I'm Traveling the World!

I know, I know..... I've all of a sudden been traveling a lot!  After a 3 year hiatus of no traveling this missionary blood filled girl (my parents are missionaries)  is finally back on

airplanes and doors are opening to minister in ways I have dreamed about for years. Growth and Patience have been hard to develop but now I am so excited that God is allowing me to break forth and do amazing things. Like my friend Bob Johnson says, there really is No Box when it comes to God. I've been stretched and pushed outside my box and when I have obeyed, God steps in and does amazing things.
I have an amazing husband, who sees me and my gifts and is always encouraging me to go for it even if it costs him something.

Ministering to the women of Uganda

I can close my eyes right now and as a young girl, I see my daddy preaching  and I hear him saying,  "People, Attempt Great Things for a Great God, Expect Great Things from a Great God."  Well, All my life I have quoted that to myself, it's what has reminded me that God is faithful through every one of our adoptions. On these trips it still rings true,  I attempted many things, that I have never done before, expecting God to show up and He  has still shown himself  Faithful to complete the good work. In Faith, believing MY GOD is the SAME yesterday, today and forever, I've seen people healed emotionally, I've seen them delivered from demons, I've touched blind eyes and saw them open, deaf ears , to hear and people come to know a Jesus they have never known. And I stand in awe daily that he lets me be his hands and feet.

Jesus restored this lady's eye  sight so she could see!!!!!! 

That being said, My son, Graham and I have been asked to join Bob and Kimberly Johnson with Idignify on a team to several  South African cities and Mozambique with Heidi Baker at the end of July.  We will be gone for a month.  Graham's school has graciously granted him permission to miss the first week.
I stand amazed at how God funded the other two trips through my friends. I trust Him to do the same for this one.  Each of my other trips has been incredible and life changing for me as well as the ones we went to serve.  I went to minister and in return got ministered to by others and by God himself.
If you feel led, to donate, you can donate a tax deductible gift  through Idignify to the link below towards our trip. We need to raise our plane ticket money by the 19th of June. 
  IDIGNIFY- MELISSA AND GRAHAM CARTER -SOUTH AFRICA TRIP

Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed for me and donated to my trips. I pray God's blessings abundantly on you.

A little boy at Destiny Rescue- Prevention Home

LOOK WHAT WE HAVE !!!!

Our trip is coming up soon and I wanted to give you all an update of what we have collected to take with us as we head to Asia. I would appreciate your prayers as I go with this amazing team. Hopefully we can post updates of our trip, so you all will know better how to pray. I want to thank all of you who contributed financially to my trip. Your seed is going to grow tremendously!!!!

THAILAND,VIETNAM & CAMBODIA- HERE WE COME!

My friend Kimberly with I.Dignify on her last trip to Asia caring for orphans

I AM soooooo excited about my trip to Asia. A BIG THANK YOU to those who gave for me to be able to go! A BIG THANK YOU also to those who are going to cover me in prayer while I am gone!   Please plan to check my Melissa Carter Facebook or this blog for updates while I am there. 

We had our first planning meeting for this trip and there are 11 of us going. We will be arriving first in Thailand and staying for several days.  Then head over to two other countries in Asia for the remainder of our trip. 
Our flight leaves April 1 and we will return on April 20. 

B& K of I.D. WE are limiting identification on this trip for security reasons.)  will be leading us on this trip and they are awesome friends who are changing the world! When I think of Justice Heroes, I think of them!  They are making a huge difference in the life of so many people and girls who are caught in sex- trafficking. 
I am including a long excerpt from an I.D.'s newsletter that will tell you a little bit about what we will be doing in Asia. I ask that you partner with us in anyway you can! 

"While in Asia we will be working with, training, equipping, and ministering to women and children that have been rescued out of trafficking as well as the staffs onsite at the organizations that are pouring their lives into their restoration. We will be holding workshops for the staff, doing arts and crafts with the kids and holding worship services with over 200 rescued children.

In T. we will be bringing the gospel of Jesus to a people group who have very little exposure to His word or even who He is.  In this area of T. less than 1% of the population has heard of Jesus and so we will have opportunity to go into the tribal villages and bless them,  and love on them.  We will also be doing a drama for at risk children who work in the trash dumps.

In C. we will be visiting several orphanages and rescue homes for children. Our team will receive training from a man who has done thousands of personal rescues himself and we will also be ministering to a rescue home where the women are making purses which Macy’s is going to begin selling, allowing their home to be self sustaining. We will also be ministering to multiple highly persecuted churches.
In V. we will be visiting some more homes with medically fragile children and also a drug rehab home and cancer ward with over 200 kids in one very small ward. We will also be ministering to tribal villages where Jesus raises dead ones on a regular basis as there is no medical doctor or facility nearby!  We will be doing water sanitation and street ministry in the red light districts.  We can't discuss some of the details of our trip because of safety concerns for believers there and organizations there but please know we need your prayer coverage.

This is what the filters look like. They just hook up to a bucket with water

People in Asia getting the water filter systems for their families

 
Please consider sowing into this incredible trip, as it is through people like you that it is possible for us to go and be a blessing!  To give you an example of how simple and practical the need is, because unsafe drinking water is the second highest killer of people worldwide, we are bringing filters that cost around $50 a piece.  The filter provides clean drinking water for 50-100 people for life!  It needs no filter replacement & no maintenance!  The more we are able to bring with us, the more people will have access to clean, safe drinking water. 
Click here to join us in support
 
We are also in great need of intercessors to cover us in prayer as we venture into these places.  

If you will be partnering with us in prayer please email me back and let us know what the Lord has put on your heart to pray for us and the time commitment you are able to make, even if it is simply 15 minutes a day!  Your prayers are our covering, they go before us, behind us, and work through us!

If you would like to send supplies for us to take with us, here is a needs list.  Please send them no later than March 17^th so they will arrive to us by the 20^th and we can have time to pack them.  Please send them to Kimberly Johnson 1095 Hilltop Drive, suite 369, Redding CA 96003  OR  Melissa Carter 7783 Churn Creek Rd. Redding, CA 96002

Here is the List!

• Art supplies for the women in the rescue homes. (Paints,(finger,watercolor,acrylic) good paintbrushes, watercolor pencils, sketchpads, crayons, canvas, face paint, plaster molds, stickers and more!) 
• Kids clothing, all sizes including shoes. If it is used, please be sure it isn’t stained or torn.
• Used or new baby items
• Blankets for the children
• Jewelry supplies for them to make jewelry
• Anything specific the Holy Spirit leads you to send to either be given to the children, or even the staff. 
• Snacks to take to the children.  (Candy is okay as it opens a door to minister to them.  Ideally fruit juice sweetened snack packs, goldfish, teddy grahams etc.  Just be sure they are in individually packaged containers from the manufacturer, not zip locks.)
• Blankets for the babies (handmade or not) as none of them will have them. 
• Toys, dolls, coloring supplies. E.g. balls that can be deflated and then blown up on the other side  (Please get things that are small and light where possible as it allows us to bring more to children.)
• Small journals for rescued girls to write in.  You are welcome to decorate the covers, just use caution with using Christian terms for safety and English words, as they will not be able to read them.

The Items below are ones we will purchase before leaving and/or once we get there.

• Powdered Milk for the kids in the cancer wards
• Water filters for water sanitation - these only weigh a few oz and each one can give 100 people clean water for life! $50

If you would like to donate financially towards the trip and towards the above mentioned items please Click here to join us in support
Many of these rescue homes will give us coconut water, snacks etc. while we are there and this can cost them money so we will also be giving them offerings to at very least, offset the cost of our supplies.  

I will be posting and keeping you all updated as I prepare for this trip and as I am in Asia if there is internet

You've Gotta Do What????

Leaving for a 3 week trip to Asia is more than just getting a suitcase and throwing my stuff into it, kissing the kids goodbye and boarding an airplane.
It is WORK!
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! It is just a fact that it requires lots of planning and preparation.  I am now in TRIP MODE! My mind is whirling of all the things I need to do before I go.
 I will do my best to maintain a great attitude as I plan out what needs to happen for the Carter world to continue to rotate!  I KNOW the kids are going to get tired of my reminders for the next month of what they need to do while I am away. Somehow it makes me feel better that maybe if I say it enough times, it will stick like this song you can't get out of your head! LOL!
So what does this mom need to do in order to be away for 3 weeks, when she is not just a phone call away?  With 8 kids away and your two oldest daughter not living with you any more, with them and all the grandparents 3000+ miles a way, it is not as easy as it used to be when it seemed I traveled a lot. But it can be done with lots of preparation. I should not be on this computer blogging with all I need to do but here I am because I feel you would like to know!!
Of course with 8 kids at home, there is much more to do than there would be with just two kids at home. With 6 boys at home, that narrows your selection down to what they can handle responsibility wise. Remember My last posts about eggs and near fires?? I rest my case!

With two girls, left in the house, there are limits to what each of them can do.  And it is not because I have not tried to train. There are times when you just know someone is not ready. MY two 10 year olds are the best at cooking and can help whip up a meal for 10 people pretty well.

 So I scan the crowd of kids, seeing where their strengths and weaknesses lie and then dole out my daily responsibilities.  This is not as easy as it looks or sounds.  I have to come up with a plan that somewhat will help the house not to fall apart while I am away.  I do have awesome kids and they most of time do step up to the plate when needed and in the end they usually surprise me and make me proud.

I am learning not to stress out over what they didn't get right and go with the flow. So what if Isaiah raided the fridge on the hour, depleting the apples and oranges for the kids school and made a mess with koolaid all over the kitchen???  So what if the dogs didn't get fed two times a day???? So what if the laundry is piled sky high when I get back and all my kids are practically naked except for my oldest daughter at home who has the supply of a store in her closet??? I have to remind myself that  this too will pass.....  and we will laugh.
So what do I do to get ready for a trip?
I start up to a month a head and start putting meals in the freezer, making up a menu for the period I will be gone. I try to do as much ahead as possible so the kids only have to add a salad, veggie and fruit.  So this means 22 + casseroles. Of course I have to grocery shop so said casseroles can be cooked.
The next course of action is to make snacks and freezer lunches for school( I'll need 90) , I'll purchase the additional snacks and freezer lunches needed.
Next on the list is to line a kid or kids to wash the laundry everyday, print up kids schedules and make sure everyone has a ride back and forth to school and their other activities.
Call a few friends to see if they can stop by on occasion to make sure all things are running smoothly while dad is at work.
I usually start making a list of the things I need to pack as I think about them  and pick them up at the store if needed.
I type out a list of the house rules and boundaries as a visual reminder of what is required of everyone, since I won't be there to break up fights or tell someone that their talk is inappropriate. I'm not really sure if typing up a list of rules and reminders really does any good or if it's only purpose  is to see if I will get eye rolls but it makes me feel better that I have left no stone unturned!
There are so many other minor things I have to do that just make a household run while I am away and I will spare you the details.

As crazy as it sounds I enjoy organizing, hoping and planning that all will go well! This trip is worth all the work I will do to prepare for it. Besides, I think having a break and not hearing the word, "MOOOOOMMMMMM" 100+ times a day might be worth the work but  I will miss the hugs, kisses of my precious children.
I love my kids and husband for allowing me this time to go do something I LOVE. Their sacrifice means love to me.
This is probably going to be the senario tomorrow:
ME:"Oh? What is this?? Here's my suitcase? What? you want to help me pack?
What time does my plane leave?
Oh, you want to fix all the meals and you will feed everybody?
THEM: Have a good time, Mom!
ME: Why are you pushing me out the door? My plane doesn't leave for another 2 1/2 weeks?!! "

SEE.... They LOVE me!

I'm going to THAILAND, VIETNAM and CAMBODIA!!

Hi Everybody,

Hello from beautiful California! 

As most of you know, Duane and I moved here to Redding,CA to attend Bethel church. 

We have been loving it here. We are amazed everyday that we get to live here in this beautiful area and Kingdom Culture! In this last year and a half, God has grown our hearts and enlarged our territories. We are seeing the possibilities of dreams that we have had for years                                           beginning to unfold.  We are amazed and stand in awe at what God is doing in our lives. 

As we have been here, God has allowed me (Melissa) to become involved with I.Dignify, an organization started by Bob and Kimberly Johnson. ( http://idignify.com ) 

I.Dignify works to equip caregivers of children and young women who have been rescued out of sex trafficking as well as participate and support other organizations who rescue and advocate for victims of sex-trafficking.  They bring the love of God to many who are lost and hurt.  

My heart comes alive when I am working with I.Dignify. It is awesome to be able to teach others about bringing hope and healing supernaturally to these lost young ones. It is awesome to know that because of our efforts through I.Dignify many will learn what it is to become a daughter or son.  

I have been given the opportunity to go with I.Dignify on a trip from April 1-18 that will land us in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia where we will be working in brothels and with caregivers in rescue homes. Duane, being the super great husband that he is, is taking over as Mr. Mom! 

I believe this trip is going to be very instrumental in my future work.  When I went to Thailand almost 3 years ago, it rocked my world and changed my life! I knew I would be back!   I feel the time is now with this great opportunity!  ( For those of you thinking it, No, My plans are not to bring back a little one, though you know I want to!) LOL! 

LONGING FULFILLLED

As a radical lover of God, I realize that I have the privilege of going to the ends of the earth to impart who I am and what I have received, which is the love and life of Jesus Christ. I have been given the grace to demonstrate God’s unconditional love and introduce His abundant life to every person I meet. (Ephesians 3:19, John 13:34)

I typically do not write a letter asking for support but I feel that it is important that others join with me in this effort whether it is by PRAYER or FINANCES.  As most of you know, I grew up on the mission field and have traveled to many countries adopting and doing mission work. Bringing Love to the world is important to me. I love Bethel’s  wonderful Missions Vision because it goes right along with my vision. A portion of it is below:

  “ The heart and passion of the Bethel Mission Department is to see the sons and 

daughters of God in all the nations awaken to His goodness and love. As children of Heaven, we have access to His Kingdom and demonstrate His love, glory, and power in all aspects of society. Our strategy is to raise up a generation of world changers in their own nations to begin to run with their God-given inheritance to bring heaven to earth and transform their nation.”

 The total cost of my trip is $3200 and has to be paid by February and March. If you would like to donate, financial gifts may be made online at  

https://missiontrips.ibethel.org. This gift is tax deductible and you will receive a statement at the end of the year for your tax records. If you wish your gift to be anonymous, please check the anonymous box.  This will allow you to receive an end of year statement, but will not allow me to see your name.  This is a non-refundable donation to the Bethel Church Missions Department for the benefit of the iDignify Social Justice Trip/ Melissa Carter.    

If online payment is not an option, check donations can be made payable to Bethel Church and mailed to the following address:  Bethel Mission Trips Department, 915 Twin View Blvd., Redding, CA 96003.   Please include a note with the donation designating Melissa Carter as the recipient.   My email and paypal address is kdcarter@mac.com .  My snail mail address is 7783 Churn Creek Rd. Redding, CA 96002. If you would like to talk to me or make a donation by phone, you can call me at 530.215.1426-  Pacific  Time. 

I want to say a huge thank you ahead of time for those of you that are investing in me. 

I know a support system, a community of people who invest in me whether it is through prayer,finances or encouragement is very important. I want to Thank You for believing in me and what I am doing!  (Matthew 10:8)

Blessings to you, Melissa Carter

If you would like to be sent a reminder to pray for me on this trip as well as receive updates, let me know and I will get you on a list!

Thailand trip -- March 2-11, 2010

Chicago airport

I am interrupting the blog here about my Africa trip to post about my Thailand trip that I am currently on. I will finish the Africa trip soon.
I forgot my camera cord so can't upload pictures until I get back.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Can I ever go anywhere without adventure? Of course not. So here we go.

Today we started out on our trip to Thailand. It turned out to be an interesting day. It did not go exactly as planned but in the end it all turned out ok.

My plan was to not let Isaiah take a nap yesterday so that he would be dead sleepy by 8pm and then I could be in bed by 8:30pm as soon as the other little kids were put to bed. That plan went beautifully, all except the part of of me going to bed at 8:30pm. After tying up loose ends that kept popping into my head, I finally made it to bed around 10:30 pm. I was exhausted. I had hoped I would sleep but my mind would not shut off and my feet and legs would not stop hurting. After 2 nights already of barely any sleep because of leg and foot pain, I was ready to sleep. Sleep evaded me. By midnight I was exasperated, my toe was pounding from an infection. I got up and put some medicine on it, took some tums and returned to bed praying for sleep. I think close to an hour later I drifted off to sleep after prayer for sleep. Around 1:30 I awoke to the light touch of Isaiah standing by my bed. He crawled in bed with me and decided it was time to talk. I coaxed him back to sleep and then a little later put him back in his bed.

From then on out I never totally went back to sleep as the Rita Springer song, “Oh, how he loves me” kept playing through my head. I must have drifted off again as the alarm announcing it was 3am scared me awake. I forced myself out of bed, groaning. I quietly got my clothes I had set out days before and headed to the shower. That woke me up a little and before I knew it 3:45 had rolled around and Eddie, my pastor was there to pick me up.

As we left the neighborhood, Eddie made us do passport checks. Mikki couldn’t find her bag that hers was in so we pulled into Fred’s to get her bag out of the back. She found her little passport purse and we headed on our way. I had almost asked everyone to physically show their passport but I didn’t.

We arrived at the airport in good time, chit chatting on the way. It had started to rain and snow as the temperature had dropped. Huntsville was calling for 1-3 inches. Eddie unloaded us and we went in to the check in kiosk.

A few of our bags were overweight so we had to switch some things around. The agent was real patient with us and with that completed we headed up to security. Sarah told Mikki that she would need her passport at this point so Mikki went to retrieve it. It was no where to be found. We stepped aside and looked in everything. It was not there. We prayed for God to supernaturally place it in her purse and he chose not to. Mikki finally got hold of Eddie and the boys and they found it in her copier! He had made copies and had left it there by mistake. She urged us to go on so we would not miss our plane. We waited as long as we could and went ahead and boarded. There were only about 10 people on the plane and the stewardess moved us to the back of the plane for weight distribution. By this time it was snowing pretty good and snow was starting to stick to the plane. We sat at the gate for some time and then pulled out and sat some more waiting for the de icer people to come. I watched out the window as the de icer men covered our plane first in pink goo and then green goo. I smiled as I thought Graham would love this. Mom’s plane got slimed! I made a mental note to tell him about it later.

After hearing from Mikki on my cell, she first thought she was on a flight to Frankfurt then Bangkok and would meet us there. She called back and said it didn’t work and she was headed home and would fly out on the same flight and get there a day late. We were all disappointed. Sarah and I wondered if we should have stayed. We decided that when we got into Chicago that we would see if we could change our flight to the next day as well so Mikki would not have to fly that 20 hour flight all by herself. We ended up leaving Huntsville quite delayed and arrived in Chicago an hour late.

After we left snowy Huntsville, we climbed above the clouds and it was the most beautiful sight. The clouds were all flat and it looked like fresh fallen snow. The sun was shining brilliantly and the sky was the prettiest blue. As we neared Chicago, we started our descent and it was pretty neat to watch as if we were going to land on the clouds. As the fluffy, white blanket engulfed our plane, I was intrigued by the wings of the plane cutting right through the layers of moisture. I asked myself questions, such as “I wonder if this sorta freaks the pilot out when he can’t see in the clouds, is it like driving blind? “ “ I wonder if the plane wings actually cut the clouds and reshape it?”

Sometimes questions such as these randomly just pop into my head. I wonder if anyone else does that?

As we descended, the clouds turned a little bit grayer and soon the snow covered landscape of Chicago could be seen below. Incredible neighborhoods with large houses were everywhere. An interesting large rock crater filled with a frozen lake lined the back of one neighborhood. A train yard with dozens of train cars linked together spanned a large area. I thought of how all the cars in the parking lots looked like matchbox cars all lined up in neat little rows.

It was right about then, that I saw it and I smiled. There below was a Butterfinger factory. Those my dear friends are my favorite candy bar.

A few minutes later we landed, only to wait a little longer because another plane was at our gate.

When we entered the gate, we headed for a United Counter. The lady there was very nice but wasn’t sure we could change our tickets. She told us where to find a service counter but told us that a human wouldn’t be there to man it until 10am but we could use the phone to speak to a representative. We found it and were told there was some availability on the plane but we would need to either call our travel agent or speak to a person later at the counter to get it changed. We tried to call our agency but they were on pacific time so we had to wait. Finally, 10 am rolled around and after being on hold for a while I got hold of an agent with the travel agency we booked our flights through. I got this really nice guy who was from Eastern Europe and who really wanted to help me but couldn’t so he continued to inform me in ways I might could get it changed all the while reading his entire flight scheduling manuel to me or so it seemed. It all boiled down to that I needed to talk to a United Agent. Sarah and I had already started walking towards a kiosk and finally I had to firmly interrupt the poor guy and thank him for his help and tell him that I was with a United Agent and we could get help now. I hung up with the guy wishing me well and he hoped that United could get me on the flight with my friend.

In the end, we ended up getting the ticket changed with the lady helping us herself and we were told she couldn’t do it but we had to call the international number. She charged us only one ticket fee and gave us a voucher for 50% off of a hotel. She rerouted our baggage so we did not have to retrieve our bags. I gave her one of my art thank you cards and she really liked it.

Happy that we were going to see Mikki in the morning, we headed to our hotel and took a nap, got soup and salad downstairs for dinner and watched a movie before heading off to bed.
The next morning, We went to pick up Mikki at her gate but got lost. We finally found her. Went back to the room and ate breakfast that I had ordered. We chilled out until it was time to head back to our gate. We are off to Thailand!

Sarah and I at Chicago
We found Mikki
We got almost through Security and the security person noticed that Sarah's boarding passes had been issued in my name and in Mikki's seat. We got them reissued by machine and realized that they were not in economy plus and no where near Mikki and I. We went to three counters before going to the right person to get it fixed, but I was determined. She still didn't get on our row with us but one seat behind us. By this time the line for security had really grown but we got to cut right in at the table!
Notice the guy in the background of this and the previous picture! I think he was posing!
Mikki making one last phone call before leaving Chicago. Notice Sarah is on our row. AFter it looking like the plane was almost filled we thought the computer had made a mistake and the seat might be empty.
We are getting ready to take off.
Mikki had gone to the health store and asked for something for jet lag. They gave her something I can't pronounce, we all took some, took one and Mikki took two but after a couple of hours, We were all so sleepy, we couldn't stand it! Especially Mikki. She had to try to go to sleep. She was pretty funny. Wait though! we shouldn't be sleeping this time of the day! It is only 2pm. LOL
Notice that Sarah is not sitting beside of Mikki. A canadian guy came at the last minute and was not going to give up his bulkhead seat. We didn't like him at first but he grew on us and was an interesting guy.
Sarah was right behind us and she had some very interesting conversations. The man sitting beside her had been to Thailand 30 times so gave Sarah lots of information. At one point I had to get something out over head for Mikki and was trying my hardest to not let the roller carrier fall out but it did and hit Poor Sarah on the head, which she didn't say a word and I didn't know til later but the man sitting beside her got it dropped on his arm and I must of woken him up because I got the dirtiest , ugliest look and apologized up and down to him to which he made no comment at all so I sat back down in my seat since he wasn't responding. I had no clue it had hit Sarah! So every time I got up there he was very wary and I was very nervous!
Why put makeup on when you are flying for 20 hours? Besides, I had none. It was all in my suitcase. We just had extra clothes in our carry ons. Sarah had to go downstairs and find some deodorant for us. It was $8. We lathered it on. :)
A view of the Canadian mountains near the artic
Mikki woke up. :)
We made it to Tokyo. Sarah found her a bench to lay on and Mikki and I found Boingo and got on the internet.