Five Minutes Away

I've been considering my life here in Brasil – the realities of this culture – the beauty and desperation – in terms of what I encounter daily as I walk or drive within a five-minute radius. In five minutes I'm able to see and experience the different levels that make up the lives of Brazilians and help define our ministry here of bridging the gap – in ways that are spiritually, economically, and socially relevant.

I leave the house in the morning at 7:45 am for a five minute walk down Rua Salesopolis to Escola Americana Campinas where I teach high school English to children of upper middle class Brazilians and an eclectic mixture of ex-patriot families who have paid a matriculation fee of $10,000 U.S. dollars and hefty monthly tuition fees to ensure an education for their children that will allow them to attend college in the U.S. or make them more competitive as they attend university and enter the business world here in Brasil. The school is surrounded by a wall with an electric fence and a round-the-clock team of security guards. It has no placards indicating "The American School of Campinas" and the students do not wear uniforms – both are precautions against kidnappers. On the three blocks to school , I pass the overly friendly guard who sits in a small guard shack in front of our neighbor's house, he trades shifts with two other much more silent, worn-out looking older men who always leave us wondering what anyone might expect them to do in a real crime situation. These men work at least 10-12 hours daily and probably make about $200 U.S. dollars a month – the same as the street sweepers and garbage men who clean our streets. Sometimes on the walk home I see the older woman who pulls an oversized cart digging through the garbage bin outside the parking area of the school or on the side of the corner restaurant for recyclables that she might sell for a daily take of about five dollars.

Five minutes walk in either direction of my house is a padaria – a bakery – where we buy fresh, warm pao frances (French bread rolls) or my personal favorite, broa – a crusty cornmeal roll with a moist center. The workers, mostly young women, know us and we exchange greetings and kisses and are scolded if we've been absent a few days.

Five minutes away in the other direction – up Salesopolis and across Jose Bonifaco, then down the hill a bit is the center "Nova Jerusalem", where our Master's Commission team helps supervise 500 children from the favelas and serve them perhaps only the meal they have daily. Down the hill a little further is the favela where Sean and Chris watched movies with Gustavo and William, two guys on our team, at their host home the other night. They walk, but they won't allow me to drive my car down there.

Five minutes by car or bus, shadowing the favela, and looking very grandiose and pretentious, is Shopping Iguatemi, an upscale mall where Brazilian women push designer strollers down marbled corridors wearing stylish maxi dresses or designer jeans and high heels. They purchase $R 10 lattes at the new Starbucks and pay premium prices for Nike shoes (U.S. $200) or French linens.

Five minutes away, on my way to the grocery store, I pass an intersection and look for Julio – a 13-year-old street kid who we've been trying to get to know and get into a restoration house. I keep packages of cookies in my car because some of the young men on our team – ex-street kids themselves – have asked me not to give money to these kids who attack my car windshield with a dirty rag for spare change to support a crack addiction.

Five minutes away is the neighborhood of Cambui, the upscale area of the city with expensive boutiques, pilates studios, elegant cafes and apartments that span an entire floor. Five minutes from here is the "Centro" – the downtown area with cheap "dollar stores" run by Chinese merchants, numerous tall colorless buildings and a square with steps leading up to an elaborate cathedral on which many of the center's street people sleep each night. Our team is here on Thursday nights, spending time with some of the most genuine people you'd care to meet as they arrange their cardboard bedding.

Just over five minutes away, in any direction, are the many gated condominiums – closed communities – of lavish homes, skate parks and country clubs. You can't enter unless invited – and only then after your identification is presented, photos are taken of you and your car, and your invitation is confirmed by a call.

Five minutes can be a lifetime in a country where people live side by side, but worlds apart.

Gustavo's Story - so far

Gustavo is in the center, next to his mother with the red-checked shirt.

I’ve known Gustavo for half of his life – the better half - meeting him almost ten years ago on our first Master’s Commission missions trip to Brazil. We stayed in touch – visiting the Restoration House for ex-street boys where he lived and sending cards and letters. He has become very special to our family – having brother status - and is now an important part of our Brazilian team as a second year Master’s Commission student. Watching the growth in his life this year reminds me of why we are here and that all of the challenges we’ve faced and are still facing are completely worth it. I am so proud of Gustavo and want to introduce him to you through excerpts of his story that are part of a book project about the lives of our remarkable Brazilian Master’s Commission students who are not allowing the deprivation of their pasts to determine their future, but are being used by God to inspire and bring hope to others.

The city of Contagem, forty-five minutes west of Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais, is the second most populated city in the state with over a half-million residents. It was in this city that Maria Aparecida gave birth to her first child, Gustavo Felipe Juventino, on April 19th, 1989, when she was just fourteen years old…. A few days after his birth, she took Gustavo to her mother’s house and left him there with his grandmother, Dona Laura, in a tiny three-room house with her nine brothers and sisters. Gustavo did not see his mother again until he was twelve.

Dona Laura’s house was an old brick structure that stood isolated near the borders of a favela. There was no front door, so they had an old couch that they stood on end against the doorway at night. There were no lights – no electricity at all – so the family spent their evenings in darkness. Gustavo slept in a tiny room with his grandmother while his aunts and uncles, all nine of them, shared another bedroom.

Gustavo - a year younger than his uncle Wanderson and almost ten years younger than the others - was Dona Laura’s favorite, a fact that caused jealousy among her children and led to them abuse him when she was absent. His grandmother protected Gustavo when she was at home, but as Dona Laura had to work for twelve hours a day and left her grandson in the care of his aunts and uncles, he experienced their jealousy through frequent beatings. What further escalated their rage was the effect of the drugs and alcohol that were constantly in the house.

Dona Laura worked as a zeladora or janitor at a Catholic school in Contagem. Feeding eleven on a zeladora’s salary was inadequate and the family was often hungry. Gustavo remembers a time that when there was nothing to eat for three days, so his uncles – knowing that young children are not viewed as a threat and can more easily gain compassion, sent him door-to-door to the homes of neighbors to ask for food…

… The most defining characteristic of the home Gustavo remembers as a young child was anger. Anger was the underlining attitude in every family transaction, ….The stress of poverty, blended with deprivation, drugs and alcohol was a recipe for conflicts that created misery - especially for those too young to fight back. Gustavo and Wanderson, in efforts to escape the small house where an annoyance from the younger boys stirred up the wrath of the older, spent their days running the streets of the neighborhood unsupervised…

… Life with his older relatives became increasingly difficult for Gustavo and his cousin Wanderson. Gustavo knew that he couldn’t take it anymore, the anger he experienced everyday had made residence in his heart and tormented him in a way that made life unbearable. When anyone looked at Gustavo, he was quick with a harsh remark. At seven years old, Gustavo and his eight-year-old uncle Wanderson made an impulsive decision. They took a bus, free for young children, and escaped to the bairro of Eldorado just 30 minutes away to begin their lives as meninos de rua – street kids.

Brazil has an estimated 10 million children, some as young as four-years-old, who make the streets their home. Like Gustavo and Wanderson, many are fleeing intolerable home situations and see a life on the streets as their only option to improve their lives. Others leave to escape the pressure and violence of the gangs in the slums that recruit young boys who are too young to be prosecuted. Children may even be seduced by the ideal of freedom from rules and curiosity of the larger world outside of a tiny barraco - home- in a favela. What these children in their desperation do not take into account are the dangers of street life and the many people who are quick to exploit unprotected children… (End of excerpt).

After three years on the street, Gustavo ended up at the YWAM Restoration House in Belo Horizonte where I met him and he immediately secured a special place in my heart.

It’s fun to watch Gustavo working with children in church settings and in outreaches. He is passionate in ministering through drama and is patient with teaching new team members. Gustavo’s English is good enough to help with translating and he has grown in areas of responsibility. As I write this, he is the team leader of our MC group who’ve been ministering at a church camp for the past few days. Gustavo has two dreams – to go to college to study physical education and to run a Restoration House for street kids. We are committed to setting up opportunities for our MC students to be stretched in situations that enlarge their world and help them gain valuable experiences that will prepare them for the call that God has for their lives.

We think that Gustavo is ready for an opportunity to increase his fluency in English and receive training in working with children and youth through a trip to the United States this summer. We would like to bring him with our family in June and have him attend some training conferences and camps while he is there. Richard is in the U.S. now and is working to secure some opportunities for Gustavo – and I’m looking for individuals or groups to help him get there. We need to raise about $2250 for his travel expenses for the summer – less if anyone wants to donate frequent flyer reward miles. We are still trusting God for the finances to bring our family to the U.S. this summer, but we want to believe for Gustavo too. If you would like to help with a donation of money or frequent flyer miles, we’d appreciate whatever God leads you to do. If you would like to hear more of Gustavo’s story and would like to invite him to share at your small group, church or youth group – please let me know so that we can set something up.

Even with the economic crisis, I have already seen God’s faithfulness and provision for our family and our team and I know it’s because His people trust His voice and respond. I pray that God is blessing you in your life, your family and your work and is using everything – even the challenges you’re facing – for His glory as you learn to more perfectly follow Him.

Deus e Fiel – sempre!
God is faithful – always!

Jocelyn

P.S. If you’d like to give a donation for Gustavo through Paypal – simply use the link on this page and leave a comment or email me to insure that it gets credited to his account. If you want to help with our trip (Richard, Jocelyn, Rebekah, Adriana, Sean or Chris) please indicate that too.
If you’d rather send a check – or you have miles to donate, please email me for our mailing address in the U.S.

"Miss Me?" Part 2 – Bekah, Ana, Chris and Sean

My summer break is over here in Brasil and I'm back to teaching after spending lots of time this past month with Richard and our four youngest. Some wonderful friends let us use their apartment at the beach just before Christmas and then Richard's brother David, his wife Maureen, and daughter Hope arrived the day after Christmas for a three month visit (check out Maureen's blog: "Dispatches from Brazil"). We had a good time with them here in Campinas and then they traveled with us to Belo Horizonte where we spent three weeks at a restoration house for ex-street boys with our MC team.

We missed Randi, Ari and Sadye so much this Christmas season! We did survive and are so grateful for all of the ways that God has blessed us through this transition. I wrote all about Randi, Ari and Sadye in my last blog, so now I'll give you some updates on our four who are with us:

Rebekah graduates from Escola Americana de Campinas - The American School of Campinas (where I work) in June - three weeks after Ari graduates from Point Loma Nazarene University in May and one week before Randi at the University of Illinois. She has jumped right into the many activities of the international school experience - she was elected Senior class vice-president on the first day of school and played varsity basketball and soccer. She has been in the frenzy of college testing and application deadlines and has applied to colleges in California (including Point Loma), New York and Washington D.C. with plans to major in Film and Media Communications. Please pray with us for her to land exactly where she needs to be. Right now, she is working on a mini-documentary about the drastically different lives of youth in Brazil called "One Country – Two Worlds" based on her experiences of having former street kids from the favelas as some of her best friends and going to school with kids who have maids, drivers, and beach houses - but have never ridden a public bus. You can watch her trailer for it on Youtube – just type in the title. I am going to miss our Bubba and all of her projects (which are often evidenced throughout the house)!

Adriana celebrated her fifteenth birthday this year - very important for girls in Brazil - so we had a surprise party for her (inspired by Debora and the other "Brasileiras" on our team) to make sure that she got the royal treatment. It was extra-special to have Rob, Alison, Demetri and Jasmine Cranshaw here with us, too. Now in 10th grade - Ana played soccer this year and was on the cheerleading squad. She also participated in a Model United Nations convention in Sao Paulo representing the country of Ghana. But - to hear about Ana, directly from Ana, check out her blog "Hearing it Straight" - adrianainbrazil.blogspot.com.

Sean and Chris – who turned 14 this week, have grown more than six inches, slimmed out, sound like men and are – yes – secretly shaving. Some of my students have crushes on them and I don't think they mind the attention – pray for us! As they had been going to an International school, they are speaking the best Portuguese in the family and have been mistaken for our interpreters more than once. They are both playing the guitar pretty well and even working on composing their own songs. Last week, they spent a week camping with the boys from the Restoration House. The ex-street boys have some amazing stories – maybe Sean and Chris shared how they were stopped by the Federal Police and frisked a few weeks ago (you don't want to know). Right now we are trying to find a school to enroll them in (as I only get two scholarships at the American school where I work and the scholarships they had at the school they have been attending for the last year expired). School tuition is expensive and as we are trying to do everything we can to make it possible to bring the whole family for a visit to the U.S. during June and July, they are being homeschooled again for a season while we work on the best situation for them.

I am so thankful to our Lord for the wonderful attitudes our children have for serving, their flexibility during change and their openness to understand the part they can play.

Thanks for letting me catch you up, Beijos (kisses), Jocelyn