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Curious about our background or doctrinal statement? Feel free to find some more information about us below.
Curious about our background or doctrinal statement? Feel free to find some more information about us below.
The Carlsons
Before We Met
Ricky Carlson
Ricky Carlson
Ricky was born July 21, 2001 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He grew up around the military and moved a lot since his mother worked for the Army as a civilian.
Growing up in a broken home, he was a troubled kid from a young age. Ricky was in and out of Juvenile Detention, behavioral hospitals and therapeutic foster homes.
He began going to church around the age of 12 to seek comfort in the things of God. After years of trying to be "good enough" to be in good standing with God, he finally accepted the free gift of God through faith around the age of 16. He then instantly had a desire to share the truth he found in Scripture with as many people as he could.
He also became enamored with the preserved Word of God and fell in love with studying it. He developed a devotion to the King James Bible as the inspired, infallible, inherent Word of God. Since the Southern Baptist Church he was attending did not hold that same reverence to the Bible, he left and began attending Northview Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC.
There, he grew in grace and began to get a deeper understanding for the things which he learned before. There, he also met Lauren.
Lauren Hutchins
Lauren Hutchins
Lauren was born May 20, 2002 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She lived in the same house from the day she was born until the day she got married. She grew up in a Christian home.
She got saved at age 8, but for years she doubted her salvation. She thought that maybe she hadn't truly been saved because she didn't have a drastically changed life before to after her salvation and her flesh still desired to do wrong, things that she heard preached wouldn't happen if you're truly saved.
It wasn't until she was 17 years of age that she was once and for all assured that she was saved under the preaching of Brooks Grimes at Northview Baptist Church. His clarity of salvation helped sure things up for her, that she did get saved all of those years ago.
She also started to develop a stronger sense of why she believed the things she believed, such as what baptism is and why we do it, the Word of God and clothing standards.
It wasn't long after doing these deep dives for herself that she met Ricky.
HOW WE MET
Lauren and I met when I started attending Northview Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC in August of 2019.
In March of 2020, Covid hit and the church shut down. Not wanting to go without fellowship, the Hutchins family invited me to come over on Sundays and watch the livestream together. In between services, we would discuss Bible doctrine and began to develop a bond.
Unbeknownst to each other, Lauren and I had growing interest in the other. It wasn't until October of that year that I asked her father for permission to date/court Lauren. The following week, we started dating and did so for 8 months until I proposed on June 24, 2021. After 9 more months, we got married on March 26, 2022.
In the following months, we were constantly praying and asking God for guidance on how to better serve him. Then in early May, our church had a Missions Conference and during the conference, we both felt God calling us to the ministry, but we weren't sure how, when or why. We spoke with our pastor and announced it to the church. Immediately, I began searching for opportunities to take positions in other churches, but nothing was lining up.
The following month, in June of 2022, there was another missions conference in Florida. A church he had become acquainted with through a friend of a friend invited him to come. It was at this conference that he decided to learn Spanish and that he wanted to reach the Spanish speaking people with the Gospel.
In the years since, our family has been devoted to learning Spanish and trying to get ourselves around it more and more. We take multiple week long trips every year to Spanish speaking countries to try and force ourselves to learn more. We have also brought ourselves to a Spanish ministry to do the same. Now, we are taking the next step of faith. We know there is a large need for soul winning Baptist churches in Spanish speaking countries, they're very hard to come by. After years of asking God to send someone, I think we both realized that he is, in fact, sending us.
I hope you can follow along with our ministry and see where the Lord brings us!
Where We Are Going
From June 2025 to April 2026, we were in Paraguay helping out another missionary so he could come back to the States on furlough. Throughout our year, we really connected with the people and there grew a deep love for the people there and a desire to see them saved.
We are now raising support to go back. Kind of like our first time, we are setting our eyes on a time -- middle of 2027 -- and whether or not we have "full support," we will be going back to finish the work that God has called for us to do!
Letter of Recommendation from Our Sending Church
Ricky and Lauren Reference Letter.pdfStatement of Faith
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