July 2010 Prayer Letter

To see the file fullscreen, click "fullscreen" below.

Recommend you "download" the file to see everything a bit more clearly some items/colors do not appear correctly in the preview window below.

If you desire to print this file, feel free to do so, use the options below for the best print quality.

Or if you are still having problems email us and we will send you the file.

-God bless!
Scott and Laura
Carter Prayer Update (July 2010)

June 2010 Prayer Letter

To see the file fullscreen, click "fullscreen" below.

Recommend you "download" the file to see everything a bit more clearly.

If you desire to print this file, feel free to do so, use the options below for the best print quality.

Temporary Housing Conditions

We posted this on YouTube awhile back and sent out the link to everyone but forgot to post it here on the blog. For those of you who didn't see the videos here they are. We are certainly praising God that we are in our own home now!! We will try to get a new News in 5 Video out here shortly...


Temporary Housing Video Part 1



Temporary Housing Video Part 2

Avianna in hospital, please pray!

Praying Partners,

We have wanted to give you a brief update for some time to let you know that we have arrived in Santa Marta Colombia. I wish I could write more but as you will see in a moment that is not completely possible.

We departed Bogota on Saturday the 20th of February and spent a night in “Villa de Leyva” a very old and quaint city, reminiscent of the “Spanish Colonial Days”. From there we drove to “San Gil” and spent 2 nights and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly visiting waterfalls, etc. From San Gil we passed through the “Chicamocha Canyon” on our way to Bucaramanga. (For those of you who are interested you can Google any of those cities and see the beauty in each. The Chicamocha Canyon is amazing!!).

We spent one night in Bucaramanga (a beautiful city where God may one day have us start a church there?) then literally spent hours driving through the dessert north on our way to Santa Marta. It was truly a ‘hot and barren’ land and when we needed it most the air conditioning stopped working on our truck!

After driving about four hours in the heat and being only 80 kilometers from Santa Marta our truck decided it had had enough and needed a rest (read, broke down here in the middle of nowhere but thankfully under a tree!). We spent an hour on the side of the road trying to get it to start and praying and wondering what to do. Thankfully a police truck drove by and we flagged them down. Long story short (which we can tell at another time as the cultural experiences are endless) four hours later we were on our way in tow truck which could only take us about 35 kilometers further (his route stopped there!) where we had to call and wait for another tow truck (thankfully only a 15min wait).

We arrived in Santa Marta late that evening (Wed. the 24th of Feb) and said ‘Well, we will never forget our arrival to this new part of Colombia!’. The next day, Scott spent the day looking for some more permanent housing as we stayed in a ‘hotel’ the first night. We found a nice little cabin with two bedrooms and a view of the ocean in a little fishing town just outside of Santa Marta called ‘Taganga’ (also worth Googling). We had a day or two of recuperation and a traumatic experience for the kids on Sunday at a church (lots of head touching and heat and a mean teacher who yelled at all the kids!) then Scott began looking for housing on this past Monday (March 1).

That same day, Avianna’s fever which she had been having off and on for a day or so suddenly got really bad that evening (104+) and she was having lots of diarrhea and vomiting. Scott took her to a little clinic in Taganga that night and we got her back in bed around 2am Tue. Morning (1 shot for fever reduction and vomiting and blood and urine samples).

Around 5am Tue. her fever was back as was the vomiting and she couldn’t keep any of the fever reducer medicine down. So… we packed everyone in the car and went back to the clinic. When we arrived they told us the results were back from her tests (praise God some things in Colombia are faster than others) and informed us we needed to get her to a hospital ASAP. Well, about two hours later they took her by ambulance to a hospital in Santa Marta, while Scott took Jackson and Makayla to the Boyd’s home (fellow ABWE missionaries here in Santa Marta) then went on to the hospital himself.

To wrap this thing up, we finally got Avianna and Laura into a room at 6pm after a bit of ‘discussion’ with the administration and having to pay a bunch of money up front (they wouldn’t take our insurance but thankfully we can be reimbursed through our insurance company in the near future).

Yesterday (Tue) they informed us that Avianna has a urinary tract infection which has spread to her kidney’s and even her intestines. The doctors said she is pretty sick and will probably need a few days in the hospital. Thankfully they are slowly getting her fever under control (though it does flare up a few times a day) and she is now keeping fluids down.

Please be praying for the following:
1. Avianna’s recuperation
2. Laura as she takes care of Avianna in the hospital and cannot leave her side.
3. Scott as he runs around taking care of paperwork dealing with the hospital and taking care of the kids (praise God for the Boyd’s who are able to watch them during much of the day).
4. Jackson and Makayla as they are away from Mom and their sister. Pray that the hospital would grant them a visit tomorrow; we made a special request today.
5. Scott as he continues to look for a more permanent home for the family (we are currently staying in a furnished cabin and it has A/C).
6. Adjustment to the heat! It is hot here all the time. Even when it cools down at night it’s still 80-85 and that’s starting to feel refreshing!

We will try to send another update in a day or so.
If you are interested, you can call Laura on our cell phone. Check with your phone provider on what it will cost to call but the number to dial from the USA is: 011 + 57 + 321-408-6401

While we feel that perhaps all of this (there is much more that has happened to us but we will save that for another time!) could be opposition of Satan to us being here in Santa Marta and starting a healthy church here we at the same time feel confirmation that this is exactly where God would have us to be. So please be praying that he would be most glorified through this and that through this we would remain faithful and strong and be given opportunities to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

God is good all the time and all the time God is good (even when we don’t feel that way!)

In His grace,
Scott on behalf of all of us

Special News in 5 Update (Back in Colombia and Santiago news)

Hope you enjoy a special edition of the News in 5 (see video above). We updated the blog a few weeks back, prior to our departure for Colombia. We are now safely back in Colombia and should be heading to Santa Marta by the end of the month.

Our ABWE partners, Jon and Holly Boyd arrived in Santa Marta on February 9th, so please be in prayer as they begin the initial 'scouting and surveying'. All families need to find permanent housing before mid April, so please be praying for that as well.

We also received news regarding Santiago yesterday. The doctor read all of his exams to Alfredo and Juana and kept saying things like, "Wow, wonderful, excellent." By the time she had read the last report she was crying and said, "I don't know how but your son is completely healed of his cancer! Be praying for this woman (she is an agnostic) and Alfredo and Juana have had many opportunities to share Christ with her. Alfredo also found out that her parents live in Santa Marta now, so we will definitely be following up on them as well!

We will send you out another update when we have arrived in Santa Marta in the next few weeks. In the meantime please continue to pray. Satan is presenting much opposition to our departure and we are more certain then ever that God want's us to plant a strong gospel preaching church in the coast!

News in 5 January 2010

What if you could make a meaningful impact in a foreign country and never actually go there? What if your involvement provided eternal results and you never had to invest a single penny? Would you be interested in having an impact like that?

We will be arriving in our new location within Colombia (Santa Marta) to begin a new church planting effort and we would like to ask for your help and participation in reaching Colombians with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Believing that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts and brings people to an understanding of their need for a Savior, we as a church planting team want to make prayer a top priority. We will be inviting non-believing Colombians to evangelistic Bible studies and we need you to pray specifically for their salvation.

Will you partner with us in impacting Colombia with the gospel? If you are interested in receiving brief emails with names of Colombians who are participating in an evangelistic Bible study, here is how you can be involved:

1. Send us an email (colombiacarters@abwe.cc) and inform us of your interest and we will add you to our “IMPACT Team” list so you receive these emails.
2. Be looking for emails with the title “IMPACT Team” in the subject line.
3. Take a few minutes to pray, by name, that God would work in these people’s lives so that their eyes would be opened to the good news of the gospel.
4. If you want to take a real challenge, pray at the specified times when we as a team are having an evangelistic Bible study (we will include the dates and times).

Example of an IMPACT Team email:
From: Scott and Laura Carter [mailto:colombiacarters@abwe.cc]
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 12:01 PM
To: you@youremailaddress.com
Subject: IMPACT Team (01-25-10 Prayer Requests)

Please be in prayer for the following:
1. Ricardo Andres salvation.
2. Laura will be meeting tonight with Angelica Gonzalez @7pm eastern time to share the gospel w/her.
3. Scott has an evangelistic Bible study tom. night @9AM eastern time w/the following people:
a. Maria Bulla
b. Jose Alejandro
c. Maya Lopez
d. Eduardo and Gloria Jimenez

We look forward to hearing back from you!

December 2009

Make a Wish

By Laura Carter

How do you feel about New Years Resolutions? Are you like me in that you love a fresh start? Or have you tried and failed enough that you would rather not even make a list this year? Do you see this time of year as a hopeful time or rather a time to just continue fighting your bad habits? Do you really believe that 2010 could be an amazing year of growth and change in your life? Or are you giving up before you even begin?

Let me encourage you to make a wish this year! Most of us think that the word wish means to hope for something that is nearly impossible. Yet according to Webster the word wish is: “a thing or object desired”. So what is it that you desire for 2010? How do you figure out what to wish for? If you are like me you can think of a hundred things that you would like to work on in your own personal life. But what one thing would be the most important, the most beneficial?

I would like to share a few thoughts with you that the Lord has brought to my mind as I try to decide what wish or desire do I need to have for the year ahead. I re-read Psalm 1 just recently and was amazed at how the theme is so fitting for this idea of starting off right in 2010. Verse 1 says,

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.”

Did you know that the word blessed means the happy condition brought about by obedience? Think about that for a moment. Think of the peace and the tranquility and the trusting calmness that comes when we are being obedient to God. Could you describe the majority of your past year in that way? I know that I could not. Would I like to describe next year that way? You betcha! Is it possible? Let’s read on in verse 2,

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he
meditates day and night.”

It is possible if we are making our wish, our desire, to be the Lord and his Word. Was your focus on knowing the Lord better last year? Or was that just a side-note, an item to cross off on the 'to do' list each day? I know that I want my delight to be on 'knowing my Savior more and more each day, literally'. If I make that my desire, verse 3 tells me that there are some results to my faithfulness:

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

I love to picture a huge weeping willow tree blowing in the wind when I read this verse. It is a healthy, prosperous tree. This tree can withstand any storm as well as provide shade or food for man or animal. It is reliable, trustworthy, and a strong tree. You are firm and trustin the Lord in whatever situation comes up in your life. You are bearing fruits that God uses to grow and bless others. Whatever you do that is according to God's plan will prosper. But if you do not make the Lord your desire, there are results for that choice too. But they are not things that I would wish for and I dont' think you would either. Verses 4-6 say;

"Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

So, what will your wish be? I hope and pray that as you read through Psalm 1 and think about your New Year's Resolutions, that you will make your relationship with Jesus Christ your top priority. I know that for me I am encouraged by the thoughts of peace and delight that can describe my life when I am faithfully seeking after him. Will you make Jesus your wish this year?


Return tickets purchased!

By Scott Carter


We praise God that he has provided above and beyond all of our expectations! We have been "career missionaries", since 2004 and God never ceases to amaze us in the way he uses people and churches to not only provide for our financial needs but to remind us on a regular basis that he is in control and we are simply his servants whom he sends to accomplish his will. What an awesome God we serve!

We are currently just under 99% of our monthly needed support ($77 remaining)! We have purchased tickets and will be returning to Colombia on February 2, 2010. God has also seen fit to provide additional finances, so that we will be able to pay the costs of renewing our visas and cover the cost of shipping our furniture, etc. from the Bogota area to the Colombian coast.

Thank you to all of you who have given financially and especially thank you to those of you who have prayed for God's provision. We truly feel loved by you and are reminded of the fact that we are going exactly where he wants us to go and at his appointed time, not our own.









Santiago Update

By Scott Carter


First of all, thank you to everyone who has asked us throughout the year about the health of Santiago Medina (see April Update), the son of our Colombian coworkers, Alfredo and Juana Medina. Santiago was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma earlier this year and just finished his last round of chemotherapy in November and has also completed several rounds of radiation treatment.


After finishing chemo and prior to the radiation treatment exams were done and they were told that only a small amount remained in his neck and that his spleen, stomach and chest were all clear. We recently received the following words from Alfredo:

"We just had the appointment with the oncologist in order to do all of the exams (to see if Santiago is clear of cancer), thinking that this week we would have to hospitalize Santiago, but the doctor surprised us, she thinks that we should do nothing at this time so that Santiago's Christmas in not ruined. She asked us to return the first week of January for all of the final exams and at least for now we get a break..."

Please continue to pray for the Medina family. This has been a difficult year for them and they are anxious to get an all clear in the coming weeks.