A letter from Dorothy Gartrell in Brazil
June 2012
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Mother's Day in Brazil is a very important holiday and has taught us a lot this year. We work with an organized church, First Church, which has about 20-25 people who attend regularly, and we are starting a new congregation in our neighborhood of Sacramenta. Five adults and 10-15 children participate there. Unfortunately Sacramenta is not known to be a quiet and peaceful neighborhood. Some of the folks have little education, no jobs, and a violent lifestyle. Drugs, child abuse and robbery are there. Thankfully our congregation is tucked in an area where there is little violence. The children who come to church are happier. The first night we were there we met 6 children on an old couch outside in someone's yard. The children smiled for the camera but had very low self-esteem. As they have come to realize they are loved by us and by God, things have changed in their lives.
Six of the Sacramenta children during our first visit there
Everyone in Brazil has a mother, be she a mother by birth or a grandmother, sister, godmother, aunt, or someone who has taken a child in. They are all mothers and very dear to the child, which makes Mother's Day such a special holiday. First Church was celebrating its 30th anniversary that day, so the Sacramenta congregation couldn't have its regular evening service. Instead Sacramenta held its Mother's Day service on Saturday night. The children sang a Mother's Day song, did a short presentation, then joyfully sang and did the motions to the choruses we sing each week, and Gordon gave a short talk. After the service we had refreshments. Mothers always receive gifts from private and city schools, but not from state schools. Mothers who attend large churches also receive gifts. Most of the children from church attend state schools, so their mothers had never received a gift. For the first time a number of mothers came to a worship service and were given a demitasse cup with a sentimental message. Before we began working with the children, they would never have stood up in front of a group of people, but they happily participated, and their families enjoyed the service. Most of the mothers had never seen their children participate in any type of presentation. Later when I visited a mother she told me that her 5th grade son's teacher was pleased that he was reading better and had spoken out loud in class for the first time, so she knew he was listening and understood the material they were discussing.
The Sacramenta children during the Mother's Day Worship Service
First Church could not celebrate Mother's Day in their usual manner as it was their monthly breakfast and there was no morning worship. The 30th anniversary was celebrated with a special worship that evening. The second Sunday of each month they have breakfast during the Sunday school hour. During Sunday school I teach a 5th and two 8th graders. There are no high school or elementary age children in the church. We created a way to celebrate Mother's Day during breakfast. The young people agreed to do a small presentation about the importance of mothers and how they loved their mothers. These young people live with their grandmothers, who serve as their mothers. They became so excited about doing their presentation, they decided to make cards for the 11 moms and extra ones for visitors, too. We met two evenings that week to work on the cards, practice the presentation, and learn two new songs they would sing. After Gordon presented a talk on the joys and responsibilities of motherhood, the youth sang and did their presentation. One of the youth created a power point of the mothers with their daughters and/or children and grandchildren. We also gave them small demitasse cups.
The young people's excitement led to their suggestion that we meet Tuesday evenings during the adult Bible study. The wanted to learn more about the Bible. Unfortunately their Biblical knowledge is very limited—whether a book is in the New or the Old Testament, etc. During Sunday school we study material directly from the Bible, but our Tuesday night meetings are more like a youth group in the United States. We read and talk about Biblical passages and do fun activities and games to help them reinforce the passages more solidly. We also talk about their faith and Christian values. One area of our conversations is about their Christian values and how or if they are practicing them in their daily lives. These ideas are asked and suggested through activities such as challenges, competition and other creativity. They are tenderhearted and yearn to know more about having Christ in their lives.
Please forgive us if we haven't answered your letters! Communicating via email is the best way to reach us. When we moved into our house we sent many people our address. For two months we received only bills. Even though the post office isn't close, we decided we MUST rent a box. In two months we have received five cards between Mother's Day and two separate birthdays. Hopefully things will improve. Our snail mail address is
Gordon and Dorothy Gartrell
Caixa Postal 4037
66113-970 Belem, PA Brazil
Please continue to use our personal email address or our PC(USA) email address (in the link below). We will receive your letters and as quickly as possible respond.
If you would like to contribute financially to our work, the PC(USA) has set up accounts for us. You may send salary support to DMS D506355 or ECO E200489, or work funds to ECO E863544 (see the link below). We are thankful for your support through prayer, giving and interest.
Mother's Day taught us that working with children in the same city can lead down very different paths and that even with one title, Evangelism and Leadership Development, the Lord calls us in various directions.
In Christ,
Dorothy and Gordon Gartrell
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, Brazil, p. 27-28
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