We will arrive in Alaska by February 13. Chris’ family and Lindsey’s brother, who live in Alaska can’t wait to see us. In fact Chris’ sister has never met Hudson and we’ve never met her youngest daughter! Our kids are also very excited about playing in the snow. We’ll finish off the winter in Alaska and then venture off on our next road trip in May.

Saying Goodbye

Our blog has been sadly neglected as we have had so much going on and a lot of medical problems. In fact, Lindsey’s heart troubles eventually lead us to saying goodbye to the Philippines and returning to the US on a medical leave. The doctors in Asia made it sound like Lindsey’s heart problem was potentially life threatening. However after arriving in the US and seeing a specialist, we were relieved to find out that it isn’t as serious as we once thought. Lindsey was taken off the strong medication she was on and has been gradually recovering from all the side effects that it gave her.

Saying goodbye to everyone we loved in the Philippines was not easy, but we were blessed to have 3 goodbye parties! The first party was with the Young Kids Bible Club. Lindsey passed on the ministry baton to her co-teacher and another student’s wife.

The next party was with the students. They told their favorite memories of us. It was touching to see how meaningful the opening up of our home, for meals, small groups and conversations had been to the students. It was also a blessing to hear tales from Chris’ classroom and how the knowledge the students gained is impacting their lives and ministries.

Japanese students singing us a traditonal goodbye song

A final goodbye party was with the faculty. During this first term we were richly blessed to be surrounded by experience missionaries who were always ready to lend a hand, provide a listening ear or offer advice. They became close friends and we miss them already.

Fellow APTS missionaries, Ruth and Nick Wilson at our faculty goodbye party.

Below, our mentor missionaries, Paul and Eveline Lewis sending us off.

Students

Beyond lecturing in the classroom, we have the unique opportunity of spending time just getting to know the students. Each week we host a student/faculty home group for a time of prayer and fellowship. We also have a lot of social events, like the new student dinner we attended yesterday at a local restaurant.

Additionally, we enjoy hanging out with the students at our house. As we all live together on our small seminary campus, students will occasionally drop by to discuss theology, ministry or just for a casual chat. Friday night we even had some of the students from the dorm over for dinner. Flint from Fiji along with Josiah (also from Fiji) and with a little help from Deanna (an American missionary serving in Thailand) made us a delicious curry. After dinner, Deanna and Mario (a student from Indonesia) stayed to watch a DVD. It has been a fascinating experience for us living in this unique multicultural Christian community.

The cooks hard at work in our kitchen.

Christmas in Baguio

We spent our second Christmas in the Philippines last month. It was an eventful holiday season. It all started with the APTS candlelight Christmas service. Unfortunately, we missed this one as Lindsey was having surgery in Manila, but the kids attended and performed "Silent Night" in American Sign Language with the Young Kids Bible Club. We made it back on time for the faculty Christmas party at the Lewis' house. We also enjoyed a Christmas party at our neighbors, the Bowdoins, where Chris illustrated the "totality of Christmas" during a pictionary game.

A couple of days before Christmas our friends Ray & Deborah Miller, missionaries on the Philippine island of Mindoro, came up spend Christmas on campus with us. They joined us on Christmas Eve for a visit to the Baguio General Hospital where we, along with other evangelical missionaries in Baguio, delivered Christmas gifts to the sick children .
Then, LaChrisha, a missionary here at APTS joined the Millers and us for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of beef brisket sandwiches. Tasty! Of course the kids couldn't wait until after dinner when we opened up the Christmas gifts. We ended the evening sitting around our fire place.

On Christmas morning LaChrisha came over to help cook for the brunch we hosted for all the single students on campus. We served homemade cinnamon raisin bread, Amish egg casserole, fruit salad, apple cider, hot cocoa, coffee, juice, and chocolate chip muffins that Hymes family (fellow APTS missionaries) brought over. The kids opened up their stockings and passed out stockings to all of the students and friends who attended our brunch.

Christmas evening we joined the rest of the campus for a pot luck dinner. We had everything from turkey and cranberry sauce, to noodles with squid and kimchi! It was great time to rejoice in the birth of our savior with Christians from all over the world. It was like a little glimpse of heaven. We were truly blessed with a wonderful Christmas.

November

November was a hectic month for us. Life always gets busier for us toward the end of the trimester. Our calendar included the usual stuff, some meals with campus visitors, home groups, Bible club, and classes. It also included special holiday activities, like our campus Thanksgiving dinner, APTS annual candlelight Christmas service and the faculty Christmas party. In preparation for these events I (Lindsey) taught the Bible club kids how to sing "Silent Night" in American Sign Language, baked over 300 cookies and made 15 Christmas ornaments with the kids!

Interrupting all our activities was a couple of trips to the hospital for me. I had a gallbladder attack on the day before Thanksgiving. Thanks, to a providential discussion about gallbladders with my Mom the day before, I had some idea of what might be wrong with me and was able to suggest to the doctor that she check my gallbladder. They found multiple stones, including two somewhat large ones, and some thickening of my gallbladder. The doctor said it needed to come out with in a week. I decided to have the operation done in Manila at a cleaner and more modern hospital. So, I managed to talk the doctor into letting me go home just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. The next day was spent trying to locate a good surgeon (this proved to be no easy task!), packing and preparing to leave for Manila. I also had to get the kids ready to stay with a friend and fellow missionary on campus while we were gone.

(Picture of our family, not including Chris who's behind the camera, at the APTS Thanksgiving dinner.)

We left before sunrise on Saturday for Manila. In the afternoon I had an appointment with the surgeon. He showed us his collection of photos of gallbladders he removed. As he had been performing the surgery for nearly 20 years, and teaching others how to do it, the collection was extensive! However, we appreciated that he took his time with us and was experienced in laproscopic surgery.

We stayed the night in a guestroom at a church of an APTS graduate. We attended his bilingual (Chinese/English) church service the following morning. After church we had a quiet lunch (with out the kids) and checked into the hospital.

Late Monday afternoon the surgery was performed successfully. I no longer have a gallbladder! We were blessed to have several missionary friends visit us during our stay in the hospital. I was able to return home to Baguio (about a 5 hour drive) on Wednesday morning. I've been getting better day by day. I was even able to attend the faculty Christmas party on Friday for a little while. Pretty soon I should be fully recovered and hopefully, feeling better than I have in years. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the friends, family and churches that prayed for us!

Photo of me at the faculty Christmas party just 4 days postop!

International Night

Each October APTS has an annual mission emphasis week. The week ends with international night banquet and presentations. Here is this years international night in pictures...

The opening human video about unreached people groups
The Young Kids Bible Club singing "Let Your Light Shine"

The American and Dutch students doing a traditional American square dance.

The pacific islanders human video.

The Korean students cultural exhibition

Chris' parents and Addie watching the Northern Asian students Psalm and traditional dance.

The faculty top ten list.


The Thai boxer and Japanese Samurai challenge.

Filipino warrior dance.

Note: I started this post last month, but was unable to publish it due to Internet and then health problems. So, here it is at last. I had hoped to add more pictures, but was unable to do so. Still, I think these photos will give you a taste of our international night.