Mishaps and Learning About Loud Noise

Letters from Brazil: Part Three
Dear Friends,
The past week has been very uplifting and many will remember it for the rest of their lives. As most of you know I am in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at North Valley Bible and English Camp, ministering God’s word and helping to conduct camp services to the Brazilian children who attend the camp. This past week was the camp and there is much to tell.
After I finished writing last week, I was able to speak to Andrea Fox about Brazilian culture. I was told by her that the customs I experience here in Nazare Paulista, or Atibaia or Itaporanga, may not exist in other areas of Brazil.
So I was able to be enlightened on that fact. Afterword, the group and I ate dinner and relaxed in order to get ready for one more day of preparation before the camp.
On the last day of preparation, the group and I practiced skits to show the campers, put up a canopy, arranged tables and chairs, set up the stage a little more, set up tents in the mountains for the camping we did up there, etc.
This day was very beautiful, so we also prayed like Elijah for no rain, we didn’t get any rain at all.
Then Tuesday came, the day of the camp. Many of us were excited to get the camp started. On this day, however, Marcos Jr., Monica and I ran into a lot of trouble. The plan was to drive to the church where the campers were being picked up by bus, and guide the bus back to the camp.
However, two events happened that ruptured the plan. One, Marcos Jr’s car’s water pump was found to have a crack in it, forcing us to use Marcos’s big blue pickup. The second event was most prominent…we hit a man on a motorcycle while driving down the mountain.
What happened, both Marcos Jr. and the motorcyclist were driving fast. They were both coming around a blind curve and the motorcyclist was driving in the wrong lane. So it ended up in a head-on collision with a pickup and a motorcycle. I remember watching the cycle coming toward us, Marcos Jr. slammed on the brakes, but the cycle had nowhere to turn. The motorcyclist had his two friends driving on the other side, they were both on cycles.
The two were able to pass us, but the motorcyclist we hit had no chance. Marcos Jr. also knew we could not swerve out of the way with such a big truck. So all Marcos Jr. could do was line up the truck and allow the motorcyclist and us to hit each other in the best way: the front of the truck.
Once we hit each other I remember seeing the person fall to the ground. I was in shock for a second and then I got out of the truck to see if the person was alive.
I stepped out to find a man who was alive and clasping his hands around his right leg. The man’s friends came back to attend to him; which is what Marcos Jr., Monica and I did as well. We kept him calm by talking to him and we prayed over him, asking God to heal him of his injury. An ambulance was called and came after about 10 minutes; since we were up in the mountains, it took some time.
Marcos Jr., Monica and I then followed the ambulance to the hospital where we called the man’s family and made sure he was okay. God willing he only had a broken tibia and we then went to the police station to file a report.
We also received a call letting us know that the bus was on its way, so we headed back to camp to meet with the campers.
The first night was a riot. Once the campers settled in, the night began with a funny film that Marcos Jr., Mike and I taped, a skit, worship and many laughs.
The rest of the week was a riot as well. Each day consisted of English classes, morning and evening worship, competitive games, free time and Bible study. I was able to teach the intermediate class. This was very fun because I, as well as Phil and Sarah, who are from Easton, Pa. were able to really teach the kids something.
Each day had a certain lession, but my favorite lession was when we skipped what we were supposed to do to teach the Brazilian kids some American slang and culture. So they learned words like, “yo,” “what’s up,” “dude,” “man,” and “epic.” We also explained how the McDonalds’ in the U.S. has a dollar menu, opposed to the McDonalds’ in Brazil that sell the Big Mac meal for around R$17. I explained to them how getting your driver’s license in New Jersey works and we teachers also showed the kids different handshakes that teens do in the U.S.
It was fun teaching them these things; to be able to share U.S. culture with the Brazilians.
Morning and evening worship went well, too, with fun camp songs like, “Father Abraham,” more contemporary songs like, “One Way,” and slower songs like, “Our God.” I played drums the whole week, so it was fun for me to play all the time.
The kids were not used to it at first though, being shy. But towards the end of the week and especially the last day, they were all into it so much. It was amazing to see all of the kids worshiping and praising God.
The competitive games were interesting too. There were two teams, the “American Hot Dogs,” and “The Tigers.” Each team was out to win points through games like, “Tire Wars,” where each team takes tires from a pile and fights to get the most tires on their side, as well as other games like, “Musical Chairs,” and, “Human Tic-Tac-Toe.”
At the end of the week the “American Hot Dogs,” won and interestingly enough, I was on that team. Bible study was also held each day by one of the members of the group.
Since this is a missions trip, Bible study and the teaching of Jesus Christ is present. So each day one of the members of the group would give a lesson.
I spoke about Jesus’ prayer to all of us. Kathy, from Easton, gave her testimony and Mike gave a lesson on temptation.
Many other events happened over the week that were very interesting and/or fun. For one, we had a talent show where the kids and staff came up to do different things. Jeff, the one member of our group from Maryland, did a magic trick.
Zack, from Easton, played a saxophone solo. Many of the Brazilian kids sung songs or played instruments. I also played a drum solo, which went really well…but bad too. Reason being was that I scared some of the smaller children at the camp because they related the fast crazy beats and the church setting to the radical Christians in Brazil.
To be clear, the group and I are not radicals, just simply giving the message of Jesus and working as camp counselors. But from what I did, it made some of the children believe I was like the radicals and thus they got scared when I played.
One girl would not even talk to me afterward. Marcos Jr. told me about this the next day; I had no idea about it until then. He explained to me that I experienced a culture shock, which is what one experiences sometimes when two cultures are meshed together without clearance. He explained that what I did happens when someone is doing missions work and must be prevented. I cried after he told me this because I just wanted to have fun with the kids; most of them liked it, but I felt so sorry for scaring the ones I did. Everything was okay in the end, I just learned something the hard way.
A tragic event also happened at the camp…a girl fell off of one of the ziplines. When I heard this I rushed over to see a girl on the ground crying in pain at the bottom of a 20-foot zipline. A team of around six or seven of us attended her. We got her up off the ground and on a, “stretcher-type,” table so she could lay flat. We prayed over her and then got her safely into a vehicle to be driven to the hospital.
After the event, the whole camp prayed for her. God willing she came back with no injuries at all. By the way she landed when she fell and the height not being deadly high, she was okay. We all thank God for that.
I also did many things with the Brazilian campers. I played soccer with them…and got crushed. I helped them go on the ziplines, played kick ball with them and the rest of the group, played basketball with them and just simply hung out and had fun. I spent my time talking with them, learning their culture and having many laughs.
The boys and the girls also pulled pranks on each other. The girls tied some of the guys shoes together and messed up one of the guys’ rooms when the boys where camping in the mountains for a night.
Then, when it was the girls turn to camp up in the mountains, the boys tied all of the girls’ clothes together and hung them up outside. It was crazy, but funny too. I also had a dispute with Monica when I shot water and soap at her and she shot yogurt at me.
I played pool with Carlos as well and I actually beat him! Carlos is called, “The Machine,” here at North Valley because he seems to know how to fix anything and he never stops working. He is also very good at pool, and it was an honor for me to actually beat him in a game.
Finally, during the last night of the camp, many children got saved and became Christians. So as missionaries, the group and I did our job. And we also made many friends.
On the last day, almost everyone from the group said some words, as well as some of the Brazilian children.
We all cried and gave our thanks to Jesus, God and each other and it made me feel good that we helped do some good in the lives of those children. Much food was eaten, much soda was drunk and many laughs were shared; it was a great week at English Camp.
This brings me to today. The camp ended yesterday; today is July 18. Now the group and I will rest until July 21, when we will conduct another camp; this one being for the lower class children in the area.
The camp will be three days; I don’t know what to expect, but I pray that it goes well. God bless, keep reading and I’ll speak to you again next week.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Decker
(ED. NOTE: Decker is 17, a resident of Court House, and a senior at Middle Township High School.)