Tu és fiel, Senhor

As the wedding procession began last Friday night at Oitava Igreja Presbiteriana de Belo Horizonte (the Eighth Presbyterian Church of Belo Horizonte, the city’s largest Presbyterian church), strings and flute played the familiar music of a well-known Brazilian hymn, Tu és Fiel, Senhor. We know the hymn by its English title, Great is Thy Faithfulness. The Portuguese translation of the chorus is “You are faithful, Lord, you are faithful, Lord. Day by day with unending blessings, your mercy sustains and guards me. You are faithful, Lord, you are faithful, Lord.”

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 Update from Brazil

Many of you who have been friends of the Belo-Beaver partnership will recognize the names of Junio and Wellington, the sons of João and Silvia Bessa.  João is an elder at Igreja Presbiteriana.  He and Silvia moved to Favela da Ventosa not long after they left their home and family in the interior in search of the better life they have yet to find.  Junio is now 18, Wellington is 16 and their younger sister, Kelly, is 12.  The children know no other life than life in the favela.

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You often hear reports from IPJA, our sister church in Brazil, right after one of our mission teams has returned from Belo Horizonte. We recently received this email from Pastor Ronilton that gives you a feel for life in the church at other times as well. Ronilton writes: (more…)

Our just completed Brazil Mission trip was the sixth such trip and from the first trip on, our team has used the last three days of the two weeks in Brazil for rest, reflection and debriefing at a “hotel fazenda.” A hotel fazenda is a rural retreat on a working ranch that usually includes hotel-type rooms, a dining room that serves an abundance of traditional Brazilian food and a variety of recreational activities. Initially we thought of the fazenda experience as primarily for our team members – a transition time from the intensity of urban ministry to life back in Beaver. Five years ago, we included only team members and Pastor Robson and his family. Each year thereafter we have been able to add a few more Brazilians, key leaders in the church and our Vacation Bible School or other programs, to the list. The inclusion of the Brazilians has expanded our ministry as we have three more days to relate and share and to thank those who have worked so hard in our time together. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week 20 Brazilians, most of them from the favela, joined our 16 team members at the fazenda. (more…)

Geraldo lived all his life in Belo Horizonte and all of his adult life in the Jardim America Biarro, specifically in a tired little set of rooms tucked off a narrow steep alley, Beco Edna, in Favela da Ventosa in the hilly southern part of the city.

Geraldo was a stone mason by trade and when he could get work, he earned enough to provide food and clothing for his wife Jendira and their three young boys, Leandro, Leonardo and Luiz. But there wasn’t always work to be gotten and like many men in the favela, Geraldo sometimes allowed himself too get a little to close to the “marginals,” the petty thieves and the foot soldiers in the drug wars that erupt in all the favelas from time to time. (more…)