John, Katie, Tikvah & Anya Carter – Missionaries to Papua New Guinea.

Thanks, Janet, for the idea!

“Follow” them and follow their progress.

https://www.facebook.com/CartersPNG

Here is the bulletin for this Sunday – January 26, 2014.

Thanks, Mary Jane, for picking out the songs.

Anybody else had about enough of winter? But no one asked us.

We begin our Ezra study this week and the plan is to finish Ezra on April 6. I guess we’ll see how that plan unfolds. 🙂

• PDF Bulletin FFC January 26 2014
• DOC Bulletin FFC January 26 2014

We begin our study of Ezra this week.

Lessons in the Sovereignty of God: Building with God’s Blessing in a Pagan Land!

Here are our HANDOUTS/WORKSHEETS for Ezra 1:1-4 for Sunday January 26, 2014.

• PDF Cyrus Bows to the Sovereign Command of God Ezra 1-1-4 Dave Scott FFC 012614 HANDOUT ONE 012614
• PDF Cyrus Bows to the Sovereign Command of God Ezra 1-1-4 Dave Scott FFC 012614 HANDOUT TWO

Lightening the Load
I am not prone to packrat-ism. I’ve spent too much of my life lugging suitcases around to believe that accumulating goods is worth my while. Yet recently even I have been shedding some weight.

In our modern world many are supremely privileged to have the capacity to pursue arts and crafts. Think about it: a couple of centuries ago you probably wouldn’t have had the spare change to buy a guitar, even if you could find one (when were they invented, anyway?). Here in PNG, that usually remains the case. Because people live a subsistence lifestyle off the land, most have little pocket money. What money they do have often goes towards school fees for their kids or basic necessities, like some store-bought rice or second-hand clothes. I am extremely wealthy compared to them.

So I’m passing on some of my goods to the community here. My guitar? I’ve had it for around 5 years and loved it, especially the smell of the wood when opening the case. I sometimes even made it sound all right! I have sold my guitar to a deserving MK who, at the age of 12 or 13, is already better than me.

Camera. I’ve had it for three years now. A decent DSLR is worlds better than your average compact digital. I used it during village living back in 2010 to get some great shots of life in PNG, and more recently have been capturing my beautiful daughter as she grows at an alarming rate. (I keep wanting to push the ‘slow down’ button on Tikvah, but can’t seem to find it.) The camera went to a young Papua New Guinean lady working in a partner organization here in PNG. She has been trained in media and is responsible for communications and promotional material. I think it will serve her well.

Other loved items have been passed on. Each of these represents an opportunity, and I’m grateful to have had them and to be able to share them. Life is brighter when there are avenues for creativity.

In addition to the good reasons of 1) sharing the blessings I’ve received and 2) not having to lug the stuff back across the globe, there’s a third good reason to be selling these things: we’re going to be going back to school this year… and school costs a lot of money. I suppose that is good motivation for paying attention in class.

http://toroadsend.blogspot.com/2013/02/lightening-load.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ToRoadsEnd+%28To+Road%27s+End%29

John & Katie Carter

Hello to All,

Here are all the handouts to the two week series – HEAVEN OR HELL? I thought I would put them all together for anyone who wants digital copies.

I also have excerpts from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards if interested.

Dave

• PDF Men Come and Go : 010514 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT ONE
• PDF Men Come and Go : 010514 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT TWO
• PDF Dust to dust to heaven or hell : 011214 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT THREE
• PDF Dust to dust to heaven or hell : 011214 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT FOUR
• PDF Where Is Our Confidence FFC Dave Scott HANDOUT ONE 011914
• PDF HANDOUT 011914 My Anchor Holds – Haven Rest

Hello all!

I didn’t post these as I normally do last week, so I thought someone may be interested in having the digital copy. These are from our second week of our Heaven or Hell study.

The handouts from PART ONE are in an earlier post if you want them. Probably posted on Friday January 10 or Saturday January 11.

Dave

• PDF Where Is Our Confidence FFC Dave Scott HANDOUT ONE 011914
• PDF HANDOUT 011914 My Anchor Holds – Haven Rest

Something I don’t want to get used to …
Thursday, March 21st, 2013

As much as I enjoy the privacy and quiet(er) existence the beach property offers, I truly miss the life I grew used to living right among the people of Carries after the earthquake.   I can hardly wait until the wall is finished on the property uphill so we can be over there full time again.  We have men up there clearing the land of weeds and thorn bushes and rocks…it’s coming, slow but sure.  The men are also clearing pathways so we can drive through with the Rhino.  That is what we did yesterday.

Piling in the back of our wonderful all-terrain-vehicle (with foam in the tires and 4-wheel-drive, this Rhino is the best thing we could possibly have in this country – we need a fleet of them!), we drove straight up to the foot of the mountain (the eastern edge of our property).  The air is so much clearer, fresher, up there.  When we reached the top, I turned and was amazed all over again at the gorgeous ocean view our altitude provided us with.  The expanse of the land, the fresh air, the breeze, beautiful scenery…it all makes me feel so free.   We took many detours across the land, patrolling, exploring, before we finally descended.

We took a different route down than we normally take, straight through the village.  I was surprised when I noticed that I’d never been to this section of Lotboray (Carries) before.  All of a sudden I began seeing lots of familiar faces pop around corners of the cactus fences.  So many of the kids in my Sunday School class, and in Kids Club, lived in this area.  When my brain finally realized what my eyes were seeing, my heart felt so heavy.  No matter how long I live here, I will never get used to seeing the conditions these people live in…especially when it’s someone I see nearly every day.

I was still wrestling with my own emotions, when Kelsey looked up at me with wide eyes and asked, “Is that where Andiana (one of the girls in our Sunday School) lives?”  I nodded my head, hoping that was the first and last question, but I should know Kelsey better than that.  She glanced back over at the blue tarp wrapped around tiny tree trucks, making a square room about 15 x 15, and continued, “But how do they sleep there?  Where do they sleep?  There’s no floor?  Where do they put their clothes?”  I couldn’t find the words, and mumbled something about “in a bed like us” and “probably in a suitcase like we do.”  Kelsey frowned.  “You mean they just sleep on the floor?”  She looked away, and I could tell she didn’t expect another answer.  She was lost in thought.

Kelsey’s lived here even longer than I have, and even she hasn’t fully realized or gotten used to the harsh realities.  For a moment I was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, despair, doubt, conviction, and sadness.  Then as I looked at Kelsey again, and thought of my own emotions, I was grateful.  Grateful God had kept me from growing used to such realizations.  Grateful she is not yet used to them, either.  Destitution, pain, evil, suffering, and most of all ignorance of God’s love and truth, are things we should never be “used to” or come to expect.  I pray that He will continue to keep both of us from becoming numb, and that we can continue to see those around us as people; people who are just like us.  People who need to know they are loved.

http://shainainhaiti.blogspot.com/2013/03/something-i-dont-want-to-get-used-to.html

This is from Shaina’s blog. See link below.

Carries, Arcahie, Haiti

• I am a follower of Christ, first and foremost, and because of that, I answered His call to tutor the children of a missionary family, the Dorces, in the country of Haiti. After a year and a half of working with this family through their organization Blessing Hearts International, I felt God leading me to continue serving there long-term. I am now the Administrative Director of the mission, serving both in Haiti and stateside. God gave me this amazing opportunity, and what could I do but reach out and take it? I hope you enjoy sharing in my adventures through these journal entries.

http://shainainhaiti.blogspot.com/