Peeking out of the black hole called June-July

Officially, LST 2012 is over. The Luke books have been closed, the FriendsCamp campers have gone home, the last team is buying their final souvenirs.

In some ways, this LST season has been the hardest I've faced in the 5 years I've been working as the coordinator here in Natal. In other ways, it's been the easiest. Never have I felt so much like we were under attack from the enemy, and never have I understood so well why he would feel the need to attack. As I worked with a team that is so LST-experienced that they didn't quite know what to do with a very hands-on missionary, and being a hands-on missionary that doesn't quite know what do with a team that is so LST-experienced, I was able to enjoy and savor every moment of their project, watching them invest many years of experience into the lives of the readers we have all so quickly come to love.

And FriendsCamp. Oh, FriendsCamp. I'm still decompressing from what I'm contemplating calling the best weekend of the year. All I can say about it right now is that I began to cry this morning at the moment it hit me that FriendsCamp was over already. I wasn't ready to admit that all of the planning, worrying, praying, stressing that was poured into this weekend had simultaneously succeeded and ended in one quick and wonderful 36-hour period. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to my new friends and family and accept that we had to leave our middle-of-nowhere tropical haven for the concrete and commotion of the city. I'm speechless and humbled over how graciously and mercifully God answered every single one of my very selfish prayers, and went ahead and answered others that I was too selfish to pray but know others were remembering on our behalf. 

When I really blog about FriendsCamp, I'm going to tell you about the amazing house where it was held, the amazing team that put it all together, my amazing Christian brothers and sisters who went above and beyond the call of duty to fill their role at camp, the amazing talent show, the amazing campfire and s'mores, and the cocky turkey that lived on the property and gobble-gobble-attacked us a surprising number of times.  

However, for those of you who remember what FriendsCamp last year was like , what you need to know is this: it did not rain once at FriendsCamp 2012.

Amen.

Dona Francisca's baptism video

Trust me...you want to watch this. Pay special attention to the post-baptism beaming!


Chiquinha's Baptism from Cris Carpenter on Vimeo.

Dona Francisca!

Several years ago when Roberto and Marisa Signoretti arrived as missionaries in Natal, Marisa immediately looked for special ways in which she might serve the church. Over the years she has led a variety of different ministries. When I first visited Natal in 2006, I remember vividly her Monday afternoon literacy class. A certified Portuguese teacher, each week Marisa gathered about five or six little old ladies from the neighborhood (in their fifties, sixties, and seventies,) around the table in our reception area and taught them how to read and write. They would arrive promptly at 2pm and leave promptly at 3pm, spending an hour sounding out words and tracing their letters on worksheets not unlike what you and I used in elementary school.

After I moved to Natal, I enjoyed seeing these women each Monday afternoon, eager to learn and come to "school"(as they called it!) I will never forget the day one of them excitedly came in wanting to tell Marisa some big news. She had gone to a doctor's appointment that day and, for the first time in her life, had signed her own name on the forms. Her joy was overwhelming and contagious.

For a variety of reasons, after several years Marisa's literacy class came to an end. Attendance had dropped significantly and Marisa began to focus more on evangelistic Bible studies and our English program. But she remained friends with the ladies from her class and visited them regularly in their homes, just across the street from our church building.



A year or two after the literacy class ended, one of the ladies from the class, Dona Francisca, began to show up at our worship service on Sundays. She'd show up every once in a while, but sometime last year we began to see her every Sunday. Then she began to come to Bible class beforehand and stay for worship. She always brought her Bible and let us help her find the passages being read. Then we found out she was coming back early from her family's ranch every weekend in order to be able to come to church!

Dona Francisca taking communion for the first
time after her baptism

Last week Dona Francisca decided she wanted to be baptized. She told Marisa that she would like to be in heaven with us. On Wednesday, our missionaries sat down with Dona Francisca and her daughter to talk about her decision and help her understand the meaning of her baptism. She was excited and ready for Sunday!

What a joy it was to watch Dona Francisca put on Christ in baptism this morning! She is only the second person over the age of 60 to join our church family, and we are excited to welcome her as one of our own!

1000 Words - Birthday

For all of these people to show up on a Monday night, the first day of a 100% bus strike, to celebrate your birthday...

that's love.

Even though 27 feels pretty old, it can't be too bad with these people by my side. 

*And yes, that is my daddy-o on the far left of the picture. My parents arrived yesterday in Natal with their LST team to begin their project. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift!

1000 Words - Fridays

A few weeks ago I told you about what I do on Mondays. Mondays are for my basic English students. We chat (very slowly) together in English and read the Gospel of Luke. They explain Jesus's parables to me and I tell them whether or not I agree. And a lot of times we eat chocolate, which, ironically, is always brought by the dentist.

(let's play a quick game of "guess the Gringo")

Mondays are one of my favorite days of the week, but Fridays are quickly catching up. You probably love Fridays because of what they represent. Friday is my day off, so I know all about what a good Friday means. However, my Fridays have taken on a new look recently, besides sleeping in and watching my favorite real-estate reality shows. This picture was taken at my apartment a couple Friday nights ago, around 9pm.

This is a group of single young women from our church. You've probably seen several of them in pictures on this blog before. Two of them are the daughters of my teammates, one is my roommate, and two are recent converts. Since I got back to Natal in February, we have been meeting monthly on Friday nights to study the Bible together.

Since the first study I made it very clear that all were invited, but the only ones who were welcome were those who really wanted to be there. Falling on a Friday night meant that often the girls would have other obligations and commitments, and I wanted them to not feel in the least bit guilty if they ever needed to miss our study. I wanted it to be something they looked forward to and enjoyed, rather than something where attendance would be taken.

What has resulted is turning out to be one of the biggest blessings of 2012. The girls were thrilled to spend their Friday nights once a month studying the Bible, and asked why we weren't meeting more often! We've met three times, and Catherine prepared the lesson at the last study. My dream was not only for us to study the Bible more, but for them to have the chance to prepare and teach those studies.

I don't know anyone who doesn't appreciate  Friday. But with these girls, we have a whole new reason to love a good Friday night.

1000 Words - Tiago Filho

I can count on exactly one finger (or maybe 10 teeny tiny ones) a good reason for me to wake up voluntarily at 5:50 am on my day off.

Meet the newest addition to our family in Natal. The last time a baby was this loved, kissed, squeezed, and drooled over...well, it was the last time someone in our church had a baby. :) 

I had the privilege of hanging out at the hospital with Tiago and his mom, Kelly, the morning after he was born. We had a blast, braving the new world of baths, blood tests, diapers, and staying awake through meals together. He and Kelly are doing great and are being very well cared for by his namesake, his dad, Tiago. 

I have fallen in love all over again with the beauty of the body of Christ. Kelly's roommate at the hospital must have thought we were nuts, because we just kept showing up! I love watching how we all care so deeply for one another and are ready to serve at a moment's notice, whether that be through giving rides or washing dirty clothes or preparing lunch.

This guy had no idea how many people are absolutely crazy about him. 

1000 Words - Jailza

This one really doesn't need an explanation.

 

Please pray for Jailza, a woman who has believed in Jesus for many, many years but just last week decided to proclaim her faith through baptism!