Presbyterian Mission Agency

A letter from Bob Butterfield in the U.S., retiring from service in Portugal

April 2015 - Tearful Departure

Dear Friends in Mission,

Keiko and I have just (April 21) returned to the U.S.  We want to thank you all again for the loving support you gave our work in Portugal and also share with you some of the best reasons to be actively involved in mission.

In the four and a half years we spent working with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal, we did our best to help meet the church’s needs at the national, regional, and local level, and that meant our being engaged in a whole variety of activities.  But at no time did we think that our contribution was so special.  In fact, we often felt that whatever we were doing, a Portuguese pastor + spouse could do much better, and that the two congregations I served as teaching elder were not getting all the pastoring they really should have been getting from me.

Imagine our surprise, then, when the farewell parties for our departure in April 2015 began at Christmas 2014 and continued non-stop until April 19.  During that four-month stretch our parishioners invited us to Sunday dinner every single week, and each time people killed the fatted calf (or piglet) for us.  The worship services followed a similar pattern.  When, at the conclusion of worship, I asked if there were any announcements, someone would stand up and tearfully testify to the impact we had had on their lives, and then we all cried and cried some more.  And in the last few weeks before our departure the crying, kissing, and hugging grew more and more intense.  In short, Keiko and I have never before been cried over, kissed over, or fussed over quite that much.

A letter from Bob Butterfield serving in Portugal

February 2015 - A Positive Difference

Dear Friends in Mission,

The sky is blue today in Figueira da Foz, the winter rains have stopped for now, and the breeze off the Atlantic has lost some of its chill.  Keiko and I send you  our most spring-like greetings as we thank you again for your strong support for this mission and ask you to look for ways to continue in partnership with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal after Keiko and I have had to depart.  But first let’s get caught up with what’s been happening lately.

In December the Presbyterian and Methodist churches in this the Central Region got together as usual to do a series of Christmas cantatas, accompanied by seven horns, two clarinets, two guitars, and a keyboard.  This is a wonderful fellowship-building experience, not just for the performers but also for the audiences.  But this year I saw something I hadn’t noticed before: Even though the music we do is rather good, the audience doesn’t look happy.  In fact, at one of our concerts a large number of people arrived early to get seats and listen to us rehearse.  And as I looked out over the audience during the rehearsal, I saw nothing but the saddest expressions.  I asked a colleague about that, and she said that for many Portuguese Christmas is just not a happy time.  It’s when people most miss loved ones who have died or emigrated—every year virtually the entire class of university graduates emigrates to find jobs—and those feelings of loss are so strong as to be downright debilitating.  So we do these cantatas to show the power of life over death, to give people hope, and to rescue them from their melancholy.  And we pray that it works.

A letter from Bob Butterfield serving in Portugal

October 2014 - A Portuguese Thanksgiving

Dear Friends in Mission,

Keiko and I send you our warmest autumn greetings from Portugal.  Once again we thank you all for your support.

By the time you read this letter, we’ll all be busy preparing for Advent and Christmas.  But first Keiko and I are eager to tell you about what happened in our congregation in Alhadas October 19 when we celebrated the Portuguese version of Thanksgiving.

There is no national day of thanksgiving here, but every Presbyterian congregation picks a Sunday when people are asked to bring their homegrown fruits/vegetables, nuts, wine, arts and crafts, cakes and cookies, homemade clothes or whatever as part of their offering, and then after the worship service all these things are auctioned off, with the proceeds going to local charities. 

What surprised us so pleasantly was that the sanctuary was filled with all sorts of people who are members of other churches, especially Roman Catholics, or people who never attend any church.  Typically these are people who don’t have much in the way of material possessions and have to work hard to have something to bring to this festival.  It would be wonderful, of course, if these people all wanted to join our congregation, but that’s probably not what they had in mind.

A letter from Bob Butterfield serving in Portugal

August 2014 - Good News and GREAT News

Dear friends in mission,

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ!  Unless you have been completely cut off from news reports this summer and are unaware of the horrific violence taking place around the world, you, like Keiko and me, probably feel a great need right now for grace and peace and for some good news.  Fortunately, we do have some good news for you at least about God’s mission in Portugal.

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal asked me recently to write a book on what it means to be an active, useful, and committed Christian, and I’ve been at work on that all summer.  So far 8 chapters are complete out of a planned total of 20.  Each chapter presents the basics about some topic and then asks the readers to analyze three or four case studies on the basis of what they just learned.  To make sure the material is understandable and effective, I test it out in a small group, get their suggestions, and make adjustments.

A letter from Bob Butterfield in Portugal

June 2014 

Dear Friends in Mission,

Keiko and I greet you from Portugal and thank you for your ongoing support of our work here.  Today I want to share with you something that happened to us on the Friday before Palm Sunday. 

When we returned from itineration in October 2013 we met a friendly, middle-aged couple who had started worshiping in the church we serve in Alhadas.  The husband, José, was especially outgoing and sang with a magnificent bass voice.  In fact, he had used that amazing voice for 30 years as leading actor in the local theater company.  So everyone in town knew him and loved him. 

"The courtyard was crammed with people elbow to elbow."

In early November we began rehearsals for the Christmas cantata, and to my delight José and his wife wanted to be in it.  They were experienced singers, but many of the other singers, drawn from every Presbyterian and Methodist congregation in central Portugal, had never sung in parts.  So we needed lots of rehearsal.  That meant standing on stage for two or three hours at a stretch and endlessly correcting before the music finally started to sound right.  We rehearsed twice a week for a month and a half, and José and his wife never missed a rehearsal.  In fact they smiled throughout, obviously had a great time, and sang their guts out.