Two Big Praises

Dear friends and family,

Greetings from Spokane, Washington! We have arrived! On April 29th we drove our car filled with everything we owned and deemed "move worthy'" onto the I-90 interstate ramp near Bill's parents house and headed west. During the 5 day trip (with a one day break to explore Custer State Park) we said over and over to each other, "This is really happening!"  Sunday afternoon we drove up to the AirBnb where we are staying while serving as JAARS reps at the Moody Aviation Missions Conference.We arrived tired, but rejoicing for a safe journey. Thank you for all those who prayed us through this trip. 

We entitled this newsletter Two BIG Praises and we want to share with you how God answered the prayers we specifically mentioned in our last newsletter.

The first praise was the opportunity to watch our son Cullen join in marriage to Katie Ito at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis on April 18. The ceremony was Christ centered and a true celebration of bringing two lives together. Our family, that came from Chicago and Omaha representing both the Carrera and Rast families, along with Katie's family from Indianapolis, and many additional friends joined the happy couple for this occasion. It was exciting to witness Cullen and Katie vow before God and guests their commitment to Him and to each other. 

The second praise is that God raised up supporters and churches to supply the amount needed to begin our work here in Spokane. Only days before our trip, we received  an email from Wycliffe saying we have met our 80% goal which allows us to begin our next assignment here at Moody Aviation. We saw His hand at work as slowly but steadily new partners joined out team and others recommitted at higher amounts. By the end of April it was all in place. For those who indicated that they will begin a new monthly gift with us, the easiest way is to give through our Wycliffe link. We have also seen God's hand directing the move and now have answers to the question "where will you live?" Moody Bible Institute is building apartments for the new students and have requested us to be Missionaries in Residence in that apartment building for our first year here. The apartments are nearing completion, and until they are finished, we will be renting a basement apartment at another Moody staff's home nearby. 

These two big items were specific answers to your prayers! Please continue to pray for us during the next season. Here are things we are asking God for in this next season. (And can't wait to give you a report in our next letter.)

1. Pray for us this first week as we meet students and staff during the annual Moody Mission's conference. We are excited to be here encouraging young people to follow God's call on their lives. Joy will be flying with a few students and providing them with feedback during their flight training.
2. Pray for us as we have initial talks with our immediate supervisors regarding start date and expectations. There is still some paperwork and logistics to work out before we can start learning our new jobs. Speaking of "learning" please be in prayer for Joy as she studies the FAA regulations again and prepares for renewing her Certified Flight Instructor license this summer. 
3. Lastly pray for us as we search for a local church, get to know the town of Spokane, change our address, find doctors and all the many tasks of moving to a new area.

We are so grateful for each and everyone who has reached out to us in the past few weeks, joined our support team, and encouraged us through this move. 

In Christ,
Bill and Joy Carrera

Travels in March 2026

Dear friends and family, 

 Our goal with this letter is to give you a quick glimpse at our schedule and update you on current prayer requests. We are writing from Atlanta as we prepare to leave our friends and supporters here. Tomorrow we head further North and East, planning on being in Bluff City, Tennessee this weekend. From there we will be swinging in a circle through North Carolina and then up to Maryland. Along the way we will see friends from many parts of our life. We are grateful our trip has gone well so far. 

We had a great weekend at First Baptist Atlanta, renewing friendships and speaking in Sunday School and at their Adventures in Missions Luncheon. This road trip will bring us back to Chicago in March, but it won't be the end all our trips. Joy has plans to attend a women in ministry conference in Capernwray England, and Bill is hoping to visit family in Minnesota. April is wedding time! Our son Cullen will be marrying a wonderful young Christian woman April 18. With family gathering alongside friends, we anticipate a wonderful time of laughter and fun during this celebration. 

 Here is a peek at our upcoming schedule: 

Feb 20 Leave Atlanta and head toward Tennessee 

Feb 21-23 Bluff City, Tennessee 

Feb 24-26 JAARS, Waxhaw, NC 

Feb 27-March 8 Forcey Bible Church, Silver Springs, MD 

March 14-15 Uniontown Bible Church, Unionbridge, MD 

How can you be praying for us? We praise the Lord that even this week we had two people reach out to us with the intention of coming alongside and supporting our ministry financially. But we are still looking for partners to join our team, both in prayer and financially. Moody Aviation has the goal of training missionary pilots. Part of this goal is to make the training affordable so they are not saddled with college debt leading to a delay or inability to get to the mission field. One way they do this is by asking their training staff to stay on support from their sending mission organizations. In order for us to BEGIN our ministry in Spokane, WA we must raise our support up to 80% of our monthly quota. The difference between the cost of living in Peru and the USA is significant and thus we lack committed partners to give either monthly or yearly. If you feel led to join us we have included the link to our Wycliffe page that has a button to join in supporting the ministry God has called us to. 

Our absolute favorite part of furlough is spending time with so many of our friends and family, plus the opportunity to eat good food :) Check out our slideshow abovefor some fun pictures from the past two weeks. We look forward to seeing some of you soon. 

Serving together, Bill and Joy