A letter from Virginia Gartrell in Brazil
December 2001
Dear Friends,
Summer is almost here! In Brazil, Christmas is a summer festival! The school year is ending, the days are hot and bright, and the long evenings are just right for playing outside and then watering the grass (if it hasn't rained in the afternoon!).
At Bethel Children's Home our little ones enjoy the growing anticipation of the special events that come with Christmas and with summer. Groups of people come to visit and bring something either to the children themselves or to the Home—a sack of beans or rice, new sheets, or a gift for each one.
The week before Christmas there will be a Thanksgiving Service with Santa Claus arriving at the end. Each child will meet the person or group of people who are their sponsors this Christmas and have provided new clothes, shoes, and a few other gifts to outfit them for the new year. Usually they open everything together and the givers get to share in the joy and excitement of each child who is receiving this special attention and provision.
This has been an eventful year! In January two boys turned 18 and left Bethel. Anderson went to live with his mother and Davino is studying at a Bible institute to prepare for full-time Christian work. The next big event was a wedding as Rosemeire married Wilson in a lovely church service that they had been dreaming of for years. It was a nice celebration that brought together houseparents who had been here during all of Rosemeire's time with us. She was a bride with four sets of parents to share the honors and tasks of sending her off. It was a very busy time but satisfying as we have seen their home established.
As that excitement subsided we began to receive new children. Four little boys arrived one by one (and one little sojourner stayed only a week) with all the challenges of seeing to their health and other needs. Damaris, the boys' housemother, has had her hands full, especially with little Wilson who was 18 months when he arrived. The girls' household was already full, but Luana whose brother, Bruno, is with us was transferred because they missed each other so much. In October we finally moved into our new location. The two new houses are lovely, grass is growing in the yard, and we're working out the glitches that come with any new house. After things are working it is hard to remember why it was so difficult and complicated to get them that way! When we get the children settled into neighborhood schools next February we will be able to concentrate on other matters, rather than spending so much time ferrying kids back and forth.
Just as we were moving we received a call and visit from relatives of our oldest girl, Valeria. She has been with us for nearly nine years, and her siblings were adopted. She turned 18 in June, but she is definitely not ready to be out on her own. Her brothers and sister visited here with their American father in August, and they had a good time together. Now her paternal grandmother wanted to see her! My colleague Cassia and I went with her to meet a family that was only a shadowy memory. They live on the outskirts of our city, quite near the special school that Valeria has been attending for the past two years that has finally enabled her to read simple words and do many everyday tasks. Over the past several weeks she has spent weekends with various family members—she has a half brother that none of the children remembered—and when she is ready she will choose one of the families and live with them.
We try to be available to those who have been with us at Bethel Home and may need prayers, counsel, encouragement, and even some material help. Last week my friend Marco Aurélio came by my house to tell me that his second daughter has just arrived. He was at Bethel Home when Cassia and I first arrived 10 years ago. Now Marco is 23 years old, married, and lives nearby. He has worked in construction, but the economic crunch has hit hard and he is having a very hard time finding a way to support his growing family. Marco has sisters, but no parents, and he quit school and went to work when he was 16. Now we talked about organizing his priorities when he does have a little cash and I urged him to get into a training program that will give him more options of employment.
The central theme of Christmas remains the same summer or winter and gives meaning and joy to our work with these "wee ones" who grow into men and women with continuing needs. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only begotten Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn. 1:14). "We love because he first loved us" (I Jn. 4:19).
May God's truth and grace bless you this Christmas season.
Virginia Gartrell
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 258
