41 days!

Last week my friend Sergio emailed and asked me to write a little bio about myself for them to post in the church building in Natal. Sergio has been a tremendous encouragement to me over the last year, telling me that everyone is waiting for me and can't wait for me to arrive in Natal. He continues to let me know that there are readers who are waiting for me to come and read with them and that I am going to have a lot of work to do. I can't tell you what an encouragement Sergio has been to me, and I am so thankful for his friendship. Below is what I sent to them, along with the picture that they printed off Facebook to post with it.

Hi! My name is Cristina Carpenter. I am 22 years old and live in Oklahoma, a state that is located in the center of the United States. I was born in Brasilia and lived there until I was 6 years old while my parents worked as missionaries, and so my family is very excited to be able to come and visit me while I am living in Natal! In May I graduated from Abilene Christian University with a degree in Psychology. I love psychology because I like to help people understand themselves better and learn how to get along with other people. In my free time I love to read books and spend time with my friends. I am so excited to come to Natal and join God's work at Communidade de Cristo. I have already been so blessed by your love and encouragement, and I hope I will be able to bless you in the same way! The things I am most excited about in coming to Natal are becoming part of your family at Communidade, bringing people from the community to Jesus through LST, learning Portuguese, and becoming just a regular Brasileira! (Hopefully!) I am always praying for you at Communidade, and am so excited to be with you very soon! God bless you!

Today LST called to tell me that they had my flight itinerary all set, I just needed to look it over and approve it. So, providing they got my go-ahead email back, I have a ticket to Brazil on September 3. It's 41 days away...prayers are appreciated!

Welcome to my Brazil blog!

Thanks for visiting my blog! I leave for Natal on September 3, so my time in the States is getting shorter and shorter. I will be using this blog to keep my friends, family, and supporters updated on the work in Natal, hopefully with lots of pictures and fun stories.

For now I will leave you with some pictures from our LST team in Natal last summer. Enjoy!


Our LST team with the missionaries in Natal, the Braga family and the Signoretti family.


(L-R): Catherine Braga, me, Marisa Signoretti, Jeff, Andressa Signoretti, Roberto Signoretti, Ragan, Marta Braga
(Floor L-R): Jonathan Braga, Osmildo Braga








World Cup party with the church members during the Japan-Brazil game. At the point the picture was taken Brazil had made their comeback, but only after Japan gave all of us a scare by scoring the first goal!










Two of my dearest Brazilian friends, Michelle and Patricia, at our goodbye party. I absolutely cannot wait to meet up with them again and resume our friendships.











My buddy, Irvaine. No words are necessary for how excited I am to see this guy again...