Letter to Marian and Frank, April 19, 1974

 Biel Family, mid-1970's, Brazil

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, Frank, Lisa, Eric and Julianna,

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cliff Biel doing the Hamburger Skit

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Grandpa and Grandma Biel, February 14th, 1977

 Our house in Maringa, late 1970's.

Dear Mary and Harvey,

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.

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.

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.

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.

 Bike trip to Fazenda Kelina, 1979

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Before I got this mailed we got your letter wit the Valentine's Card.  It came right on the date.

All  of those snowmobiles in the family...  Sounds like the winter has plenty of snow for them.  Hope they are careful.

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.

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.

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.

All for now,

Love,

Donna and Joey

PS  Joey just wrote to Cynthia and Nels- mainly because of the accident of Cynthia's.  Hope she has completely recovered now.

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, May 9, 1968

 

Donna Biel at a farm in Brazil.

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, Frank and Lisa,

We have had a taste of some cold weather.  It rained last Sunday and then turned cold.  Wednesday it was 41 at 7 a.m. and 49 in the house.  Fortunately, by Saturday it was nice again.  We got our barrels a week ago and have made use of our electric blanket.  The children have flannel sheets and Charles and Helen have sleepers.

Our barrels, gas dryer, sewing machine, etc. arrived in good condition.  Rachel and Charles were thrilled to get their toys as they have been packed since the end of January.  Boys in the neighborhood think the wagon is wonderful.  I spent one day separating things and putting each person's clothes in a separate barrel.  I have been doing some mending on the sewing machine.

Starting last Thursday, a girl from our church that is working in a doctor's office started living with us.  We had an empty bedroom and she has her own bedroom furniture.  She plans to stay here four months and then she will be married.  She does the supper dishes and pays about $9 dollars a month for food.  If we decide to go to a movie or visiting she will babysit.

Now I have a good helper who comes every day and stays until 5:30 and on Sundays until 3:00.  We pay her twenty dollars a month but she eats well and only weighs about 90 lbs.  She is 20 years old and had worked for five years in Sao Paulo.  I will need a good helper as it looks like the American school here will not have first grade so I will teach by Calvert.

The children and I went with Cliff to work in the rural areas.  One Saturday he had two services.  One was a wedding.  The kids were somewhat disgusted with the horrible roads.  On that trip, I got about 25 bites on each leg from a mosquito that lives near a river.  My legs swelled up and itching was terrible but this was taken care of by antihistamine medicine.

 Unpaved roads in Brazil in the 1960's

 

Friday we were gone all day to different farm homes.  Charles fell off a wall and on to cement where coffee beans were drying.  He scraped his nose and forehead and has big scabs but we were glad he wasn't hurt worse.

 Clifford Biel at a Brazilian farm in the 1960's

The farm homes that we were at were nice.  These families live about 12 miles from here, half of the way on country roads, but they come here to church.  Sunday we went to other rural areas where he usually has service twice a month.  The roads are better than at the other rural areas but when it rains hard he doesn't go as it is too hard on the jeep and several don't have cars.  It was interesting to see where Cliff goes but three little children who aren't quiet in church has made me decide not to go again except for Bible study once a month in the largest area.  In the rural areas the women preferred to speak German amongst themselves.  Sunday Cliff will be officially installed by a pastor from Curitiba representing the German church of Brazil.  A choir of 25 is singing for the occasion.  I hope they will continue to sing every Sunday.  In the afternoon, the women are having a tea for Mother's Day.  Cliff has started a Wednesday service with Bible Study and a film but so far the attendance has been poor.

Rural Congregations in 1960's Brazil: 

We bought linoleum for the kitchen.  It is pretty.  The other day parts of it had paint eaten away when we gave our sink a lye treatment.  I was cleaning with rubber gloves and the pail was accidentally spilled.  Now we will move the rug so the spots won't be so noticeable.  We were surprised to see that a wall of the living room was removable in three parts.  Now we have a dining room.

Thanks for your card, Frank.  We were shocked to hear of Martin Luther King's death and yet I suppose it could have been expected even earlier.  We don't get the Time Magazine now but Andy Olsen's sent us a Newsweek on King's death.  We are waiting to see who will win the nominations for Presidential candidates.  Frankly, I can't see Bobby Kennedy as President but he seems to be popular.

Tomorrow our city celebrates its 21st birthday.  There is a parade and it's a holiday for this community.  The governor comes to dedicate some new buildings.  The Japanese ambassador will be here and a Brazilian marine band that took second place in the U.S. at a band exhibition.

Helen kissing the Brazilian flag at the parade.

Are your plans any more definite about moving?  How are you feeling, Marian?  Harvey wrote that Lisa has to have supports in her shoes due to poor arches.  I'm not surprised for her feet turned outwards.  Will she outgrow this or always need arch supports?

Helen is quite a talker now- says short sentences.  "Shut the door, it is mine."  She says Jesus, jelly, butter, etc.  She misses Rachel and Charles when they are at school 8am-11am, then she sleeps in the afternoon, so she doesn't play with them much until epm.

I went to the delivery room with the American teacher at the American School.  I helped her translate as her Portuguese is more limited than mine.  It was her first baby- total labor and delivery time was less than four hours.

Hope we get a nice long letter from you soon.

Love,

Donna and Joey

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!