April 24, 2009
Dear Episcopalian Women of NC:
We wanted to send you a personal letter through the mail, but since we just received an anniversary card a few weeks ago (our anniversary was last July), we thought it best to send you an email instead!!!
We just wanted to express our sincere thankfulness for your partnership in the Gospel; it truly amazes us and humbles us to know that you are committed to "The Carter Team" and to this little corner of the world here in Equatorial Guinea. We don't know what else to say, but we say it from our hearts: THANK YOU.
Life continues to be full of both joys and challenges. Some days are full of joy - teaching classes at Centro Bíblico Bata (CBB) knowing that we are part of seeing the church grow both DEEP (in discipleship) and WIDE (in reaching out), being invited to teach at conferences and retreats, counseling folks through life issues, watching Kenyon grow up (with his monkey and 2 dogs) while learning English and Spanish - we thank God for the privilege of serving Him and for being involved in building His kingdom here in EG. Other days are full of challenges - getting stopped constantly by the traffic police (asking for "papers" but really wanting a bribe), dealing with the constant power outages, living amidst malaria, and facing the unrelenting challenge of the heat (the one activity that we never fail to do almost everyday is SWEAT!). In the midst of life and ministry here in EG, we just want to let you know that we never forget the sacrifice of those whose prayers and support keep us here on the field. Thanks for being an integral part of the ministry.
Here in Africa, we are often reminded about the fragility of life. In the West, we often are able to insulate ourselves (although never completely) from the suffering that the rest of the world experiences on a daily basis. We were reminded of this fact a few weeks ago, when a girl from the church (Aliza our babysitter) told us that her cousin - a baby of 1 ½ years old - recently died after falling down a well after her drunk father left the baby alone with only an older sibling (6-7 years old). (In fact, not an uncommon practice here - kids raising kids). Aliza told us that recently this baby cousin had just recovered from a severe bout with malaria and before that had experienced bad case of typhoid - all that before 18 months of age. Lisa and I talked about how sad it was for such little ones to suffer soooo much in such a short time. We write this just to remind ourselves that life is such a gift of God - to enjoy the gift while it lasts. It seems like that at any given point, we know someone whose family member recently died or someone whose child is in the hospital. We are encouraged that - in the face of human suffering - the Gospel is being preached and lives being built on the Word of God.
We want to say thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, and support.
Many blessings from our family to yours!
Jason & Lisa Carter
(and Kenyon)