Featured Story
October-November 2005
Rebuilding
Shattered Lives in Brazil
Over the
past 30 years, a dream and a burden of love to build a
family facility for abandoned children in Brazil was passed
on from one to another. While the vision evolved over that
time, it never waned in strength. Today that vision is
becoming a reality, as Scott and Becky Joellenbeck have
answered God's call and relocated to Brazil to walk in God's
path of building children's homes with foundations of His
love.
The story
begins with Scott and Michelle Toth, pastors and area base
leaders with Project Amazon (PAZ), a church planting mission
in the Amazon Basin in Brazil. In the mid-1970s, Scott began
his missionary career working in an orphanage in southern
Brazil. During the years in the orphanage, God placed it on
Scottīs heart to one day start a family-oriented home for
abandoned children. In the years that followed, as Scott and
Michelle became church planters, Scottīs vision and burden
of love for assisting abandoned children never left;
however, the responsibilities as pastor of a rapidly growing
church and overseer of many church plants precluded him from
starting a children's home himself.
In 2001,
Scott Joellenbeck participated in a short-term visit to
Brazil with his church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship
located in Grove City, Ohio. During the visit, Scott Toth
took the team to visit the childrenīs home property. Toth
explained to the team about the plight of many, many
abandoned children in Brazil, the lack of care available and
how many ended up on the street. The burden of love that
Scott Toth had for the children was then passed to Scott
Joellenbeck. Upon returning to Ohio after the trip, Scott
and his wife Becky both began feeling the call to missions,
and eventually to work with children.
In August
2003, Scott and Becky answered a call to become directors of
the children's home in Castanhal in partnership with the
Tothsī and their church. However, Project Amazon (PAZ), a
church planting organization, desired another organization
with experience in operating children's homes to assist in
the operation and oversight of the home. By early 2004, a
working partnership was formed between Project Amazon, Arms
of Love and Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Grove City,
Ohio. The children's home in Castanhal, Brazil was to be the
fifth home under the umbrella of Arms of Love.
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Later that
year, Robert Benson, president of Arms of Love, met the
Joellenbecks and the Toths in Castanhal for planning
purposes and to investigate properties. As a result of their
search, a 30-acre parcel of land several miles outside
Castanhal was selected. The property, now known as Sitio
Shalon, was purchased with funds provided by the Vineyard
Christian Fellowship in Grove City and also Arms of Love.
The
development on the property currently includes a caretaker's
home, a swimming pool, an outdoor shelter with a BBQ pit,
and a spring-fed pond. Many types of fruit trees and
sufficient acreage will provide numerous possibilities for
contributing resources to the home.
At
the time of the purchase, there was another home on the
property that was planned as the directorsī home. In the
process of making some modifications to the house, it was
discovered that the original construction of the walls and
roof were unsafe. The decision was made to raze this
structure and rebuild the house correctly. This construction
is currently in progress so that Scott and Becky and their
son, Trevor, can move into the house by the end of 2005.
Budgets
have been established for the initial phases of the project.
The first phase will require approximately $50,000 to
prepare the property for further development and to rebuild
the director's home. In the next phase, the first duplex
will be build to house two children's home "families," one
for girls and one for boys. The total cost for the first two
children's homes is $80,000. Rebuilding the caretakersī home
and improvement to the driveway will cost an additional
$18,000.
The
children's homes are designed to be a place for rebuilding
lives in a family setting where Godīs love is at the center.
Children will be introduced to the "Father of the
fatherless" (Psalm 68:5). Through the love of Jesus and the
power of the Holy Spirit, shattered lives will be rebuilt
into something beautiful, reflecting the glory and mercy of
God.
Surrendering Ohio to Build Anew for the Lord in Brazil
"Reflections on Life Near the Equator" by Scott & Becky
Joellenbeck
The Lord is
guiding and leading us by continuing to open our eyes to the
culture and the life here. After living in Belem, Brazil for
three months, several words comes to mind that describe our
experiences. The first word is PEOPLE. It is impossible for
us to do anything without encountering people everywhere. We
now live in Belem, a city of 2 million people, located in
the topics near the equator.
The first
thing we noticed about the Brazilian people is that they
love to be around each other. The culture is very social,
gregarious and informal - very different than American
culture. For example, we were a little surprised when they
drop in for a visit without calling ahead. Also, Brazilians
are more physically affectionate than Americans. Teenage
girls, mothers and daughters, and mothers and sons will walk
in public holding hands or arm in arm.
Just like
many large cities, life here is loud! Brazilians love music,
firecrackers, talking, just about anything flamboyant and
boisterous. Music drifts up from bars and nightclubs well
into the early morning hours. Neighborhood dogs and roosters
often join in, making quite the musical mosaic!
One big
difference between our new life here and our previous life
in the States is that we no longer own a car. So, we walk,
take a taxi, or ride a bus. Many things are within walking
distance from our house, including the city bus system. For
about 50 cents you can go anywhere in the city on the bus.
The number of buses is staggering; there can be four or five
buses lined up at the stops every minute of the day. Also,
they are on a schedule, so that if you hesitate to hop on,
it's gone! What is different about riding a bus versus your
own car is that the bus puts you in the midst of all the
people, whereas a car puts you in your own little world. If
you want to see and experience the city, walk or ride the
bus.
Most of the
people living in Belem do not have cars, which is a real
blessing. The streets and highways are bustling and jammed
with life. During rush hour, the buses have so many riders
standing and pressed together that you can't imagine anyone
else fitting inside, but then ten more people get on.
Compared to the U.S., personal space is much smaller. We
often take a taxi, especially when we have groceries. The
taxis are always available and only cost a few dollars.
Bicycles
are prevalent here. We live close to a large, six lane
highway, with many, many buses, cars, motorcycles and trucks
occupying whatever space they can find. It usually has
nothing to do with the lanes marked on the highway.
Motorcycles zoom between anybody anywhere. However, the
bicycles are the most amazing thing. It is very common to
see a rider, one person sitting on the back fender holding a
baby and another child sitting on the handlebars. This
family will be peddling down the six-lane highway, going the
wrong direction, swerving in and out of the other buses,
cars, etc. We wonder how people make it home alive.
Another
word that describes living here is HOT. Our house has a nice
covered patio area and every day the thermometer reads 95 in
the shade. Inside, our house it is only a few degrees cooler
during the day. Along with the heat comes the humidity,
which is also extremely high in Belem. To be in the sun in
the middle of the day is not pleasant and we only do that
when necessary. After a few months, one thought finally
sinks in: We now live near the equator and the weather is
the same EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR. The only relief is a rainy
season from December through May, but the temperature change
is very minor.
PORTUGUESE
is another word that describes our new life. After
struggling through language classes for four hours a day, we
are confronted by our inability to communicate every time we
step outside of our house. Actually, we don't even need to
step out of our house! We regularly have street vendors come
to our door to sell their goods, and we have to try and
figure out what they are selling. One man comes almost every
day to sell produce. A common item he sells is called "shado
verdi" or, in English, "green smell". The English word is
cilantro and they use it in many dishes. Another man comes
by on his bicycle once or twice per day selling acai. Acai
is a purple-colored juice made from squeezing palm tree
berries native to the Amazon River Basin. While the man
rides his bicycle, he calls out "acai, acai, grosso e gelado"
(thick and cold). It took us a few weeks to figure out what
they were selling.
Learning
the language has been our biggest challenge. After a few
weeks, we were able to go into a store or other business and
tell them what we wanted. The problem was we never knew what
to do when they answered! Speaking is one matter,
comprehending fluently is another! After three months,
though, the language barrier has been significantly
lessened. We now can understand their replies, though they
occasionally have to repeat it once or twice.
Food in
Brazil, especially Belem, is very routine. Rice and beans.
Every meal it's rice and beans. The joke among us is that
there is lots of variety:
One
day its rice and beans and the next day its beans and rice.
Chicken and beef are the main sources of meat, but they are
always served with rice and beans.
We have
also been participating in a three-month program about
working with street kids. They have been teaching us how
kids end up on the street, in prostitution, in institutions,
etc. They are showing us how the family structure is being
torn apart, especially in the favelas (slums). We also see
how Christian ministries are addressing these issues and
problems. They seek to become like Jesus, living as His
servants on the streets and in the homes. God is giving us
strength to persevere in His calling to build the children's
home for Arms of Love; but along with that, we seek His Will
to lead us in our ministry for the kids.
Finally, as
we adjust to a different culture, God is impressing upon us
the need to surrender our previous life so that we are more
useful to Him here. The less we try and hold on to our life
in the U.S., the more He can do through us.
Life these
three months has been an adventure for us. There have been
many changes and many adjustments. We look forward to the
months ahead, our ability to adapt and to become
"Brazilian."
