Easter Letter, 1974

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 friends in Christ:

Greetings to you all!  Did you have a good Easter?  And, you mothers, was your Mother's Day a happy one, and bright?  A salute to you mothers!  A child's such a messy little thing, so slow to grow and learn.  It's born with a will full-blown, a gale wind that fills its sails yet has no captain to chart its course.  Slow, so slowly, by fits and starts through long slow years of creeping growth, the child, weaned, blends into his destiny.  Some call their mother blessed, whose years of youth and strength in the slow years, a mother's strength molded to the child's weakness.  And, then it's mind, a darkness into which, probing, pushing, come filtering the first weak tentative rays:  words the child hears, repeated, first empty sounds, that pattern themselves into its life, and then spill out in childish jargon groping for the sense of what's about.  And when the mother's there it's her wisdom that first lights its mind, putting the tiny hand to the wheel that steers life's course.

To all who have a mother's heart, this toast!  God grant the grace to have joy and peace in fitting His children to their destiny.

We've been having a busy time of it.  Some of the highlights:

At the Maringa church there was a record number of communicants on Good Friday:  96.

We dedicated a church in Ivaipora.  They have just a small congregation:  18 families.  However, they managed to build a very nice little church without any aid from outside the parish.

Until now we'd met in the home of a member.  I am temporarily taking care of the church and have been for the past two years.  We have services twice monthly, when possible.  Until then, the maximum they'd had was services six times a year.

At Borazopolis, which is on the same road, we had the special joy of seeing a family reunited which had been split by business dealings mixed with avarice and wine.  They all communed together on Holy Saturday.  The wounds heal slowly, they only get together under the sign of reconciliation: worship, in the name of Jesus.

Sunday school seems to have been rejuvenated in Maringa by moving the hour to the same as worship and calling on mature members as teachers.  About 35 are enrolled.  On Mother's Day they did a very nice program in the afternoon.

A new man has come into town: a Swiss who speaks English, French, German, Spanish, Swahili, and a little Portuguese.  He's an engineer and worked for many years in Africa, then came to South America and is "trying out" Maringa.  His driving interest seems to be making money and loneliness brings him to church.  He's an outspoken, rabid racist and and anti-Jewish.  He has been strongly influenced by a so-called "Jewish Manifesto".  Now this is where I want some help from some of you.  Who can tell me anything about a "Jewish Manifesto"?  I'd be much obliged.  The copy he's got was published in Spanish, in Argentina.

Right now I'm a little laid up with a cracked ankle-bone.  I'll have a cast on until the end of May.  coming soon after a bum knee makes me think I'll have to give up playing futebol de salao (court soccer) with the young adults.

We had very good participation in a Bible camp in February.  About 30 youth from the parish went.  Now we are looking forward to the retreat in July which we will be in charge of as it will be on a farm near here.  The farm belongs to a doctor and it is used mainly for retreats.  With the bunk beds, there is room for 75 people.  The theme will worship.

Helen's bladder problem was finally diagnosed and operated: a cyst near a urethra.  She was operated on in Sao Paulo by a surgeon considered to be one of the best urologists in the world, and is recovering well.  She is still taking medicine and has monthly urine check-ups in the nearby city of Londrina.  She has no more wetting in the daytime, but still needs diapers at night.

Rachel is doing much better in school lately, is as tall as her mother, has begun confirmation study, works on her stamp collection and is teaching English to a class of neighborhood children she got together.

Charles goes every day after school to a nearby park to visit the animals there.  His allergy to dust has been bothering him.  He is taking a vaccine by drops for six months which we hope will relieve the stuffed nose and sneezing.

Power to you all, in what's right.

Clifford Biel and family

P.S.  Farmers are hurting: soybeans are only $4 a bushel (30 kilos)

+++++++++++++ On the backside of the above, typed letter, a handwritten one to the Beiwel's:

Dear Frank and Marian:

Well, the last ones on my list!  I've been writing letters all yesterday and all day today, to my family and Donna's.  Today I was to have gone to a meeting in Joinville, traveling all night by bus each way.  But my foot swells to much yet when it's down, so I didn't go.  Instead, I've been sitting on the bed, listening to the record player and writing letters.

We gave Rachel a record for Christmas and enjoy it more than she does!  Andy Williams, "Alone Again".

You really shouldn't spend money sending candy every Christmas- We eat it all up and then - wait.  For the next Christamas!  We hope to be home for furlough for Christmas, '75.  We're talking about that.  It fits the kid's school vacation and they want to see SNOW!  and feel COLD!  Yek!  And, maybe everybody won't be so busy like they are in the summer.

Sounds like everybody is really skimping there in the States.  We're also pinched, but I think we'll break even this year.  The cost of living here has jumped 25% in three months while income has held steady.

Saturday we're going to Marilia (about four hours drive from here) for the silver wedding anniversary of our colleague there.  I'll be preaching, but what can you say to somebody who's been hitched that long?

There was a hilarious cartoon in TIME.  Gold Meir and Willy Brandt were sitting on a park bench.  He says to her, "If this were a week earlier, they'd call our meeting a summit conference."

A girl just stopped by and gave us an invitation to her wedding in the Catholic church.  Five years and she's never come to church here.  Her brother is Antonio Roberto, who is studying to be pastor (Lutheran).  Her mother is a spiritist.  She's marrying a Japanese.

Well, carry on.  Let us hear from you.

Yours,

Joey and family

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, 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

Easter Letter, 1972

Rural Preaching Point in Parana, Brazil, 1970's

Maringa, Parana

 April 11, 1972

Dear friends and brothers in Christ:

Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost greetings to you all!  I'd meant to get off a Christmas letter, but it just woudn't "jell".  So this letter will have a little "hash" flavor to it, a mixture of different things.

First, the gist of what was to be the Christmas letter:

Theme thought:  "They grew him old too soon, and when they turned again to look on him they beheld...  a babe still lying in a manger; God's mystery still intact."

They look on him, these people with their "hip-pocket god".

They have all the answers, they know all the truth, and so 

HURRY BABY, GROW.

There's a crisis on, you know.

There's a nation to be built, a world to be saved.  My house isn't paid for, and men are enslaved.

So they grab the baby and grow him up fast,

Flesh out his muscles with their Positive Thought,

Stand him on boxes so He towers over all.

And fill out his education with a transplant to His head:  

The latest in tape-recorders with the best that's been said.

NOW, DO YOUR THING, GOD--- we're waiting.

Well, wait.

Wait til the Babe grows up in his own good time,

Wait til He bends his finger-- and shatters our universe.

Wait til He grows tall-- so tall we see Him from our knees.

Wait til He speaks, and our words are stopped midcourse in wretched shame.

Wait, -- and look again at a God no man can hurry, no man can shape.

NOW, DO YOUR THING MAN---  God is waiting.

Worship.

News of the parish and of the church:

We had a rather intensive schedule during the Lenten season, but it was rewarding, too.  It began witha youth retreat in Cianorte during the weekend of Carnaval that ends Ash Wednesday.  Even though it rained cloudbursts every day, we had a blessed retreat.  A total of 75 young people participated.

Special services were held every night in different points of the parish.  Our theme may sound rather blatant to some ears, "Enemies that War Against our Soul (life with God)".  The enemies considered were Insubordination, Sensuality, Avarice, Vices, Satan, False Religion.  Did somebody groan?

Of the approximately 600 people who make up our parish, 225 communed on or about Good Friday.  On or about, because we have eight meeting places in the parish, the most distant being a 3-hour drive away.

 A rural German Lutheran family in Parana, Brazil, 1970's

I think where I felt the greatest joy was at a small rural community where the men had a long tradition of never communing.  Not too long ago we had a long talk about that and they became obedient to the Word of Christ.  However, we separated the communion from the worship service and have the communion just before the coffee and cake that always comes about the middle of the afternoon.  (Church is at 12:00 in the home of a member).  All who are confirmed gather around the table.  We have the service and then pass first the plate and then the chalice form person to person at the appropriate moment.

An old German lives there, sharp of mind, fingers gnarled and stiff like old iron hooks; he has been many things, including a communist.  Twice he's given me essays he wrote, one on what's wrong with Einstein's concept of space and the other on what's wrong with Einstein's concept of time.  Before, when we've had Communion, he's stayed home;  this time he came.  However, when we were ready to begin the Supper, he disappeared.

"Whup!  Wait a minute!  Where's Uncle August?" asks one of his nephews (who is already a grandfather).

"I think I saw him down under the orange trees."

"Well, we better get him, too."

Afterward, they are talking very freely during coffee about it (there are no whispered conversations in Keller.)

"Yes,"  allows Uncle August, "it's the first time I've taken Communion."  So, he hadn't finished confirmation in Germany.  Then he chuckles and says about the Supper, "but, I guess it didn't do any harm."  And, he seems somehow very satisfied with that summation.

Afterward, he slipped me one more essay he'd written:  this time on the "soul" and the "spirit".

Next weekend there will be a District Conference of the Church at which time our district will be subdivided into North and South.  The North, of which we are a part of, will have ten of the smallest and largest parishes of the church: smallest numerically, largest geographically.  All receive some kind of subsidy from the church and are multiple point parishes.

Significant and basic decisions will soon be made about the type of ministry which will be carried out here; whether it will be traditional, "worker-priest", self-serving, missionary or whatever.  Pray for us.

The Bible Institute in Londrinda now has 32 students doing the Bible Course while continuing with their secular studies.  

In Christ,

the Biels  (Clifford)

Family is well.

Letter to Marian and Frank, January 20th, 1971

Dear Marian and Frank,

I can't get my pen to work, so will peck away.  You will be happy to know that we got your books on Charles's birthday on the 15th.  Everyone was delighted and Charles found his two cats in the lovely cat book.  We saw the movie, "Doctor DoLittle" a long time ago.  It is an interesting book.  I started the book by Catherine Marshall and am enjoying it.  We have read only one of the condensed Reader's Digest- about the Maya family.  I have been busy reading books but also make Rachel read some to Helen.  A special thank you from all of us.

Mary wrote that Louie and Rosie have a boy born on my birthday.  Happy to hear the news and must write to congratulate them.

Thanks for the pictures.  It is the first time that we have seen Erik.  He has curly hair like Lisa had.  Marian and Lisa look very nice in the pictures.

You asked what we did on Christmas Day.  We went to a home where four families that are related got together.  It was a pot-luck dinner and very good.  It turned out to be a hot day.  We were pleased with the plays for the program that was held on Christmas Eve.   At 10:30 a visitor arrived at our home and stayed overnight.  She missed a bus to go to Cianorte.  We didn't know her before and found her to be very pleasant.  She was here this week on her way back to her home in Porto Alegre. 

Off and on, a lady who is 69 years old comes to our house, has slept here two nights and has had several meals.  She isn't quite right in her mind and none of her relatives in our country church want her for when they have tried to help she got the police to believe that they took money of hers and then the relatives had to pay.  she has been at an old folks' home in the capital of this state, but managed to get away.  She didn't have but one dress so I gave her one of mine in order to wash her dress.  The relatives know that she is staying at a home for transient people and that she comes here often but no one has done anything about it.  The lady never married and has only nieces and nephews close by.  Very sad but she talks a lot and I only understand half as he sometimes puts German in with her Portuguese. 

Mary wrote that they might get a humidifier instead of a drier.  No one has said how much we should send or did someone pay for us?

While we were in Londrina for our spiritual retreat we took the children to see the "Love Bug" about a car called Herbie.  It was cute- showing how he could win races but when his owner didn't pay attention to him, he would have temper tantrums.  "Ben, the Bear" is here this week.  We saw it in the States almost four years ago and they don't remember it. 

I heard Minnesota got a lot of snow this month.  We have had a lot of rain causing flood over the main highway to our capital, so barges have had to take people and small cars across.  Today was one of our hottest days- about 100- right now the children are swimming in the rain, or rather, downpour.

We have a seminary student coming for part of the time when we will be gone.  Now Joey is busy with Vacation Bible School in two churches.  Two girls from the Bible Institute are helping.  Also, Joey has to go to Cianorte (1 hour drive) often as he is on   commission for our mission public school.  Next month is a five day Bible camp right before Lent starts.  Starting next month I will visit women that seldom or never come to Women's Bible meetings which start again in March when summer vacation is over.  Rachel and Charles have off from school until February 9th.  I try to take them swimming several times a week.  Rachel knows how to swim, Charles will dive from the shallow side and can swim a short distance and Helen likes the water, but won't put her head under.

I have asked my Dad to get three second hand sleeping bags or air mattresses.  We won't be staying at any mission home as those are for one year furloughs.  They would give us money to rent a furnished apartment but we hope that won't be necessary as we hope to stay with our brothers, sisters, and parents.  I think the only deputation will be visiting churches in Brooklyn and Columbus, Ohio on the way to Minnesota and then later we will go to Havre, Montana, perhaps by train as the latter pays for half of our support.

We just heard that we will be having physicals at the Mayo Clinic when we are on furlough.  Apparently, the clinic was happy to have the opportunity to study those that live in tropical or semi-tropical climates.  There are many types of worms here that they have never heard of in Minnesota.  Charles just had a blood test, an X-ray and gets hysterical whenever anything is done.  He had a sore muscle in his leg and the doctor ordered tests, but everything was normal.  I don't know how it started, but he is the worst when it comes to shots.  Three people have to hold him down.

Joey is teaching Charles how to play chess.  The cards you sent we played once showing how they had to follow suit and the highest card takes the trick.  But, we didn't explain about hearts yet.  While in Londrina we got a memory game consisting of pairs.  Most are animals, fruits, and different designs.  Usually, we play with about 40 pairs at once- all are turned over and mixed up.  So far, Charles has been the winner.  I remember in what area one was turned up that I want, but I don't do well.  Even Helen does as well as I do much of the time and she doesn't even pay attention to the cards that are turned up.  They are calling me to play a game now.

Love,

Donna and Joey

Sorry but this typewriter jumps and we haven't been able to get it fixed.

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, December 6, 1963

 Christmas Card 1963, Loanda, Brazil

Dear Marian,

Greetings from the hot interior of Brazil.  We have been having a terrific hot spell.  Rachel has a lot of heat rash.  We bought a fan which we appreciate very much even though the electricity goes off at 11 p.m.

My ankles have been swollen which sometimes makes it hard to walk.  I had an x-ray which ruled out twins.  The baby hasn't been as active as Rachel was so Cliff says we will probably have a boy.  If our baby is born here and not in Londrina during the conference, we will have to take our buggy to the hospital for they don't have a nursery.  We also have to supply sheets, diapers, blankets, etc.  for the baby which is probably just as well for we will know the things will be clean.

We were very shocked when we heard of Jack Kennedy's death.  When our neighbors told us I asked if he died of a heart attack.  We heard the details from Voice of America.  One of our neighbors said that 99% of the people want Brazil's president out of office and they wouldn't be surprised if he were assassinated.

We are going to spend Thanksgiving with the Olsen's in Cianorte, a four hour drive on poor roads, but since it rained for six days before, the roads were unfit for driving.  This last week we visited Jack Aamot in Paranavai, a two hour drive from here.  When we were there we bought toys for Christmas for Rachel.  I gave her some of them now.  She especially enjoys the buggy for her doll.

 Rachel with Doll, Loanda, Parana, Brazil.  1963

A Baptist couple from England will be moving here in March.  they were our back door neighbors for three months in Campinas but we didn't get to know them very well.  The lady is very quiet and was sick with morning sickness, thus I hardly got to know her.  As of now, we are the only foreigners here.  We have visited with a German couple in a neighboring town, Santa Isabel.  The wife speaks English quite well but her husband doesn't know any English and since we don't know German, we converse with him in Portuguese.  This German couple is strongly Catholic.

We had to buy water for a few days.  I was happy to see it was for only a few days for I figured that it would cost $12 a month for our small family.  Some of the people in this town have been buying water for months.

Rachel is starting to say words that include two words such as horseshoe, sun suit, watermelon, butterfly, etc.  She has learned some new Portuguese words but most are English for she seldom plays with other children.  Rachel gave me a scare one day when she fell from the top of the sofa-chair and hit her head hard.  When I picked her up, she couldn't breath.  I gave her mouth to mouth respiration and she was running around within 5 minutes.  I thought she was dying but she probably was unconscious for a few seconds.

 "Bye, Bobby..."  Rachel in the car.

Andy Olsen's from Cianorte visited us one weekend in November.  It was good to see them for we got to know them well when we were in language school together.  When they were here, our dog, Bobby, jumped the gate and followed the car about half ways to the neighboring town.  We didn't stop for we had just enough time to get to  church and I thought he would find his way home but we haven't seen him for three weeks.  Rachel still talks about him.  We are going to get another dog after conference in January.

Rachel Biel with dog, Bobby, in Loanda, Parana, Brazil

1963

My small women's group in church will be making sacks of goodies for the Christmas program.  Many poor children will come.  My group of women think Cliff and I should go around and ask stores to give donations and other people such as some Germans who supposedly are Lutherans.  We don't agree with their idea and are going to keep it as work done by the church.

I went to the doctor to get my left ear irrigated for i couldn't hear in that ear due to excess ear wax.  We have been feeling fine and hope the same is true with you.

Donna ends here, Joey starts here.

I suppose that you'd like to hear a word about our work, too.  Right now it doesn't amount to much more than study (language and sermons and preparing Bible studies).  Naturally, I have plans for the future which include a lot of visitation and open-air meetings.  Right now I feel that preparation is of great importance.  This isn't to say that I've done nothing "evangelistic".  However, my contacts outside of the already organized work have been limited.

The coming conference in Londrina should be a highly decisive one. The main topic of conversation will probably be about our relationship with the German Lutheran Church of Brasil.  They have a critical shortage of pastors and are hampered by the usual diseases of the State Church and of the tensions of a transplanted culture.  In this case, they have little regard for reaching the Brazilians, and they try to maintain the German language and customs.  The young people, however are rebelling.  Doesn't all of this sound just a little familiar, to us in the United States?  Watch for developments.

Guess that's it for now.  I feel a little like the hypothetical man who was always promising to write more later, and on his dying day called for paper and pencil and scratched, "Sorry I didn't write much before, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Another note from Donna:

We sent slides to our sponsoring church and put Saetersdal on the list so maybe you can see them.  We are sending a tape to you folks and hope it gets there for Christmas.  One side is mostly of Rachel.

We wrote and asked your parents if they would like to invite a Brazilian girl to their home for a weekend.  She is living with missionaries on furlough in Northfield.  We know the girl and thought some weekend you could pick her up on your way home.  This girl speaks English well and is going to high school in Northfield.

Did you contact the Peterson's at the Seminary?  The Landvik's in Northfield said they will bring anything for us when they come in July.

Love,

Donna, Joey, and Rachel

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 to Marian and Frank, March 23, 1969

 Mom, Charles, Rachel, Velvet and Helen

Dear Santa,

Your presents arrived safely and we thank you very much.  We paid just $.50 duty on it.  the children were thrilled to get the package.  I just finished reading the book you sent and enjoyed it.  I often saw Orthodox Jews in New York.  I learned a lot from the book and thought if only we as Christians would spend that much time studying the Bible!  It was very impressive to see how much time and effort they put into study of their holy books, however, I can't imagine the Jew of today doing as much.  Joey hasn't had time to read it yet as it came 2 days ago.

Last Tuesday Helen started vomiting in the morning but didn't vomit until night time, but then I called a doctor as I was worried of dehydration.  We are having another heat spell- 92 to 94 every day, very dry, and terribly dirty.  The doctor said she had pus on her tonsils.  I gave her 2 shots and other medications.  She is fine now but we can't get her to eat so I'm giving her Vitamin C orally.  She had worms and took medicine for that.  In all, she has lost about 2 pounds - her face and abdomen aren't so chubby anymore.  She likes to go around singing, "I'm a little flower of Jesus, open your mouth to sing and close your eyes to pray."  She dearly loves the 4 cats we have now- acquired most of them this last month.

Charles is busy getting into everything imaginable.  He is terribly stubborn.

Rachel enjoys the Brazilian school from 8 to 11:30 the from 1to 3 she studies with me.  In 2 more months we will be done with her correspondence course then in August she will go to the American school.

 Mom home schooling Rachel.

A lady in our church teaches sewing.  I told her starting in July that I would like to study sewing.  It would be 2 hours every day- hopefully I wouldn't have to go more than 2 to 3 months.  I hope to make some shorts on my own but I need more practice.

 Mom sewing.

For a week after carnival I was without a maid as she ran away with the husband of the lady who cleaned the church on Saturdays.  They were neighbors.  A neighbor lost her maid during carnival when she ran away with her boyfriend.  Now I have a married lady who for $20 a month works 7:30 to 4:30 or 5:00.  She lives far away so if we want to go out at night (which is very seldom as Joey has most meetings or church services at night) then a girl from our church will come.

Today I took the children to see "Uncle Tom's Cabin".  It was over their heads but I tried to explain some of it to Rachel.  Joey just got back from church services out of town- 9:30 PM and decided to go to the movie- first one we have gone to in about 4 months.

We just got a letter from Harvey.  He says Frank has been traveling a lot.  Sounds like there will be quite a flood this year.  When we were home there wasn't hardly any snow.

Starting tomorrow a 23 yr old Brazilian lad will start to live with us for 1.5 months while he awaits his papers to go to Germany for a year.  He is not of German descent but has spent one year in the States and now wants to go to Germany.  He is from our church in Londrina and his sister teaches English here in this city.  They both speak English very well as she lived in Londrina with some of our school teachers.

Love,

Donna and Joey

 Donna Biel

Guitar Man

This is either Maringa or Londrina...  I always loved the way this guy is standing there in the corner, so intent...  

Maringa ou Londrina?  Sempre gostei desta foto...  O cara esta ai no canto, tao intento...

Rachel/Raquel

Gene Foehringer, Man of God

The guy in the poncho is Gene Foehringer, one of the American missionaries who had an unforgettable presence. As a child and as a teen, when Gene was around you felt like the world was alive. I lived with his daughter Ruthie in Campinas for a year and her mother was the accountant for the hostel, so I often saw her. All of them were fun, interesting, beautiful people. After we left in 1980, Gene stayed in Brazil to work with street kids in Sao Paulo. Several years later he had surgery and the blood was HIV positive. He died of AIDS in the United States, something I have never been able to accept very well. That such a man should suffer such a terrible death... But, we are hostage to our bodies and our environment, and although I do believe in the healing power of God, I think most of us are subject to the elements around us. I feel honored to have known him.

O cara com o poncho e o Pastor Eugenio Foehringer. Acho que serviram por um tempo no Rio, mas depois viveram por muitos anos em Sao Paulo. O Pastor Eugenio tinha o dom da vida. Ele entrava numa sala e todo mundo acordava porque ele tinha aquela presenca rara e magnetica. Depois que nos voltamos aos Estados Unidos, ele comecou a trabalhar com meninos da rua em Sao Paulo. Varios anos depois, ele contratou a SIDA numa transfusao de sangue num hospital. Morreu uma morte dolorosa e injusta. Ainda me choco com essa memoria. Mas, me sinto honrada em ter conhecido este homem maravilhoso!

Rachel/Raquel