We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy Carter. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy below.
Amy, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
My purpose came slowly and only after a huge uphill battle with looking for purpose (or rather identity) in many wrong places. I grew up in a good Christian home, but I had an emotionally unavailable father. I never had a relationship with him, although he technically lived in the home, I felt like a stranger to him all my life. As a young girl I desired male affirmation and as I grew up I started to look for it in the men around me. I started drinking and partying at a young age and always longed for that male affirmation that I never received from my natural father. I found myself married to an abusive man at the young age of 20. He was emotionally and physically unsafe. His narcissistic and bi-polar tendencies would cause turbulent outbreaks and violent ordeals in the home. He almost threw me off a third story balcony, chased me with knives and ended up killing my cat due to his violent outbursts. I tried filing a restraining order against him but would always go back to him after he came begging and pleading with me because I did not know who I was without him in my life. I had no value, no worth and no identity outside a relationship. I felt that the world told me I was worthless if I was not with a man, then I must not be worth anything. But one day after reaching my breaking point 13 months into this marriage, I called out to God for the first time in my life and said, “God if you’re real you have got to get me out of this mess!” Immediately I heard the voice of God in my heart so loudly and he said, “Amy, do you trust me?” And I responded, YES! As soon as I said yes, this amazing supernatural peace of God filled my body and for the first time I felt that I had the strength and the will to leave him. That encounter with God taught me two things: 1) That God was actually REAL and 2) That God saw me in my pain and wanted to help ME.
I left this man and grew in my relationship with the Lord and ended marrying an amazing Godly man now who I have been married to for almost 13 years and we have 3 beautiful children together. My purpose I found was to find the Love of my heavenly father that my heart ached for so terribly and to know my value and worth that comes from Him.
Psalm 139:16-18 “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.”
Jesus transformed my entire life. Every aspect of it! He delivered me from anger, rejection, fear, anxiety, depression, suicidal throughts, the list goes on and on. Jesus is the great chain breaker! You see we are all made in God’s image and God has a plan for each and every one of our lives. None of us are a mistake and it’s only through knowing God and having a relationship with Him that we find out our personal assignment from Him.
My personal purpose on this earth (other than to Love the Lord and bring Him glory) is to lead others in becoming bold witnessness to the world around us of the transformational power that is found in none other than Jesus Christ! My whole life is devoted to equipping and mobilizing Christians in how to walk as Jesus walked and to lead others into that same transformation through knowing and serving the living God. There’s nothing more fulfilling than knowing God and walking according to His precepts.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
After the revelation of God, being made real in my life and deciding to give my life to Jesus, my walk with Him grew more and more. It was a gradual thing, I didn’t just step into ministry the next day. I chose to follow after him as best I could by reading the word of God, worshiping and praying. As I grew in Him, the voice of God became more and more clear and over time the “call” of God or rather “commissioning” into His work (Acts 13) came many years after first deciding to follow him. It was one step of obedience after the next.
My ministry is called Faith in Action NC and we are committed to fulfilling the great commission in our region (Raleigh, NC) and around the earth, as the 2nd return of the Lord draws near. We are invested in equipping and empowering a generation of faith filled disciples to walk as Jesus walked on this earth.
Specifically, we mobilize the body of Christ in the place of prayer and in activation through local outreaches/gospel crusades in the practical empowering of the saints. We equip through spirit-led evangelism by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and operating in deliverance and healing, to bring the freedom of Christ to the world.
We host outdoor gospel crusades, worship & prayer events all throughout the region to mobilize the Army of God and reach those that have not heard the transformational Good News of Jesus Christ!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
In the context of my journey and my ministry being established, it’s having the right heart posture all the way! The bible says that the Lord is looking for those with a pure heart. It’s important to not let pride, bitterness, competition, comparison, anger (you name it) into your mind and heart. We must be good stewards of our own hearts and conform to how the bible says we are to live. (Romans 12:2). In the Kingdom of God, the bible teaches that if you want to be first, you must learn how to be last. Matthew 23:12, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The second thing I would say that has brought me to this place is a relentless hunger for more of God and not letting a “lukewarm” position be acceptable before him. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for THEY will be filled.” We must always stay hungry for God and not think we have it all figured out or let our hearts become dull to Him.
Lastly, I would say that there is a relentless tenacity and grit that is needed in FAITH to do the BIG things that God wants us to accomplish. The bible says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6 We must be completely decided and resolved in our heart what God will do His will through us (who believe) in order to walk out our purpose and assignment before him. People will come against us and bring discouragement and situations will look unfavorable time and time again. But if God has called us to something, He will see us through to do it. “Not by might, nor by power, but by MY SPIRIT. says the Lord.” Zechariah 4:6
So I want to encourage those that have big GOD dreams in their heart to never give up on them, but cover them in PRAYER and FAITH and then be patient to watch God work.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
YES! This entire ministry is for the body of Christ to be activated! The Lord told me, “Amy, my people have been equipped, they need to be mobilized.”
We are always looking to take people out to the streets to help equip and enbolden them to learn how to witness to others and opperate in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are also looking to connect with worship vocalists / instrumentalists, etc to help in our gospel crusades.
Also, we host many prayer and fellowship events throughout the month to connect the body of Christ outside a traditional “church” setting.
Lastly, we are prayerfully asking God to bring us ministry supportors financially that will help to advance the preaching of the Gospel in this region and around the earth.
I have included a few of the ways to connect with me if you are reading this and want to get involved at any of these levels, please reach out to me! Can’t wait to connect with you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.faithinactionnc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faithinactionnc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095309240610
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FaithinActionNC
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.