tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73277999583633659332024-02-21T02:07:12.078-08:00Biels In BrazilOur family was in Brazil from 1962-1980. My father was a pastor with the Lutheran Church and an amateur photographer. Many of his slides have begun to deteriorate, so I wanted to preserve them and some of the memories from this interesting time in Brazil's history.Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-38181475416782435422022-01-19T16:17:00.003-08:002022-01-19T16:36:11.065-08:00Brazil Sojourn by Peter E Mathiasen<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Survey </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Our survey team pulled up in a clearing at the edge of the narrow forest road. Out over the bush, still some kilometres away was our destination; Loanda. Though still early in the evening, here in the semi tropics it was already dark. There ahead of us were the lights of this little frontier city, hacked out of the tropical forest around it. (Isn’t there something in the Bible about not hiding your light under a bushel?) There in the black night of the jungles where no hydroelectric power was yet available, twinkled the welcome lights of Loanda, powered by their own generators. Sixty three years have gone by and I still carry that picture in my mind.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEij5brw8I7DaIHlSgFzyPOYO-TIY49GzIk5tmugW_9FIj_q5geTqQMKJRdTsLroslqsIN9A2kH9-b_R_AyMIQwJhjJmHi5zzWT07kiJ0ogwqpCUH0UAAu6HEjx9nIGJAN4eDbj0H1apiJ1S1fnR86cXQpu2ggFpknXA7P1gCVjaIbBjBBfwC0n2Xxy9fw=s260" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Loanda's Main Street in 1959" border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="260" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEij5brw8I7DaIHlSgFzyPOYO-TIY49GzIk5tmugW_9FIj_q5geTqQMKJRdTsLroslqsIN9A2kH9-b_R_AyMIQwJhjJmHi5zzWT07kiJ0ogwqpCUH0UAAu6HEjx9nIGJAN4eDbj0H1apiJ1S1fnR86cXQpu2ggFpknXA7P1gCVjaIbBjBBfwC0n2Xxy9fw=w400-h293" title="Loanda's Main Street in 1959" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Loanda's Main Street in 1959</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">That was my introduction to Loanda. Little did I know at this point that in less than a year, that is where Elna and I and our two-year-old son, Paul, would be spending the next four years until our first furlough in 1963. Yes, way into the interior, almost at the Parana River, the farthest inland of any of our missionaries, a slow 2-hour drive on the rough and sandy interior roads from our nearest colleagues, the Aamots (Jack & Ruth) in Paranavaí. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What a Contrast! </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was a big contrast to what we had experienced in our first 5 years of married life. That was interesting enough; living in 3 countries; the United States, Canada and a year in Brazil. Our first year in Campinas was a succession of days filled with new and interesting experiences in one of Brazil’s most modern cities. But here we were on the frontier, in a new city not more than five years old, filled with people from everywhere, but mostly from the state of São Paulo and Brazil’s north, though with a few Gauchos too. The roads were completely undeveloped with many sandy sections to slow progress. In Loanda itself, the city streets were not much better with no asphalt in sight. The houses were built with newly sawn peroba, (yes, still green!) harvested from the surrounding jungle, and red tile roofs from a neighbouring Santa Isabel industry. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjILnVG6tRm-2O8PfWcFPFxC_EPcxJa7z2QSHi-IV_7KTeG43p_j3OF1VT04lAjt7XfsOof9qQ6ArG7w8IglAB98e52xl1wwJYP11yTmTDku7ziqZ7gCwmYyRbCtvaxrFx8QnvvALb7A3YdusGKcv424de_CfguHrGOoJRY9ZGXccQgEVSBqB7q3ja0_A=s316" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="New arrivals from Brazil's Northeast" border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="316" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjILnVG6tRm-2O8PfWcFPFxC_EPcxJa7z2QSHi-IV_7KTeG43p_j3OF1VT04lAjt7XfsOof9qQ6ArG7w8IglAB98e52xl1wwJYP11yTmTDku7ziqZ7gCwmYyRbCtvaxrFx8QnvvALb7A3YdusGKcv424de_CfguHrGOoJRY9ZGXccQgEVSBqB7q3ja0_A=w400-h266" title="New arrivals from Brazil's Northeast" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">New arrivals from Brazil's Northeast</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Getting Groceries </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There were other things to get used to. The grocery stores were very basic and carried little more than canned and dry goods. Bread, like a miniature french bread (pão de água) came by delivery in the early morning. (Fresh bread with butter and sometimes jam - deelicious!) A man on a horse with saddle bags packed with milk-filled wine bottles brought us unpasteurized milk every day. And
sometimes one suspected that they were “baptizing” the milk with water. That milk had to be boiled before use, and sometimes we resorted to powdered milk which was also available. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhB7cO8Mt5gVRx4Ud7r_opj-Kc7dOa_EOC_bdiXl4hpCxQk1vTzPpceVV7OFQxNkk8dJTRzQnPZFhgW3bSQClyFYcdzA0dPo5Jvig0DWhVbDqO76i-cL-RlDLRcxwDwl6eN_MqILUlfzDW22etD4rjPhfyVRPCsFTdXhaYqE_rQzYTN7-_kgaQZem1Qg=s357" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="357" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhB7cO8Mt5gVRx4Ud7r_opj-Kc7dOa_EOC_bdiXl4hpCxQk1vTzPpceVV7OFQxNkk8dJTRzQnPZFhgW3bSQClyFYcdzA0dPo5Jvig0DWhVbDqO76i-cL-RlDLRcxwDwl6eN_MqILUlfzDW22etD4rjPhfyVRPCsFTdXhaYqE_rQzYTN7-_kgaQZem1Qg=w640-h426" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Milk came in wine bottles, unpasteurized.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwxZz90_9WjFhQQUfKTo5Ae5G-yWKvFsnIZQ8CkEwqCShAMaf7mBxwn4lRh9eTi3ZyqsJxfN1x7w0aHcg_Y23X4lAhiUzHf6d2l9Y-_m6w48ldpQcVM9KtSTeIJ3UUFaiw7ef1JaEtTcQf1bu7IfED6mXh1PuCIr8h6XqjsKUsZi0fE40l-eaPRC02ZA=s284" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="284" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwxZz90_9WjFhQQUfKTo5Ae5G-yWKvFsnIZQ8CkEwqCShAMaf7mBxwn4lRh9eTi3ZyqsJxfN1x7w0aHcg_Y23X4lAhiUzHf6d2l9Y-_m6w48ldpQcVM9KtSTeIJ3UUFaiw7ef1JaEtTcQf1bu7IfED6mXh1PuCIr8h6XqjsKUsZi0fE40l-eaPRC02ZA" width="284" /></a></div>We could buy meat mid-morning since they had to butcher it first. The butcher had a stall in a building close by. He chopped it off with a cleaver on a peroba stump. If you got there at the right time, you might be able to buy one of the better cuts. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Fresh fruits and vegetables were hard to get. Usually you could find carrots, potatoes and tomatoes, sometimes cabbage and little else at the little green grocer’s on main street. We ended up going to Paranavai once every week or two, so we could have luxuries like lettuce, fruit and whatever else we could find. The stores never had papaya. We learned early on that if we didn’t plant it ourselves, we would have to go out in the coffee fields along the roads, where there were always plenty of volunteer papaya trees. The green grocer, Jaime (who also ran the town’s print shop and became a great friend of ours) was the one who urged us to do that! Ah yes! All this we learned to do in those first few months. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Money Exchange </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And we needed to have the local currency, but changing money was another matter. It was possible to use the local bank, but they couldn’t do it locally unless you had the cash. Cheques had to be sent away, and you were never sure when the exchange might happen so you could pick up your cruzeiros. So once in a while I had to take out a loan at the bank. As a result whenever I travelled to São Paulo which was not infrequent since I was on several mission committees, I bought enough cruzeiros to last for a month or two, sometimes more. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Air Travel </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Air travel was inexpensive. The first years we were in Loanda, air travel from the interior was actually government supported, to help open the interior. So it was usually cheaper to travel by air than by Jeep. However, the government support soon ended as the political situation deteriorated after Janio Quadros who had been seen as the savior of Brasil when elected president, suddenly stepped down, but that’s another whole story. The good part is that flights were always available, either by a DC3 three times a week or by teco-tecos like the one in the photo. The airport was simple with only a small garage-like structure for arrivals and departures. When one of the teco-tecos arrived, they would fly over the taxi
line in town signaling the need for one of them to pick up the passengers. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0tYmlMNHIHCtnjGFLwZKL5aePPVKxSDu7m9aM1U7GoGuJu9veAxyofEi5hPrxLOPLfOU5Pb3OQLRLz087jocXqy8jcFA4w518qPv5P1ksmWgxE8lG4Sl8H3rtXXKlgtoPDeO9OxTyQDPC16-VJOKl0hop2a1G0h0oJoNvxLEnfK8QjELaS5bYhQWSWg=s270" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Paul with Luiz and his Cessna air taxi" border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="206" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0tYmlMNHIHCtnjGFLwZKL5aePPVKxSDu7m9aM1U7GoGuJu9veAxyofEi5hPrxLOPLfOU5Pb3OQLRLz087jocXqy8jcFA4w518qPv5P1ksmWgxE8lG4Sl8H3rtXXKlgtoPDeO9OxTyQDPC16-VJOKl0hop2a1G0h0oJoNvxLEnfK8QjELaS5bYhQWSWg=w305-h400" title="Paul with Luiz and his Cessna air taxi" width="305" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Paul with Luiz and his Cessna air taxi<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Coffee </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The interior was opening up because the soil was rich, the price of coffee was favourable and so every bit of land that was cleared was being planted with little coffee seedlings. The farms were small and the land company was fostering the arrival of farmers from northern Brazil to farm this new area. When we arrived, the first coffee bushes were beginning to produce and a huge coffee warehouse was being built not far from town. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbWp6hkNROY-bpQLv_PZ2T7dF4BNdRNTd7Dww1pg3x7rEdS3w3QjL8x4qkJOmax8vS-XZ11CWEXn8BWT05mhjYrPSqGHw9y3vOgj6Vt5SvT7FLEapUrD6FEQn5jpGTEtQLHxIMmSuz_R-_kKnVZ68979d9HRGFZwZWnxtbVIA11YDctJNJcyYqzWJRVg=s265" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Loanda Coffee Warehouses built for 600,000 sacks of coffee" border="0" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="265" height="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbWp6hkNROY-bpQLv_PZ2T7dF4BNdRNTd7Dww1pg3x7rEdS3w3QjL8x4qkJOmax8vS-XZ11CWEXn8BWT05mhjYrPSqGHw9y3vOgj6Vt5SvT7FLEapUrD6FEQn5jpGTEtQLHxIMmSuz_R-_kKnVZ68979d9HRGFZwZWnxtbVIA11YDctJNJcyYqzWJRVg=w640-h415" title="Loanda Coffee Warehouses built for 600,000 sacks of coffee" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hopes Dashed! </span></h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgolsvLFlgXbzsW4GB33fR4qlX5T3cZNz67H4t1xyzMRG9h84m3-JWpG_NRZKhH0y1tsdSmKxeKgWa_3047J2rHI6k4r1ASSaDBYCmArGY-fvbF-cuUUPlqqrWOrATxRKb4-ohhbAxuB8lpWheFu1fJBnhy9f3zDf-F-uHfuVt5mFy0WNXZgCVLaj752g=s309" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Fires as in this photo, taken by Bob Kasperson, tore through the forests and coffee fields alike, bringing an end to the dreams of coffee farmers in northern Paraná" border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="309" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgolsvLFlgXbzsW4GB33fR4qlX5T3cZNz67H4t1xyzMRG9h84m3-JWpG_NRZKhH0y1tsdSmKxeKgWa_3047J2rHI6k4r1ASSaDBYCmArGY-fvbF-cuUUPlqqrWOrATxRKb4-ohhbAxuB8lpWheFu1fJBnhy9f3zDf-F-uHfuVt5mFy0WNXZgCVLaj752g=w640-h434" title="Fires as in this photo, taken by Bob Kasperson, tore through the forests and coffee fields alike, bringing an end to the dreams of coffee farmers in northern Paraná" width="640" /></span></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fires as in this photo, taken by Bob Kasperson, tore through the forests and coffee fields alike, bringing an end to the dreams of coffee farmers in northern Paraná</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In 1963 we left for our first furlough which was for a full year. We hired our neighbour who had an air taxi service to fly us to Londrina where we could catch the airline to São Paulo and from there to Canada. The night before had been cold, in fact the temperature had dropped below freezing, and as we took off, Luiz, the pilot, pointed out the damage. Everywhere where coffee was planted, the bushes had turned black from the frost, vast tracts of them. In fact, much of the virgin forest had blackened as well. Little did we know then that this was the beginning of the end for coffee production, not only in the Loanda area, but across much of the northern part of the state of Paraná. When we returned
to Loanda years later, it was to vast areas of grazing land for beef cattle, plus cotton, sugar cane or rice plantations. There was hardly a coffee bush in sight. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Where To Live? </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Our little family settled into our new neighbourhood, excited at the new surroundings, new friends and hopes. With housing scarce, we started life in Loanda, living in an empty storefront while we built a house on an empty lot. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHd8o9zyUQlgBL3LrlNyeUvWnt06EReh4eAr1ZQjC2k7QMDXPJfRncLHNz_DinQVQa6vzubIRfUwU95V6YKRlspyMfh-VVB6PHbxz-2B-rFoHE8xRmDt89pwhz_cXKQMi1z4cwMxgAW4XVVjNn-_exv88Md0QebsX2QAbX05nvHWSpzBq7Nru3dMZ60g=s238" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Storefront behind which we lived while our house was being built" border="0" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="238" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHd8o9zyUQlgBL3LrlNyeUvWnt06EReh4eAr1ZQjC2k7QMDXPJfRncLHNz_DinQVQa6vzubIRfUwU95V6YKRlspyMfh-VVB6PHbxz-2B-rFoHE8xRmDt89pwhz_cXKQMi1z4cwMxgAW4XVVjNn-_exv88Md0QebsX2QAbX05nvHWSpzBq7Nru3dMZ60g=w400-h264" title="Storefront behind which we lived while our house was being built" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Storefront behind which we lived while our house was being built.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was a happy day when we were able to occupy our new house. The architect called it “tipo Americano”, I could never figure out why. I had never seen one like it before, nor have I since in Canada or the States. We painted it chrome yellow and planted grass around it, the latter apparently a novelty which was soon copied by the neighbours. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJPArrGjPkwOsTBaIiwR9mvMn7mMvNxeaK0RAEwm7sEPdLZp2ilTuWjbCIlvaOfR0sRR3zeqUX1DQC1fngu8qvmaG_oHLt4-JNrOdB47g9x1PPlFhk5s_qAavX-syA3ooan5aNVlrB96pIJxDZayEp342MOMfPd-oaMMQWdEFg9SMpK8cbY6D3tqcCmA=s258" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="258" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJPArrGjPkwOsTBaIiwR9mvMn7mMvNxeaK0RAEwm7sEPdLZp2ilTuWjbCIlvaOfR0sRR3zeqUX1DQC1fngu8qvmaG_oHLt4-JNrOdB47g9x1PPlFhk5s_qAavX-syA3ooan5aNVlrB96pIJxDZayEp342MOMfPd-oaMMQWdEFg9SMpK8cbY6D3tqcCmA=w400-h259" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Our house upon completion.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Family Grows </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">With the rapid growth in the area, the city never had enough water, and so we hired a boy to pump water to the upstairs tank from water that was either trucked in or that dribbled in from the city’s supply lines. Without many of the modern amenities of home, Elna was forced to hire help. She found an “empregada” to help with cleaning and the care of Paul, and our water boy’s mother came to help with laundry. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj811D8ZByblRPMm5opfCL6-uxm0E6JAeKo4RKpuAHDwrHz3kW-4m0mAihT4872ny9VWXd1rWcNRD1aBAL0loCxibsUNSnvqal5Twlvngxcn4v2sLWyAV50zke1SXx5YU9Q7HE4j08EVs3eOcGdtEzjZnk2Tra_nmQvZ4ZNuFXUkgZ1IPIVMlDAiuWN-A=s289" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="289" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj811D8ZByblRPMm5opfCL6-uxm0E6JAeKo4RKpuAHDwrHz3kW-4m0mAihT4872ny9VWXd1rWcNRD1aBAL0loCxibsUNSnvqal5Twlvngxcn4v2sLWyAV50zke1SXx5YU9Q7HE4j08EVs3eOcGdtEzjZnk2Tra_nmQvZ4ZNuFXUkgZ1IPIVMlDAiuWN-A" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Paul with our two Brazilians, Mark and Karen.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Soon Paul had a Brazilian brother, Mark to keep him company, and then a Brazilian sister, Karen, as well. We were so fortunate to have excellent medical care, and much enjoyed our friendship with our doctor neighbour, Hugo, just up the street. But Elna still opted to have her babies in
Londrina at the “Hospital Evangélico.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h1><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h1><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our Mission in Loanda </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">We were told to take our time in starting services. It was important, we were told, to settle in, get to know people and be a part of the community. So it wasn’t until January of the next year that we finally took our initial steps. We had a Vacation
Bible School with the help of Bible students from John Abel’s early Bible School in
Londrina. As I recall, there were two, Israel from Londrina and Aurea from Cianorte. Of course Elna and I were involved as well. We used the two-room school at the bottom end of Loanda. (Loanda was built on a hill, with the new section at the top and the old section at the bottom). We took our Jeep around the community and announced the VBS using a portable PA system. We were flooded with children, about 60 of them by the end of the week. We had our own varied curriculum, with lots of handwork, recess with lots of games and in general an enthusiastic time.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5Kw1SAt7Ye04zWa4dZ15VjnnzSsp156N8pdIMu7MU6xOYFjM30Jy9EYAZghLKzjvoP7YD2ayATiKBGtwyUQVlTVxazgVt9umlW9Lkip73kT3Cx-3c2CVEIV1m22X9VleC_dkp6n1DtUBJzkM14k3p6F6yx6JXML3sr321sbUlYmcEpD1jyt8K-7IXKw=s425" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Vacation Bible School- Aurea left, Israel back and Elna right" border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="425" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5Kw1SAt7Ye04zWa4dZ15VjnnzSsp156N8pdIMu7MU6xOYFjM30Jy9EYAZghLKzjvoP7YD2ayATiKBGtwyUQVlTVxazgVt9umlW9Lkip73kT3Cx-3c2CVEIV1m22X9VleC_dkp6n1DtUBJzkM14k3p6F6yx6JXML3sr321sbUlYmcEpD1jyt8K-7IXKw=w640-h402" title="Vacation Bible School- Aurea left, Israel back and Elna right" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Vacation Bible School- Aurea left, Israel back and Elna right<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dance Hall Beginnings </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Then during Lent of that year we were offered the use of the town’s “Clube” for a week. Bob Kasperson came to preach, and Viola Reed played her accordion. Again, with the help of the Jeep and portable PA system we managed to fill the small hall. Many of the people came because of personal contact, but others we had never seen before. Among those who came was Manolo whom I had met when my tire was punctured on main street. Manolo ran the local tire shop and was only 50 yards or so from where it happened. He came the first night and as I greeted people at the door after the service he said something I marvel at to this day. To my complete surprise he said, “pastor, I’m ready to be converted.” As I recall, my rather unhelpful answer was “Manolo, I can’t convert anyone, only God can do that.” Manolo and his family became fast friends of ours and were one of several families who eventually were the foundation of our little mission congregation. Son Edson, who later became a pastor and eventually bishop of one of IECLB’s synods, later affirmed many years later that his father’s conversion dated back to those early days. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5jxl7X_VQyYznHUxaDalaPRSIK-2scVF9lapWTkWb_eQr8KyboWSQhIC0HkVGez8HST030Bb2TEcRdABICdNGf5OFNn0X_kIV0Z8SYcoAJUOz-MnSuNZyahQiMGuSUehIXhJQIYpM3zeoCP8WJmAnOaGvLQ8ptHv0wSPjiIoZbfNnTDEXcyCrLWBqbw=s339" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Manolo (right) with a group of gypsies passing through Loanda" border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="339" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5jxl7X_VQyYznHUxaDalaPRSIK-2scVF9lapWTkWb_eQr8KyboWSQhIC0HkVGez8HST030Bb2TEcRdABICdNGf5OFNn0X_kIV0Z8SYcoAJUOz-MnSuNZyahQiMGuSUehIXhJQIYpM3zeoCP8WJmAnOaGvLQ8ptHv0wSPjiIoZbfNnTDEXcyCrLWBqbw=w640-h428" title="Manolo (right) with a group of gypsies passing through Loanda" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Manolo (right) with a group of gypsies passing through Loanda<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Storefront Chapel </span></h1><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2nP5Tq1DwuUIJzRNWzMZOH5YLyRCYWktsHQEQx4gp5NVpMUFoyVR-78oBpxBD1VgR-cUH8VlG6nacUslXVAc-qT65byfbqU6-9UI_TJIaPO5OHRn5j2L_megCCtutBhNDY5seYlMLg35-SwriKf4nG-Cj33C9_5tDFGGbH4QCyONzgWVai4qhJCphWQ=s282" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a></div><div><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="282" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2nP5Tq1DwuUIJzRNWzMZOH5YLyRCYWktsHQEQx4gp5NVpMUFoyVR-78oBpxBD1VgR-cUH8VlG6nacUslXVAc-qT65byfbqU6-9UI_TJIaPO5OHRn5j2L_megCCtutBhNDY5seYlMLg35-SwriKf4nG-Cj33C9_5tDFGGbH4QCyONzgWVai4qhJCphWQ" width="282" /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Our first accommodations for a meeting place are another interesting story. Again because of the constant arrival of new people to the community and lack of housing and commercial buildings, it was difficult to find a place to meet. When one of the pharmacies closed, I immediately inquired about who was the owner of the building, flew to Marilia in the state of São Paulo to see if I could rent the store and returned with the keys. We built pews, an altar and pulpit, put up a sign “Capela Luterana” and were soon having services. It was a good location. People came and we soon had an operating Sunday School at noon as was a common custom at the time, with services in the evening. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our Own Building </span></h1><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtcx8fgUSzBRWVxm8se1X0RiXUIaa4KCDxmm5Qli9YU9tZExrEeV07I2cAWXj1zfen6tYoLVhRB_Fl6sMrg7Gq4Bavv2yLvOoN_1uUzFa6zknNjbuy8_D16weKH7HSGI2YJouoBy59dbYrEN0eQ8kfFeesPEqryC32Gfl1VdDAhgu6rCmMcJB-tR6Pzg=s379" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="379" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtcx8fgUSzBRWVxm8se1X0RiXUIaa4KCDxmm5Qli9YU9tZExrEeV07I2cAWXj1zfen6tYoLVhRB_Fl6sMrg7Gq4Bavv2yLvOoN_1uUzFa6zknNjbuy8_D16weKH7HSGI2YJouoBy59dbYrEN0eQ8kfFeesPEqryC32Gfl1VdDAhgu6rCmMcJB-tR6Pzg=w640-h438" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMf5Yfl5-S2mWfRk9KNHedD5ZgwyQ0Zx1BC1W7i2u_jkOtgeLXQObzI-RFUzAHLp3mfoD1JCWlAN9bch4clQ3hH0Tl5aqcl9-WA3lgX3vXwBjn6bVCC6COS1DfEpthYEOigvWc6Hk8Rvi5mUUrut585fG06U5XNqlg01wCqBOc6nl4XLQl8LcXps6qkA=s274" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="206" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMf5Yfl5-S2mWfRk9KNHedD5ZgwyQ0Zx1BC1W7i2u_jkOtgeLXQObzI-RFUzAHLp3mfoD1JCWlAN9bch4clQ3hH0Tl5aqcl9-WA3lgX3vXwBjn6bVCC6COS1DfEpthYEOigvWc6Hk8Rvi5mUUrut585fG06U5XNqlg01wCqBOc6nl4XLQl8LcXps6qkA" width="206" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Arnaldo and Mercede’s Wedding</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">But we wanted our own place of worship, so began looking, and found a city lot not far from our house. We bought it and then began the process of planning to build. Among our people was a second generation Dane, a Methodist where there was no Methodist congregation, and a builder. Pedro Olsen took on the job of building. Many of the materials were donated by various lumber mills of the area and others who supplied building materials. It couldn’t have been much more than a year before we had our dedication and members from other mission congregations in Cianorte, Umuarama and Paranavai and maybe even Londrina, crowded in for what was a glorious day. The little building had a chapel which could hold perhaps 80 people plus two Sunday School rooms and a little office. And that became our locus for worship, Sunday School, various meetings which soon began happening, plus Sunday worship. And it wasn’t long before we had our first wedding between two of our families: one of Pedro Olsen’s sons, and one of Manolo’s daughters. I
guess you could say that our little church brought them together. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We Reach Out </span></h1><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgw6uYyqPAXJyFvh84R_MD1fGT531TFvLtzE6z-Oy7Ib56ASAoBkG9GhXiBbxAPUixShO86jXTHZ0hScDwjlcZdKIcGE8Oz_9Ipr_Sb0iNqFQsvKxiMxtSWFhXVuGTaWA8at0brn__K7xlnicYHqNxCXvS5gKGCt2Zgc4Jz6g3672DU01B1JW-QsFQX5Q=s321" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Santa Isabel" border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="321" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgw6uYyqPAXJyFvh84R_MD1fGT531TFvLtzE6z-Oy7Ib56ASAoBkG9GhXiBbxAPUixShO86jXTHZ0hScDwjlcZdKIcGE8Oz_9Ipr_Sb0iNqFQsvKxiMxtSWFhXVuGTaWA8at0brn__K7xlnicYHqNxCXvS5gKGCt2Zgc4Jz6g3672DU01B1JW-QsFQX5Q=w640-h394" title="Santa Isabel" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Santa Isabel</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">During this time we hadn’t been idle in other places. One of those places was Santa Isabel, about 10 kilometres away. There we came in contact with a German Lutheran family who early on invited us to have services in their home. Irvin Kolm and his wife Edel owned a small grocery store with their home out back and that’s where we held the services. That also developed
into a small congregation, and when the mission decided to experiment with the placement of portable chapels, we opted in. The components were made in Loanda and trucked the few miles to their location. Then Pedro Olsen’s sons mounted it on a cement floor. There we were able to have services and Sunday School in the morning since we had none at that time in Loanda. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Reluctant Confirmand </span></h1><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Before we were to leave for furlough in 1963, I was determined to have my first confirmation class. This did in fact happen, and if I remember rightly 4 children of our group made their vows shortly before we were to leave for Canada. But one of the members was reluctant and didn’t join the group: Edson, Manolo’s son. When we returned a year later, I met Edson at our annual youth retreat and he excitedly told me that under Pastor Biel’s ministry, he had finally made his profession of faith at confirmation. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgR3_g2jxwXTsvrXN9jnWSbRlrdRlHHE0Hz7JebpWX0umMBisl4CLo7qNMpDck1hG3nAEm8QCavQSBt6e7WaFaNFc5hlo7F7xU-MceiDTyb0nCkR9GveSUlzREYRWQnYqgt1OoL3y1Q3xNBPR4f79m9p626JST_8R96tWNhtbRXFFyxBpk2IUEfMO3cVQ=s298" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="212" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgR3_g2jxwXTsvrXN9jnWSbRlrdRlHHE0Hz7JebpWX0umMBisl4CLo7qNMpDck1hG3nAEm8QCavQSBt6e7WaFaNFc5hlo7F7xU-MceiDTyb0nCkR9GveSUlzREYRWQnYqgt1OoL3y1Q3xNBPR4f79m9p626JST_8R96tWNhtbRXFFyxBpk2IUEfMO3cVQ" width="212" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Edson as Student in Joinville</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">Edson needed to complete his secondary education, and since there was no such school in Loanda, the Tollefsons in Joinville kindly invited him to come and live with them. There he was treated like family and in addition to studying, became one of the religion teachers in several state schools. At the
completion of his secondary education he continued his studies at the Faculty of Theology of the Lutheran Church in São Leopoldo in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the beginning of another whole chapter which I will allow someone else to tell. Suffice it to say that after some years as pastor, he was eventually elected bishop of his Synod and later even vice bishop in the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran
Confession (IECLB) (though the IECLB chose to use the terms Synod Pastor and National Church Pastor or some such terms, rather than Bishop.) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h1><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h1><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We Exit, Biels Enter </span></h1><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkdO_txWkSl30LumGpDSEfFKnx6yVowVmkiDjUynd5Mg1WsRUnI8f_t7Lo68IVhUQ5DT2afj5ILIaK8EY7SMrbbqXTD4MQ20wGLFcZATPgW705U2U-4uHKxRRZ-o6xqy-h3OIOhBePyjFRzasuXdg7oc4Ux8t3vGbPjIkoVzme6CpZUqjwcxsJBF7jQg=s365" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="236" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkdO_txWkSl30LumGpDSEfFKnx6yVowVmkiDjUynd5Mg1WsRUnI8f_t7Lo68IVhUQ5DT2afj5ILIaK8EY7SMrbbqXTD4MQ20wGLFcZATPgW705U2U-4uHKxRRZ-o6xqy-h3OIOhBePyjFRzasuXdg7oc4Ux8t3vGbPjIkoVzme6CpZUqjwcxsJBF7jQg=s320" width="207" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Biels</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">When in early September of 1963, we winged our way back to Toronto, Canada, for a year of home leave, we knew we wouldn’t be returning to Loanda. We already knew that one of the new missionaries of what was by then The American Lutheran Church (TALC), would be replacing us. We were particularly comforted in knowing that Loanda would not be left vacant and that the Biel family, (Cliff and Donna) would be taking over the work.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-38645703646762952672012-07-07T09:47:00.000-07:002012-07-10T13:17:12.928-07:00Missionary Reunion 2012: Uncle Don turns 90!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There were about 20 or 30 American Lutheran missionary families in Brazil at any given time between 1962 and 1980. The mission set up a hostel a few blocks away from the <b><a href="http://www.escolaamericanadecampinas.com.br/" target="_blank">Escola Americana de Campinas</a></b>, EAC, where most missionaries sent their kids to get an American education. Don and Lil Aarsvold served as house parents for a couple of decades, raising these children in an environment that felt safe and nurturing to most of the children who lived under their care. Many of these kids formed life-long bonds that continue to this day, decades later.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Aarsvold family, courtesy David Grant</b></td></tr>
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Uncle Don and Aunt Lil, as we knew them, seemed to have endless cheer, good-will, and were tireless in making us feel at home. I went to EAC for high school, 1977-1980, and by the time I got there, most of the missionary kids had either gone on to college or now studied in the Brazilian school system, staying at home with their families, so there were only a few of us occupying this huge building. 1977 was also Uncle Don's and Aunt Lil's last year of service. </div>
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They were replaced by a Brazilian couple, Ronaldo and Odete, who remained until the facility was closed down a few years later. I believe that it is now a Senior Citizen's home. Thomas Grant, one of the missionary kids, visited a few years ago and shared a current photo of the entrance:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Entrance to the Lutheran Hostel in Campinas, Brazil</b></td></tr>
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Uncle Don celebrates his 90th birthday today and many of the missionary families are converging on their daughter's farm in Minnesota to honor him and Lil. My parents and brother will be there. I had hoped to go, too, but the 12 hour drive just didn't work out. I celebrated my 50th year in January and most of the "kids" are now grandparents themselves. Life goes on, but those early years have always stayed with us!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lutheran Missionary Kids in Brazil, 1968, Courtesy David Grant</b></td></tr>
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We were asked to contribute a page for a book that will be given to Uncle Don and Aunt Lil. I made the photo collage at the top of this page and my Dad printed it out. I think it came out quite well! You can click on any of these images to see larger views. <br />
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My parents will send me some photos and I'll post them here for "posterity". <br />
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Don and Lil Aarsvold dedicated much of their life to children and young adults. Don wrote about his calling in 1992:<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">‘My God is Real”</span></b></div>
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There have been some things that have been laid upon my heart lately that I would like to write about. As I’ve been reading recently regarding various missions, missionaries and their work, I am reminded once again of our (my wife and I) ministry with the American Lutheran Church Mission in Brazil from 1967-1978. The following six years we spent in Anaheim, CA as Resident Counselors at the Lutheran Bible Institute. Throughout these years of ministry, many students would ask the question, “How come you left the farm to enter mission work, after twenty years of farming?” Well, it’s a long story, and this is how it all came about...<br />
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In my late teenage years I became convicted of my uncommitted life to Christ. My pastor helped me through this time, as I yielded my life fully to the Lord with a desire to live for Him and to serve Him wherever that might be.<br />
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I grew up on a farm and helped my Dad as a kid and then later worked on two other farms as a hired farm hand. During these years I had a very fine Christian girlfriend with whom I could share my thoughts and feelings. We talked and prayed a lot together! After one of these evenings upon my return home, I had a time of Scripture reading and prayer, went to bed and to sleep. Later, I was awakened by a vision in my room. It appeared on the ceiling - first like clouds in the sky and then gradually it became a map of the world. It sort of frightened me at first and then I remember saying -“What’s going on, Lord?” As I watched, one country after another disappeared except one - and that one remained, namely South America, and finally that disappeared too. I then remember saying, “Lord, are you trying to tell me something? If so, I want to be open to your will.” Needless to say, I shared this experience with my girlfriend and we prayed a lot regarding God’s will in our lives.<br />
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In 1946 we were married. By the way, she was Lillian Peterson of Kasson and a school teacher in the area. I continued farming and she teaching in the country schools. We purchased my home place south of Kasson and in the years that followed we were blessed with four children, Dennis, Cheryl, Mark and Donna. We were enriched in our church life and outreach to missions in various ways.<br />
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Then...in 1967, we were faced with a call to missions in Brazil, S.A. One of our first thoughts was regarding my vision in 1943 of So. America! Well, after much prayer and seeking God’s guidance, we made ourselves available to ALC Missions in April - with a specific call to minister as Houseparents to missionary children. In June, after our interview with the National Board we were extended an official call and would enter that field of service in late Dec. of 1967.<br />
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I just think it is so great to know that the Lord is concerned for His children and to realize how “right” his timing is! Just as surely as we knew He was calling us to Brazi], we also knew when our time there was finished. Our last year there once again became a time of searching as to God’s plan for us upon our return to the U.S. which would be in the Spring of 1978. Through a newsletter we received from the Lutheran Bible Ins titute in California we read that LW would be moving from their residence (a Lutheran church building) in Los Angeles to a new campus in Anaheim. Their plan was to be moved and begin classes there in January of 1979.<br />
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Again, I felt led to write to the Director of the School to inform him of our resignation from the Mission in Brazil and that we would be returning to the U.S. in 1978. I also shared with him our desire to continue in Christian service work and asked if there would be an area of service at LBI that we could fit into. It wasn’t long before we received a response from the Director (Pastor Frank Wilcox) who wrote they would indeed be needing a lay couple to be Resident Counselors at the new campus. He asked if we would visit with him in May (‘78) upon our return which we arranged. We felt good about our interview with him, but he at that time could not promise us a position there because of finances, etc. The Board of LBI was very interested in our application and certainly hoped and prayed that it would work out. That summer we continued with AbC Missions in Deputation work, etc. We continued in prayer regarding the LBIC possibility. Then...early in October we received a letter of call from LBIC to serve on their staff, beginning the first of Jan. 1979. We accepted this call with grateful hearts, being assured again of God’s faithfulness to us. He is “great and greatly to be praised!” Psalm 96:4a. We had six wonderful years of blessing in serving there with staff and students.<br />
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In one’s lifetime there are things that happen that I feel are important to “Family.” I often wish our children could have known my Dad (their Grandpa Aarsvold). He just loved children! I am thankful they knew and loved Grandma Aarsvold, as she was a wonderful person too.<br />
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I had a home life that was so meaningful. Dad and Mom loved the Lord and they lived their Christianity, which I never had reason to question. To be sure - we were not rich in worldly goods, though we always had sufficient food, clothing, a nice home and loving care. Our physical and spiritual needs were met, both in our home and at church.<br />
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I often wish my Dad would have left some writings of special “happenings” in his life for me, my children and grandchildren. I feel strongly regarding the faith stories of our lives and as a Christian parent, I trust and pray the spiritual part of life will never be taken for granted, but that it will be nourished and grow in faith, hope and love. There is real joy in living for the Lord and serving Him wherever we are!<br />
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“My God is Real” is what He has laid on my heart to share with you; and though you, my children, know all about what I am writing, I want my grandchildren and great grandchildren to know as well, so therefore [I] would like to pass [it]on for posterity. Thank you!<br />
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<br /></div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-13891895589803636172011-12-24T16:43:00.000-08:002011-12-24T16:47:35.330-08:00A Child's Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywzxw1cw87wvrCpXwIJnUbcMV9D_YyplBiETyTZH8m-PKei4pVhRW_x1RsxwbKWusb-Bi1bmhqBSEmJ_K09KN4nzQE1sJZaNb1yHPuw8AbhXhRZLuVtys0hoeKnCrgjY02o3OkS-uiZ1Z/s1600/1968+kindergarten+graduation+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywzxw1cw87wvrCpXwIJnUbcMV9D_YyplBiETyTZH8m-PKei4pVhRW_x1RsxwbKWusb-Bi1bmhqBSEmJ_K09KN4nzQE1sJZaNb1yHPuw8AbhXhRZLuVtys0hoeKnCrgjY02o3OkS-uiZ1Z/s400/1968+kindergarten+graduation+2.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><br />
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Every Christmas brings back fond memories of how we celebrated in Brazil. For years, the ritual was the same. We would practice daily for weeks for the Christmas program that always took place at the Church at around 3PM on the Saturday afternoon before Christmas. Mom would buy boxes of candy from a distributor and we would have an assembly line set up, filling up the bags that Santa would hand out at the program.<br />
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After the program, we would head out for a walk to the ice cream parlor. (Remember, it was summer down there...) We would get to the gate and Dad would say, "Oh, wait! I forgot something. Be right back!" He would dash in and take the presents out from their hiding places (which we had already found) and put them under the tree. As we got older, we would wait impatiently at the gate, rolling our eyes, knowing what he was doing, but thinking it was funny that he still had to play the game. When we got back, it would be, "Oh, look! Santa must have dropped by while we were out!" We had already felt the packages, shook them around and had some guesses about what we were getting. But, sometimes he succeeded in being especially sneaky and took us completely by surprise. Like, when Charles and I got new 3-speed bikes! That was something! And, I'll never forget when I got my OWN cassette player. I could listen to my own tapes and to whatever radio stations I wanted to in my own room. That was unforgettable.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Presents were opened on Christmas Eve at night. We always had guests over who had nowhere else to go. We would sit in the living room and read the Christmas story from the Bible and sing some hymns. Christmas was definitely about Jesus first, with presents as the icing on the cake. We took time in opening the presents, each one opening one so that everybody could see and then it would be someone else's turn. Not like the frenzy I've witnessed in many places as an adult. We always got something that we really wanted (the bike, the player, etc.) and then clothes. One year, I got a pair of jeans, brand new indigo blue jeans. Too tight. I had a growth spurt and my Mom wanted me to take them back. I begged to let me wear them for the night. I was serving one of the guests coffee (very hot coffee) and tripped. Coffee all over the new pants. My mother was absolutely disgusted with me because now she would not be able to return them. Money was tight for them and now I can look back and understand why she was so mad. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our festivities would wind down at around 11PM and soon a knock would come at the front door. "Pastor, can Rachel come over to my house now?" That was Adelia, my friend since I was six years old. For years, my parents let me go down the block and spend Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve with her family.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtasJOtFO_Q6UOqarKi6RDcy8gMS7BSPRFNk_RjsWCvpyip0_EEih5LP3tYL3SXkI5-BSj06AiCwmAuhypOuIOr5LTyv-nh7uQKcA2Aba6mZwH0KsAZauHUkOG9ZlUk7RlauuRWA7OYNz/s1600/1982+ogamas+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtasJOtFO_Q6UOqarKi6RDcy8gMS7BSPRFNk_RjsWCvpyip0_EEih5LP3tYL3SXkI5-BSj06AiCwmAuhypOuIOr5LTyv-nh7uQKcA2Aba6mZwH0KsAZauHUkOG9ZlUk7RlauuRWA7OYNz/s400/1982+ogamas+.jpg" width="391" /></a></td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even though they were Japanese, they celebrated the Brazilian way: a feast of finger food, every kind of goody you can imagine, tapas style. Several weeks before, they would have built a huge manger scene, taking up a large coffee table. They made hills out of paper bags, ponds out of mirrors, trees and bushes out of sticks and little potted plants. The manger scene would be at the top of the hill and the clay shepherds and magi were out towards the opposite ends of the table. Every day we would move them a little closer to the baby Jesus. On Christmas Eve, they would arrive. We opened more presents, mostly things we had made for each other.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Those days were days of waiting. They were centered on the gravity of God becoming human, of the babe promising love and redemption. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now my Christmases are a huge contradiction. I have been involved in some form of retail sales for the last 25 years. When I had my brick and mortar shops, I was exhausted by the time Christmas Eve came around. Now that it is all online, I am still exhausted. We depend on these sales to build our businesses, but it takes away the ability to wait, the expectancy. And, then the commercialization of it all now... it's just disgusting. A big part of the problem for me is that I have no children, so I can't replicate the traditions that my parents instilled in us. The joy that children experience is still real. They are the ones that make the celebration fun and exciting. But, then, we all have that child within and that is the challenge: to make each year be a Child's Christmas, where innocence and abundance meet the Child made Man.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Feliz Natal!!!!</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">May 2012 be a wonderful one for us all!</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-86088368282345417542011-01-02T11:04:00.000-08:002011-01-02T11:04:12.041-08:00Letter to Grandpa and Grandma Biel, September 25, 1975<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWEPlr_qRJG_gypz4RQJOEmBAlk3wXbvxcNz6C3tn-ptRB45M7KXwIHeriSdK5Qdfjq2x_sKGITw9anQws8yTG2LbXCfR2bfvslxMt3EoRRVWXPp3eL9fNFhfekr73L4_3N_3GbPQxl6X/s1600/1972+mato+grosso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWEPlr_qRJG_gypz4RQJOEmBAlk3wXbvxcNz6C3tn-ptRB45M7KXwIHeriSdK5Qdfjq2x_sKGITw9anQws8yTG2LbXCfR2bfvslxMt3EoRRVWXPp3eL9fNFhfekr73L4_3N_3GbPQxl6X/s400/1972+mato+grosso.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Mato Grosso Farm Scene, Brazil, 1973</b><i><br />
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<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my family wrote to her. Apparently, she also had some that were written to my Grandparents. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here. They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i><br />
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Dear folks:<br />
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Thank you for your letter of the 15th! It had quite a bit of news that I hadn't heard yet, for example, that Roger had suffered a heart attack. One thing you didn't make clear in your letter was whether you bought that Buick for us or for yourselves. It really sounded like a good buy! When I told the kids they said, "Buick? What's a Buick?" Anyway, MANY THANKS! And, you can draw the US$100 out of our account to pay for it. Please do, and put it in your name. <br />
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By the way, I didn't renew my Minnesota Driver's License. I'll just use the Brazilian one again.<br />
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News here is a little hard to come by. I've heard it mentioned that there's been a round-up of Communists lately, and I believe it's time for there was an oblique announcement in the paper (local) the other day saying that the people should not get excited, because certain measures were being taken to guarantee their tranquility.<br />
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In a week and a half, I'll be doing a swing through Southern Mato Grosso to try and find out what's going on there. Apparently, the pastor got out of town- fast and went to a far corner of the parish where he's well-liked and abandoned the rest of the parish.<br />
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Rachel is studying piano again, this time without being driven to it. We've got a University girl from another town living with us- a former beauty queen- (you'd like her, Dad: blond, long hair, blue-eyed, tallish, and very precious), also a piano player and she and Rachel are hitting it off famously. Tonight they went to a piano concert together- True to form, Rachel has picked up another friend older than herself.<br />
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We've got some English neighbors- or have I told you that? They're experts in plant seed development. Their company plans to work for 20 years in Brazil before it gets a break-even return on its investments! They're Anglican and one studied to be a priest before he became interested in zoo-technology. <br />
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For the last couple of months, I've been reading up on ethics and trying to work up a paper on "Pastoral Ethics". This was to be presented for debate at the "Conselho de Pastores de Maringa". (Local pastor's council) It was sort of a time bomb, because there's been quite a bit of sheep-stealing going on. They asked me to do the paper because I was the least involved of any of them. It went over very well. I'm happy to say, and the discussion following the six page manuscript was very productive.<br />
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Now that we know where the car is coming from it's pretty certain that we'll fly in to Minneapolis or Rochester. Please don't go spending money unnecessarily, it's precious! I've got boots and that car-coat that I had before, which will serve just fine. They're here. Not sure what the others need. Hope we get a snowy winter!<br />
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</div>It finally rained, Hallelujah! It's been a couple of months since our heavy frost. What the frost didn't kill the drought attacked, and what didn't dry up the plant lice by the billions sucked dry. Now it's planting time again (beans, rice, coffee, and later, soybeans).<br />
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Love,<br />
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JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-5445771883963845592011-01-02T10:26:00.000-08:002011-01-02T10:26:45.478-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, January 6, 1973<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i> <br />
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Dear Marian and Frank, Lisa and Eric,<br />
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Since I didn't write anything on the Christmas letter, I now will make an effort to tell you the news.<br />
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Before Christmas, I helped an agronomist missionary family as they got their things ready to move to another city. The seven of them slept here a night. A neurotic lady from our church came a week before Christmas and stayed for four days. Cliff had programs for three days in various places so he didn't have time right away to talk to her family. She has had mental problems for over twenty years and has stayed here before. She calls many times or stops by to talk, then I listen for an hour to two hours. About the only way I can help her is to listen to her problems. Her husband says he has a cross to bear, but the family could try to be more understanding. Another family that has problems is a Church of Christ missionary family. When she is overtired or under pressure, she has emotional outbursts. They have been in Brazil for one and a half years and now are packing up to go back to the United States for the other couple that works with them wrote to the U.S. recommending that they be ordered back. I feel sorry for them for they have many things to sell, then have to rebuy them when they get back. They were a risk to be sent here for they spent two years in Africa and she had emotional problems there. <br />
<br />
The Church of Christ has different ideas. They don't use instruments in the church for the Bible says "to make melody in your hearts" which they interpret to be without the help of instruments. Also, they don't celebrate Christmas for they say we don't really know the date of Christ's birth, which misses the whole point. Some date has to be chosen so that we can observe it.<br />
<br />
Helen is happy to have a second hand bicycle. It's been about two years since she decided that she was too big for her tricycle. Charles's old bike was traded in for a new one. Rachel got science sets which have a microscope. For a science project in school, Cliff helped her build a telegraph, which she got a good grade on. Another father helped his child build one. Cliff said it was going to be a battle to see which father got the best grade. The kids are enjoying the kitten born in the first part of November. Another one was given away on Christmas day. We think our kitten has a hernia. Cliff says that some day it may bump its head too hard against a post.<br />
<br />
Next week we have Vacation Bible School. The children have vacation now until February 12th. Then Helen will start first grade Brazilian School. Right now she is half way through the first grade English course that I give in the mornings. Charles doesn't have too much homework, but Rachel does, so I have to supervise that during the school term. The teacher makes them work hard. Every two weeks they have to give a book report. Even though Charles doesn't have any competition, as he is the only one in his class, the teacher says he is doing very well. At times, Rachel lets things pile up and doesn't get good grades on a test, but her final grades are alright. Rachel, almost eleven, is 5 feet 2 inches tall. Charles is almost nine and is getting too heavy. We decided we should eat more fruit as all of us could lose some weight.<br />
<br />
Some more urine tests done show that Helen doesn't have an infection, but she continues to wet. The urologist in Minneapolis wrote indicating that a medication which was given last July at higher dosages, so now she is taking it for two months at a lower dosage. Our field representative of the mission office said that we can take her to the Mayo Clinic when on furlough. I hope that the problem is solved soon. Before Christmas I spent many hours sewing plastic pants bigger for the night wetting, but the biggest bother is daytime wetting.<br />
<br />
Our church was used in December for Baccalaureate services for college graduation for those who are Protestants. This week a junior high school (included ages 14-25) held services here after first going to the Catholic church. cliff had the service for the junior high school. A week before Christmas, Cliff attended graduation of the first class in our Bible Institute in Londrina. There were six that completed the three year Bible course.<br />
<br />
We had an enjoyable New Year's with the Louie Becker family who live one hour from here. We played games with the children, went for a walk to the park and finished the day by singing Christmas songs and eating my birthday cake. Just before Christmas, we got a tape Cliff's family sent. We enjoyed hearing it even thought most only said a few words. It seems like they had a hard time thinking of something to say with everyone sitting around and watching them when they were trying to talk. Seems like Frank found it the easiest to talk. I haven't had Lutafisk or however you spell the fish dish.<br />
<br />
We haven't gotten a letter from you in a long time. Hope you will write us right away when the baby is born. LaVonne wrote that Lisa is quite the artist, that she sent Mike a picture when he was in the hospital. I hope to get Helen to write to Lisa before I mail this. It's almost 100 degrees today and we are at the swimming pool.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna and JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-75237597287193339722011-01-02T09:52:00.000-08:002011-01-02T09:52:44.528-08:00Easter Letter, 1974<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear friends in Christ:<br />
<br />
Greetings to you all! Did you have a good Easter? And, you mothers, was your Mother's Day a happy one, and bright? A salute to you mothers! A child's such a messy little thing, so slow to grow and learn. It's born with a will full-blown, a gale wind that fills its sails yet has no captain to chart its course. Slow, so slowly, by fits and starts through long slow years of creeping growth, the child, weaned, blends into his destiny. Some call their mother blessed, whose years of youth and strength in the slow years, a mother's strength molded to the child's weakness. And, then it's mind, a darkness into which, probing, pushing, come filtering the first weak tentative rays: words the child hears, repeated, first empty sounds, that pattern themselves into its life, and then spill out in childish jargon groping for the sense of what's about. And when the mother's there it's her wisdom that first lights its mind, putting the tiny hand to the wheel that steers life's course.<br />
<br />
To all who have a mother's heart, this toast! God grant the grace to have joy and peace in fitting His children to their destiny.<br />
<br />
We've been having a busy time of it. Some of the highlights:<br />
<br />
At the Maringa church there was a record number of communicants on Good Friday: 96.<br />
<br />
We dedicated a church in Ivaipora. They have just a small congregation: 18 families. However, they managed to build a very nice little church without any aid from outside the parish.<br />
<br />
Until now we'd met in the home of a member. I am temporarily taking care of the church and have been for the past two years. We have services twice monthly, when possible. Until then, the maximum they'd had was services six times a year.<br />
<br />
At Borazopolis, which is on the same road, we had the special joy of seeing a family reunited which had been split by business dealings mixed with avarice and wine. They all communed together on Holy Saturday. The wounds heal slowly, they only get together under the sign of reconciliation: worship, in the name of Jesus.<br />
<br />
Sunday school seems to have been rejuvenated in Maringa by moving the hour to the same as worship and calling on mature members as teachers. About 35 are enrolled. On Mother's Day they did a very nice program in the afternoon.<br />
<br />
A new man has come into town: a Swiss who speaks English, French, German, Spanish, Swahili, and a little Portuguese. He's an engineer and worked for many years in Africa, then came to South America and is "trying out" Maringa. His driving interest seems to be making money and loneliness brings him to church. He's an outspoken, rabid racist and and anti-Jewish. He has been strongly influenced by a so-called "Jewish Manifesto". Now this is where I want some help from some of you. Who can tell me anything about a "Jewish Manifesto"? I'd be much obliged. The copy he's got was published in Spanish, in Argentina.<br />
<br />
Right now I'm a little laid up with a cracked ankle-bone. I'll have a cast on until the end of May. coming soon after a bum knee makes me think I'll have to give up playing futebol de salao (court soccer) with the young adults.<br />
<br />
We had very good participation in a Bible camp in February. About 30 youth from the parish went. Now we are looking forward to the retreat in July which we will be in charge of as it will be on a farm near here. The farm belongs to a doctor and it is used mainly for retreats. With the bunk beds, there is room for 75 people. The theme will worship.<br />
<br />
Helen's bladder problem was finally diagnosed and operated: a cyst near a urethra. She was operated on in Sao Paulo by a surgeon considered to be one of the best urologists in the world, and is recovering well. She is still taking medicine and has monthly urine check-ups in the nearby city of Londrina. She has no more wetting in the daytime, but still needs diapers at night.<br />
<br />
Rachel is doing much better in school lately, is as tall as her mother, has begun confirmation study, works on her stamp collection and is teaching English to a class of neighborhood children she got together.<br />
<br />
Charles goes every day after school to a nearby park to visit the animals there. His allergy to dust has been bothering him. He is taking a vaccine by drops for six months which we hope will relieve the stuffed nose and sneezing.<br />
<br />
Power to you all, in what's right.<br />
<br />
Clifford Biel and family<br />
<br />
P.S. Farmers are hurting: soybeans are only $4 a bushel (30 kilos)<br />
<br />
+++++++++++++ On the backside of the above, typed letter, a handwritten one to the Beiwel's:<br />
<br />
Dear Frank and Marian:<br />
<br />
Well, the last ones on my list! I've been writing letters all yesterday and all day today, to my family and Donna's. Today I was to have gone to a meeting in Joinville, traveling all night by bus each way. But my foot swells to much yet when it's down, so I didn't go. Instead, I've been sitting on the bed, listening to the record player and writing letters.<br />
<br />
We gave Rachel a record for Christmas and enjoy it more than she does! Andy Williams, "Alone Again".<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEnbxh_KMiB3EFhawjIllBYT7zNTebXbwyDKVC_YM4x0QTHdQ3bkaWnuzo4PBLzZpQ4GSiB7IVn4LhDBAMCuCZywDX4UfdzDv-KPkdmTvezS0m2z16ZNp3H0OsoK0X7EyatO1VblgPg_O/s1600/andy+williams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEnbxh_KMiB3EFhawjIllBYT7zNTebXbwyDKVC_YM4x0QTHdQ3bkaWnuzo4PBLzZpQ4GSiB7IVn4LhDBAMCuCZywDX4UfdzDv-KPkdmTvezS0m2z16ZNp3H0OsoK0X7EyatO1VblgPg_O/s400/andy+williams.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
You really shouldn't spend money sending candy every Christmas- We eat it all up and then - wait. For the next Christamas! We hope to be home for furlough for Christmas, '75. We're talking about that. It fits the kid's school vacation and they want to see SNOW! and feel COLD! Yek! And, maybe everybody won't be so busy like they are in the summer.<br />
<br />
Sounds like everybody is really skimping there in the States. We're also pinched, but I think we'll break even this year. The cost of living here has jumped 25% in three months while income has held steady.<br />
<br />
Saturday we're going to Marilia (about four hours drive from here) for the silver wedding anniversary of our colleague there. I'll be preaching, but what can you say to somebody who's been hitched that long?<br />
<br />
There was a hilarious cartoon in TIME. Gold Meir and Willy Brandt were sitting on a park bench. He says to her, "If this were a week earlier, they'd call our meeting a summit conference."<br />
<br />
A girl just stopped by and gave us an invitation to her wedding in the Catholic church. Five years and she's never come to church here. Her brother is Antonio Roberto, who is studying to be pastor (Lutheran). Her mother is a spiritist. She's marrying a Japanese.<br />
<br />
Well, carry on. Let us hear from you.<br />
<br />
Yours,<br />
<br />
Joey and familyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-73185357590595826392011-01-02T08:52:00.000-08:002011-01-02T08:57:30.379-08:00Letter to Beiwel's, March 26, 1977<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRCQ-GYZSaysSksXDeFVxnuBOUGDWGfsGiJBwvYxzhGBRiHcTcxDf-HB2ndaexO8no4EVmuU3IXsyFzMJPDJc2bNz6hWvo0KUPjttgk7-LeJSPU-EN7qUi2JHgeaw0EySsW6NozLehDwN/s1600/velvet%2527s+ear+surgery+Luiz+1976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRCQ-GYZSaysSksXDeFVxnuBOUGDWGfsGiJBwvYxzhGBRiHcTcxDf-HB2ndaexO8no4EVmuU3IXsyFzMJPDJc2bNz6hWvo0KUPjttgk7-LeJSPU-EN7qUi2JHgeaw0EySsW6NozLehDwN/s400/velvet%2527s+ear+surgery+Luiz+1976.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Surgery on Velvet's ear with Doutor Luiz</b></div><br />
<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters we wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i> <i>This is one that I wrote when I was 15 years old.</i><br />
<br />
Dear Beiwels,<br />
<br />
Hi, there, how are you all? I trust that you're fine. We're O.K.<br />
<br />
Please forgive the double "L" on Helen's letter. She didn't know better.<br />
<br />
Velvet died yesterday night. She was 13 years old and had tumors, was blind, deaf, but we still liked her. (That is, Mom, Helen and I). (Oh, by the way, she was our Puli dog, sort of like a sheep dog or an overgrown poodle.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS91_mvEq6tiVQoK_7Q745kvwHCEDmiKwidPiYbZwpuvLDkQxNy76-CxysT3eE1AehWtXwpn-YtJ7dLquAPLUOWUXpypbQFUrjLVWs11Pfx7Tt-e2dwBoX_qPqs7wPlyXzamtnqQ0kBOSF/s1600/1977+velvet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS91_mvEq6tiVQoK_7Q745kvwHCEDmiKwidPiYbZwpuvLDkQxNy76-CxysT3eE1AehWtXwpn-YtJ7dLquAPLUOWUXpypbQFUrjLVWs11Pfx7Tt-e2dwBoX_qPqs7wPlyXzamtnqQ0kBOSF/s400/1977+velvet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Velvet in 1977</b></div><br />
Dad was traveling to Sao Paulo and came home this morning.<br />
<br />
Guess what! I'm thinking of studying 12th grade in the States. I'll only be finishing 9th in June, so it's a long ways off. It's an idea though.<br />
<br />
Thanks a lot for your presents. We weren't expecting them. We were already so happy for the books and candy. You shouldn't torture us that way with candy, it's SO fattening! (But delicious!) I really enjoy reading books. These will last for a long, long time. I've got lots of friends who read, too. (We're really bookworms.)<br />
<br />
That embroidery sure is beautiful. Thanks a million to whoever chose it! I'm putting my drawings in that subjects thing. It's really handy.<br />
<br />
Well, I guess that's all. Please write back. We enjoy knowing what's happening to you all even more than getting presents. (I guess that's cuz we luv you)<br />
<br />
Shalom,<br />
<br />
RachelRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-49076519819781159272011-01-02T08:38:00.000-08:002011-01-02T08:38:48.534-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, April 19, 1974<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9CcwJ67xV5SDaSVtvpGCyTiXX1gHlcbSn603O0QR7Ulavf09RZbtRRA15PbvZmrPuFYYj2R1b4QAt5j_eK1q8f4eDCzAy6RQhUuNbE7JYRy8PmqltLeH5wycwEPYOmdFvII7ZV___dnc/s1600/sc001af795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9CcwJ67xV5SDaSVtvpGCyTiXX1gHlcbSn603O0QR7Ulavf09RZbtRRA15PbvZmrPuFYYj2R1b4QAt5j_eK1q8f4eDCzAy6RQhUuNbE7JYRy8PmqltLeH5wycwEPYOmdFvII7ZV___dnc/s400/sc001af795.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Biel Family, mid-1970's, Brazil</b><i><br />
</i></div><br />
<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i> <br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Marian, Frank, Lisa, Eric and Julianna,<br />
<br />
We received your package the day before Easter. Joey brought it when I was trying to decide what to make for dessert on Easter- we made the cake. Delicious! We will have the other one on Joey's birthday. Needless to say, we enjoyed the candy, too. Thank you for the "sweet" gift. <br />
<br />
We heard that you were going to Julia's for Easter. I imagine you saw several changes in her house for Harvey wrote that he had been puttering around there and Julia said Martha went to help one day.<br />
<br />
We remembered Julianna's birthday even though we didn't send a card. It is easy to remember since Marian's is the next day and my sister Marian is on the 14th, too.<br />
<br />
I suppose you are starting to enjoy spring weather. We still have summer although the mornings and evenings are cooler. It was chilly when we went to a mission meeting at the end of last month. It was held at a city in the mountains of our southernmost state. We traveled 24 hours by bus to get there, stayed two days, then spent another 24 hours traveling back. That shows you are far away we are from some fellow American pastors.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dpHRs5vTWtf4fFSDjm_t_tZcxFZyIvj5Vv8wkcReatMIgQGpceK5Xsjy5K0LaOdFtWBUL3jNuWsNZjdj6H07o-M6smerb_nHaA5n-6YZkc4EtlERSS2g-Vif3Yus9AE7MjM8oMjvJEAl/s1600/sc0005a588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dpHRs5vTWtf4fFSDjm_t_tZcxFZyIvj5Vv8wkcReatMIgQGpceK5Xsjy5K0LaOdFtWBUL3jNuWsNZjdj6H07o-M6smerb_nHaA5n-6YZkc4EtlERSS2g-Vif3Yus9AE7MjM8oMjvJEAl/s400/sc0005a588.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Cliff Biel doing the Hamburger Skit</b></div><br />
You would have enjoyed seeing Joey in a skit at the mission conference. He did it at the fun night at Bible Camp and the youth really thought it was good. A man who owned a hamburger industry liked to try hamburgers out at different places to see if anyone served better hamburgers. At the place where Joey was a cook, he thought the hamburger had a different flavor so he asked for the recipe. When he found out the same ingredients were used, he asked to see the cook making them. Out came Joey, shirtless, oil on his skin and then water poured over to look like a lot of sweat, cigarette hanging from his mouth and a tattoo on his heart saying "meat". He demonstrated and at the end, to flatten the meatball, he put it under his armpit. That was where the different flavor came from. <br />
<br />
The next day, when Joey came late for breakfast, I told the people at our table that he was helping to make more hamburgers. We had hamburgers that noon but round ones. Several people told us that if and when they came through our city, they hoped we won't serve them hamburgers. We have been having the mission meeting with wives every two years. The men get together once a year for a business meeting.<br />
<br />
Helen is doing fine. I called the doctor yesterday after receiving the urine results done last week in Londrina. He says to keep on giving medicine to keep the urine free of germs and do another urine test in a month. Apparently, this will go on for some time. It take three hours to get to Londrina by bus, about 15 minutes to do the urine exam, have lunch with Gaylord Grant's and then come back. Thus, it takes all day. We leave at 8:30 and get back at 5 p.m. We have a laboratory here but the medical care is better in Londrina so the doctor thinks they are more careful in doing lab tests.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68kHyzZh77chqXdcUDOFoWw4bDTVzhJNMaAa3RAPOkV2KK0nwCB3mUwM-2XSI0HsgTFDYun7RXD-aPZGGMBSPdHFck0a3bfCysMAXHdWh10Lc-TDNBBSvWDKtxJZekt1Mnb7gS8ewJr1w/s1600/sc001af795_face2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68kHyzZh77chqXdcUDOFoWw4bDTVzhJNMaAa3RAPOkV2KK0nwCB3mUwM-2XSI0HsgTFDYun7RXD-aPZGGMBSPdHFck0a3bfCysMAXHdWh10Lc-TDNBBSvWDKtxJZekt1Mnb7gS8ewJr1w/s1600/sc001af795_face2.jpg" /></a></div>Helen saw an unpleasant sight when I took her swimming two weeks ago. While we were there, a 16 year old boy was pulled out of the deep end of the pool. They don't have lifeguards at pools here. No one did anything- I went and turned him over and barely started giving chest-arm respiration when a doctor who was playing tennis started mouth-to-mouth respiration and his wife, an anesthetist, gave heart massage. I couldn't find any pulse. When they got their instruments, the doctor couldn't hear any heartbeat and said that just by looking at the boy's eyes, he said that he was dead. He used an instrument to look in his lungs and said that there wasn't any water in the lungs. Apparently, the boy had eaten off and on during the afternoon, had stomach cramps, and disappeared without any signs of distress. He had been under water for at least half an hour, the doctor thought. After seeing this, Helen said we can sell our membership at the club as she doesn't want to go back. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtBowu5i2ZuZclXRhH6ejtP4ccN5BsQfhfP5j3aFCSDe9U0crKETtRUlI6orhgeHfgPgeVcw4Vc4QErxZi-oYZEnGCMsyNdRdWtA6azQUxQTUV5JSfJFO-FVcsduiUX8ejeCNQZzcmpnX/s1600/sc001af795_face3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtBowu5i2ZuZclXRhH6ejtP4ccN5BsQfhfP5j3aFCSDe9U0crKETtRUlI6orhgeHfgPgeVcw4Vc4QErxZi-oYZEnGCMsyNdRdWtA6azQUxQTUV5JSfJFO-FVcsduiUX8ejeCNQZzcmpnX/s1600/sc001af795_face3.jpg" /></a></div>For some time, Rachel and Charles haven't wanted to go- they have friends playing here all the time. It is too bad that they don't have public pools and we could pay whenever we could go. The club fees have gone up to $10 per month and now gasoline is so expensive so we might as well sell our membership.<br />
<br />
Since the children didn't have school on the day after Easter, we went to a city one hour from here to visit with the pastor's family there. We will go as a family to get together with all of the pastor's families in our area, about nine of them, on May 1st which is a holiday.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6KlQm4dZG6Woi6DQ8CPYtAASMWo0cVk9VtnQ9CY5S9z45pzokN9EjkFNJqajzuCwgtDmHNLWHibeQ1Qh9yvHHnOgCsLturNNE0V1EXkTDCFsszH0WJ5xBhN2VZLHkpqf_tQqirE6rqa4/s1600/sc001af795_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6KlQm4dZG6Woi6DQ8CPYtAASMWo0cVk9VtnQ9CY5S9z45pzokN9EjkFNJqajzuCwgtDmHNLWHibeQ1Qh9yvHHnOgCsLturNNE0V1EXkTDCFsszH0WJ5xBhN2VZLHkpqf_tQqirE6rqa4/s1600/sc001af795_face0.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6KlQm4dZG6Woi6DQ8CPYtAASMWo0cVk9VtnQ9CY5S9z45pzokN9EjkFNJqajzuCwgtDmHNLWHibeQ1Qh9yvHHnOgCsLturNNE0V1EXkTDCFsszH0WJ5xBhN2VZLHkpqf_tQqirE6rqa4/s1600/sc001af795_face0.jpg" /></a>You may have heard from Cynthia's letter that Joey was in bed for a week due to a swollen knee. After a week, he hobbled around. He thought he would need a cane, but an ace bandage helped. Now he has been fine. I told him that he should play mostly chess since he hurt his knee in a soccer game.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpzEAlSLfsd-dVpBuRQUIr3ZtXYRFEBFmMeuW6XoWwVgC6lFnD-QrWOdSG49raCOWJigfhsKu0ZqVaNgqlrszSbgl0YrW914pO7D0G-6oCOFsIgYWOxLc6htTDYjYoUI00eKTmJKITtYu/s1600/sc001af795_face1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpzEAlSLfsd-dVpBuRQUIr3ZtXYRFEBFmMeuW6XoWwVgC6lFnD-QrWOdSG49raCOWJigfhsKu0ZqVaNgqlrszSbgl0YrW914pO7D0G-6oCOFsIgYWOxLc6htTDYjYoUI00eKTmJKITtYu/s1600/sc001af795_face1.jpg" /></a></div>One of Rachel's English students gave her an egg (chocolate) that cost about $6. I told her that maybe I should start teaching if I could get valuable gifts. I spend time every day helping Helen with reading in English as she is weak due to not paying attention to phonetic sounds. She is improving but is having a harder time than Rachel or Charles for they went all day to school in English until last August and had Portuguese on the side. Now it is the opposite for Helen- having little time of school in English. Her main problem has been spelling but by studying, she is doing much better. In Portuguese you spell as you pronounce a word. Charles is too busy playing to do hardly any extra reading in English, but Rachel reads many books. One of the books that I read I found interesting, "Ana and the King of Siam" for which the movie "The King and I" was made. A television series about this is being shown.<br />
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We went to see the movie "The Day of the Jackal" about the plot to attempt to assassinate Charles De Gaulle. It was interesting and full of suspense.<br />
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We have a shampoo that you might like, Marian. It has vitamins in it and brings back the natural color. Several of our pastor's wives have started using it. One who was much grayer than Joey has no more grey hair. Joey refuses to try it as you would have to wash your hair two or three times a week and he goes for three weeks without washing as he feels that washing it makes it soft and it doesn't stay in place. With all the talk about streaking, they said at our mission meeting that now with this shampoo, no pastor has to have streaks of grey hair.<br />
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Love,<br />
Donna and JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-72482772831778190852011-01-01T22:29:00.000-08:002011-01-01T22:29:44.375-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, February 4, 1974<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6Y_a4qwCLuf7TZSOcKXsfAZc6N_jOc9jraASYSh_9trd3DeFu7qQk7mu6VmEgMdivtbFV-ApOL3W9aMhvN1kj93SySx9qDvxz8UB-bVe33gQLwC203jPY19QCUP0l2heJLOSITT3QVo8/s1600/Helen+on+a+ladder%252C+princess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6Y_a4qwCLuf7TZSOcKXsfAZc6N_jOc9jraASYSh_9trd3DeFu7qQk7mu6VmEgMdivtbFV-ApOL3W9aMhvN1kj93SySx9qDvxz8UB-bVe33gQLwC203jPY19QCUP0l2heJLOSITT3QVo8/s400/Helen+on+a+ladder%252C+princess.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Helen on a ladder, a bit younger than in this letter.</b></div><br />
Dear Marian, Frank, Lisa, Erik and Julianna,<br />
<br />
Greetings from the huge city of Sao Paulo (largest in Brazil). Wouldn't ever want to live here- the traffic is terrible and some days there is a lot of smoke due to factories but the medical care is the best in Brazil.<br />
<br />
We were here for five days- January 14th through the 18th for X-rays, blood and urine tests. I was with Helen the 2.5 to 3 hours it took to do the x-rays for they let me hold her hand. I was impressed how thorough the 19 x-rays were done on the kidney and bladder. While the dye was in the bladder, the x-rays from the right side and lying flat on the back showed everything normal, but on her left side of the bladder a cyst was found. She had to urinate and several x-rays showing the bladder full and half full and empty showed that the cyst was larger when the bladder was empty and in the cyst a residual of the urine stayed. This apparently was (the wetting) better when she took sulfa or antibiotics but only surgery was the solution. The medical term is diverticulum. I wish I had a Merck Manual to understand it better, although the doctor did a diagram for me. He said that this is from birth, so apparently the x-rays at Fairview Southdale taken 2.5 years ago weren't thorough enough. I'm glad we finally found out what was wrong. the doctor says that there could be a complication from the surgery, in that the urine could try to go up the ureter to the kidney- he called this reflux and said that he tried to prevent this from happening by doing certain things in the operation. This doctor was recommended to me by our dentist in Maringa. He is a urologist for children. Since I came here, I found out that he is consdiered to be one of the best in Brazil and is well known. <br />
<br />
After the exams, Helen and I went by night bus to Curitiba where we me Joey, Rachel and Charles and then drove for seven hours to a city where a pastor from our district was to be ordained at his home church. This pastor is our age but did a short course offered due to the shortage of pastors. He had correspondence lessons to do and Joey was his tutor the last year. Before he became a pastor he worked with his family at a tile and brick factory in the country by his father's farm. Here shingles aren't used on roofs, but tiles. It was interesting to see the process of how the tiles were made. We also visited an old folk's home for 75 residents where this pastor that was ordained had worked for four years before going to our own district. The sermon was given in German since most in that area prefer that language- we had a copy of the sermon in Portuguese.<br />
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On our way back home we were by the ocean so we spent two days at the home of a Dutch couple who live one block from a nice beach . This couple had lived for 15 years in the U.S., five years in Canada and went back to Brazil to be by their only son who had married a Brazilian when the parents left Holland 25 year ago and stayed here for 5 years. Now they are about 68 years old and haven't tried to learn Portuguese which all their grandchildren can speak. They lived in Maringa for a few months and we helped translate for them but they decided it was too hot there for them. Joey wouldn't go in the water but we had fun jumping in the waves. The sun was very hot one morning. I made Helen and Charles wear shirts but Rachel took hers off and consequently got a burn so her back peeled. We didn't get lotion under Charles nose, thus large water blisters formed which made him look funny. While on the beach we saw a beautiful film made in Austria, "Sissi", spoken in French with Portuguese subtitles- only Helen couldn't read fast enough so I explained as it went along. The movie was about a girl who was chosen to be the queen of Austria- Elizabeth was her real name. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQZ7esSQYoe9Xrex86OpgGMUHGWXHvUFRrXVdWuzn0AXSxfpdz-22Bnynk7iGQmtxi1BwhE9fo-narWomFVcwirYclqaltu5fJ2zVwHKR1SRsx-AFObZFGrRAzGdByDEjkWVYqOdD6gXy/s1600/sissi-the-young-empress-movie-poster-1020533267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQZ7esSQYoe9Xrex86OpgGMUHGWXHvUFRrXVdWuzn0AXSxfpdz-22Bnynk7iGQmtxi1BwhE9fo-narWomFVcwirYclqaltu5fJ2zVwHKR1SRsx-AFObZFGrRAzGdByDEjkWVYqOdD6gXy/s400/sissi-the-young-empress-movie-poster-1020533267.jpg" width="290" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rachel and Charles had their birthdays while Helen and I were here for exams. Rachel made a cake and invited a few neighbors. Rachel is now my height. According to the Reader's digest, one can double the height for girls at 18 months and add an inch for good nutrition. She and Helen should be 5' 9".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today is the 8th day in the hospital and Helen will get out. We will spend two days at a pastor's home here before we go back on a 12 hour ride by night bus. She has had a catheter in for seven days. When she got up a plastic bag was taped on to her leg so she could walk around. For two days she has had a lot of gas. They didn't give her an enema before surgery. She didn't have a B.M. for five days and then it was very hard, finally they gave an enema but still she has gas pains quite often. The doctor didn't leave any order for gas so they gave her medicine for pain in order to go to sleep for two nights. Just about everywhere you go, there are couches in each room for a relative to sleep by the patient. Nursing care is better here than in Maringa yet relatives are the ones who feed a patient when he needs help, gets them out of bed, helps them walk. Nurses come in just when it is time to give the bath, take the temperature, or give medicine, unless we call them. There is no T.V. in the hospital unless one has a portable one to bring. We brought a tape recorder, coloring books, dolls, and many books. Most days I read to her and when I read all of the books, I bought comic books. Now that she is better she will play with her dolls, so I can write letters. Helen had 11 stitches from the surgery. American school starts on the 11th, so I will probably carry her up the steps so that she can go. Brazilian school starts on March 1st. That gives her plenty of time to recuperate.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We didn't hear from you , Cynthia, Louie of Stan's for Christmas. Laurie sent Rachel a letter. Just think, Juliana is almost a year old! Will she be walking soon? Wish you could send us a picture of her when she has her first birthday. How about printing us a letter, Lisa, or drawing us a picture? Hugs and kisses to all,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Love, Donna and Joey</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thought Eric would be interested to hear that while we were in the hospital we saw helicopters going on top of a 22 story building about 8 to 10 blocks from here to save people from a fire. It was tragic in that 200 people died. Many jumped and there wasn't any netting so they had an instant death. They had fire equipment such as hoses and extinguishers inside, but the 1000 people that worked there panicked and didn't remember to use them. The whole city stopped working to see this tragedy and many of the duty nurses went back to work and hundreds of people went to give blood that was needed. We heard ambulance sirens all day long. Fire started when an air conditioner exploded due to over heating of the electrical wiring. The fire department complained of what little equipment they had and what few firemen for this size of a city, and said many more could have been saved if building codes had been enforced- such as helicopter landing on top of the building- the only helicopter that could go up there had to land on skis. One man held a wet curtain over his nose and mouth. He waited calmly for three hours to be rescued while others became desperate and jumped. He said he would have waited all day and encouraged others not to jump.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thurs. am. We got back home. Everyone is fine. Helen has to take antibiotics by mouth for a month and then have a urine exam before the doctor says everything is O.k.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Love, Donna and Joey</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rachel, Charles and Helen</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-38904991078819065742011-01-01T21:30:00.000-08:002011-01-01T21:30:58.401-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, October 18, 1973<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAm7nWRtJCL7JUVK96H5kMBtc6H5uaJE1sAcqNraxp7dZZJF_dInZldnSAo2x4E75UnpxAzOGwCeEPysOq15eK6Czs6XRCs0-yEl1iiolT84mHwHP742uj_tsDXfgmY2VL6p14jMOffJTj/s1600/mom+and+charles+with+dutchess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAm7nWRtJCL7JUVK96H5kMBtc6H5uaJE1sAcqNraxp7dZZJF_dInZldnSAo2x4E75UnpxAzOGwCeEPysOq15eK6Czs6XRCs0-yEl1iiolT84mHwHP742uj_tsDXfgmY2VL6p14jMOffJTj/s400/mom+and+charles+with+dutchess.jpg" width="337" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Mom and Charles with Duchess, the cat.</b><i><br />
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<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i> <br />
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Dear Marian and Frank,<br />
<br />
It seems like ever since we got back it has been raining a lot. We got some big leaks fixed but have more to do. The hard rains were starting to damage the wheat crop which was being harvested. we were fortunate to have a beautiful day last Sunday when we had our annual fund raising dinner, bazaar and cake selling. Everything sold well.<br />
<br />
I was gone for four days to Londrina for orientation for leaders for Ladies Aid. The next week cliff and I were gone for two days to a district pastor's meetings with the wives. Cliff has gone to several meetings. One was for a regional meeting of our church and now he is gone for three days where a study will be given on "Our faith, Our Life", a pamphlet which was put out by the church and many studies are being done by the lay people in which they seem to be well accepted.<br />
<br />
A week from tomorrow, Helen will be a flower girl in a wedding at our church. She is quite happy about it and has a light blue long dress that is being made for her. The children are happy that Duchess has three kittens- two are almost all white like she is. Rachel painted some boards and with some bricks made a bookshelf for her room. Charles has his 3-speed on his bike, but hasn't been using it much. He has been roller skating some, but Rachel has let her friend use Charles's skates and she has done a lot of skating.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3lVdL5D51S_TErejWprBGPoH-Lpfqg9KTHwd0z8yHmLdz4aquss6GFxTyIwkVFckS0bzzo3-9RpvV2eNRSNJ4jPtfcAmnkaKwIDdoqYGYr21rcGYqR5-E4LaCZ6ux2qvU4y2QLt7L9PJ/s1600/1972+helen+in+uniform+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3lVdL5D51S_TErejWprBGPoH-Lpfqg9KTHwd0z8yHmLdz4aquss6GFxTyIwkVFckS0bzzo3-9RpvV2eNRSNJ4jPtfcAmnkaKwIDdoqYGYr21rcGYqR5-E4LaCZ6ux2qvU4y2QLt7L9PJ/s400/1972+helen+in+uniform+.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Helen in uniform, 1972</b></div><br />
The children are in a Catholic school about four blocks from our home. They are there from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Saturday and have English at the American school from 1 to 2:30 P.M. they like the school and it seems quite neat and orderly compared to many public schools that I have seen. One thing that I find a nuisance is that the Brazilian school doesn't furnish books, so we run to several book stores to get what we want. the children have to wear uniforms- navy blue skirt or slacks, sweater, white knee socks for the girls, black shoes, white blouse or shirt. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mXhsrgPRyzojpXxFjJkw0fcYw4mC1I_sVyIfenqw1_C9baUaGI-uAGmaPquoU_r_ypDRR_YW3RdM02dew5A65HiLbg1hUcPbNZTElOiL4ENOxduzOjE1CsHQBmgkgw4n3kuAQYjVh_Tl/s1600/1974+regina+mundi+parade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mXhsrgPRyzojpXxFjJkw0fcYw4mC1I_sVyIfenqw1_C9baUaGI-uAGmaPquoU_r_ypDRR_YW3RdM02dew5A65HiLbg1hUcPbNZTElOiL4ENOxduzOjE1CsHQBmgkgw4n3kuAQYjVh_Tl/s400/1974+regina+mundi+parade.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Rachel in a Regina Mundi Parade, 1974</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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Helen doesn't get any science in the Brazilian school and Charles doesn't get much so I'm buying the American textbooks from the school here and giving it during the three month vacation in December to February. Charles needs help on math for the Brazilian school gives more things sooner than the American system- we have been working on the multiplication and division tables. Charles and Rachel have English at the Brazilian school but don't have a textbook as it is very simple- names of animals, parts of the body and they know more than the teacher. This next Monday students from the small American school in Londrina will come to have a sports day in the afternoon.<br />
<br />
This next week I plan to go on a bus at night with one of our church members who has to go to the Swiss Embassy in Curitiba. She has huge sores due to varicose veins on her legs and needs to show them so that she can get help from the Swiss government to help pay for medical bills and for a helper to do the housework. Her husband is from Switzerland. Last year, I helped her get a document stating that she is an invalid and can't do her work. She suffers from high blood pressure and has liver problems, so she can't travel alone.<br />
<br />
Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have many Jews living there. We have many Arabs in our area- mainly from Lebanon. I don't know what percentage of petroleum Brazil gets from the Arab countries, but they will be getting more from Venezuela, however, this may not be enough and if the war continues for some time, gas may have to be rationed here. <br />
<br />
When our large suitcase ripped across the top on the way back, I thought a sheet was missing, but now have checked through everything and can't find the material for two pillow dolls that Cynthia gave me, the green and white checked dress Marian gave Helen, and Rachel's music sheet. Helen feels bad about the dress you gave her and when she mentioned the dress I looked for it and discovered that we don't have it. Don't buy a suitcase like the one you paid us for, for in the long run it is expensive and can't be used again. Helen forgot many words so we have to practice reading. How does Eric like the picture Rachel took of him? Your family picture turned out well. <br />
<br />
Love, Donna and JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-48390141445388634642011-01-01T18:49:00.000-08:002011-01-01T18:49:25.780-08:00Letter to the Beiwel's, December 27, 1974 (Friday)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoM1qrZZ4GiRc-LFMgkXXdLfCXva-Xt2d6IBYsM0FfOPxXJQPDiv5X5ySzFSFx3lc8uUWUspNbjsmAZZdqeDFbkwF6BL2AiV5qZtuweR4YICQPFg53qDmq-ZuCJ2rNHKAN1Cn5dmRLoKH/s1600/rachel+short+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoM1qrZZ4GiRc-LFMgkXXdLfCXva-Xt2d6IBYsM0FfOPxXJQPDiv5X5ySzFSFx3lc8uUWUspNbjsmAZZdqeDFbkwF6BL2AiV5qZtuweR4YICQPFg53qDmq-ZuCJ2rNHKAN1Cn5dmRLoKH/s640/rachel+short+dress.jpg" width="356" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Rachel Biel, around 12 years old.</b><i><br />
</i></div><br />
<br />
<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. This is one that I wrote to her family when I was 12 years old. She returned the letters in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i><br />
<br />
Dear Uncle Frank, Auntie Marian, Lisa, Eric, and Juliana,<br />
<br />
Hope you had a Merry Christmas. We had a pretty nice one though Christmas Eve was more excited. We opened our presents that night and went out for supper.<br />
<br />
Thanks for the stamps, Uncle Frank. I sure appreciated them. I didn't have hardly any of them. I hope you like the "1 cruzeiro" that I enclosed. Seven of them make 1 DOLLAR.<br />
<br />
Sorry to hear you (Lisa) and Eric had chickenpox. I hat it when I was 4 years old. I'm also sorry to hear you both will be wearing glasses, but many people look prettier in them.<br />
<br />
For Christmas, Helen got an Egipcian game called CARCARA. We had it the last time we were in the States. It sure is fun! Mom and Dad are playing it right now- scoring: Dad-1, Mom-0. I got a dart board and nine darts, we sure have fun with it. I gave Dad a little flashlight which you could adjust 4 types of screwdrivers on to it. He sure was happy with it.<br />
<br />
I'm happy to hear that more books are coming even though you shouldn't have gone to the bother and work of doing it all. My little library is finally starting to grow. It has some real nice romance books by Grace Livingston Hill. Lately, I read an excellent book by Corrie Ten Boom. It's called the "hiding Place". She hides Jews in this little place in her house in Holland and than gets caught for it and goes to a concentration camp. You really should read it.<br />
<br />
Lisa, Helen really misses you. All the time she talks about is "When we get to the States, Lisa, Polly and I will do this, this and this." She really misses you.<br />
<br />
I can hardly believe we're going to the States in one year <u>and</u> at Christmas! I always wonder if it is fun to ice skate. We still have our roller skates, but I wonder if it is the same.<br />
<br />
Now I have 1350 stamps. Most of them are from Brasil. I've 200 Brazilian ones and 151 American ones. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif3hUKQFTpvc8qIVrCgzgDbzcAdN-egrVZTPI8dhEVJEVn1HHnxVvV4mI9EEFQdBwtbzhXpE_4QqKBenXRPmS8KvOrEPoACaOcrPsebLa5Tv3EAdRblMyJWv1ylvSqjH4qiR_A_93VeVa-/s1600/b8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif3hUKQFTpvc8qIVrCgzgDbzcAdN-egrVZTPI8dhEVJEVn1HHnxVvV4mI9EEFQdBwtbzhXpE_4QqKBenXRPmS8KvOrEPoACaOcrPsebLa5Tv3EAdRblMyJWv1ylvSqjH4qiR_A_93VeVa-/s400/b8.jpg" width="383" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
This last few weeks we went to two special films: Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. Have you watched any of them? I liked Godspell a lot better than Jesus C.S.S. Mary fell in love with Jesus in J.C.S.S In Godspell the disciples were dressed as clowns and Jesus had a huge blonde afro. He also had on a Super Tea-shirt on and overalls. Some things in it were just a riot.<br />
<br />
Well, I guess I'd better end now. With Great Love,<br />
<br />
Rachel Biel<br />
<br />
PS. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that I'll start school (Both B. and A.) on March 1st.<br />
PPSS Dad's planning to take us (Charlie and I) on a bike hike. We each get to choose a few friends to go along. We'll stay out about 3 or 4 days. My bones are aching to go (and so am I). <br />
<br />
Tchau<br />
<br />
See you, I mean.<br />
Write you later, alligators.Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-8815178775671702472011-01-01T18:17:00.000-08:002011-01-01T18:17:19.644-08:00Easter Letter, 1972<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjcZLgq1HyD5QdBNVmHx0LoWhMOXszl103SJs8vEKeUaa145R_ld-Xu5IuuHTCdPBck23Zhf6UlYHhH3eWQI1gnylahqO0-uJb_zNAyWs-WSBbxC49-jmZqY4ko4muZ0aahnWHwM9nfhf/s1600/01040021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjcZLgq1HyD5QdBNVmHx0LoWhMOXszl103SJs8vEKeUaa145R_ld-Xu5IuuHTCdPBck23Zhf6UlYHhH3eWQI1gnylahqO0-uJb_zNAyWs-WSBbxC49-jmZqY4ko4muZ0aahnWHwM9nfhf/s400/01040021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rural Preaching Point in Parana, Brazil, 1970's</b> </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">Maringa, Parana</div><div style="text-align: right;"> April 11, 1972</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Dear friends and brothers in Christ:</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost greetings to you all! I'd meant to get off a Christmas letter, but it just woudn't "jell". So this letter will have a little "hash" flavor to it, a mixture of different things.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">First, the gist of what was to be the Christmas letter:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Theme thought: "They grew him old too soon, and when they turned again to look on him they beheld... a babe still lying in a manger; God's mystery still intact."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">They look on him, these people with their "hip-pocket god".</div><div style="text-align: left;">They have all the answers, they know all the truth, and so </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">HURRY BABY, GROW.</div><div style="text-align: center;">There's a crisis on, you know.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">There's a nation to be built, a world to be saved. My house isn't paid for, and men are enslaved.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So they grab the baby and grow him up fast,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Flesh out his muscles with their Positive Thought,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Stand him on boxes so He towers over all.</div><div style="text-align: left;">And fill out his education with a transplant to His head: </div><div style="text-align: left;">The latest in tape-recorders with the best that's been said.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">NOW, DO YOUR THING, GOD--- we're waiting.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, wait.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wait til the Babe grows up in his own good time,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wait til He bends his finger-- and shatters our universe.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wait til He grows tall-- so tall we see Him from our knees.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wait til He speaks, and our words are stopped midcourse in wretched shame.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wait, -- and look again at a God no man can hurry, no man can shape.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">NOW, DO YOUR THING MAN--- God is waiting.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Worship.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> <b><br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b> News of the parish and of the church:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIh8684jy2VE5QnCClteh0Ck7X4sMKsnt1rmMBLRsKbJNSFScdknBekPgvQvt3iPsAdXS-8kyPrS5O6MjvQUYRLB0Th5m7fvbTMXfndtKuq0MGrvEZXy1M70jtc1kIcgQ0KYroydWB5UP/s1600/01040021_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIh8684jy2VE5QnCClteh0Ck7X4sMKsnt1rmMBLRsKbJNSFScdknBekPgvQvt3iPsAdXS-8kyPrS5O6MjvQUYRLB0Th5m7fvbTMXfndtKuq0MGrvEZXy1M70jtc1kIcgQ0KYroydWB5UP/s1600/01040021_face0.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">We had a rather intensive schedule during the Lenten season, but it was rewarding, too. It began witha youth retreat in Cianorte during the weekend of Carnaval that ends Ash Wednesday. Even though it rained cloudbursts every day, we had a blessed retreat. A total of 75 young people participated.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Special services were held every night in different points of the parish. Our theme may sound rather blatant to some ears, "Enemies that War Against our Soul (life with God)". The enemies considered were Insubordination, Sensuality, Avarice, Vices, Satan, False Religion. Did somebody groan?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Of the approximately 600 people who make up our parish, 225 communed on or about Good Friday. On or about, because we have eight meeting places in the parish, the most distant being a 3-hour drive away.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjkqYsZ3EbZs_BCSMKzc3ALjONk8u4KgrQedeWGJ_5EHQL5TqONsOhgjD9zE0dW_ekkuSSGm4hwfwjouUcdlMVZ4beR-MflO8aGPcoXbuwEl10RAgmNhtsWhgPFDFcbgFPJ61SFwpawYf/s1600/01040025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjkqYsZ3EbZs_BCSMKzc3ALjONk8u4KgrQedeWGJ_5EHQL5TqONsOhgjD9zE0dW_ekkuSSGm4hwfwjouUcdlMVZ4beR-MflO8aGPcoXbuwEl10RAgmNhtsWhgPFDFcbgFPJ61SFwpawYf/s400/01040025.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> A rural German Lutheran family in Parana, Brazil, 1970's</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I think where I felt the greatest joy was at a small rural community where the men had a long tradition of never communing. Not too long ago we had a long talk about that and they became obedient to the Word of Christ. However, we separated the communion from the worship service and have the communion just before the coffee and cake that always comes about the middle of the afternoon. (Church is at 12:00 in the home of a member). All who are confirmed gather around the table. We have the service and then pass first the plate and then the chalice form person to person at the appropriate moment.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8wazulpIgDyHNuC5XiTvyKxYwnlW35_6Eyhu5cKDfgnga3uBkW_d0zSJklFvKVmw7RuViZj-f_AaYHJZVxRuca58E3cdHZOP0CmmAWxyqgutiTKi0o_CfmxR4nBBud0GTSJufeDXG3lc/s1600/01040025_face1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8wazulpIgDyHNuC5XiTvyKxYwnlW35_6Eyhu5cKDfgnga3uBkW_d0zSJklFvKVmw7RuViZj-f_AaYHJZVxRuca58E3cdHZOP0CmmAWxyqgutiTKi0o_CfmxR4nBBud0GTSJufeDXG3lc/s1600/01040025_face1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">An old German lives there, sharp of mind, fingers gnarled and stiff like old iron hooks; he has been many things, including a communist. Twice he's given me essays he wrote, one on what's wrong with Einstein's concept of space and the other on what's wrong with Einstein's concept of time. Before, when we've had Communion, he's stayed home; this time he came. However, when we were ready to begin the Supper, he disappeared.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"Whup! Wait a minute! Where's Uncle August?" asks one of his nephews (who is already a grandfather).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"I think I saw him down under the orange trees."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"Well, we better get him, too."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Afterward, they are talking very freely during coffee about it (there are no whispered conversations in Keller.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"Yes," allows Uncle August, "it's the first time I've taken Communion." So, he hadn't finished confirmation in Germany. Then he chuckles and says about the Supper, "but, I guess it didn't do any harm." And, he seems somehow very satisfied with that summation.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Afterward, he slipped me one more essay he'd written: this time on the "soul" and the "spirit".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20vNdrg6NUuTg36kFaXrYfsyOiQtNEvesxixYfdvphyphenhyphen7vqfLe1pk64H-kXQLYBqyxGt26QUrFHtybwbvIorJSRzqaE0HVW4NA4nQwRHlJaYtYr2OeROQ2eMGgztMF_iOW9Vo2r7HqtfHR/s1600/01040025_face2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20vNdrg6NUuTg36kFaXrYfsyOiQtNEvesxixYfdvphyphenhyphen7vqfLe1pk64H-kXQLYBqyxGt26QUrFHtybwbvIorJSRzqaE0HVW4NA4nQwRHlJaYtYr2OeROQ2eMGgztMF_iOW9Vo2r7HqtfHR/s1600/01040025_face2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Next weekend there will be a District Conference of the Church at which time our district will be subdivided into North and South. The North, of which we are a part of, will have ten of the smallest and largest parishes of the church: smallest numerically, largest geographically. All receive some kind of subsidy from the church and are multiple point parishes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZBV1aInHGB8NoakFtAnBYeBQ8mMrKv1k1Kte1iGT4ccfNRTGT-Aa9FGxWDCGvuB4rOMLkm6g1LebU2ZhIY6ijvNj9SEhQc8qdYipg0m-u6cyieGtgTtRyW2nYnXSIMmAQp6FuBVMl16c/s1600/01040025_face3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZBV1aInHGB8NoakFtAnBYeBQ8mMrKv1k1Kte1iGT4ccfNRTGT-Aa9FGxWDCGvuB4rOMLkm6g1LebU2ZhIY6ijvNj9SEhQc8qdYipg0m-u6cyieGtgTtRyW2nYnXSIMmAQp6FuBVMl16c/s1600/01040025_face3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Significant and basic decisions will soon be made about the type of ministry which will be carried out here; whether it will be traditional, "worker-priest", self-serving, missionary or whatever. Pray for us.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Bible Institute in Londrinda now has 32 students doing the Bible Course while continuing with their secular studies. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">In Christ,</div><div style="text-align: left;">the Biels (Clifford)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Family is well.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-51627230959938475932010-12-31T23:39:00.000-08:002010-12-31T23:39:12.233-08:00Letter to Lisa, 1969Dear Lisa,<br />
<br />
Grandma Biel wrote that you are sick. I'm very sorry to hear that. I hope you and your family are better now. I'm on vacation now until the middle of February. In Brazilian school I passed to third grade. Do you have a school picture you can send me? We had a storm which took some tiles off of our roof. Many trees were blown over. Two people died because of the storm. I stayed for four days at friends homes while Mama and Daddy were traveling.<br />
<br />
Merry Christmas<br />
<br />
RachelRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-90738714641518974692010-12-31T23:31:00.000-08:002010-12-31T23:31:21.647-08:00Christmas Letter 1972Dear friends in Christ:<br />
<br />
Greetings once again at this Merrie Xmas time! We hope <u>You-Know-who</u> is running your lives and that as a result you are reveling in the ever more abundant riches of His kindness. And if he's NOT running your life, well then, we hope your world gets shaken to its sandy foundations to the point where you can take Psalm 119:65-72 for your very own.<br />
<br />
A Christmas Meditation: <b>"No Pill for Mary"</b><br />
<br />
She could have taken a pill--<br />
Well, not that kind exactly sold<br />
by Druggists everywhere (you know:<br />
the Miracle for Today- "Dance the Piper's free)--<br />
her "NO" would do as well,<br />
Though then she'd miss the pleasure.<br />
<br />
They hadn't learned yet,<br />
in the Oldene Dayes,<br />
The trick of it,<br />
How to Dance to God's Tune<br />
and not to pay the Piper.<br />
<br />
It must have been delightful talking<br />
To God with Him, for once, responding.<br />
Delightful, but for the pain<br />
in what He had to say.<br />
<br />
There must be a way to have the pleasure<br />
but not the pain.<br />
Mary didn't know it... (could we say,<br />
She didn't want it?)<br />
Her pleasure included the message's pain.<br />
<br />
For there would be pain:<br />
The pain in Joseph's heart: "An angel<br />
told me, Joseph dear,<br />
This child's from God."<br />
And then, his pain,<br />
"An angel? Oh, yes. Oh, God!"<br />
<br />
The People Pain, "You're gaining weight, Mary."<br />
"You'll be marrying soon, Mary?"<br />
"Such a shame you couldn't wait..." <br />
Talk, borne silently, for what could she say?<br />
"It's not Joseph's child..."?<br />
"This angel said to me..."?<br />
<br />
The mother's pain, for a child<br />
she bore but could never claim.<br />
"A sword shall pierce your heart."<br />
<br />
PAIN. She must have sensed the pain.<br />
And with the pain, her pleasure:<br />
<br />
"Here am I, I am the Lord's servant;<br />
As you have spoken, so be it."<br />
<br />
Can there be pleasure had<br />
in mere talk, even with God Himself?<br />
If nothing is said, the message doesn't matter?<br />
What joy is had by those who take a Pill,<br />
Then sit in t cozy sterility at God's feet<br />
As all his words point robustly beyond them<br />
to borning Life?<br />
<br />
What Light! What Sound! God's messenger arrived!<br />
God, give me pleasure! God, give me pain!<br />
Let my pleasure be the pain<br />
of the Word you have spoken<br />
coming to triumphant life.<br />
<br />
No pills, to save me from your action!<br />
<br />
Sweep up in the whirling winds<br />
of your might plans<br />
My Life.<br />
<br />
"Here am I, I am the Lord's servant;<br />
As you have spoken, so be it."<br />
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br />
<br />
Highlights of the work here:<br />
<br />
<b>The VIII General Convention of the IECLB:</b> I had the rare privilege of attending as the pastor-delegate from the Northern District of the State of Parana. What was especially inspiring was a new self-awareness generally evident, that the time is now for the IECLB (The Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confessions in Brazil) to be a living witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ to the Brazilian people. Motions were passed preparing the way for more aggressive financial and evangelistic planning. Also, a new "Document for Faith and Life" was adopted, beautifully written in Portuguese. It showed a slight ambiguity at one point, the Lord's Supper, leaving the door open for those in our church of a more Reformed orientation.<br />
<br />
<b>A RETREAT: WHERE ARE WE GOING?</b> Organized here in the North of Parana for the purpose of restructuring, if necessary, the work here. Two members of the Executive Committee of the IECLB were present, and about thirty laymen and pastors from the North of Parana. It was held here in Maringa. The women of the congregation did a marvelous job of organizing, everybody cooperated beautifully. The results: some parishes were restructured into team ministries. It was decided to work for a Visitation Pastor in the District whose task would be to make systematic visits with special program to all of the principal congregations each year, in our District. Special attention will be given to Stewardship and Evangelization. A questionnaire had been distributed by the District Council to all the members of our church in the North Parana District. Among other things, it showed average family size to be about 3 children, average admitted gross income to be about $2,000 dollars a year. A relatively sever language problem still exists, and the people are relatively conservative ecclesiastically. And, they want more Bible studies and the overwhelming majority thinks that there should be more Brazilians in our churches. It was decided that our district should think of itself as a "living shoot" and not a dead branch of the church. Where are we going? Where the Lord leads us!<br />
<br />
++++++++++++++++++++<br />
<br />
The biggest family news is that we are on the "22-2" plan, and will be home for furlough for two months in July and August. We plan on deplaning in Miami, buying a car and driving up through North Carolina (newton), Columbus, Ohio, and on through Iowa and up to Minnesota. Exact dates have not been fixed as yet.<br />
<br />
Brazil is now the world's no. 2 exporter of soybeans.<br />
<br />
I guess that's not really family news. We're all in relatively good health. Donna is letting her hair grow longer. Rachel is starting to exhibit some disturbingly ladylike symptoms at intervals. Charles is highly imaginative. I wish he would settle down and be as serious at least as Jerry Lewis. And, Helen is still very much the cuddly baby of the family, though she shows signs of outgrowing that. She's reading quite well.<br />
<br />
Merry Christamas, and a Happy New Year!<br />
<br />
Cordially,<br />
<br />
Cliff, Donna, Rachel, Charles and HelenRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-76650524529903010472010-12-31T22:34:00.000-08:002010-12-31T22:34:30.387-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, December, 1971Dear Marian, Frank, Lisa and Eric,<br />
<br />
I see that I won't get many letters written if I don't make copies.<br />
<br />
Joey seems to enjoy being back here. It was nice to come back to the same house and only unpack clothing. Within a couple of days, we were back to normal. The girl who worked for me called the day we arrived and was here to help me the next day. Helen was bashful about speaking Portuguese again, but within a week she had no trouble. <br />
<br />
Joey has taken on two more preaching points twice a month. One is about 45 minutes from here and the other is on half hour from there. Another pastor was serving them, but he has a bad case of hepatitis so they will probably become a permanent part of our parish. They are happy that Joey plays the violin as they haven't had anyone to accompany them.<br />
<br />
I was gone for five days to a regional retreat for women. Two from here went with me. It was a long 11 hour trip to the ocean front. We enjoyed the retreat but it ended with the sad news of a fatal car accident of the pastor and his wife, of the church where the retreat was held. The pastor had given a talk 36 hours before the accident. They hadn't taken their children along on the trip. They had been her for 12 years from Germany. Relatives from Germany were called to come and get the three small children.<br />
<br />
Two afternoons I have taken women to visit a shut-in. Since these women are in their 60's or 70's, they prefer German. Joey studied for on month, twice a week, to learn some German. The school year is over and he hopes to continue in March when classes start again.<br />
<br />
Joey teaches the women's choir soprano and alto parts by playing the violin. We will sing three hymns and one will sing a solo. The children's program is on the 19th. We have a confirmation service on January second where four will be confirmed.<br />
<br />
We had a Thanksgiving pot luck at our church- about 45 Americans counting the children,. At the dinner a missionary was telling of his recent trip with six children, wife and trailer driving for two months from Minnesota down to the Panama Canal then through the west side of South America coming up through Argentina and Uruguay into Brazil. This pastor used to be with our mission but works now with the the Lutheran Free church. They stayed with several missionaries in other countries and he said we should be thankful we have more religious freedom and friendly people.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOqV75tuaQgKI7oh6rJd7vzo4WVBtBMmORj1-EWec3qgsMShMJ-n5FV3BDIHJA3_nr92iinh0cv1aCLGn95tAKA38tj2YqH4pWHPmvWx7ZyhcgfPoXHXrUbzhruidTHEXHwHXZIPl7CbD/s1600/1971+green+acre+charles+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOqV75tuaQgKI7oh6rJd7vzo4WVBtBMmORj1-EWec3qgsMShMJ-n5FV3BDIHJA3_nr92iinh0cv1aCLGn95tAKA38tj2YqH4pWHPmvWx7ZyhcgfPoXHXrUbzhruidTHEXHwHXZIPl7CbD/s400/1971+green+acre+charles+2.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Charles Biel, 1971</b></div><br />
Rachel and Charles are doing well at the small mission school in Maringa. Charles is the only second grader. He hasn't been having school in the afternoon so he went to a private Brazilian school where he finished first grade- doing just the Portuguese. Next semester he will stay three afternoons a week at the American school and will have a Portuguese teacher go to his school. Rachel has one classmate in the 4th grade. The teacher says they are working harder this year. There was some talk of reducing the hours at the American school and doing Brazilian school, but the math system is different and would be confusing and they are assigned a lot of homework in the Brazilian school since they only go for three hours. A new couple will come in July for the American school so we hope that they will continue at that school. It looks like in August I will have to start teaching Helen first grade as the mission that runs this school only accepts first graders if there is one from their mission and they don't have any.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFN2uDp9ZTKMDFJ2xQoL8I6eZoQicUESPGXJ89kS8T9ubN26jKTnBKsy-tjm989NC0B3GkmkAG0P_o7x_PDZHaxTAiB4Dy9MHOnGuzK9vte9T2WH7AgsY2HTwojdZ3NqzTniLDPwRnsA7K/s1600/1971+Green+Acre+rachel%253B+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFN2uDp9ZTKMDFJ2xQoL8I6eZoQicUESPGXJ89kS8T9ubN26jKTnBKsy-tjm989NC0B3GkmkAG0P_o7x_PDZHaxTAiB4Dy9MHOnGuzK9vte9T2WH7AgsY2HTwojdZ3NqzTniLDPwRnsA7K/s400/1971+Green+Acre+rachel%253B+.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Rachel Biel, 1971</b></div><br />
<br />
I have taken Rachel to see ballet put on by students of this city. It was well done. This week we went to hear a piano recital of the students studying in their ninth year. One girl was from our church, who is the organist, and graduated from the course, in all, eleven years as there are two years of introduction. Rachel is continuing lessons after we got back and is in the introduction.<br />
<br />
Helen has been going to a nursery school every morning. She still wets up to four or five times a day, so I think she will have to have another dilation of the urinary canal. It will be six months in February since the last time, and the doctor said that it is usually done every six months until it is no longer necessary. I'm planning to have her taken to an urologist in January and think she can have it done in our city.<br />
<br />
I've been doing painting in our guest bedroom, Cliff and my bedroom and the dining room. A sixteen year old boy did a good job in the living room. I hoped that he could do more of the painting, but he helped while he had a cast on his left arm and when the cast came off, he went back to work on his regular job working as a bellboy at a hotel. He had helped paint the hotel for seven months. Some of those days that I painted were 100 degrees and when I put the paint on, it dried instantly. I certainly got tired of painting but am glad that it was done. <br />
<br />
I have joined the English club which meets once a month. It is mainly for Brazilian women to practice their English. There are about 10 American women in this city. One lady who speaks English that moved here in August is Dutch. She came here 25 years ago and stayed in a German speaking community for four years, then went to Canada for five years and then to the U.S. for 15 years. When they were here for the first time, their only child decided to stay here to marry. This Dutch couple came to retire and be by their only grandchildren, but can't enjoy them much as they don't speak Portuguese. They say there is no place like Santa Barbara, California, and may go back there. He went with Joey to a rural area one Saturday for church services and visited with the members in German.<br />
<br />
We have a kitten that drinks out of a doll's bottle. The mother cat was run over by a car. The kitten eats bread wet with milk. We still have our big cat, Blackie, and our dog, Velvet. Rachel bought gold fish with her money but didn't have a fish bowl for them, so they were in a regular bowl. One day when we were gone in the afternoon, we forgot to put the cat out so she had a delicious meal of fish. Charles wants a canary or a rabbit but I doubt that we will get them as it ends up being mother taking care of animals.<br />
<br />
Happy to hear your folks got down to see you, Marian. Hope you can do that more often.<br />
<br />
Helen misses Lisa and Polly- especially when her neighborhood friends went to school in the afternoon and she was home alone. I tried to read to her every day. Now they have vacation for 2.5 months so she is busy playing.<br />
<br />
Rachel made a list of the Yearling Books like "The Good Master" that her school bought. Now I can't find the list. We are going to borrow some "Jack and Jill" from one of the families to see if she likes it better than "Children's Digest" which she gets now.<br />
<br />
Hear you went as a family on one of Frank's trips- hope you had an enjoyable time. <br />
<br />
Who lost the most weight by Thanksgiving? Joey and I lost 10 lbs. the first month back. We didn't diet- guess it was getting back to a normal routine.<br />
<br />
A blessed Christmas!<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna and JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-73441059621512000632010-12-31T21:06:00.000-08:002010-12-31T21:06:51.818-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, January 20th, 1971Dear Marian and Frank,<br />
<br />
I can't get my pen to work, so will peck away. You will be happy to know that we got your books on Charles's birthday on the 15th. Everyone was delighted and Charles found his two cats in the lovely cat book. We saw the movie, "Doctor DoLittle" a long time ago. It is an interesting book. I started the book by Catherine Marshall and am enjoying it. We have read only one of the condensed Reader's Digest- about the Maya family. I have been busy reading books but also make Rachel read some to Helen. A special thank you from all of us.<br />
<br />
Mary wrote that Louie and Rosie have a boy born on my birthday. Happy to hear the news and must write to congratulate them.<br />
<br />
Thanks for the pictures. It is the first time that we have seen Erik. He has curly hair like Lisa had. Marian and Lisa look very nice in the pictures.<br />
<br />
You asked what we did on Christmas Day. We went to a home where four families that are related got together. It was a pot-luck dinner and very good. It turned out to be a hot day. We were pleased with the plays for the program that was held on Christmas Eve. At 10:30 a visitor arrived at our home and stayed overnight. She missed a bus to go to Cianorte. We didn't know her before and found her to be very pleasant. She was here this week on her way back to her home in Porto Alegre. <br />
<br />
Off and on, a lady who is 69 years old comes to our house, has slept here two nights and has had several meals. She isn't quite right in her mind and none of her relatives in our country church want her for when they have tried to help she got the police to believe that they took money of hers and then the relatives had to pay. she has been at an old folks' home in the capital of this state, but managed to get away. She didn't have but one dress so I gave her one of mine in order to wash her dress. The relatives know that she is staying at a home for transient people and that she comes here often but no one has done anything about it. The lady never married and has only nieces and nephews close by. Very sad but she talks a lot and I only understand half as he sometimes puts German in with her Portuguese. <br />
<br />
Mary wrote that they might get a humidifier instead of a drier. No one has said how much we should send or did someone pay for us?<br />
<br />
While we were in Londrina for our spiritual retreat we took the children to see the "Love Bug" about a car called Herbie. It was cute- showing how he could win races but when his owner didn't pay attention to him, he would have temper tantrums. "Ben, the Bear" is here this week. We saw it in the States almost four years ago and they don't remember it. <br />
<br />
I heard Minnesota got a lot of snow this month. We have had a lot of rain causing flood over the main highway to our capital, so barges have had to take people and small cars across. Today was one of our hottest days- about 100- right now the children are swimming in the rain, or rather, downpour.<br />
<br />
We have a seminary student coming for part of the time when we will be gone. Now Joey is busy with Vacation Bible School in two churches. Two girls from the Bible Institute are helping. Also, Joey has to go to Cianorte (1 hour drive) often as he is on commission for our mission public school. Next month is a five day Bible camp right before Lent starts. Starting next month I will visit women that seldom or never come to Women's Bible meetings which start again in March when summer vacation is over. Rachel and Charles have off from school until February 9th. I try to take them swimming several times a week. Rachel knows how to swim, Charles will dive from the shallow side and can swim a short distance and Helen likes the water, but won't put her head under.<br />
<br />
I have asked my Dad to get three second hand sleeping bags or air mattresses. We won't be staying at any mission home as those are for one year furloughs. They would give us money to rent a furnished apartment but we hope that won't be necessary as we hope to stay with our brothers, sisters, and parents. I think the only deputation will be visiting churches in Brooklyn and Columbus, Ohio on the way to Minnesota and then later we will go to Havre, Montana, perhaps by train as the latter pays for half of our support.<br />
<br />
We just heard that we will be having physicals at the Mayo Clinic when we are on furlough. Apparently, the clinic was happy to have the opportunity to study those that live in tropical or semi-tropical climates. There are many types of worms here that they have never heard of in Minnesota. Charles just had a blood test, an X-ray and gets hysterical whenever anything is done. He had a sore muscle in his leg and the doctor ordered tests, but everything was normal. I don't know how it started, but he is the worst when it comes to shots. Three people have to hold him down.<br />
<br />
Joey is teaching Charles how to play chess. The cards you sent we played once showing how they had to follow suit and the highest card takes the trick. But, we didn't explain about hearts yet. While in Londrina we got a memory game consisting of pairs. Most are animals, fruits, and different designs. Usually, we play with about 40 pairs at once- all are turned over and mixed up. So far, Charles has been the winner. I remember in what area one was turned up that I want, but I don't do well. Even Helen does as well as I do much of the time and she doesn't even pay attention to the cards that are turned up. They are calling me to play a game now.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna and Joey<br />
<br />
Sorry but this typewriter jumps and we haven't been able to get it fixed.Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-76234237276937132852010-12-31T20:13:00.000-08:002010-12-31T20:13:48.794-08:00Letter to Grandpa and Grandma Biel, February 14th, 1977<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kuW58vILLqIl-AVPAfOVvC8FD1Lq511Fa8nA335FN_9aKzGxmH7tP83DxioCiZ0F7MQVgr4ism78QyMHZkqmsKLt6LApWzo2D9sCzwRcKxPlcmqZiLCSycU9-bYK0J03OI5rRlC1mYh6/s1600/1980+our+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kuW58vILLqIl-AVPAfOVvC8FD1Lq511Fa8nA335FN_9aKzGxmH7tP83DxioCiZ0F7MQVgr4ism78QyMHZkqmsKLt6LApWzo2D9sCzwRcKxPlcmqZiLCSycU9-bYK0J03OI5rRlC1mYh6/s400/1980+our+house.jpg" width="297" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Our house in Maringa, late 1970's.</b></div><br />
Dear Mary and Harvey,<br />
<br />
The candy and books arrived a few days ago! We didn't pay anything on the books and just $2.50 for the candy. Thanks for your part in the gift. Marian wrote that she sent another package later that has 30 pillow designs that I had asked for. I don't know if Cynthia or Marian paid for them and I asked them to get a check from Harvey from our bank account to pay for them. I cleaned off a shelf to put these books on and stamped our name in them as we lend them out and borrow from others during the year.<br />
<br />
I just got your birthday card as even though it had the correct address, it was put in the post box of another pastor who was traveling until last week. Thus, I just wrote a thank you letter to Mrs. Gordon Nagel. <br />
<br />
We are thankful that you weren't hurt worse than you were when you fell, Mary. We've been fine except for diarrhea due to heat, I suppose. For several days it's been 88 degrees in the house.<br />
<br />
Our house was broken in to for the first time in nine years that we have been here. We went out of the city at 3:30 P.M. to a wedding. We were going to be back by 7:30 to turn yard lights on as Joey had a preaching point to go to, but it rained a lot so we didn't get back until 9:30 since with heavy rain he couldn't go to the other place. An empty barrel was used to step on top of our bathroom roof which slants up to the second floor to the guest room. The rooms upstairs weren't locked but the window was shut. The metal bar for locking the windows had been missing for years. They tried to break into Helen's bedroom which is the easiest window to get in. they took the radio from the kitchen but left it upstairs by the window they entered and took the new tape recorder of Charles and Rachel's, five tapes of Charles, new slacks of Rachel's, Rachel's blue jeans, and her necklace from Stan and LaVonne saying "I am a Lutheran" on the back. We figured it must have been someone alone or else he would have taken more things. We knew some windows in our house were easy to get into and now we are going to ask to have them changed. We were upset, but thankful that more things weren't gone. We hope the police will get the tape recorder back as it is being sold in the city for it has a radio, monitor, and would be easy to identify. The only clothes gone through were Rachel's. I bought her new blue jeans as Bible camp starts on Friday. I plan to give Charles money for some tapes as it was his birthday and Christmas presents that he lost. This is the 4th tape recorder in nine years stolen from us. The first was on the airplane just before we moved to Maringa. It was replaced by the Airlines after six months. Joey bought another one since we didn't know if it would be replaced. That was stolen from our car three years ago, and a year ago, Joey lent one to an English couple and it was stolen from their house. They didn't replace it as they hadn't asked to borrow it but we asked if they didn't want to use it. We still have Joey's tape recorder which I had locked up, plus check blanks, calculator, money, and camera when we were gone on the bicycle hike. On those nights, my maid and her brother slept here.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2t4rp7_8Ox1QedAMRJugizVsTN0yxnc9iGAYNr_Oz147J7p5oO3Quiqq5ca20tn_i5225Sb4eaH7dqIATKsfDC6MtBvUykpmgVAVjBeVtLjqqH8JwXUBxaMvIhiQGQmm5b-9oC4eTO-Q/s1600/1979+bike+trip+fazenda+kelina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2t4rp7_8Ox1QedAMRJugizVsTN0yxnc9iGAYNr_Oz147J7p5oO3Quiqq5ca20tn_i5225Sb4eaH7dqIATKsfDC6MtBvUykpmgVAVjBeVtLjqqH8JwXUBxaMvIhiQGQmm5b-9oC4eTO-Q/s400/1979+bike+trip+fazenda+kelina.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Bike trip to Fazenda Kelina, 1979</b></div><br />
Ten children, ages 13-16, bicycled the 18 miles with Joey. Helen and I took bedding, clothes and food by car. Most of the children that went with us weren't active in the youth group, but some are going to Bible camp and we hope they will become more active in church. Three from one family haven't been to church in 10 years although Joey has visited them many times. While on the bike hike, we spent a lot of time in the swimming pool at the doctor's farm, Fazenda Kelina. Helen and I didn't go in as much as we didn't want to get sunburned as Charles, Rachel and Joey, who peeled afterward. The flies were so bad one night that we could hardly sleep, so we sprayed the house twice the next day. One family of church members that live about 4 miles away, gave us a sack of corn on the cob for our meals.<br />
<br />
This last week we were gone for two days and one night to Ponta Grossa, a five hour drive to see the family that recently moved there after language school. Pastor Charles Eidum is the one that saved Rachel at the beach. They have children the age of our own children so they enjoyed the visit. They are having a difficult time with the language. It is amazing to see how little they can communicate after one year of study, but then we remember how we were in that situation. We hope they will come and see us in July when there is a month break in school.<br />
<br />
Helen and Charles enjoyed the children's Bible Camp. Helen said that she would have liked to stay longer. I took 16 children by train. Seven were from our city and the rest from a neighboring parish, for the train service starts in our city and other cities further in the interior don't have it. I stayed overnight and took a bus back the next day. This Friday for Bible Camp for ages 14 and up they will go by train for four and a half days. The train costs 2.5 times less than the bus.<br />
<br />
I bought paint remover and took off paint around the floor back in the living room and dining room plus a door. The paint was peaking through and showing two different colors. I wore rubber gloves but it was the hardest and messiest work I've ever done. Painting is a picnic compared to paint removal. <br />
<br />
We had seen pictures on T.V, plus from "Time" magazine and have read about the terrific cold weather. As one friend wrote to us this winter is only for polar bears. While you are suffering from the cold we have had one of the worst floods of all times. It is about three to four hours distance from us. It will affect beef prices because about a sixth to a fourth total of the beef cattle drowned or starved to death.<br />
<br />
I'm sending a letter t the International Institute as we haven't heard anything about the books we sent back for Rachel's 8th grade. We figured that they should have gotten them in September. If there is a refund, we asked them to send it to you to be deposited in our account.<br />
<br />
It is nice that you can have a T.V. in two places. I wish we had gotten a portable one for we have meetings in our living room and then have to push the T.V. into our bedroom for the children to watch it. It always scratches the floor.<br />
<br />
Before I got this mailed we got your letter wit the Valentine's Card. It came right on the date.<br />
<br />
All of those snowmobiles in the family... Sounds like the winter has plenty of snow for them. Hope they are careful.<br />
<br />
Thanks for the stamps you sent in Rachel's birthday card. While in Ponta Grossa Rachel and Charles Eidam traded 224 stamps and she put some US stamps and Brazilian ones that she didn't have. She spends all of her money on stamps.<br />
<br />
I found another use for ace bandages- for elastic bands on Joey's underwear! He had five underwear that were good except for the elastic. I got three fixed with one ace bandage. I tried to buy an ace bandage here, but they don't make ones that stretch. One of my American friends in this city thinks she has an ace bandage that she can give me as she is soon going back to the States. If she can't find it, I'll let you know. Send one cut up in three pieces- one piece at a time for I used slightly less than a third for each underwear.<br />
<br />
You mentioned a special type of orange. We have it here for about three months. It is delicious. It is a cross between an orange and a tangerine. They are so easy to peel.<br />
<br />
All for now,<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna and Joey<br />
<br />
PS Joey just wrote to Cynthia and Nels- mainly because of the accident of Cynthia's. Hope she has completely recovered now.Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-82481801909843536202010-12-31T18:36:00.000-08:002010-12-31T18:36:06.486-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, December, 1969<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHda2RXT6aNzEasRNqO-IPgUKvPXcMc9I-Tr9LuK_Wq5vAoMjCxdWoms1PcsgQpd142Cr-Uq36M-05k05Oia4lrQ6xf0OebGY8iN_3NQPWc0OS7cTK6eMu4lyBA8LcaMByMwV9WobF8sPL/s1600/sc001a6667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHda2RXT6aNzEasRNqO-IPgUKvPXcMc9I-Tr9LuK_Wq5vAoMjCxdWoms1PcsgQpd142Cr-Uq36M-05k05Oia4lrQ6xf0OebGY8iN_3NQPWc0OS7cTK6eMu4lyBA8LcaMByMwV9WobF8sPL/s400/sc001a6667.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Rachel and Charles Biel</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Iguazu Falls, Brazil, 1969</b></div><br />
<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i><br />
<br />
Dear Marian and Frank,<br />
<br />
I had this letter written before Thanksgiving but never got any further. We are busy with Christmas poems for Sunday School, two plays which include youth and adults. This time of the year it is difficult to start practice early as the school year ends in December and many are taking final exams, but for those who did well all year, they don't have to take final exams or at least, not in the subjects where they did well.<br />
<br />
This year we had Thanksgiving at our church with 90 people present. Almost all who came have children that go to the mission school here. Last year it was held at the mission school with 60 and it was crowded. The school children gave an enjoyable program. Of those present, one other couple are Lutheran, some Baptist and most are from the United Missionary Society.<br />
<br />
The first week in December we were gone for four days to the beach where we had two days of business meetings with our mission representative from our Board. Rachel and Charles stayed with members of our church. We were not to take our children along, but took Helen and there was one little girl for her to play with. We enjoyed seeing the other missionaries but had to travel one day to get there and another to get back. On the way back, Helen had a fever and was vomiting. <br />
<br />
Helen will have her tonsils out on the 30th of this month. We have a doctor who is a specialist in child anesthesia. She will be at a Catholic hospital run by Germans. Helen recently got over a light case of the chicken pox. Last month she had the mumps. Charles recently had German measles with a high fever for one day. When he had the mumps, he was in bed for almost three weeks due to re-swelling and fever. Rachel has been very healthy and hasn't missed a day of school.<br />
<br />
The children continue to be much larger than those of their age. In the small mission school, Rachel has to sit with the 4th graders who are her size and her classmates, the 2nd graders, sit in smaller desks in front of her. Grades 2-5 are taught by one teacher in a large room. There are fifteen- five of these are second graders. Rachel's teacher says that she is reading very well. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NNRGeg9d8d5Qsgx1kDwaf-qEIs7fN3ICX2iZ9GjtR0Uicg40RGklRdefim5trs5iS7bZGSQsF22-QUTluJC5YaT16QpOet6Ei2I2jcfxCQcKyVi_AYXdn-v79HSpiFS1SfbKaoQSR2WJ/s1600/sc001a6667_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NNRGeg9d8d5Qsgx1kDwaf-qEIs7fN3ICX2iZ9GjtR0Uicg40RGklRdefim5trs5iS7bZGSQsF22-QUTluJC5YaT16QpOet6Ei2I2jcfxCQcKyVi_AYXdn-v79HSpiFS1SfbKaoQSR2WJ/s1600/sc001a6667_face0.jpg" /></a></div>A few days before Christmas Charles graduates from the nursery-kindergarten school. Hopefully in August he will start first grade at the mission school.<br />
<br />
In January we will go to a family camp called "word of Life" which all but two of the mission families from our church will attend. Some of the families I hadn't seen for three years as we went on furlough, then they did when we got back and we live too far away to make a visit unless we take a vacation.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-awddNRil8UDnFve02QxygHmW5wvi_1RRMszQi-Bj1DdKgVdz7I10Pd0mkSKN73YNCIUnEuzKcPsFnnwTkQW3XYGkeDgE-ZSUSCN2Fn1lALeP6I9X6fQ63JuYwrR_WLEjJ3F5pu6kJQMc/s1600/sc00147c8a_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-awddNRil8UDnFve02QxygHmW5wvi_1RRMszQi-Bj1DdKgVdz7I10Pd0mkSKN73YNCIUnEuzKcPsFnnwTkQW3XYGkeDgE-ZSUSCN2Fn1lALeP6I9X6fQ63JuYwrR_WLEjJ3F5pu6kJQMc/s1600/sc00147c8a_face0.jpg" /></a></div>Cliff continues to travel often. Recently, a week at the Bible Institute in Cianorte, three days to a pastor's meeting in another state. This last month was one of confirmation of nine in the country church, 11 in the city church and almost the same number in a neighboring city plus a class to be done this month at a chapel where he goes twice a month. For five weeks we had a girl from our country church doing confirmation as family is moving soon. When Cliff was traveling, I had three lessons a day with her. It seemed like there wasn't much time left after preparing for women's Bible studies, taking and getting the children from school, going to sewing class for two hours every day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORL41KxcwR8qHwaciAA6QVm7y5you2C-gAe0jsoxhAGIriD4AuEJvDiEWISgZn4dyyh-QGyDJ-hkozUEmXu-49W4H4BhhbTMx-N9AIFtOGKS5_hOgOvKGoa_ckw6mYCaBxji5ZHiXAB-8/s1600/sc00121972_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORL41KxcwR8qHwaciAA6QVm7y5you2C-gAe0jsoxhAGIriD4AuEJvDiEWISgZn4dyyh-QGyDJ-hkozUEmXu-49W4H4BhhbTMx-N9AIFtOGKS5_hOgOvKGoa_ckw6mYCaBxji5ZHiXAB-8/s1600/sc00121972_face0.jpg" /></a></div>At the end of September, I went to a four day retreat for women held in Londrina, a two hour drive from here. Two women from the country church and three from here went. It was the first retreat held in this area- we had 65 women. It went well except for problems of language as some older women understood only German and others understood only Portuguese. We feel that German was used too much and hope they will gradually will use it less as the youth prefer Portuguese and soon these will be a part of our women's group. In the morning our Bible studies were divided into groups of Portuguese and German and the rest of the program was given in either language.<br />
<br />
In the end of October, we had our yearly festival in the church with dinner of barbecued steak and potato salad, cakes sold in the afternoon plus a bazaar of clothes. This year everything was sold. Now with this money plus money that the members have pledged we plan to finish the church tower and put in bells. I helped with the bazaar held for Charles's school. They are working on the construction of the Japanese Methodist church where services are held in the same building.<br />
<br />
We have applied for a three month furlough from June to August in 1971. Then we plan to come back to Maringa. Time seems to be going very fast and before we know it, we will be visiting with you. Soon two of our neighboring missionaries will be gone on furlough and the only American of our mission nearby will be Gaylord Grant in Londrina. We have become good friends with the German missionaries in Campo Mourao, an hour drive from here. The only other American missionary in this state where we have our church is a nine hour drive from here and the rest are 12-30 hours drive in other states. This state was where our mission work started but now that we are a part of the Lutheran Church of Brazil and many of our mission churches don't exist or only remain only as preaching points, we can go to wherever we receive a call.<br />
<br />
Cliff has become a good photographer. He takes photos for weddings and confirmations and makes the copies that they want, thus he didn't have time to get our pictures done yet from the vacation in July. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgMDChd4PRxlcYI-zQZ-91kIV2ts_bqQ_h8hNhX_X25DQcnuHCsNLUe3h4RXHtwRlwCMtzGFjxAxDOygrLbEaBWR-JrFO_2XBzosDa5OEiGV4xQglHZ6mbl7IC0LYtsOpCbUTVTGkrv7u/s1600/1960%2527s+wedding+querencia+do+norte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgMDChd4PRxlcYI-zQZ-91kIV2ts_bqQ_h8hNhX_X25DQcnuHCsNLUe3h4RXHtwRlwCMtzGFjxAxDOygrLbEaBWR-JrFO_2XBzosDa5OEiGV4xQglHZ6mbl7IC0LYtsOpCbUTVTGkrv7u/s640/1960%2527s+wedding+querencia+do+norte.jpg" width="392" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Wedding at Querencia do Norte</b></div><br />
<br />
We went to see the waterfalls of Iguacu which are higher and greater in volume than the Niagara Falls. They are in our state, a seven hour drive, mostly on dirt roads.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9rqJqiCUkCRsK0_QwPJrTZKzqxL0DY2JyTCVhHVM74SDY45zRGkAd2c35f5_PVULT83Qr6c6vDxLKvSVyGnNrXXUldoaQuvd0YPH8xXyfbRiuGM4chwZ81VS87KknUcnHyW62S5HIXy3/s1600/foz+do+iguacu+1969+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9rqJqiCUkCRsK0_QwPJrTZKzqxL0DY2JyTCVhHVM74SDY45zRGkAd2c35f5_PVULT83Qr6c6vDxLKvSVyGnNrXXUldoaQuvd0YPH8xXyfbRiuGM4chwZ81VS87KknUcnHyW62S5HIXy3/s400/foz+do+iguacu+1969+family.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgliGlU6_yUMxO2Nl-VAKV7UZV3Yf7hwnf4Os1vZDdeGq3Ck5xA5iESdxN3kcjjF6_DGz6Jm_vX5YzXZupl0fKV3u_M5d8jbqWZBQUCvx_rt7WUD8JuebxHahpErUjN9aDoHvO4rKepSU/s1600/sc00121972.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgliGlU6_yUMxO2Nl-VAKV7UZV3Yf7hwnf4Os1vZDdeGq3Ck5xA5iESdxN3kcjjF6_DGz6Jm_vX5YzXZupl0fKV3u_M5d8jbqWZBQUCvx_rt7WUD8JuebxHahpErUjN9aDoHvO4rKepSU/s400/sc00121972.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Sete Quedas with Kathy Fedde</b></div><br />
<br />
By the time you get this, Christmas will be over. We hope you will have had a joyous one.<br />
<br />
We haven't gotten your new address. How do you like your new home? I suppose that by now, Erik is a busy little toddler, getting into things. Does he walk yet? Here there is never a dull moment. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtvjf44vtLY0usThy6cJZDGDYXO046NFsWr4TM94U5eJY4Q3-CrjeWQDBVvINWZVYhpe9QrlP_FqIkxge08I7ATgbCM_-wen57ESfAS-M-gf8rV50hVjOrN7qC-cHkJBOZvNguB4l3Lon3/s1600/sc001a6667_face1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtvjf44vtLY0usThy6cJZDGDYXO046NFsWr4TM94U5eJY4Q3-CrjeWQDBVvINWZVYhpe9QrlP_FqIkxge08I7ATgbCM_-wen57ESfAS-M-gf8rV50hVjOrN7qC-cHkJBOZvNguB4l3Lon3/s1600/sc001a6667_face1.jpg" /></a></div>If things don't go right, Rachel says that I don't love her. She's very emotional. At times she tries my patience.<br />
<br />
It seems like a long time since we have heard from you, but I realize you could say the same to us. Hope you are fine and will write soon.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna and JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-28226318331516060382010-12-31T09:36:00.000-08:002010-12-31T09:36:23.570-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, June 1, 1969<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghoAqp6vMXUgkHRn3XX8giJ6Ii9qTAEws6PZ6vBFiTavBCwMydb3FykASrNC30DhbfJQYtSbrdvRQ5dY9CAAbHFY4qFEUUICY0Whr-Unxe6LjcrdyG9Hx5_uO4Tm814oZ9hysdtF_LFqCl/s1600/londrina+scool+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghoAqp6vMXUgkHRn3XX8giJ6Ii9qTAEws6PZ6vBFiTavBCwMydb3FykASrNC30DhbfJQYtSbrdvRQ5dY9CAAbHFY4qFEUUICY0Whr-Unxe6LjcrdyG9Hx5_uO4Tm814oZ9hysdtF_LFqCl/s400/londrina+scool+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Leadership classes in Londrina, Parana, Brazil, 1960's.</b><i><br />
</i></div><br />
<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i><br />
<br />
Dear Marian and Frank,<br />
<br />
we have had some cold weather. We had a few days down to 5 centrigrade in the house, then it got quite warm with 5 days of rain in a week. I appreciate the clothes dryer that I have. I don't know of any Brazilians that own clothes dryers but most of my neighbors could afford them if they wanted them.<br />
<br />
Rachel has finished the first grade Calvert school with me. She has learned to write very well at the Brazilian school which she goes to every morning for five days and will go until the end of June. In August she starts second grade at the small mission school here of the United Missionary Church. It is a five minute drive from here. A Baptist missionary family who lives near us will take turns with us to take their boy and Rachel to the school. There are a about 30 students- the high school is a correspondence course. Charles goes in the morning to the school he and Rachel went to last year. It is a school directed by a Japanese missionary of the Methodist church. He is busy practicing writing numbers up to 10 and playing with the boy next door. Next March, he will start first grade in a Brazilian school and if the Mission school here doesn't have first grade, I will teach him (as of now that mission doesn't have any children his age so they won't have first grade unless a new family comes with someone in his grade.)<br />
<br />
Helen has three friends that she plays with, then they go to nursery school in the afternoon. Of course, she thinks she can go to school, too. She seldom takes a nap for then we can't get her to sleep until 10 p.pm. She insists on dressing herself and screams if I help her but yet, though she tries to be grown-up, she still isn't completely toilet trained. We have many cars that zoom by our house. It seems like I spend a lot of time watching the children and yet Charles ran across without looking and a car barely missed him.<br />
<br />
Cliff is busy planning for activities in July when there is a month off in the school year. For the first 11 days, he will be in Londrina, two hours from here for Bible camp and for a course for teachers in Sunday School. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvMrwDRQFLQ5dFAqv7JcehQBEWNdOY6P_ucoQQf3-4wU6m7P-g8sAJpT2yFXBxwg45lBHU6etfeCAjolYElpV2ycPrHM-FDABbT5gdrZbXxanYUgJHBY8Tcq4o2Coeg3rCy4tBitSx0Qn/s1600/1960%2527s+leadership+cshool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvMrwDRQFLQ5dFAqv7JcehQBEWNdOY6P_ucoQQf3-4wU6m7P-g8sAJpT2yFXBxwg45lBHU6etfeCAjolYElpV2ycPrHM-FDABbT5gdrZbXxanYUgJHBY8Tcq4o2Coeg3rCy4tBitSx0Qn/s400/1960%2527s+leadership+cshool.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Mauro and Edilma at Leadership school in Londrina</b></div><br />
<br />
Cliff is the representative for youth work in the Northern part of this state. He went to a meeting in another state to plan various types of Bible camps. One is on music, another on Evangelism and another on the Church's social responsibility. Some camps are too far away for our youth. After that meeting four pastors from around here and the director of the hostel in Londrina were at our house for dinner and an afternoon meeting for planning the Bible camps. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQvHZmiAi_biZCoXCMOpv-Y4mzhLyVHpq3EHEY5Rd0CNI3NURU6w85mYiZbOpy66pzREZmnjP3ps3wCz9bhy1-t3skyNCHEqL7YrHihMKvbYrEE_glgdaKD4Yr90UaP2VtU8gjW9w3s-5/s1600/1960%2527s+londrina+leadership+school+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQvHZmiAi_biZCoXCMOpv-Y4mzhLyVHpq3EHEY5Rd0CNI3NURU6w85mYiZbOpy66pzREZmnjP3ps3wCz9bhy1-t3skyNCHEqL7YrHihMKvbYrEE_glgdaKD4Yr90UaP2VtU8gjW9w3s-5/s400/1960%2527s+londrina+leadership+school+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Square Dancing at the Leadership School</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Londrina, Parana, Brazil</b> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
Last week Cliff was gone for three days to a meeting in the Southern part of the state. It was a nine hour drive one way. Each church was to take two representatives. One of our representatives was waiting in a nearby town for Cliff. While he was crossing a street he was hit by a car. Cliff spent the afternoon with him in the hospital. He was taken to the hospital unconscious, but fortunately, the head wounds were not critical and he is recovering with a couple of broken bones.<br />
<br />
This Thursday we will have women from neighboring cities and I'm sure there will be a good turnout of our group to hear the wife of the pastor who lived for 27 years in a nearby city of Rolandia and formed most of the churches in this area. Unfortunately, I won't be able to understand it for even though the pastor's wife has been in Brazil for 30 years, she speaks only German. This weekend Cliff has exchanged parishes with a German pastor. They do it once every two months in order have German services in our parish. The pastor and his wife frequently stop here when traveling. Their oldest daughter, almost six, came along this time to play with Rachel.<br />
<br />
For one month, Manuel from our church in Londrina, lived with us. He is a 25 year old man who was waiting for a work permit in Germany. He is not of German background. He has spent one year in the State's on scholarship. While here, he helped his sister teach English at the Fisk school. We enjoyed having him with us. His mother is helping care for the missionary children at the the hostel in Campinas.<br />
<br />
A few days ago, Cliff was 33 years old. We bought him a shirt a month ago. He acted as if the present were a surprise but later said that Helen had showed him where I had hid it the day it was bought. In spite of getting older and Cliff is much grayer now, we are continuing to be blessed with good health.<br />
<br />
When do we get some pictures of your children? These pictures we are sending we made four for each brother and sister, Aunt Martha, two sponsoring churches, for our parents and scrapbooks of ours- it came to over 100 pictures. It certainly comes out much cheaper doing it ourselves and we can blow up the best part of the picture.<br />
<br />
Today it was 42 degrees at 7 a.m. and 50 degrees in the house. We heated the kitchen and Joey heats his office. A cold spell usually lasts three to four days. This kitchen has a door on it, leading to a hallway which goes to other rooms. Our other house in Loanda didn't have a door going to the hallway, so we used a bedspread to keep heat in the kitchen.<br />
<br />
While making this letter and developing pictures, we caught six mice in the oven- all small. As soon as we got one, we threw it out and used the same bait. Since then, I caught two more and had gotten three big ones on a previous day- total of eleven. They seem to like the oven in the cold weather- the nest must be underneath the grill but we can't find anything.<br />
<br />
All for now,<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna and JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-22950582252187629272010-12-31T00:39:00.000-08:002010-12-31T00:42:59.577-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, February 5, 1969<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL27sMXWfUKW1jINTOnCXfS_qEWJrKeMUY65a468mskiq1eDPyHFgQ6k1wr4e3kOxePnuMvog9GjfZ34Qbrg3DxKEbuHtEZucvGtaeFUi_gUGBoyb6K3edAd3irihoK7y7FRFljFk66-_/s1600/sc00198f24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL27sMXWfUKW1jINTOnCXfS_qEWJrKeMUY65a468mskiq1eDPyHFgQ6k1wr4e3kOxePnuMvog9GjfZ34Qbrg3DxKEbuHtEZucvGtaeFUi_gUGBoyb6K3edAd3irihoK7y7FRFljFk66-_/s400/sc00198f24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here.</i> <i>They were not entered in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Marian and Frank,<br />
<br />
We have read in the TIME magazine that the peak of the Hong Kong flu was in January. We hope that those of you who had it have recovered. There have been a few cases here but since it is summer, it has been no more than a cold. So the newspaper says.<br />
<br />
We had a nice rest at Bible Camp for our missionaries. Bible students who are on vacation and work there during the summer take care of the children in the morning while we had Bible studies or listened to lectures. In the afternoon there was swimming. There were volley and basketball courts. Cliff and men played against youth at a youth Bible Camp 15 miles from our camp. The food was excellent but we had to wait up to 45 minutes to be served after we sat down and it was late by then- 1:30 for lunch and 7:30 for supper. A couple of times Helen fell asleep before the food came. There wasn't room for all of the families on the main grounds so four families had to be 1 and a half mile away. We were the only ones with very small children and it was inconvenient as we only returned there just before supper. One day, Rachel was sick with a fever and the next day she had diarrhea. The camp is located in the mountains by Sao Paulo and was cool in the evening and excellent for sleeping.<br />
<br />
On our way home we had car trouble and spent a total of 7 hours at a gas station in the country while Cliff went to a city to get different radiator. It had a clean bathroom and eating place. We got home at two in the morning. We had a 20 year old youth with us that was going from the Missouri Lutheran school in Sao Paulo to near our city. We met this youth when we went to visit missionaries of the Missouri church that are studying Portuguese in Sao Paulo. One family is from Brownton, Minnesota and have met my sister, Olive, who lives there. They spent part of one day with us at Bible Camp. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLatt0-3W9RfrjKBEizSBjFHvVVQ0edyKvJTstEY3iKhM0yxibUWyTXGLQ39JyTy4hDSg1GePq-VJCQNY1oTXClD2p21AI4YLlr0_olPxBT-cu8KQgMWv9e0VVf1naQbFEczBKVxw2wTo/s1600/sc00198f24_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLatt0-3W9RfrjKBEizSBjFHvVVQ0edyKvJTstEY3iKhM0yxibUWyTXGLQ39JyTy4hDSg1GePq-VJCQNY1oTXClD2p21AI4YLlr0_olPxBT-cu8KQgMWv9e0VVf1naQbFEczBKVxw2wTo/s200/sc00198f24_face0.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The church in New York where Cliff interned wrote and asked him to find a work of art to be presented at the end of April for churches in the Eastern States that have been promoting missions and that have mission interest. It was hard to find something but Cliff got a primitive art of Jesus and disciples around a triangular table with flowers in the middle. Above them is a curtain with gaudy ribbons to pull the curtain back. The colors are vivid and the painting is simple but we found several things that are meaningful such as a table shape that could signify the Trinity, flowers for the ressurection, and the curtain could represent the sin which separates us from God and the red curtain could signify Jesus's blood which took away our sin, etc. They wanted to spend $50-$80, but it cost $130. Now we are going to wrap it for air mail and hope we can send it or else find an American going there soon.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9QjY899SDimiH-zdW_1S3gqwsNLcrLG94s1FMReC94zCJZKZU-yS98HY4-M6D4-AWY6oF9jjzAy8Wg-WPBTHbAKfHpR4AvGdtEBA9TGBZPiKtYmklAfQqxWP2elwsCP8fcLyUGHofzOO/s1600/sc00198f24_face1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9QjY899SDimiH-zdW_1S3gqwsNLcrLG94s1FMReC94zCJZKZU-yS98HY4-M6D4-AWY6oF9jjzAy8Wg-WPBTHbAKfHpR4AvGdtEBA9TGBZPiKtYmklAfQqxWP2elwsCP8fcLyUGHofzOO/s200/sc00198f24_face1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>While at Bible camp, we had a birthday party for 4 children that had birthdays that week. I went to the nearest city and bought things to go with the cake that was made at the camp. One girl was 2, another 5, Charles 5 and Rachel 7 and besides them, two adults and one teenager had birthdays. <br />
<br />
Since we got back two weeks ago, we have had someone for dinner almost every day. The first few days other missionaries came through on their way to their homes, then a Brazilian boy from our former parish came here for three days and traveled two days with Cliff when he had services, and other Brazilians, mostly youth, have come on the other days. We had Vacation Bible School here last week with about 26 children. Next week it is in our country church. This week Cliff is gone to another state for meetings on Evangelism. He is near a beach and we could have gone along but I didn't think it would be much fun if the children couldn't be with cliff, as he has meetings all day and in the evening. In two weeks he will be gone for 5 days for Bible camp in Londrina which is the time that many Brazilians celebrate Carnival before Lent starts.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMyI8lQv-X9kvtUP3PQ8l55Xbx_aTvpjmNYuqGXpmQNrg2AR-ANrRfRXFQNpK-WiPKC_1nyyTqqYnH0oiFEbFxgozK1vwEG4lw0U-9660VAqkKIFHyJxfuP3xKK9hpzT9MhheXNDwWJZP/s1600/sc00198f24_face2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMyI8lQv-X9kvtUP3PQ8l55Xbx_aTvpjmNYuqGXpmQNrg2AR-ANrRfRXFQNpK-WiPKC_1nyyTqqYnH0oiFEbFxgozK1vwEG4lw0U-9660VAqkKIFHyJxfuP3xKK9hpzT9MhheXNDwWJZP/s200/sc00198f24_face2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The last two weeks we have been going to a dentist who is our neighbor. Cliff had most work done- one tooth had an abscess and had been hurting but most dentists were on vacation. Rachel and Charles had their teeth coated with fluoride. I had some work done and Charles had two large and two small cavities. In the States, Charles was given medicine to make him sleepy so here he almost didn't let the dentist work but with medicine on the gums he didn't feel the shots but it was hard to convince him of this.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-Z1z3rg2u84Iw23NJ3bX3uLa0-nOv8bTUAhup1omQipleDCOTj8szFaMGF3-VIxMLtcgX8BOdINcZLOe-jaykbKqm9OcoqJrWoG1mHrfCHJ0YLS8q5YCn52TJaMlWnki1L7SF5g9vnae/s1600/sc00198f24_face3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-Z1z3rg2u84Iw23NJ3bX3uLa0-nOv8bTUAhup1omQipleDCOTj8szFaMGF3-VIxMLtcgX8BOdINcZLOe-jaykbKqm9OcoqJrWoG1mHrfCHJ0YLS8q5YCn52TJaMlWnki1L7SF5g9vnae/s200/sc00198f24_face3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Rachel starts Brazilian school in two weeks and we will continue with Calvert for English. For her school she needs a white duster to wear over her clothes so that all the children will be dressed alike- some schools use uniforms. In August, we were told the American School plans to have second grade so we can send her then. During vacation we have gotten some library books from the American School.<br />
<br />
It is still very hot- 90 to 95 every day, but I have started to think of winter clothes as May last year was our coldest month. I have taken apart some of my skirts that haven't been used for years and am having them made for slacks for the girls. The many dresses we brought along for the girls are out of style for they don't use dresses with full skirts that tie in the back and for this hot weather, straight dresses are cooler but with material from full skirts, dresses can be made.<br />
<br />
I read in the newspaper from my hometown that a girl who I at times babysat for when I was in high school, was elected as one of the representatives of the Lutheran Church of America for a meeting to be held in Brazil in 1970 of the Lutheran World Federation. We hope that she will be able to visit us in our home. <br />
<br />
We have given three male puppies away but have Luci, a white female and the mother. Last week, a friend of Rachel's gave us a kitten but it doesn't like the dogs and has had to be rescued from a tree, the roof, and inside the attic of a bedroom.<br />
<br />
We got pictures of Ricky and Shannon. When do we get one of Eric and Lisa? We have to try to get some pictures taken soon.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
<br />
Donna and JoeyRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-49762888878295270872010-12-30T23:41:00.000-08:002010-12-30T23:45:22.242-08:00Letter to Lisa, Late 1970's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MgT6SCHoNGI2HCEo4CTVnJultARGyNrFQ-mLD-nb1xyTVwBORzmxriwMFZP1asc68tlx8Jjdtqen3iFoUumOdH7ji1rfEragyEMxFgKwoWJvNKF63OsSzGc7IhxM4wieEetCsOi4Bw_C/s1600/helen+with+bobbie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MgT6SCHoNGI2HCEo4CTVnJultARGyNrFQ-mLD-nb1xyTVwBORzmxriwMFZP1asc68tlx8Jjdtqen3iFoUumOdH7ji1rfEragyEMxFgKwoWJvNKF63OsSzGc7IhxM4wieEetCsOi4Bw_C/s400/helen+with+bobbie.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Helen with Bobby, late 1970's</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Dear Lisa,<b> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Hi! How are you? Rachel is visiting us. You knew that she is studying in Campinas, didn't you? Well, she did anyhow. She brought a friend from Campinas with her, so we are showing her the city!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm sorry I didn't write sooner. (hope you forgive me)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Tomorrow is Independence Day, so I don't have school 'til tomorrow.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">My birthday was last month.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I have just finished "The Hiding Place". They were in World War II in Holland, where they hid some Jews and went to prison.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Now I am going to school on Rachel's bike. I sold mine to the neighbor who still hasn't payed.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Every Tuesday, I go the the German Folk Dance. I don't have a partner, but I dance with a girl. It's just to learn anyhow. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Rachel has three friends sleeping here. It seems like the room is crowded. Charles had a friend over, too, so we are quite crowded. Rachel is going away today so I already planning a party.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">My Mom gave shots to a lady. She's really fat. Goodbye!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Your cousin,</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Helen</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">P.S. Write soon! </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-89695976832115928972010-12-30T23:22:00.000-08:002010-12-30T23:44:11.946-08:00Letter to Marian, December 6, 1963<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXiQf7eRwus28Lo4MzYl1aKGjnERYuSYL-xgGE01w4hfs9wacNC9B8bxOE8drOzHuQx4jRor28iv6dkltrC441UOgmRjOuIn_d6e_m5sRJ722_Wyb3rDouM4DKIpHUcpm9jRYFs_tamRCn/s1600/1963+christmas+card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXiQf7eRwus28Lo4MzYl1aKGjnERYuSYL-xgGE01w4hfs9wacNC9B8bxOE8drOzHuQx4jRor28iv6dkltrC441UOgmRjOuIn_d6e_m5sRJ722_Wyb3rDouM4DKIpHUcpm9jRYFs_tamRCn/s640/1963+christmas+card.jpg" width="344" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Christmas Card 1963, Loanda, Brazil</b></div><br />
<br />
Dear Marian,<br />
<br />
Greetings from the hot interior of Brazil. We have been having a terrific hot spell. Rachel has a lot of heat rash. We bought a fan which we appreciate very much even though the electricity goes off at 11 p.m.<br />
<br />
My ankles have been swollen which sometimes makes it hard to walk. I had an x-ray which ruled out twins. The baby hasn't been as active as Rachel was so Cliff says we will probably have a boy. If our baby is born here and not in Londrina during the conference, we will have to take our buggy to the hospital for they don't have a nursery. We also have to supply sheets, diapers, blankets, etc. for the baby which is probably just as well for we will know the things will be clean.<br />
<br />
We were very shocked when we heard of Jack Kennedy's death. When our neighbors told us I asked if he died of a heart attack. We heard the details from Voice of America. One of our neighbors said that 99% of the people want Brazil's president out of office and they wouldn't be surprised if he were assassinated.<br />
<br />
We are going to spend Thanksgiving with the Olsen's in Cianorte, a four hour drive on poor roads, but since it rained for six days before, the roads were unfit for driving. This last week we visited Jack Aamot in Paranavai, a two hour drive from here. When we were there we bought toys for Christmas for Rachel. I gave her some of them now. She especially enjoys the buggy for her doll.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGbxsd7PRk-_v5qWfbJbSzLhg2EpVa4i9rofXI_wwATIUiDuRfaQAalMt3Ny6oHsUbj0fSheIqAbcrBNSlGkXNsy4wp61yGl73OWhgitofbUWM8yEVXM2Y3nitv2Gg9iYMcM4ykYzz49Lx/s1600/1963+rachel+sitting+on+wall+with+doll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGbxsd7PRk-_v5qWfbJbSzLhg2EpVa4i9rofXI_wwATIUiDuRfaQAalMt3Ny6oHsUbj0fSheIqAbcrBNSlGkXNsy4wp61yGl73OWhgitofbUWM8yEVXM2Y3nitv2Gg9iYMcM4ykYzz49Lx/s640/1963+rachel+sitting+on+wall+with+doll.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Rachel with Doll, Loanda, Parana, Brazil. 1963</b></div><br />
A Baptist couple from England will be moving here in March. they were our back door neighbors for three months in Campinas but we didn't get to know them very well. The lady is very quiet and was sick with morning sickness, thus I hardly got to know her. As of now, we are the only foreigners here. We have visited with a German couple in a neighboring town, Santa Isabel. The wife speaks English quite well but her husband doesn't know any English and since we don't know German, we converse with him in Portuguese. This German couple is strongly Catholic.<br />
<br />
We had to buy water for a few days. I was happy to see it was for only a few days for I figured that it would cost $12 a month for our small family. Some of the people in this town have been buying water for months.<br />
<br />
Rachel is starting to say words that include two words such as horseshoe, sun suit, watermelon, butterfly, etc. She has learned some new Portuguese words but most are English for she seldom plays with other children. Rachel gave me a scare one day when she fell from the top of the sofa-chair and hit her head hard. When I picked her up, she couldn't breath. I gave her mouth to mouth respiration and she was running around within 5 minutes. I thought she was dying but she probably was unconscious for a few seconds.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqC3djImW-pK09timpRbFcc-qyF7-mUUJS4RzVKC_M-AzqxIow7JuCGmqIsWHlUUFdZt6Qt0Rbkh4rA3qucex1uA1zuUqCzYuAdFuaIyLMFqubabyTPqDRhlFMabtjZXUq8yyZlB9qtnS/s1600/1963+loanda+rachel+in+rural.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqC3djImW-pK09timpRbFcc-qyF7-mUUJS4RzVKC_M-AzqxIow7JuCGmqIsWHlUUFdZt6Qt0Rbkh4rA3qucex1uA1zuUqCzYuAdFuaIyLMFqubabyTPqDRhlFMabtjZXUq8yyZlB9qtnS/s400/1963+loanda+rachel+in+rural.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> "Bye, Bobby..." Rachel in the car.</b></div><br />
Andy Olsen's from Cianorte visited us one weekend in November. It was good to see them for we got to know them well when we were in language school together. When they were here, our dog, Bobby, jumped the gate and followed the car about half ways to the neighboring town. We didn't stop for we had just enough time to get to church and I thought he would find his way home but we haven't seen him for three weeks. Rachel still talks about him. We are going to get another dog after conference in January.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPWIzEl4jRoj1lIndHjiSGVmmuex9IDrO_ARBj6-5d-njCMfe3JC8XP25j6WhdvGPSpHpDXRiFlWYDSA77osrYj1M9muHZmBss0F4bfWETzWowxqJLFqT8m7VDSVu0om3QW4c1oe5OvExf/s1600/1963+rachel+and+bobby+sitting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPWIzEl4jRoj1lIndHjiSGVmmuex9IDrO_ARBj6-5d-njCMfe3JC8XP25j6WhdvGPSpHpDXRiFlWYDSA77osrYj1M9muHZmBss0F4bfWETzWowxqJLFqT8m7VDSVu0om3QW4c1oe5OvExf/s640/1963+rachel+and+bobby+sitting.jpg" width="430" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rachel Biel with dog, Bobby, in Loanda, Parana, Brazil</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1963 </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
My small women's group in church will be making sacks of goodies for the Christmas program. Many poor children will come. My group of women think Cliff and I should go around and ask stores to give donations and other people such as some Germans who supposedly are Lutherans. We don't agree with their idea and are going to keep it as work done by the church.<br />
<br />
I went to the doctor to get my left ear irrigated for i couldn't hear in that ear due to excess ear wax. We have been feeling fine and hope the same is true with you.<br />
<br />
<i>Donna ends here, Joey starts here. </i><br />
<br />
I suppose that you'd like to hear a word about our work, too. Right now it doesn't amount to much more than study (language and sermons and preparing Bible studies). Naturally, I have plans for the future which include a lot of visitation and open-air meetings. Right now I feel that preparation is of great importance. This isn't to say that I've done nothing "evangelistic". However, my contacts outside of the already organized work have been limited.<br />
<br />
The coming conference in Londrina should be a highly decisive one. The main topic of conversation will probably be about our relationship with the German Lutheran Church of Brasil. They have a critical shortage of pastors and are hampered by the usual diseases of the State Church and of the tensions of a transplanted culture. In this case, they have little regard for reaching the Brazilians, and they try to maintain the German language and customs. The young people, however are rebelling. Doesn't all of this sound just a little familiar, to us in the United States? Watch for developments.<br />
<br />
Guess that's it for now. I feel a little like the hypothetical man who was always promising to write more later, and on his dying day called for paper and pencil and scratched, "Sorry I didn't write much before, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!"<br />
<br />
<i>Another note from Donna:</i><br />
<br />
We sent slides to our sponsoring church and put Saetersdal on the list so maybe you can see them. We are sending a tape to you folks and hope it gets there for Christmas. One side is mostly of Rachel.<br />
<br />
We wrote and asked your parents if they would like to invite a Brazilian girl to their home for a weekend. She is living with missionaries on furlough in Northfield. We know the girl and thought some weekend you could pick her up on your way home. This girl speaks English well and is going to high school in Northfield.<br />
<br />
Did you contact the Peterson's at the Seminary? The Landvik's in Northfield said they will bring anything for us when they come in July. <br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna, Joey, and RachelRachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-89824912879561280392010-12-29T09:52:00.000-08:002010-12-29T21:34:07.959-08:00In Memoriam: Otto Tollefson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZYyjJPU-jrY4pBNCeW3X46CBtjWPYU86yRNO6g3N123Z6n0Im-dp8xANM4eAof2kmEm_CokIpQrzmTm0pRGoI42Ms-Mz8suIkaEM_YLdtzuUTO6DCcZQv9GOpFYaYHL8cV9wKrt31VWh7/s1600/missionaries%252C+short+and+tall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZYyjJPU-jrY4pBNCeW3X46CBtjWPYU86yRNO6g3N123Z6n0Im-dp8xANM4eAof2kmEm_CokIpQrzmTm0pRGoI42Ms-Mz8suIkaEM_YLdtzuUTO6DCcZQv9GOpFYaYHL8cV9wKrt31VWh7/s400/missionaries%252C+short+and+tall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Clifford Biel, Otto Tollefson, and Bob Roiko</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It was with great sadness that I received the news of Otto Tollefson's passing. Barbara, his wife, sent out the following email:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Dear family and friends –<br />
<br />
I am Barbara, the wife of Otto Tollefson. I am using Otto’s e-mail address and list of contacts to communicate the passing of Otto on Friday, December 24th, at 4:55 p.m., at Franciscan Hospice in Tacoma, Washington.<br />
<br />
Otto died from colon cancer, just three weeks shy of his 80th birthday. All the children were with their father before his death. He died peacefully, with family surrounding him until his final breath.<br />
<br />
You are invited to participate in our celebration of Otto’s life and faithful service to our Lord. There will be a memorial service on Sunday, January 2nd, at 2 p.m., at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church by the Narrows, 6730 North 17th Street; Tacoma, WA 98406.<br />
<br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Address: 11111 Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98133.</b> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is a recent photo of the Tollefson family (minus Dean):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOJSA7oAbqR4hULN0lhbGAFH7NcOB63LJwHQXk6KqZBvnOG7fnJgTfTxz8ApQUlJG4lH8gwQhHoePTzsnM0aR9j8WfGECTCNl2PQu2HzCGEMNwXUtxpWwCcK-OZF-Kph_yrP-aDgm17d5/s1600/tollefson%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOJSA7oAbqR4hULN0lhbGAFH7NcOB63LJwHQXk6KqZBvnOG7fnJgTfTxz8ApQUlJG4lH8gwQhHoePTzsnM0aR9j8WfGECTCNl2PQu2HzCGEMNwXUtxpWwCcK-OZF-Kph_yrP-aDgm17d5/s400/tollefson%2527s.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Scott, Helen, Barbara, Otto, Adel and Joel Tollefson</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For many years, Otto has been instrumental in keeping the Brazil families connected via email updates. We all knew that if we had something to share, we could send our news to Otto and he would get it out to the rest. Now, many of us have reconnected on facebook, which has been a great tool to have more regular tidbits, photos, and updates.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Falling-Good-Soil-Commitment/dp/1579210910/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293644596&sr=1-4" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhOddnK4UFQNAepxhLB99iH6dWTUrHQWLq1XSZKglwq_TyDiCr7KeLEaHNeOzStgtgPWhafSWC00g3mfAp7LtusPfJlE7n2JjiOPaqyt413gYPjUruewwUwlHrNB6SBPO_oNptoqoU2YCZ/s1600/otto%2527s+book.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> Otto also edited a book in 1998 about our time in Brazil, "Seed Falling on Good Soil". He requested contributions from the mission families, which together, give a wonderful snapshot of their ministry and of the people whose lives were transformed while they were in Brazil. The text Otto chose for the tone of the book comes from Matthew 13:3,8,23:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>"Once there was a man who went out to sow grain... But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty... </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the message and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred, others sixty, and others thirty."</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The book is still available on Amazon. Click on the photo for more info. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Otto had recently been working for St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Washington. He described his service in his bio:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"The greatest gift I received on my 70th birthday was to officially begin as interim pastor at <a href="http://www.smlutheran.org/"><b>St. Mark’s Lutheran Church</b></a>. But like “the man who came to dinner” I stayed on! What was expected to be a six month relationship has continued for almost three years. My part-time responsibilities now focus on visitation and teaching adult forums. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The journey from my childhood home in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, began on D-day, June 6, 1944, when our family moved to Seattle. My education included the Seattle Lutheran Bible Institute (now Trinity College), Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Upon ordination, my wife, Barbara, and I were privileged to be among the first group of missionary families that went to Brazil under the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1958. Our ministry was first in church planting and school administration in a new wild west frontier area, and later in stewardship, evangelism and lay training in a large Lutheran parish in Joinville, Santa Catarina. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">On return to the US eighteen years later I served First Lutheran Church, Poulsbo, WA, and then as mission developer of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, Lacey, WA. Barbara continued with her nursing, piano and church music careers. One of our greatest joys has been our joint ministry as clergy presenting couple with International Lutheran Marriage Encounter. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">We treasure our ties with people in Norway through our heritage, with Brazil through our ministry, and Scandinavian and Eastern European counties through LME and seminars we’ve given. We have five adult children and ten granddaughters. My ‘occupational therapy’ time is given to flower and vegetable gardening, reading John Grisham’s novels and Ann Rule’s true crime stories, and cheering on the Mariners."<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">My father was one of the tallest of the missionaries and Otto was one of the shortest, as seen in the first photo, taken in the early 1960's. Of course, this was always a joke at missionary reunions. But, the Tollefson family made its impression on my young mind for a much more important reason: Barbara saved my life!<br />
<br />
We were at a mission retreat in Camboriu, Santa Catarina, at the ocean front. Most of the pastor's and wives were meeting in sessions up a hill, removed from the beach. A couple of the wives were watching us kids as we played in the water and sand. The day before we had been able to wade quite a distance out into the ocean, but there had been a storm during the night and the undercurrent was powerful and great rifts had been made in the sand, under the waves. I was around 12 or 13 at the time (1974?) If I remember correctly, I was standing in the water with Kathy Fedde and Ruth Foehringer. I felt a huge undercurrent start pulling us out, so I pushed Kathy to Ruthie, who pulled her out while I was sucked away.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Someone ran up to the meeting and everybody came rushing out. My father doesn't swim (and hates the ocean) and he started throwing logs that were on the beach out into the water, hoping that I could grab on to one of them. Pastor Charles Eidum swam out to me and grabbed me. I had been pushed down repeatedly, with violence, by big waves that were crashing down on me. I remember feeling a calm certainty that I would soon die. Chuck Eidam pulled me in about half way, but then he started to succumb to the waves as well. Barbara Tollefson had life saving experience and she charged in, storming through the waves and pulled both of us out. There can be a lot of power wrapped up in those small packages! (She is short, too...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I sat on the beach, recovering my breath, everybody relieved that all of us were still alive. My brother, Charles, sat down next to me, looked at how white I was from fear and said, "Boy, you sure have a lot of freckles!" </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The old guard is passing on and we are sorry to see them go. Otto certainly planted his seeds on fertile soil. His work and dedication will be remembered by many and will continue to produce fruit. Those of us who have had the honor of knowing him and his family certainly will continue to carry a piece of him on with us in our journeys.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">My heartfelt sympathies go to the Tollefson family. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Que Deus esteja contigo!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Note: Please feel free to leave comments about Otto or his family here. Click on "Comments/Comentarios" below and a box will open up where you can write...</b></span> </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-66814958285736853612010-12-24T23:21:00.000-08:002010-12-31T19:14:59.389-08:00Letter to Marian and Frank, September 22, 1968<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here. They were not entered chronologically. The best way to sort through them is to use the index on the sidebar and view them by year.</i> <br />
<br />
Dear Marian and Frank,<br />
<br />
We just got a letter from Mary informing us on the birth of your son. Our heartiest congratulations! We haven't heard the weight but she said that you might call him Eric Tomas. He must have been born the day after you sent your last letter. What does Lisa think of him? Two little ones should keep you quite busy. Now we are anxiously awaiting for Julia's news.<br />
<br />
It certainly was something about Mike's sudden case of pneumonia. Helen had several colds when we were home but all of us have been well since we came back.<br />
<br />
We recently got a letter that Rosie sent in July. It must have come by regular mail. The snapshot she sent of Rachel is very good. Rachel was very happy to get it.<br />
<br />
It seems like time flies now that I'm teaching Rachel first grade by correspondence course. It takes 1.5 to 2 hours every day and this is done when Helen naps. There are 160 lessons to do and four covered readers with lovely books on the four seasons, arithmetic, writing, stories to read and a teacher's manual for me. The last lesson was on two different sounds in "th" such as in "this" and "thank" and several words like this. I pleaded with Joey to do this part of the lesson as I never learned to read by the phonetic system. Rachel likes to study but I don't know how it will be now that the hot weather is arriving.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1z_jkjnU-G20Y0QVLjTSdLNqnBT4_VaMJeW_I2GLSKyKlMfo1qKAIFVhngvBSBBEVaXWOz6XiWr0d0YfnS-UXHXSeAooST3NWWTqIrgCOhdlepQ_PW4mGE7RfPZ1LYaphbJeqFi9UpGBk/s1600/1967+calvert+help.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1z_jkjnU-G20Y0QVLjTSdLNqnBT4_VaMJeW_I2GLSKyKlMfo1qKAIFVhngvBSBBEVaXWOz6XiWr0d0YfnS-UXHXSeAooST3NWWTqIrgCOhdlepQ_PW4mGE7RfPZ1LYaphbJeqFi9UpGBk/s400/1967+calvert+help.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><br />
<br />
This last week the weather was very variable. On Monday, it was cool- 58 in the morning and in the house. By Thursday afternoon it was hot and stuffy, 90 in the house and outside, then it rained and back to 56 again in the morning and 75 in the afternoon. Actually, I prefer the cooler weather as hot weather makes me tired. Next month we go on daylight savings time.<br />
<br />
We have two boys staying with us for another two or three weeks until houseparents come from the States for the hostel. They are gone most of the day. The seven year old enjoys playing with Rachel and Charles and the 11 year old likes to read books.<br />
<br />
Rachel and Charles go to nursery school in the morning until the summer vacation comes in December. Now Charles can speak Portuguese much better and always is playing with someone while I teach Rachel. Helen plays many mornings with a four year old girl from our church. Helen has learned a lot of Portuguese, too. I'm amazed at all of the things that she can say. When people come for church, Helen shakes hands with them and says, "Good morning" in Portuguese. As yet, I haven't gotten her toilet trained but now with warmer weather I hope to have it done soon but she loves to play outside all day long.<br />
<br />
I certainly have enjoyed the navy blue blouse you gave me for Christmas. I have one skirt I wear it with and hand another skirt made that also goes with it, from a skirt that you gave me. I had a blue lace dress made to go to a neighbor's 15th birthday part. Fifteen here is considered the year for debutante. The party we went to was more elaborate than any wedding I've been to. We didn't stay for the dance which started at 1 am and finished at 3:30 am. I plan to use the lace dress for weddings in the church.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FvGwLwSUikhyphenhyphenbXcqBm6GCCGvbqKvRGVFuwjUYhF21H6q4LpT7-ArR3vs2pLKeKx9n5C9GLULBkx3gxcPBtfnlICqNU6MZ3oJxjEn18FCHda4Dz7vBe93fvFRLFlubieO6WamQLDK13nm/s1600/sc0012538e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FvGwLwSUikhyphenhyphenbXcqBm6GCCGvbqKvRGVFuwjUYhF21H6q4LpT7-ArR3vs2pLKeKx9n5C9GLULBkx3gxcPBtfnlICqNU6MZ3oJxjEn18FCHda4Dz7vBe93fvFRLFlubieO6WamQLDK13nm/s640/sc0012538e.jpg" width="366" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Donna Biel in her blue lace dress.</b></div><br />
Joey was gone from Monday until Thursday of this week for a mission meeting. Gloria Grant stayed with me as she didn't want to stay alone and her five boys are at the hostel in Campinas. We seldom see Joey on weekends as he has three services on Saturday and three on Sunday. He has been trying to visit the members plus spent a week three weeks ago in Cianorte at a Bible School teaching the students. I have learned to drive the church's jeep and use it for taking Rachel and Charles to and from school and for getting groceries.<br />
<br />
To raise money for the church, the women are embroidering aprons, pillow cases, dresser tops, tablecloths, etc. I'm doing a pillow case. In November they will sell everything and at the same time serve cakes which one can buy. Another thing to get ready for is the last Sunday in October. Our women's group will have women from nearby cities here for a day while we have two guest speakers. One speaker will speak to the older women in German and the other will speak in Portuguese. We will have to feed the women that day but the speaker suggested making soup with potatoes, macaroni, meat, vegetables so not much time would be needed for preparation.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-96p4wkJkHiPmSIJ3-r9yRGAoiAdmK3FsKQoMeDCyQIr04DOBGKMArGGwcD_Fx-QZOrV7bso_Aq9LEykmC0SM9Rl0Q6Pj3s-42ILTUj75HGbs4l0hHSOSu3tGd2a7kjMugP2ku8clSJbp/s1600/our+congregation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-96p4wkJkHiPmSIJ3-r9yRGAoiAdmK3FsKQoMeDCyQIr04DOBGKMArGGwcD_Fx-QZOrV7bso_Aq9LEykmC0SM9Rl0Q6Pj3s-42ILTUj75HGbs4l0hHSOSu3tGd2a7kjMugP2ku8clSJbp/s400/our+congregation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Women from our church in Maringa, 1970's</b></div><br />
If we decide to apply for a three month furlough after three years, we have to apply by March of 1970. It would be June to September in 1971 so it wouldn't interfere with the children's education.<br />
<br />
Greetings to Rosie and Louie, Cynthia and Nels for I have to write to our parents yet. It seems like Joey doesn't have much time for writing and it is getting harder for me to do it. Tell Rosie Rachel has worn her dress from the wedding almost every Sunday.<br />
<br />
We hope all is going well for you. I wrote to Mary to get you a present from us so hope you get something you need.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Donna and Joey<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4RPxD3Ec3r8sq65WJs6G94w0SqZlCAen_B4mWDGnNWpkCPai4GDCiZa0WQOx-duwdKb464n7NdXK_QLqRcm-Zew_7l3Suh6o7t9QS2lfp3CNuAKmkHoD7LQXnZJoN9Ihp76ZM7rWI7tB/s1600/sc0012538e_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4RPxD3Ec3r8sq65WJs6G94w0SqZlCAen_B4mWDGnNWpkCPai4GDCiZa0WQOx-duwdKb464n7NdXK_QLqRcm-Zew_7l3Suh6o7t9QS2lfp3CNuAKmkHoD7LQXnZJoN9Ihp76ZM7rWI7tB/s1600/sc0012538e_face0.jpg" /></a></div>Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327799958363365933.post-193472096395894382010-12-24T20:42:00.000-08:002022-01-19T16:33:32.396-08:00Letter to Marian, December 9, 1968<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxNEx8eQ947Xi5-_Xr0a2knpJifNV5wvkQZJC1Kc6ICzg9MZ3LYngH-9Nj4lxT8k91mYj8VeU35nO6Zhuny5dRyrH9sxzwCcQDvic1JnK2h7pPEjhXAkhZbx3UxswQ9KOv0hb_1uE3ydp/s1600/sc002c3fb7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxNEx8eQ947Xi5-_Xr0a2knpJifNV5wvkQZJC1Kc6ICzg9MZ3LYngH-9Nj4lxT8k91mYj8VeU35nO6Zhuny5dRyrH9sxzwCcQDvic1JnK2h7pPEjhXAkhZbx3UxswQ9KOv0hb_1uE3ydp/s400/sc002c3fb7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<i>My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her. She returned them in 2010. Most are recorded here. They were not entered chronologically. The best way to sort through them is to use the index on the sidebar and view them by year.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Marian and Frank, <br />
<br />
Thanksgiving has come and gone and soon Christmas will be here. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving twice. We were in Cianorte the day before Thanksgiving and seven families were present. There were few children as most were in the hostel for school. We had turkey for the first time since we have been in Brazil. We didn't have a long visit as it had been raining and started again on our way home. We almost spent the night on the road as it was terribly slippery. I took us two hours to go 22 miles until we got to the tarred road. The other dinner was here in Maringa with about 60 present- 2 Baptist families, 2 Methodist, about 7 from the United Missionary Society and us. After dinner the school children gave a program. Both dinners were pot luck. I made 5 pumpkin pies and salad.<br />
<br />
Our church held its annual fund raising drive the 24th of November. Some of the men came here three days before and made wooden benches, tables and put up canvas on top for shade. The women had a bazaar of embroidered pillowcases, aprons, tablecloths, and little girls' clothes. Women made potato salad for dinner and steaks were barbecued by the men. In the afternoon, cakes were sold. We ended up throwing some potato salad away and cakes were sold very cheap to get rid of them as the attendance was poor. It was a lot of work plus very hot in the days of preparation and the day of occasion. It was a lot of work, but the fun and fellowship- and the profit made it all worthwhile. One of our missionaries told of his church which prepared 170 chickens and 3 steaks and had 65 chickens left and many steaks.<br />
<br />
On the day of our bazaar, Rachel woke me up at 1 a.m. to tell me that Velvet, our dog, was having puppies under her bed. I thought the gestation period was 3 months instead of 55 days so thought we had premature puppies. There are 3 male and 1 female. They are mostly white with a little black on them and have a smooth fur- the mother is part poodle and all black. The children are delighted to have puppies around. We have an empty bedroom upstairs where they stay but at times Velvet moves them under Rachel's bed.<br />
<br />
Rachel and Charles's baner-ha school had a bazaar for which I baked 9 duz. cookies and gave 2 aprons from our bazaar. Rachel is having graduation on the 19th of this month from kindergarten. She is over half-way done in first grade Calvert. Rachel is doing very well in school. On most tests in this course she has gotten 100. She loves to read and reads her books to Charles. We plan to send her to Brazilian first grade in February. In August we hope the mission school here will have second grade. Charles didn't get many stars for good behavior at nursery school. He was the youngest one there and even though he couldn't sit still for long he has learned some songs. While I teach Rachel Calvert in the afternoon he plays next door with a 4 year old boy and gets along well with him. Helen is starting the "why" age. She has several little friends that she plays with and older girls like to take her for a walk.<br />
<br />
For Christmas we are expecting the Dahlen family. They are in our language school. I helped her shop in early march while our husbands were at a conference. They have a girl Rachel's age and Charles age- a boy. She will stay with me while her husband visits other mission homes which can only be reached by dirt roads and she doesn't want to go with due to arrival of a baby in February.<br />
<br />
The middle of January we are going to a Bible camp about an 11 hour drive from here. Other families enjoyed it while we were here on furlough. All of our missionaries should be there and it will be the only time we get to see several of the families.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMG_d6TrJRY9ELvgmwBAQhDAMAA6Puq-bs4nsFYo3ZVDYNP7Ighgf_dILIuyWGAcgJufwCZHHToEEewkYeOWzRTo7P0n-Z7N-sIauWOqcRIrXEEe2dLIyzBFuEnY7XTSJF4b7FFUbnRY9/s1600/sc002c3fb7_face0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMG_d6TrJRY9ELvgmwBAQhDAMAA6Puq-bs4nsFYo3ZVDYNP7Ighgf_dILIuyWGAcgJufwCZHHToEEewkYeOWzRTo7P0n-Z7N-sIauWOqcRIrXEEe2dLIyzBFuEnY7XTSJF4b7FFUbnRY9/s1600/sc002c3fb7_face0.jpg" /></a></div>Once a month Cliff goes to where we lived before (Loanda) and serves 3 other places, too. The farthest is a 4 hour drive from here. When he goes, we won't have church services here. Due to his traveling or having church services in the morning once a month in our country church, I give Confirmation two or three times out of four in the month. It is held at the same time as Sunday School. the youth in our country church and one here are planning to present a play for Christmas. The Sunday School will have some poems and sing, our adult choir will sing two hymns and the same for the youth.<br />
<br />
The end of October we had a one day women's retreat. Women came from several cities nearby and from our country church. In all we had 75. Our women's group made chicken-rice soup for dinner and cakes for coffee in the afternoon. Dona Ana from Curitiba was our speaker. We discussed the ecumenical movement and evangelism in our church. We divided into two groups- one German (led by a pastor's wife who is from Germany) and I led one of the two Portuguese groups. The points discussed are to be sent to Switzerland in preparation for study of the Lutheran World Federation to be held in Brazil in 1970. We think the study could have been more profitable had we been able to discuss this in each church before this meeting and leaders would have been better prepared for the discussion groups.<br />
<br />
Since there is summer vacation from school now until the middle of February, we are planning to have a week of Vacation Bible School in the city and another in our country church. VBS was held in July for the first time in these congregations and enjoyed very much by all.<br />
<br />
We had some very hot weather- 98 to 100, but now it is cooler at 85 to 88. We have had very little rain which has been bad for the crops. Some larger cities have had to ration water but thankfully, we have plenty of water.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IpZne6loLllLNVTqSnOH8XnoFLoha7eGCdlbmUA2ZC5dI8XJWOYxVzQGmzzAfXnvn3HvxlkoSJosx2SOStmGXxGbf-7LUd2RhzhOBzB8ujHLmZbwujq76RYnjhP6495gu43k7vIqskjb/s1600/Pete+and+Elna%252C+Karen%252C+Mark%252C+Kristine+and+Paul+Mathiasen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IpZne6loLllLNVTqSnOH8XnoFLoha7eGCdlbmUA2ZC5dI8XJWOYxVzQGmzzAfXnvn3HvxlkoSJosx2SOStmGXxGbf-7LUd2RhzhOBzB8ujHLmZbwujq76RYnjhP6495gu43k7vIqskjb/s400/Pete+and+Elna%252C+Karen%252C+Mark%252C+Kristine+and+Paul+Mathiasen.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Pete and Elna Mathiesen</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Karen, Mark, Kristine and Paul </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(courtesy Karen Mathiesen)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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We continue to have many guests- example this week- the family of the German missionary who lives in a neighboring town, an intern from a seminary in the U.S. who spent 16 months in church in Curitiba, and Mathiason's from Cianorte. We enjoy the visits for we seldom had them in Loanda. I have a good helper so the extra company isn't more than we can handle. The lady who helps me now is married and a sister to the last one I had who left to get married.<br />
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We wish you a Blessed Christmas and happiness for the New Year.<br />
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Love,<br />
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Donna and Joey<br />
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The day Rachel printed her letter to you she was mad at her friend Lillian and wouldn't put her name down. Charles started coloring the picture. Each stripe on the shirt is a different color and the girl has purple hair. I will try to send it later. How does Lisa like Erik? Is he as good as she is? Your son arrived on Brasil's day of Independence and Grandma Biel's birthday.Rachel Bielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804950102480086440noreply@blogger.com0