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 BILL CARTER
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Bill & Norma Carter’s Testimony & Ministry Outline
In 1972, both Norma and I were saved. Norma received Christ 3 weeks before I accepted Him. At that time, Norma was 21 and I was 23 years old. We had recently moved to Gautier, Mississippi, and I was working at the shipyard. After living there for 4 months, Norma found a temporary job that spanned the Christmas period. This, however, posed a problem – Where could we leave Bill for a few hours each day? We checked various Day Care centres, but found that we could not afford their fees. Someone then told us that the little Baptist Church just down the road from us had a Day Care that was run by some of the ladies of the church. They had a vacancy, and their fees were affordable. Some mornings, the ladies would speak to Norma - inviting us to come to church. Sometimes in the afternoons, the Pastor would ask me if we would visit the church? Although all of these people were very friendly, we were not persuaded to visit.
As Christmas approached, the people asked if Bill, who had just turned two, could be in the Nativity play along with the other boys and girls of the church? We were surprised but delighted that they had extended this invitation. Along with the other small children, he was a shepherd – dressed in his white bathrobe, wearing a white towel on his head and carrying a staff in his hand. Norma and I were pleased to attend this Christmas service to see our little boy in his shepherd’s costume.
Well, the members of the church were so friendly to us and to all other visitors. It was so pleasant to be in their midst. About 3 weeks later, we attended a Sunday morning service. The people were still just as friendly, and the pastor really did preach the Gospel message. Three weeks passed before we attended again, but we found everything the same – good preaching and friendly people.
After that service, Norma began to experience the conviction of God. For the next 3 nights, she could not sleep. Even though Norma never doubted that God exists, on Tuesday night, she prayed, “If there is a God in Heaven, please send someone to help me.” The following morning, the pastor’s wife and another lady knocked on our door. Norma greeted them and said, “I’m so glad that you are here! Please come in! I need someone to help me!” They did come in and told Norma how to be saved, and thank God, she was saved on that morning. Before they left, Norma asked the pastor’s wife, “Would your husband come to talk with my husband because I think that he is also lost and needs to be saved!”
The following night, the pastor came to talk to me. I told him that I had been saved as a child. When I was nine, several children my age were going forward in church, making professions of faith, and being baptized. I began to feel like an outsider. Oh yes, with my head I believed that Jesus was the Saviour and that He died on the Cross to save me, but I didn’t feel comfortable about this “going forward in church business.”
About that same time, at our house, one day, my sister said to our mother, “Mama, I want to be saved!” Mama called the preacher, and he came. While he was on his way, I thought, “This is convenient.” So, I said, “So do I.” When the pastor arrived, he talked with us - carefully explaining the Lord’s salvation. We both told him that we understood and wanted to be saved. We knelt, and I prayed, my sister followed, and then the pastor prayed. Although I prayed the right words, the motive of my heart was wrong. I wanted to be saved for my sake (to be accepted by my peers) rather than for the Lord’s sake. A few days later, I realized that there was no change in my life. I still had the same sinful thoughts and acted in the same sinful ways. However, I knew that I had prayed and said the right words and that the Bible says that God will save any sinner who asks Him for salvation; but what I did not understand was that the sinner has to want to be saved for the right reason.
As the pastor at Gautier, witnessed to me that evening, I was still being deceived by Satan; so, I did not get saved at that time. From that moment, however, we did begin to attend all of the services of the College Park Baptist Church, and God began to convict my heart. After about 3 weeks, God helped me to understand that I was not saved. At that moment I saw and understood this, I opened my heart and received the Lord Jesus as my Saviour.
Carter’s Ministry in Norwich
After starting Emmanuel Baptist Church, in February 1980, we moved on to start another church in Thorpe Marriott, which is on the northwest side of Norwich in August 2001. We started the Blessed Hope Baptist Church on the first Sunday of 2002 (6th January). Twenty-three people were present for our first service. Eleven of these, however, were visitors that came from some distance and were not genuine prospects for us.
Blessed Hope Baptist Church meets at the Hinks Meadow Community Centre in Thorpe Marriott. The times of our worship services are: Sunday Worship – 11.00 a.m. and Tuesday Prayer Time & Bible Study – 7.30 p.m.
The Lord has been so good to us. He has given us a pianist and also a substitute pianist. In just four months (end of April 2002), we have a small, but faithful, congregation of people already.
Blessed Hope Baptist Church began with an interest in supporting missionaries. So far, the church has sent £200.00 per month in love offerings to various missionaries. By the grace of God Blessed Hope Baptist Church will continue with this burden of sending out monthly missionary support so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be spread abroad throughout the whole world.
It is our desire to see precious souls saved in Thorpe Marriott and the surrounding areas, that Blessed Hope Baptist Church will be organised, have their own building; and eventually, their own British pastor. We would like to see this area turned upside down for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
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"At Emmanuel, we believe that all the members, young and old, should have an active role in the ministries of the church. Come and visit with us, you will find a warm welcome at every service."
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