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A letter from Bob Butterfield serving in Portugal

October 2014 - A Portuguese Thanksgiving

Dear Friends in Mission,

This is our own Rosa, who every year acts as auctioneer at our thanksgiving auction.

 

Methodist Bishop Sifredo Teixeira leading his C&W band at the Presbyterian-Methodist Day of Prayer and Song in Coimbra on September 27

 

Children's choir at Presbyterian-Methodist fest.

 

Angolan-Methodist choir: call and response singing with lots of marching

 

Methodist Pastor Eduardo Conde leads us in singing. That's Bob on the left.

 

Long-time IEPP Pastor José Salvador and his wife Alice in theirkitchen in Palmela. Keiko and I spent the night in their home recently in order to attend a two-day meeting in Lisbon.

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. 

Instead they were just happy to have the opportunity to do something genuinely charitable to help local people, and they wanted to show their solidarity with us for sponsoring this event and of course with the folks we’re trying to help.  The presence of so many people from other churches gave our service an ecumenical flavor it doesn’t usually have, and the presence of non-churched people shows us that, even if they may not want to join a church, they are still looking for a way to show their love.  In any case, we thank God they came. 

At the auction our own members, as well as the people from other churches or no church, made high bids for everything, so that they ended up making generous cash contributions in addition to the items they donated.  And it was all done in high spirits: charity that’s fun.  Watching relatively poor people give generously to charity and do it with obvious pleasure was an inspiring experience for Keiko and me.   

The dozen or so Presbyterian and Methodist churches here in the Central Region are already into the third week of rehearsals for our Christmas Cantata.  It’s planned mainly by Pastor Maria Eduarda (Nini) Titosse and her husband, José, and it includes the participation of the horn section from the Philharmonic Orchestra in Alhadas. The plans this year are for seven or eight public performances.  The last two years audiences, both Protestant and Catholic, really loved what we did and came out in good numbers to hear us.  Keiko and I especially enjoy interacting with people from so many different congregations.  

At the October meeting of the Executive Commission of the IEPP (Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal), Keiko and I were shocked and saddened to learn that one of the IEPP’s most effective pastors submitted a letter of resignation.  He’s young, gifted, and full of promise, and the Executive Commission, which wants very much for him to change his mind, asked me to write him a pastoral letter.  I threw myself into it and was helped by the fact that some years ago I went through a similar crisis.  Anyway, I wrote him a very warm, collegial letter, and we’re all hoping it has the desired effect.  As you can well imagine, the IEPP is faced with some really tough problems, and these can be overwhelming for any pastor.  Among other things, I told this pastor that Christ calls us to stay and fight.  In any case, the IEPP was already short of pastors, and if this pastor goes ahead with his resignation, our situation will be even more difficult.

Already this fall I’ve attended two meetings of the CPEF committee, which is responsible for adult ed, continuing ed and Sunday School ed.  The book I just finished writing will be used to train presbyters and deacons, which the IEPP badly needs.  The most interesting part of this committee’s plans is to build a library within the walls of the IEPL (Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Lisbon), Rua Tomás da Anunciação.  The library, with 14,000 books no one else in Portugal has, will be dedicated to João Ferreira de Almeida, the scholar who made the first translation of the Bible into Portuguese.  The library will be a center for religious studies and lectures. 

In September all the Methodists and Presbyterians in Portugal got together for a day of prayer and praise at the University of Coimbra Auditorium.  People bussed in from all over.  Singing groups of many styles were there: everything from Angolan choirs singing and marching to African freedom songs to bands doing Portuguese-style country western/gospel.  This gathering gave impetus to the growing synergy between Methodists and Presbyterians and was just a wonderful day of Christian fellowship for people of all ages.

On October 25 the IEPP will be firming up plans for an International Youth Event to be held here in July 2015.  Churches in various countries have been good to the IEPP, and the IEPP is delighted to be able to do something good with and for them.  Here in the Central Region we have the Ecumenical Center (Quinta dos Vais), a great place for camping and close to the ocean too.  It should be a very good experience for high school–age youth.  Let us know if you’d like to send someone.  More on that later.

Keiko and I thank you again for your financial support, your prayers, your letters and e-mails.  We need and appreciate all of it, and we want you to feel good knowing that the IEPP has made significant progress, especially in the last two and a half years.  Your support has made a real difference in this Presbyterian church.

We ask God’s richest blessing on you in Advent and at Christmas.

Yours in Christ’s service,
Bob and Keiko Butterfield

The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, Europe, p. 306
Read more about Bob and Keiko Butterfield's ministry

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Individuals: Give online to E200450 for Bob and Keiko Butterfield's sending and support
Congregations: Give to D506098 for Bob and Keiko Butterfield's sending and support
Churches are asked to send donations through your congregation’s normal receiving site (this is usually your presbytery).

Double Your Impact!
A group of committed donors has pledged to match all gifts sent by individuals for mission personnel support now through December 31, 2014, up to $137,480.  This means your gift today will be matched by a gift to support mission personnel around the world, wherever the need is greatest. We invite you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to double the impact of your gift. Thank you!

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