Letter to Marian and Frank, October 18, 1973

 Mom and Charles with Duchess, the cat.

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 in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.

Dear Marian and Frank,

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.

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.

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.

 Helen in uniform, 1972

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. 

 Rachel in a Regina Mundi Parade, 1974

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

Love, Donna and Joey

Letter to Marian and Frank, December, 1971

Dear Marian, Frank, Lisa and Eric,

I see that I won't get many letters written if I don't make copies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 Charles Biel, 1971

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.

 Rachel Biel, 1971

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Happy to hear your folks got down to see you, Marian.  Hope you can do that more often.

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.

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.

Hear you went as a family on one of Frank's trips-  hope you had an enjoyable time. 

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.

A blessed Christmas!

Love,

Donna and Joey

Letter to Marian and Frank, December, 1969

 Rachel and Charles Biel

Iguazu Falls, Brazil, 1969

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 in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.

Dear Marian and Frank,

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

A few days before Christmas Charles graduates from the nursery-kindergarten school.  Hopefully in August he will start first grade at the mission school.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

 Wedding at Querencia do Norte

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.

Sete Quedas with Kathy Fedde

By the time you get this, Christmas will be over.  We hope you will have had a joyous one.

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. 

If things don't go right, Rachel says that I don't love her.  She's very emotional.  At times she tries my patience.

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.

Love,

Donna and Joey

Letter to Marian and Frank, June 1, 1969

 Leadership classes in Londrina, Parana, Brazil, 1960's.

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 in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.

Dear Marian and Frank,

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.

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.)

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.

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. 

 Mauro and Edilma at Leadership school in Londrina

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. 

 Square Dancing at the Leadership School

Londrina, Parana, Brazil

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

All for now,

Love,

Donna and Joey

Letter to Marian and Frank, February 5, 1969

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 in chronological order, so the best way to view them is by year, found in the index on the sidebar.


Dear Marian and Frank,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Love,


Donna and Joey

Letter to Marian and Frank, March 30, 1968

 Biels in 1968

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.


Dear Marian and Frank,

You soon will be getting a form letter from Ohio but I thought I would write you some things that aren't in that letter. 

While Cliff was at the conference in Londrina, the Children and I stayed in Campinas.  I helped two new families- one that came three days before the conference started.  They have a boy Charles's age and a girl Rachel's age, so they enjoyed playing with each other.  I helped enroll the boy in a Brazilian nursery school.  Rachel and Charles went for a week and thought it was fun.  The teacher speaks English as well as Portuguese.  Twice I took Joan Dahlen to an open market to buy fruits and vegetables, to a store to buy food and once downtown by bus to go shopping.  We did a lot of walking and got sunburned. 

Cliff was gone for six days.  When he came back, Helen just looked and looked at him, almost as if she had forgotten him.  The new houseparents, Aarsvolds, from Kassen, Minnesota, were at the conference, too.  We visited with them the evening before we left Campinas.  They are adjusting very well.

We didn't have any difficulty coming through customs.  The day we landed was the biggest day of Carnaval.  None of our suitcases were opened.  We are missing our cartridge tape recorder and Japanese camera that we had in a briefcase on the plane.  We couldn't lock the briefcase and should have taken these things out of it and taken them to our seat.  We wrote to the pastor in Brooklyn, New York, to see if we had left those things at his house and received an answer that we didn't leave them there.

From Campinas we had a two hour bus ride to Sao Paulo where we got a plane to Londrina which was a 3 hr. flight.  In Londrina, Cliff hired a truck to take the things we had stored there.  While in Londrina I visited two missionary families there.  The children and I were in Londrina for two days, then Cliff came back to get us and we went on a two hour bus ride to Maringa where we are living.

We got to our home on the 14th, late in the afternoon.  One day Cliff went to Loanda to get film strips, flannel-graph, and a projector that was there.  It was a three hour trip from here, one way.  We had been here ten days when he took off for Cianorte- two hours from here by jeep to teach for a week at the Bible School.  After the school was over, he went to Campo Mourao, 2 hours from here and will have two services today and two tomorrow before he comes here for an evening service.  He will be serving these other churches once a month for six months while the pastor is in Germany on furlough. 

Last night, I went to a baby shower for a teacher of the United Missioner Society.  There are five families living here from that mission.  A Southern Baptist couple who live four blocks from us and the American wife of a Brazilian doctor were at this party.  I had a nice time getting acquainted with these people.  They have a school for missionary children with about 25 students.  We hope Rachel will go there to first grade in September but we don't know yet if they will have first grade.  There are several first grade age children but they don't live in this city and sometimes parents teach them the first year through Calvert which I may have to do.

Letter ends here.

Letter from Donna, February 25, 1972

 Helen leaning against the church.

My Aunt Marian kept many of the letters my mother, Donna Biel, wrote to her.  She recently returned them.  The most interesting parts are recorded here.  This one was written on the back of a letter my father wrote.

The pillows are very cute.  Helen thought it funny that her pillow has a little pillow.  They will look nice on their beds.  They didn't have anything on their beds for decorative purposes.  I take it from the two different sizes of panties that you didn't know what would fit.  The smallest one fits.  I lost the 10 lbs. I had gained on furlough.  I should try to lose more but haven't tried.

...  If we go on our two month furlough next year we are thinking of doing what Gaylord Grant did.  With money that it would cost to fly Miami-Mpls, they bought a used car, went through Kennedy Space Center and did other sight seeing.  If we do this we could visit sponsoring churches in N.C. and Ohio plus visit you on our way to Minnesota.  I think we should plan on staying three weeks so we don't lose much time traveling back and forth.  We have asked for Mid-June to Mid-august.  That way the children won't miss much, if any school.

Helen had dilation of the urethra the 1st of February.  She stayed one day in the hospital with a catheter in.  I'm happy to be able to write that since then she hasn't had anymore wetting in the day time but still wears diapers at night.  Helen was sick a week ago with an infection of the larynx.  She had a high fever but with medication she was soon well again.  Next week she goes back to the Brazilian kindergarten after a 2 month vacation. 

I have received the Calvert Correspondence course for Helen for 1st Grade.  One of our missionary families was going to use it but they are resigning due to health problems.  This course is the same one I used for 1st grade for Rachel.  I have showed Helen many of the letters and how they are printed but she doesn't know the names of the letters.  Rachel and Charles will continue at the small American School in August.  Charles will continue to be the only one in his grade.

Their newest pet is Duchess, a lovely half grown kitten that is white except for black tail, ears, and one spot on her back.  Charles is already planning on kittens and hopes the father will be our male cat, Blackie.

 Dutchess and her kittens.

The past two weeks we have had almost continuous rain- either fine drizzle or cloud burst.  The ceilings have started to get moldy plus shoes we don't use often.  We had a cool summer with a lot of rain in December.  Some say it hasn't rained this much in 20 years.

The next page is a note from Rachel

Dear Auntie Marian,

How are you?  I am fine.

Thank you for the present and candy.  I got a bike for Christmas.  I also got a bracelet.  How was your Christmas?  Ours was nice except for the afternoon.  I was trying to ride my bike and BANG (big shaky block letters) into the tree I went.  I couldn't walk well for three weeks.  On vacation we had Vacation Bible School and I cut my hair.  Helen has her hair cut short also.

Well, I guess that's all so good-bye and thank you again.

Love,  Rachel

P.S.  The candy is very good.

Green Acre School: How Missionary Kids Learned English in Brazil

We were bi-lingual kids, speaking English at home and Portuguese everywhere else.  Most of our parent's missionary peers sent their children to study at the American School in Campinas (EAC), but my parents felt that we should be at home.  We had some home schooling from my Mom but then were fortunate to have an enclave of American families that were connected to the Bible Institute of Maringá (IBM).  Several families came together to form the Green Acre School.  Brazilian schools normally have a four hour day so that students can pick to go in the morning, afternoon or evening.  We went to a Brazilian school in the morning and to Green Acre in the afternoon.

Éramos crianças bi-lingues, falando inglês em casa e português em todos os outros lugares.  A maioria dos outros missionários da nossa igreja mandaram os seus filhos para a Escola Americana de Campinas (EAC), mas os meus pais decidiram que nós deveríamos ficar em casa.  A minha mãe nos ensinou parte dos nossos estudos em inglês, mas tivemos a boa fortuna de ter o Instituto Bíblico de Maringá na nossa cidade com várias famílias Norte Americanas conectadas com o Instituto.  Estas famílias se juntaram para formar a escolinha Green Acre.  Normalmente, as escolas Brasileiras são de 4 horas, manhã, tarde ou noite.  Nós fômos a uma escola Brasileira durante a manhã e a Green Acre no IBM nas tardes.

 Helen (Biel) Faber

Rachel Biel

Two families from IBM made their mark on my life during this time, the Mattesons and the Carpenters.  Both sets of parents were like uncles and aunts to us.  Jenny Matteson and I read and dreamed and talked and laughed and were like sisters.  My brother, Charles, and Danny Matteson came up with crazy schemes that proved angels exist: they survived.  Helen and Tim Matteson were the same age and I know that she liked him a lot when they were kids.  Uncle Don Matteson was a youth leader and built a Bible camp, Acampamento Água Viva (Living Waters Camp), a place where I helped set the bricks, dug trenches and participated in once it went live.  Aunt Verda Matteson made everything seem like home.  She radiated joy, baked endless cookies and just made everything feel safe. Jenny and Danny were always at our house and Charles and I were always at theirs.  Or, so it felt.

Duas famílias do IBM marcaram a minha vida durante esta época, os Mattesons e os Carpenters.  Os pais das duas famílias eram como os nossos tios e tias.  Jenny Matteson e eu leíamos, sonhávamos, conversávamos, reíamos e eramos como irmãs.  O meu irmão, Charles, e o Danny Matteson estavam sempre entrando em esquemas loucos, provando que os anjos existem:  eles sobreviveram.  A Helena e o Timmy Matteson tinham a mesma idade e eu sei que ela gostava muito dele quando eles eram crianças.  O Tio Donaldo era um líder de jovens e construíu o Acampamento Água Viva, um lugar aonde eu ajudei a criar, carregando tijólos, escavando e depois participando quando foi constuido.  A Tia Verda sempre nos acolhia.  Ela brilhava com alegria, fazia bolachas que nunca acabavam e tudo parecia ser bem protegido.  A Jenny e o Daniel sempre estavam na nossa casa e nós sempre estávamos na casa deles.  Ou, assim parecia.

Jenny Matteson

 

Danny Matteson

Tim Matteson

The Carpenters were a little different.   Aaron and Andrew were a year older than me and Mark and John were very, very old, so I never got to know them very well.  We didn't hang out at their house, but I loved their parents very much.  Aaron and Andrew excelled at everything they tried: sports, academics, girls...  they were popular, elegant, and as identical twins, got all the attention a kid, or pair of kids, could ever want.  There was something gentle about all of the Carpenters.  I can't vouch for Mark because I really don't remember him very well, but I do remember John as being gentle and sweet.  Aaron and Andrew always seemed to be in a good mood and have a helpful hand.  A couple of scenes:

• We were rollerskating.  Andrew fell and when he got up, he was as pale as sheet.  "Look at what I can do!"  he cried out.  He had broken his arm and was holding it with his other one, lifting it and lowering it at the broken part.
• Aaron showed me a lady bug and put it in his hair.  He had a big afro then.  We waited and waited for the bug to come out and looked for it and couldn't find it.  Finally he said, "Oh, it will find its way out one of these days..."  and he went on reading.

 ____

A história com os Carpenters foi um pouco diferente.  O Arão e André eram um ano mais velhos que eu e o Mark e John eram super velhos, então nunca os conhecí muito bem.  Não brincávamos na casa deles, mas eu semprei tive muita afeição pelos pais deles. O Arão e André sempre tinham muito sucesso em tudo que tentavam fazer:  esportes, estudos, namoradas...  tinham popularidade, eram elegantes, e como gêmeos identicos, ganhavam toda a atenção que um par de crianças poderia querer.  Existia uma qualidade suave sobre todos os Carpenters.  Não posso defender o Mark porque não lembro dele muito bem mas o John parecia ser um doce.  O Arão e André sempre estavam de bom humor e prestes a ajudar qualquer pessoa que necessitava uma mão.  Duas cenas:

•  Estavamos patinando e o André caiu e quebrou o braço.  "Olha o que eu posso fazer!" ele chamou, levantando e abaixando a parte quebrada.  Estava pálido como um fantasma.
• O Arão colocou um bichinho no cabelo que desapareceu.  Naqueles tempos ele tinha um afro enorme.  Buscamos mas o bicho sumiu. "Ah, não importa.  Logo ele sai" e continuou lendo.

 

Andrew Carpenter

Andrew was kind enough to be my date for my Senior prom.  He went all the way to Campinas, a 12 hour bus ride, to keep me company.  It was such a kind, kind thing for a friend to do and I will never forget it.  I haven't had contact with Jenny, Danny, Andrew or Aaron for years now, but I have so many good memories.  Ironically, the one I knew the least, Mark, is now the one I feel that I have the most common ground.  Mark, John and Tim are on facebook, so we are getting to know each other again.

O André me fez um grande favor quando tivemos a nossa festa "prom" na escola Americana em Campinas.  Não sei explicar em Português, mas ele viajou 12 horas de onibus para me acompanhar e nunca esquecerei a bondade dele.  Não tenho tido contato com a Jenny, Danny, André ou o Arão por muitos anos, mas tenho muitas boas memórias.  Ironicamente, o que eu menos conhecía é quem mais me identifico hoje.  Mark, John e o Tim estão no facebook e estamos nos conhecendo de novo.

 

Aaron Carpenter

John Carpenter

Mark Carpenter

Aaron and Andrew Carpenter

 

 

A School Play at Green Acre

Not all of the memories at Green Acre are good ones.  I was tied to my desk with a rope because I got up too much, a substitute teacher made me stick gum on my nose, some of the doctrine we were fed, even then, seemed hard to swallow, and a kid can have a hard time anywhere in this world.  We were a one room school, all ages together, so it must have been hard to keep things in control.  I will never forget when my brother, Charles, kept asking if he could go to the bathroom because he didn't feel well and the teacher kept saying no.  Finally, ha made a dash for it and his body arched into a spasm as he became a fountain of vomit, smack in the middle of our room.  Ah, the memories...

Nem todas as memórias da escola são boas.  Me amarraram a minha carteira com uma corda porque eu me levantava demais, uma professora substituta me forçou a colocar o chicletes no nariz, e umas doutrinas, mesmo naquela época, eram problemáticas para mim.  Uma criança pode resmungar em qualquer parte do mundo! Estávamos estudando numa sala, todas as idades juntas e deve ter sido difícil manter controle.  Nunca me esquecerei de quando o meu irmão, o Charles, pediu permissão várias vezes para ir ao banheiro porque não se sentia bem.  A professora não deixou.  De repente ele deu um salto e correndo, tentou chegar ao banheiro, mas o corpo dele deu um golpe e ele se transformou numa fonte de vômito, bem no meio da nossa sala.  Ah, sim...  memórias.

Rachel- Halloween costume winner

So, what does all of this have to do with learning English?  Well, the families represented were from different areas of the United States and Canada, but mostly from the Midwest.  All of the parents patiently corrected us and ensured that we would be fluent in both languages.  Our main teacher, Aunt Jeanette Faw, had the patience of a Saint.  She was from Canada and worked with us for several years.  We did have to learn the Canadian national anthem because of her...  "Oh, Canada..."  sigh....   English did become my primary language.  I left Brazil when I was 18 and later learned Spanish and used it more than Portuguese.  I feel that my vocabulary is still that of a teenager, although if I read a magazine or book, I do understand almost everything.

E, o que tudo isso tem a ver com o estudo de Inglês?  Bom, as famílias representadas eram de diferente partes dos Estados Unidos e do Canada, mas a maioria eram do Meio-Oeste.  Todos os pais tinham muita paciência, nos corregindo e assegurando que seríamos fluentes nas duas línguas.  A nossa professora, Dona Janette Faw, tinha a paciência de uma santa!  Ela era do Canada e trabalhou conosco por muitos anos.  Tivemos que aprender a cantar o hino nacional do Canada por causa dela...  "Oh, Canada..."  (suspiro)   O inglês acabou sendo a minha língua principal.  Saímos do Brasil quando eu tinha 18 anos e depois aprendí espanhol e o usei mais do que o Português.  Sinto que o meu vocabulário ainda é de uma jovem, mesmo que quando leio uma revista ou livro em Português, entendo quase tudo.

Tim Matteson

My father had an incredible command of the Portuguese language.  He often told the story that when a foreigner arrived in Brazil, in the first year people said, "Oh, you are an American!  Welcome!"  After five years, people would ask, "Are you American?"  Then, after ten, the question was, "How long have you been in Brazil?"  It took about 15 years for the question to become, "Are you Brazilian?"  When we first moved back to the United States, Dad would say things in Portuguese without realizing it.  Language is the key to connect to a people and a culture.  Every Brazilian thinks he or she is a poet and a philosopher, so to understand the music, the innuendos, the jokes and to really become a part of the social psyche, language is the entry way.

O meu pai tinha um comando incrível do Português.  Ele contava a história de que quando um estrangeiro chegava no Brasil, no primeiro ano as pessoas diziam, -Ah, o Senhor é Americano!  Bemvindo!  Depois de cinco anos, as pessoas perguntavam, -O Senhor é Americano?  Depois de dez anos, a pergunta era, -A quantos anos o Senhor está no Brasil?  Demorou uns 15 anos para a pergunta ser, -O Senhor é Brasileiro?  Quando voltamos aos Estados Unidos, o meu pai dizia coisas em Português sem perceber.  A linguagem é essencial para ter uma conexção com um povo, com uma cultura.  Todo Brasileiro pensa ser um poeta ou filósofo, então para entender a música, os inuendos, as piada, e para realmente participar na sociedade, a linguagem é a porta de entrada.

I feel extremely blessed by all the effort and care that all the adults at Green Acre invested in us.  They made sure that we would have the tools to survive in an English-speaking world, provided us with a solid faith foundation, and gave us excellent role models as what loving, caring and conscious adults can achieve in a multi-cultural world.  Many thanks to all of them!

Me sinto super abençoada por todo or esforço e cuidado que todos os adultos na escola Green Acre investiram em nós.  Eles asseguraram que teríamos o que precisávamos para sobreviver num mundo aonde o Inglês domina.  Nos deram uma base sólida na fé e nos mostraram como adultos podem ser carinhosos, amáveis e concientes num mundo multi-cultural.  Agradeço a todos eles com todo o meu coração!