Update - Jan/Feb 2009

February 3, 2009

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

We want to thank each of you for your prayers and support up to this point. We are blessed to have you in our lives and helping us on this journey. We thank God for each of you and pray that He blesses you as you have blessed us.

As far as an update on our status: We are still here in the states. Our original plans did state that we planned to leave in January. That was always with the thought that our house would be sold. Well, our house has not sold. The Lord has directed us to wait until it sells before we make our move. Though we are not completely sure of all the reasons for the delay we are sure of a couple of them.

First, we found out in mid-January that Eden needs tubes in her ears. The delay has allowed us to continue to work with doctors we trust and with the insurance we currently have. This allows for little to no cost on our part for this procedure. Secondly, the one year anniversary of my Dad passing away was February 1. Being here allowed me to be in close verbal communication with Mom and to continue to support her as she needs. We are sure there are others and have prayed all along that God would allow us to move at exactly the right time.

God has revealed to us a slightly different beginning to our move. We had originally been planning on going to the capital first to attend language school and then move again to the coast near the training site. We have since discovered a language school on the coast. This is a blessing because we will only have to move once. With a two year old you can only imagine the advantages. Plus, this will also allow Bart to go to school in the mornings and then work at the site in the afternoons! He is thankful for the opportunity to get to do more than just school.

We want to ask for your continued prayers. We had a family express interest in our house this past weekend. We ask you to pray very specifically for this situation. We desire God’s will to be done, but that this be the right family and things to begin to move forward. We ask you to pray as we are praying for a contract this week and a closing date at the beginning of March to allow for a move mid-March. We ask you to pray that should there be anything else we need to do to allow this to move forward, that the Lord would reveal it to us and provide the means for us to do it.

We ask that you pray for Eden. Her surgery is scheduled for February 11 at 7:30 am. Pray for peace and comfort for her, Bart and I. and wisdom and steady hands for the doctors.

We ask you to pray for the continued healing for my family in the loss of my Dad. We know getting through the first year is very significant, but we ask for peace, understanding, and wisdom for life as it is now.

Please pray for JoJo Goodman and her family. She is a young lady from our church that will be traveling with us to help care for Eden as we travel, go to school and get settled. She desires to serve as a missionary in the future. Please pray God uses this experience to direct and lead her toward where He would have her serve. Please also say a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for her and her family. It is such a blessing to have her along with us for this transition.

We also ask you to pray for God’s continued provision for our funding. Thank Him as we have for the gracious provision of $10,000 that has been given us for our move and the $950 a month He has provided. We need about $2500 total for each month to cover our living expenses. Please pray that God would direct us to those we need to speak with, that He would lay on their hearts the desire to give, and that those He has called will be faithful through their giving.

Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement. We could not and would not be doing this without your support. Remember as our prayer partners and supports, you are doing the work of God and making His name famous among the nations! We love you!

Pura Vida in Christ,
Bart, Heather, and Eden Carty

God is so GOOD!

Well, we are still here in the States. We are waiting for the sell of our house. We know that God has perfect timing and that it will all fall into place when He wants it to. We did find out yesterday that Eden needs tubes in her ears. We are thankful that we get to do this here and have our current insurance in tact to cover the expenses. Just one way that God is so GOOD!

We continue to marvel at the blessings He is pouring out on our lives. We have been give the $10,000 we need to cover our moving expenses and and schooling. We also have pledges for about half of our monthly expenses at the moment. God has also provided a young lady to travel with us to help with Eden as we get settled and make arrangements. She will also be able to watch Eden as we take language classes so Bart and I can study together! What a blessing! Again, God is so GOOD!

As I write this I am reminded of the song I sang often as a child:

God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me!
He answers prayer, He answers pray, He answers prayer, He's so good to me!

What a gracious and loving Father we serve.

Please pray with Bart and I, not only about the sell of our house, but about our starting location in Central America. As I was putting Eden to bed Sunday night, God gave me a question. What if we are supposed to start on the coast instead of in the capital? As soon as Eden was asleep, Bart and I began some cursory looking and there are actually 2 language schools near the place we will be settling in. One of those 2 schools looks better than any of the ones we were looking into in the capital. Please pray that if this is indeed what we are to proceed with, that God would open those doors. This would also allow Bart to do some work at the site in the afternoons and allow us to not have to move Eden twice! Thank you for all you lift up to the Lord on our behalf. This is just as important as what we will be doing in Central America! And remember...

God is so GOOD!
He's so GOOD to me!

Support Letter 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

God has a plan. It is larger and more complex than anyone can imagine. His plan is to make Himself known to all people groups for His sake and for His glory. Over this past year, God has revealed a very direct way in which He has chosen Heather and I to participate in his plan. We would like you to prayerfully consider how you might be a part of it as well.

This past June, we were presented with a special opportunity to assist with a unique piece of God’s Plan. (http://www.answeringthecall.org/). Part of the vision of Answering the Call is the establishment of a training center designed to teach and minister to pastors and church leaders working in difficult places throughout the world. It will act not only to provide theological and practical training, but also as a place of refuge for these leaders who put their lives on the line every day. Once pastors are equipped, they will go back to their native countries to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. These pastors are able to go places that are virtually unreachable for traditional missionary models.

When we arrived, the plan was for our group to meet the very first group of pastors to train at the site. Due to various events and difficulties, the pastors were delayed in their arrival and the focus of our trip became primarily one of working on the training center. The hand of God was undeniably in this as the training center was not ready to host pastors. As the end of our twelve day trip approached, it was decided that I would stay behind and continue working while Heather and the rest of the team returned to Houston. During the extra week, God allowed me to see the completion of several projects, begin several I have not yet seen finished and to meet several people that allowed me to see the heart of ATC.

On my final day at the training center, I was asked if Heather and I would pray about joining ATC and moving to Central America. After much prayer and discussion, we have been led by God to accept this call and are planning on a January 2009 beginning to this new chapter in our lives.

My roll will be as facilities manager of the training center and its accompanying 50 acres of primary rainforest. I will be responsible for ensuring the completion of the current projects, the planning and execution of future projects and the maintenance of the facility. Heather will be able to fulfill her roll as a wife and a mother, assist me when needed, and participate in various other ministries as God leads.

As many of you know, the last several years have seen many changes in our lives. I experienced several years suffering from an anxiety disorder; I have changed careers from Engineering to Teaching and have started a construction company; Heather has become a stay-at-home mom and teaches private bassoon lessons and directs the children’s choir program at our church; we have had months where money ran out before the bills; we have been blessed with a daughter – Eden; we lost a second pregnancy; Heather’s dad passed away. Positive or negative, these events and experiences have been used by God to shape and mold us more toward what He wants us to be. We have drawn closer to each other and to Him and feel privileged to have been allowed to see glimpses of God’s master plan at work.

The plan is so big, so inconceivable that a glimpse is all you can withstand at one time. At times things have been very hard for us, but we have chosen to trust God and follow where he leads. He is now asking us to leave the life that we have known and head into the jungle to do His work. His plans really are greater than we can imagine.

Because financial support is an important and necessary part of this journey we have approached this with much prayer. That time of preparation has led us to ask you to prayerfully consider supporting us in our work with Answering The Call for the 2009 calendar year. If you believe the Lord is directing you to begin supporting us, please submit a commitment card online by visiting http://www.cartysupport2009.blogspot.com/.

In Christ,
Bart, Heather and Eden Carty

Email: carty.family@hotmail.com
heatherecarty@hotmail.com
bart_the_builder@hotmail.com

Blog: http://www.cartysgoingglobal.blogspot.com/

Our Spiritual Needs:

• Pray that the Lord will allow us to quickly gain a functional knowledge of the Spanish language.
• Pray that the Lord will provide fellowship for us as we begin a new life.
• Pray that the Lord will provide peace and understanding to the friends and family that we leave behind in the United States.
• Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom with Eden as we make this transition and that her little two year old mind will understand what we are doing.
• Pray that someone will come forward to take over our remaining roles at church, specifically the 3 year old Sunday School class we teach.

Our Financial Needs:

• $24,000-$30,000 yearly income – We need to raise a minimum of $2,000/month in order to live and carry out our daily jobs with the project. Please pray how the Lord may desire you to support us with a 12 month commitment beginning in January. There are no administration fees, which means that we will receive 100% of any monetary donations you make.
• Approximately $10,000 to cover the expense of shutting down life in the United States, moving to Central America, and going to school to learn Spanish. Pray for the Lord’s direction in how you might assist us.
• 2 laptop computers - We will each need one to fulfill our duties and stay in contact with everyone in the states.
• The sale of our house - We must sell our house in order to free ourselves to leave and to pay off some debts that must be retired.
  
  Answering The Call is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit religious organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible, and a receipt will be sent to you promptly.