• Scott • Laura • Jackson • Makayla • Avianna •
PRAISES “Ministry would be easier if...” By Scott Carter
 God continues to provide
new contacts through the
kids sports, Laura teaching
ESl and Scott playing soft-
ball.
 Scott has been given many
opportunities for family
and marital counseling
lately.
 The spiritual growth we
are seeing in various peo-
ple.
 God continues to teach us
that church planting is in
his timing and the results
are of his doing.
REQUESTS
 Salvation of many (see page
2 “Ministry Moment” for a
list of names)
 Family health
 Discipleship and counseling
of those who have been
attending services faithfully
 Ability to schedule and have
the energy for all of the
discipleship and counseling
sessions.
 Not take it personally when
people reject the gospel and
patience to persevere.
Since we began ministry as a couple
12 years ago, I’ve often joked with Laura
and others that “ministry would be easier
without all of the people.” Of course,
then it wouldn’t be ministry and therein
lies the irony.
Lately God has been reminding me of
the ups and downs of working with peo-
ple. Have you ever noticed that people
are exhausting? Some are more ex-
hausting than others and some wear us
down more than others (feel free to in-
sert your own mother-in-law joke here).
People can especially take their emo-
tional toll on us when we are trying to
point them to the cross and they don’t
seem to “get it”.
God has given me lot’s of counseling
opportunities lately and I praise him for
the opportunities to share the gospel
and show others the hope that the cross
brings. It’s exhausting however having
to listen to people (in another language)
tell you about how much sin has ruined
their lives then still not “get it” when
confronted with the glaring light of the
good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But lately I’ve been seeing how even
when others “don't get it” I can still
praise God. How amazing it was recent-
ly to share the gospel with a man named
Mauricio (please pray for his salvation) and
have him read out loud Ephesians 2:1-10.
April 2011
1
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins... 4But God, being
rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive to-
gether with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised
us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in
Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the
immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is
not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works,
so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.
I got distracted because I found myself
thinking “God, you saved ME! Thanks for
doing that.” Then I realized that Mauricio
was waiting for me to say something! In
the end, Mauricio didn’t get it (yet!), for
him the gospel is still foolishness (1 Cor.
1:18) but it doesn’t matter because even
my ups and downs are not about me but
rather about the one who saved me.
Talk about a pick me up when I’m down!
My highs and lows are not dependent on
me and quite often are put there by God
to bring me back to the grounding truth
that it’s about him and not me.
So sit back and read some of our
highs here in Santa Marta, Colombia on
the next page. Our hope is that at the
end you will say “Praise God” out loud.
He’d like that because, well, it’s all about
him anyway.
The Carter Family Page 2
Newsletter

 In March our church, Impacto Bíblico (Bible Impact) celebrated our first bap-
tism service (Eduardo and his wife Maria del Carmen-Thanks for praying!).
-Pray for more salvations and baptisms in the future.
 In March we also celebrated our first communion service.
-Pray for those who are in the discipleship process with us right now:
-Jorge y Adeleida (salvation) -Daniela (salvation) Baptism on the beach!
-Teresa (spiritual growth) -Luis Carlos (spiritual growth)
--Juan Carlos (salvation) -Alfonso y Arlet (salvation, marriage counseling)
-Mauricio y Luz Dary (salvation, marriage counseling)
-Guido y Magaly (salvation, marriage counseling)
 We have been averaging around 30-35 people over the past few months (average
of 20 adults)
-Pray for commitment and consistency of new believers.
 Over 60 people showed up for a movie we showed during “Holy Week” and
Juana giving a children’s
many were first time visitors. presentation
-Pray for new people to hear the gospel.
 May first we will begin our children’s program.
-Pray for children to hear the gospel and apply it to their daily lives.

Jackson, Makayla, and Avianna have had two very special visitors this past month. First their grandma, “Mamu”
came for almost two weeks. They had a wonderful visit with her (and so did we)! We all enjoyed visiting a place
called Buritaca where a river runs right into the ocean. It was a great chance to see monkeys, a camen-like alliga-
tor, and some beautiful birds. There is nothing like having your grandma around to spoil you rotten but having
her visit and pack so many goodies into her suitcases that she leaves almost no room for her own clothes is the
BEST! Then Uncle Mark who lives in Central Asia stopped for a 4 day visit. It was so great to be able to show
him around and share our wonderful fruit juices with him. The kids also totally loved hearing about his part of the
world and how different it is.
The kids have also received exciting news these past couple of
months about their new cousins! Leona and Matias are the newest
members of the Carter side of the family. We thank the Lord for
two healthy babies. Congratulations to Mike and Sarah Barnhart and
Tote and Debby Jimenez.

colombiacarters@abwe.cc