CHRIST FOR THE AMAZON VALLEY

MR. AND MRS, DA VID M. BAYLESS, Missionaries

BELEM. PARA. BRAZIL
SPONSORED BY
RIDGECREST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
January 25 1961
OTHTER I960
Dear Friends in Christ:
The Lord has done great things for us thru you dear people
who have stood with us in this work of the Lord in BrMil.
constant prayers and generous support have made possible our be^
in Brazil this past year. Vfe hap-eCT^i^^o much more than
we can report on paper or coimy^JJniBSrs7 Rec^x
a two-week*s Meeting in Brasi^
NEWS LETTER REPORT
Forwardino Agent for Funds
AND Correspondence
J FRED BAYLESS
1901 Anderson Place. S.e.
ALBUQUERQUE. NEW MEXICO
ASSOCIATED WITH
CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES
IN THE AMAZON VALLEY
Even as the Lord spoke much about money
the spiritual especially, we feel that we shou
Balance in Bank on January 1, I960
Offerings and Gifts received in I960
Proceeds from Sale of Chevrolet Pickup
Bank Loan for Purchase of Willys Station Wagon
Total Money in Bank in I960
Living Link (Salary) to Missionary
House Rent and Utilities
Travel Expense (Bus, Plane, Gasoline, etc;
Publishing, News Letters, Receipting, Postage
Pees paid to Language Teacher
Miscl Equipment and Other Miscl Items ^
Social Security (1959)
Support to Belem Bible Seminary and Education
Help to Agulha Church and School ^
Help on 0 RChurch Bldg (less repaid amount 8445.55;
Labor to workers in the churches
Cost of Willys Station Wagon
Repaid Loan to Albuquerque Bank j
Interest on Bank Loans
Total Disbursements in 1960-
Bank Balance, December 31, I960 8 151.11
helped with
with 23 baptisms.
materii
^ _iey applied to
report \o supporters.
Lsa
S^srfi^s iirerSrif necessity brief, condensed Zt
out^Lt te identical on this postage rate), but we will send this by request.
567.34
8,846.21
1,200.00
2.500.00
e 13,113.55
3:
600.00
355.19
304,02
292.68
20.68
120.09
47.55
326.22
186.80
1,154.32
166.30
3,787.00
, 2,500.00
- 101-39
8 12,962.44
some of you may have hea^ that
in December. Yes, we did, but so ^ch we are now well,
remain, ;fith the Lord's blessing. A the churches
So we are back at work of preach^^ contS^Sl^sri^^^^ and support,
and other missionaries. ^.961 to replace afew that are not able
Faithfully yours in Chnst,
Do write to us; mail to our
Forwarding Agent or send to
"Caixa Postal 926, Belem, Para, Brazil .
Air Mail postage is 100 each t ounce.
Please send all gifts to Forwarding Agent.
David M, Bayless
CHRIST FOR THS AMAZON VALLEY
Mr & Mrs David M Bayless, Missionaries
Caixa Postal 926
Bel^, Para, Brazil
BRAZtl
Ten Stories about Brazil and our Kissiozi Work.
'!^0I
CHRIST FOR THE AMAZON VALLEY OP BRAZIL
Mr & Mrs David MBayless, Miasionaries
Presenting Ten Stories about Brazil andOur Mssion Work
We will appreciate your interest, prayers, and support
Story 1
This is a big country even bigger than the United
States was before Alaska was added. Did you know how big
Brazil is? It is so big that every other country in .South
America except two border on it! Nearly half of South
America is taken up by Brazil, and almost half the people
in South America are Brazilians. Brazil is a lot like the
other countries in many ways, and also it is different in
many ways.
If you speak only English, you couldn't talk to very
many people here. The Brazilians speak Portuguese. Does
that sound like a strange language? It is really so much
like Spanish that a lot of people here can understand it.
More people speak Portuguese in South America than Span
ish, because there are so many Indians in the rest of the
countries who don't speak Spanish.
Brazil is becoming modem very fast. Still it will take
years fctrthis country to be as modem as many others. You
have all heard of Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil. In
Portuguese it is called "Brah-ZBE-lee-ah", and Brazil is
called "Brah-ZEEL". The new capital is built to look like
a bird or airplane. Most of the streets are veiy wide and
there aren't any comers: roads go over and under instead.
Five years ago there wasn't ai^thing where Brasilia isnow
except grass and trees. Today it is a huge, modem city.
Everything is new. There wasn't even a settler's shack 5
years ago. There were only wild animals, creeks, trees,
and hills. What a change now!
In some ways Brazil is like the other countries cfSouth
America. It is not yet very modem. The people are a mix
ture of Spanish, Portuguese, and Indian. They are darker
than you are. Most of the people are very poor.
Bx^il also has the same religion which other countries
in South America have. The people don't know about Jesus.
They worship a woman (the Virgin Mary). Mostly women and
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children follbw the religion, and thie men dbh*'Vhave much
to do j^rith-a.chwch^ !Ih^ is why we have to have mission-
axies jtieTei to teach about Christ, and the.true religion,
according to God* s hook, the Bibie.
On November 8, 19591 Beverly and I (David writing) come
down here. We flew to Washington, D, C., and then went to
Nevr York City by bus. There we got on a big ship which
Drought us dov/n here. Our beds <miiie ship had rails along
the sides. We didn*t think-v/e needed the rails. Until we
got out in the ocean,and the ship started to rock so much
it nearly rocked us out of bed. The food was really good,
but at first the ship rolled around so much that we didn't
feel much like eating! We did later though; enjoyed it!
The first time the ship stopped and we got off we had
gotten used to walking on the ship, and for awhile we were
dizzy because the ground wasn't rocking like the ship had
been! We stopped at an island called Aruba,and at another
island called Trinidad. They were very pretty places,
especially Trinidad, where we spent a whole day.
On Sunday morning, two weeks after we left New York,
our ship sailed up the Amazon River to BbIcti, where we got
off. Belem is a very big city, and is the capital of the
state we live in. Para. Can you pronounce it Beh-LENG?
It is on the south side of the Amazon River, which is the
biggest river in the wrld. It is so big that it takes a
boat three days to get across it! An airplane takes over
an hour to fly over. From one side to the other is over
200 miles. There is an island in the middle of the river
which is bigger than Switzerland
Would you like to see tlus country, and know what Itoazil
is really like? There are bigcities, jungles, huge rivers,
v;ildanimals, uncivilized Indians, modem factories, river
steamers, and super highways! Vflaat a mixture Brazilis I
When you come down here, be sure to ccxne see us!
Your friends in Brazil^
David and Beverly
Our Forwarding Agent for ^fts and correspondence: '
J Fred Bayless, 1901 Anderson Place S E ' '
Albuquerque, New Mexico' ^
. (SRIST .m m imZON VAIIiE^ . story 2 . .
Kiese stories aVout Brazil are being written by David
Bayless in Biazll^ in a little town named Icoaraci, which
is pronounced "ee-coa-rah-GBE". See if you can say:it!
About 2 mileiEi. from Icoaraci is a children*s home, where
a lot of little Brazilian children live. Most of them are
not orphans, because they have a mother or father livirg,
but in their homes they didn't have enough to eat, or any
one to take care of them. Now about 45 children live there.
Just like yoii would, most of them cry a while when they
first go to live there, but you couldn't get thCTi to leave
now; they have so much fun there, and have such a nice home.
Out at the Children's Home there is a big house where
Ed 5; Edna Bartlebaiigh live. In one part of this big house
all the girls live. There are about 15 girls, big ones and
little ones. One little girl looks just like an Indian,
and probably is. Her name is Selma.
The little boys live in a big long house with doors in
the middle and on the end. There are about 20 of them.
The bigger boyS: live in a new wooden house with a Christian
famiH^. The man of the family, Gaudencio, works for the
home, and preaches most of the time in the church, about
three blocks from the home. He is a very nice nin that
everyone likes. Last year he t|i#ilt the house that his
family and the older boys live in.
All the children eat in their big dining room, which is
in front of the Bartlebaugh* s house. Before they go in; to
eat each meal they sing songs in front of the dining hall &
then have prayer to thank God for the food. The children
also have their own school at the home. It is the only
wchool anywhere around, and about 100 children attend it,
including the ones from the home. School is every after
noon, Monday through Friday, from 5S00 to 5:00. The school
year begins inMarch and ends December l,with July out for
vacation.
Every Sunday morning the children go to Church about 3
blocks from the home. The singing and preaching and the
Lord's Supper are first, and the Sunday school classes last.
About 80 people are at church every week, meeting in a new
brick building, which is very nice beca\ise it has 4 class
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rooms in it. The old church house had only one room and
was almost too small for evexyone to get into. Also each
Wednesday night the children go to prayer meeting.
Every morning the diildren work around the home. Every
one has a job. But they don't work sill morning, and they
have plenty of time to play. The girls play a game which
is about like "jacks", except there is no ball just
rocks! The boys love to play football, but it isn't like
our American football. It is all played with the feet
they aren't allowed to touch the ball with their hands.
Whenever one of the children has a birthday, Edna Bar-
tlebau^ makes a big supper at her house, and the one who
has a birthday can invite three or four friends to supper.
They really love that! The girls also like to come to our
house to help Beverly clean the floors and wax them, or
just anything to get to come in, so they can eat with us.;
They like American food, and also are good workers.
Even though the children who live at the home have lots
of fun, and plenty to eat, and a school, and lots of other
things most Brazilian children don't have, they still don't
have all that you have who live in the lAiited States. Be
glad that God has blessed your country so much. Someday
maybe, you will come doirni here and see this country. When
you do, come see us!
Your friends in ^azil,,
David and Beverly
4 ***
CHRIST FOR THS AMAZOK VALLEY Stoiy 3.
Icoaraci, where we live, is a little town about 13 miles
fr<m Bel^. We try to go to town (Bel^) once a week, but
usually have to go more often. The road toBelem (Beh-LESTC)
goes thru the Belem air base. Early in 1961 the commander
of the base closed the road, so now we have to go on a
dirt road which is 5 miles farther, but it is so bad that
it takes 15 minutes longer. Part of the road has been
painted with as^alt, so when it rains it doesn't get iauddy.
You would like to see how the men paint a road! They iise
big brushes. But this kind of road doesn't last long, and
soon the road is just a lunch of big holes vdth sharp edges ,
and we have to travel this 20 miles to Belem.
The last part of the road into. Bel6n is part of the
highway which goes to Brasilia, the new capital. Brasilia
is about 1200 miles avxay,and the road isn't finished yet.
It goes throxigh jungles and crosses huge rivers. It is
ver^r he.rd to build the road. But the part of it near Belem
is paved. This is the part we go on (5 miles of it).
In Bel^ there are, so many things to dothat we usi^!J.y
don't get them all done. We have to go to at least 2 stores
to buy food, but have to go to five to get ever^rthing
vre need. There isn't any such thing as a super-market,
v/hen you go into a stor.o to buy anything, you first go to
the counter and wait for a clerk. Sometimes this takes a
l0;.ig time. You tell the clerk vjhat you vrant and he gets
it for you. About half of what you want he doesn't have,
so you h:ve to go to another stor:;. After the clerk gets
everything, he writes up a ticket with everything and the
price. You talce the ticket to the cashier, who takes your
money and gives you part of the ticket bade. The clerk
takes what you bought to a counter where someone i-nraps up
everything, even if you don't v;ant it wrapped. You give
the piece of ticket to him and he gives you the package.
All this takes a long time. This is the way we buy food,
and everjiihing else we have to have.
We get our mail at the post office in Bel^. It surely
is nice to get a letter from the United States. Some of
our mail comes in our bos at the post office and scmie of
it ccHnes to-a desk wh^re we go ask for it. All mail which
comes to Belem directly from a foreign country goes to
this desk to keep someone from being able to steal the
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mail "before we get it from the box.
In Bel^ most of the streets are made of cobblestones.
These are very rough streets, but some of them have street
car tracks in them. Since there aren*t any streetcars
now, everyone drives on the tracks because this gives
a very smooth ride. Our car exactly fits the tracks, so
we have a good smooth ride on some of the cobblestone
streets. Many of the streets are so narrow that a truc?x
cc?n't turn a comer without driving on the sidewalk and
"bacldLng up two or three times. Sometimes we have to do
this too. If a truck stops on one of these streets, no one
can get by until the truck moves on. The only way to park
is to drive onto the sidewallc, but the sidewalk is so narroiJ
that wheels of only one side can go on. Then all the people
liave to walk out into the street to get around the cars.
There are a lot of new stores, and new tall buildings
in Belem^ where some of the streets are wide and pretty.
The main street in Belem has trees along the sides, and
modem stores, so it is very nice. About half the stores
are very old, and aren't well lighted. But the city is
becoming more modem fast. We can buy about anything in
Belem, if we have the money. Some things are very expen-"
sive, and others very cheap. However, it costs about as
much to live here as in the United States.
We can't buy anything without money, and we can't use
our American money here, so we have to change it for the
Brazilian money, called cruzeiros (cru-ZAY-roos). We don't
a?-ways get the same price for our dollars. One day we got
286 cmzeiros for each dollar (and as few as 180). A q\xart
of milk costs 40 cruzeiros, and agallon of gasoline about
SS cruzeiros. A candy bar is 15 cruzeiros. It takes about
5 cruzeiros tomake one cent in American money(April 1961).
If you had ^4000 you could get a million cruzeiros for it^
but that isn't even enough to bay a car here.
At the end of a day of shopping in Belem we are usually
tired. It takes us 45 minutes just to get back home, as
15 of the 20 miles are over rough roads. And it surely is
nice to get home! Our house is big enough to keep you it
you come to visit us. . , .
Your friends in Brazil
!
i David and Beverly
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CHRIST FOR THE AMA20N VALLET Stoiy 4
If you like animals, you'd like Brazil. We have pigs,
cows, diickens, ducks, sheep, and goats in our yard and
running in the streets. Besides these there are about a
million dogs and cats around our town. We had a cute dog
named George, but he got sick and died. It surely is easy
to get sick down here, and not so easy to get well.
If you like bugs you'dbe overjoyed to live here! Right
now I'm tiying to get two ant bites to stop hurting. We
have all kinds of ants. The kind that bother us the most
are so small a person hardly can see them, but they bite
us a lot, and we surely don't like them. They are not quite
red, but more orange: but that's probably becatise they're
so small. We have black ants about the size of American
ants, which carry things off. One ni^t we were invaded
by red ants, and on our kitchen floor we killed about 350,
You should have seen the little black ants come carry off
dead ants! One day we saw a huge bug going up the wail,
but he was dead! We looked closer at him and found about
10 little black ants carrying him. If people worked like
ants, we surely would get a lot done!
We have one kind of ant here called the "sail ant", as
he cuts off a piece of leaf about 5 times as big as him
self and Carrie# it on his back it looks like a sail on
a sailboat. Vflien these ants attack a bnsh they send a
squad of workers up to the top of the bush, and they start
cutting off pieces of the top leaves and work down. Others
pick up the pieces & go scurryingoff, just like sailboats.
The ant which is the worst, tut which we don' t see very
much, is about the size of a wasp and is black. These ants
build houses about 4 or 5 feet tall out of clay. A sting
from one of them is about like getting stung by a bumble bee.
. - We have some snails down here which would surprise you.
they have shells about as big as a man's fist, I can't
figure out how they move along they just move! They
don't seem to have any legs. They also have feelers, and
if you touch a feeler, it just disappears into his head.
Did you ever see a fish as big as a man? In the market
here in Icoaraci (can you still pronounce it?), there are
fish as big as people. They still look like fish though!
Men go out into the ocean in sailboats to catch them. They
also catch alligators and sell them in the market. Some
people eat them.
How many know what an anteater eats? He has a nose 2
^et long, and a tongue about a ycrd long he eats ants
cf course. When he finds an ant hill he really has a feast.
He has a big long tail which is so bushy it looks like a
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flag, and some of them are chlled flag ah'teaters. He is
about 6 feet long when full grown. It^s a gdod thing he
is so much bigger than the ants, because he surely can't
run veiy fast, but I guess an ant couldn't catch him, to
bite him! liftien an anteater runs he sways from side toside
and from front to back really a funny si^t!
In the jungle there are lots of animals which we don't
see. There aren't any lions, tigers, or elephants, but
still there are mai^ animals. Jaguars, wild pigs, deer,
tapirs, monkeys, and lots and lots of other animals live
in the jungle. Also there are huge snakes, some of them
20 feet long. In the rivers there are alligators, and lots
of small fish, which" can. eat animals. Sometimes they do
eat a cow or horse if it falls in the river where the fish
are. These fish have sharp teeth, but aren't very large.
They seem to be mostly less th^ a foot long.
In the jungle there are also Indians, Some are inild
and some are pretty much civilized. The wild ones shoot
at people with blow guns and with boys and arrows. Some
don't even wear clothes. They don't speak Portuguese; each
tribe has its own language. One istorani ( Gwah-rah'-HIilEi
Another tribe is called Caraja (Cah-rah-JAH). If you think
these are fumy names, those Indians probably think your
name is funny too. The government of Brazil is trying to
teach Indians to live peacefully. Many tribes learn
ing to read and write; sane are tau^t by missionaries.
Don't you think it would be intoresting to work in a
place like this, teaching people who never have heard about
Christ? You would have to leam to speak Portuguese,, and
maybe some other language also. You would have to live
with bugs and animals and lots of other things, but you
would be able to help people to know God. Anyone ,who does
not know God certainly can't obey Him, And ^Jesus wants
everyone to know about Him, That's i^^hy He said to go into
all the world to preach the gospel to everyone.
Your friends in Brazil,
David and Beverly
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CHRIST PGR THE MAZON VALLEY Story 5
The first of the churches of Christ here in the Amfly-CTi
Valley was begun near our town of Icoaraci, It is about a
mile outside town, about2 bloctefrom the Children's Home.
At first, when the missionaries couldn't speak Portuguese
very well, about ten years ago, the children were a big
help in the singing, and made a good crowd, so the fil?st
chxirch was begun near their home. The church used alittle
wooden house about 10 feet wide and25 feet long. It was
located on a road going to Outeiro Island, so the church
is called the Outeiro (O-tay-ro) Road Church. For 7 years
the church used this little house. In the last two years
the sidesstarted to fall off, and the vrood was so rotten
the sides wouldn't stay on any more, even if nailed back.
The wooden windows wouldn't stay closed. The boards which
hold the tiles for the roof got very rotten, and parts of
the roof started to fall in. The floor was dangerous, and
the church had grown so much that at times everyone could
not get inside for the meetings.
About a year and a half ago the church started a new
building, and began to use it the first week of 1961. It
is built of brick, which is very cheap here, and has a
cement floor and tile roof. Besides a big autidorium, it
has four class rooms. The people are really happy to have
their new building. Our Service Link fund helped in this
building. It is large enough for big crowds, including
the children from the Home.
On Sunday morning in the Outeiro Road church we have
singing, the Lord's Supper, the offering, and preaching-
first, followed lyBible School classes, of which there are
five. About 80 people usually attend on Sunday morning.
Each class has a memory verse, vxhich they call the "key
verse", and one person from each class is selected to go
to the front to recite after the classes are over.
ie Outeiro Road church has some very unusual windows.
They don't open or close, but they're always open. The
people promised the money for the windows, one person giving
the money for each window, which was about $2.50, but quite
a lot for them. These windows are made with pieces of con
crete so spaced that the wind may blow through. Since it
never gets cold here, they are very nice windows.
- 9 -
Another church in idle edge of Icoaraoi. is called the
Agulha (AH-gool-yah) church, The name Agulhameans .!'needle"
in Portugese, this is a part of Icoaraci, Last year'the
Abulha church started a new building right around the old
mud house they had been using. liWien they got up. to the
roof they tore down theold house, and carried it out the
doors so they always had a place to meet. Some of ifici
other churches also have dbne that, It*s a pretty good,
idea. About four or five of the churches have new build
ings in construction. We've been helping in the wiring of
three of them. It's very interesting, and we enjoy doing
it. Three of ihe churches are located in places where just
tliree years ago they had no electricity. We are glad to
have electricity, for many reasons.
On this side of the Amazon River there are five churches
of Christ (or Christian Churches), The oldest is Outiero
Road Church, which was begun in 1954. The rest are pretty
new. The.Christians need a lot of teaching, to live as
Christ wants them to. Some of them make a lot of mistakes.
Many of them want to preach, and lead in the church, and
several young men in the churches want to study to laiow
the Bible better, and asked the missionaries to start a
Bible college. We'll tell more about it another day.
Your friends in Brazil
David and Beverly
Our Mailing Address in Brazil is:
Mr & Mrs David M Bayless
Caixa Postal 926
Bel^, Par^, Brazil
Letters by Air Mail cost 100 each -J* ounce.
We will appreciate hearing from you.
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CmST KJR m jfimON VAL;^^ story 6 ;
You would enjoy our Chilstian Service Camp in July, if
you like Camp, and if you like beans. The camp is held on
the grounds of the Beldm Bible Seminary, about 10 miles
from Bellm. About 40 children were present for I960 Camp,
Of course, if you came to our Camp,you'd have to spealc
Portuguese in order to understand anything! Each morning
there are 4 classes and chapel time whan we sing and hear
a short message. Most of Ihe children at Chmp haven't known
much about the Bible, as most of you have; so we have to
explain a lot of things to them, which they would know if
they had beon in Sunday School all their lives. Instead
of dividing the children into classes according to their
ages, we divide them according to how far they have gone
in school. I remember one .group of Campers in which we had
a boy of 13 who was in hi^ school, and another boy of 20
who had gone only as far as the second grade.
In the morning the Campers don't have much to eat for
breakfast, as the Brazilians don'tijsually have big brealc-
fasts. But in the middle of the morning they all have a
snack, ndiich is about as big as breakfast. Usually they
have some kind of hot cereal, such as rice or commeal.
Por. dinner the children have beans and rice, and for supper
they have rice and beans! This is the same as they have
at home. At Camp th^have some meat with the beans thou^,
and other things to eat. But for sure, each day they have
beans and rice for t\'JO meals!
Just as in the Iftiited States, the Campers are divided
into groups or teams, each \jth its ovm name. Last year
the teams were named for the tribes of the Israelites, The
children have a lot of fun working for their teams. They
plan games, line up,put on talent & lots of other things,
to get points for their team much as you do.
You should see how the Campers sleep! All the beys sleep
on straw mats onihe floor incne of the Seminary buildings.
If they make too much noise at night they lose points for
their teams. ^Usually several teams lose points the first
ni^t. The girls at Camp stay in a building where there
are lots of liooks for hanging up hammocks. Most Brazilians
use hammocks instead of beds, so ihe girls are ri^t at
home in them. They aren't like American hammocks though:
11 -
you have to lie almost corsswise in them, and then you are
about level. In the morning, just roll up the hammock and
your bed''is made! The boys had more work to theirs, as
they used blankets on their straw mats.
Sometimes we go swimming in the morning and sometimes
in the afternoon at Camp, We don't have a swimming pool,
but there is a creek which runs through the land where we
have Camp. When the tide is in from the ocean, it makes
the tide rise on the Amazon River; and when the tide is in
on the river, it makes a tide on our creek. The tide comes
in an ho\ir later each day than the day before, so we can't
have swimming at the same time every day, \fhen the tide is
out the creek is almost dry, and when the tide is in the
creek has about six feet of v^ater in it.
One day we had swimming races between the teams. The
girls swam like steamboats, splashing and making lots of
noise, but barely moving along. After the races they were
able to swim fast, but during the races they always swam
lilce rocks! We found out later that they were afraid to
sv/im right, because that's the way boys swim! Buc'after
the races it was all ri^t, \jhen no one was watching!
Most of the yoimg people at Camp don't know how to sing
very well, and none know hov7 to play anymusical instrument ^
and we don't have a piano to play if they did know how, so
there isn't much talent on talent night of Camp. But they
enjoy trying, and when stunt night comes they do fine.
Each ni^t at Camp there is a time of singing and preach
ing, One of the Brazilian preachers or workers usually
preaches. They enjoy this,, and the children like to hear
them preach. This service is usually the first event on
the schedule Sunday night, at the start of the Camp weelc;
and the last thing oh the schedule Friday night, as the
Campers go home on Saturday.
Last year (i960) everybody liked Camp so well they wanted
to have it again in January, as there isn't any school in
January but there is too much rain. So Camp will be
held each year in July; and there will be lots of eager
youngsters waiting for the date to come.
Your friends in Brazil,
David and Beverly
^ 12 -
GHBIST ra THE AMAZON ViO^ Story 7
A couple of years ago we offered to one of the young
men in the Outeiro Road church the job of teaching a class
of small boys on Sunday mornings. He had been very active
in the church and freq,uently led the singing. His name is
J<^o (Zhoawn), which means "John" in Portuguese. He was
glad to take the job of teaching the class and, does very
.well, A few months later John was offered a <d?ance to preach
one la^t. He said he uould like to, and again did a good
job. Pretty soon he preached again and did better. Several
more times he preached, doing better each time. VJhen we
started a Bible class on Tuesday nights he attended aidiias
a good student. His preaching keeps getting better.
One Lord's Day morning we went to another of Uie churches
near our home, the Agulha church, where we heard a young
man teaching the Bible school class and doing a very good
job. Later we heard him preach. He had been studying the
Bible and. doing alot of thinking, and had begun to preach
because he wanted to. He attended classes at night, tau^t
by another missionary, for several months. This young man,
Manoel, loves to preach, and also does it well.
Francisco is another friend of ours who lives at Icoaraci
and works with the Agulha church,, usually doing the preach
ing, He is a pretty good preacher, and has attended our
classes and those of another missionary, so he could learn
more of the Bible^
The man who works for the C5hildren's Home, Gaudencio,
preaches most of the time in the Outeiro Road church. He
had studied with a couple of missionaries, so he could
preach too. Ife not only takes care of the boys at the home,
but helps take care of the church. He is very interested
in preaching and working for Christ.
All of these men and some others, too, have been asking
the missionaries for quite a while to begin Bible classes
for them, in some kind Bible college. For a long time
we thought it would ^ impossible, for lots of reasons.
Slnally we found a way, and have started a Bible college
here, which is called Belem Bible Seminary. It's not a
very big school, bufc the students really want to leam more
abouththe Gospel of Christ, and be better prepared to work
for Him. .
1^ -
Classes at the Bible college are only on Tuesday^ Vfed-
nesday, Thursday, & Friday. This gives everyone a chance
to use Saturday through Monday for work in the churches,
or for other duties. The boys who go to the Seminary, as
it is called here, work every morning, and all day Monday.
This helps pay for their schooling. Now they are working
to get some shelters ready for the next Camp time. Later
we hope we can start some kind of small factory, so they
can earn some money. Maybe it will be a shoe factory. The
boys work pretty well, and a couple of them do know how to
make shoes.
Tbget to the Bible college from Icoaraci^vrhere we live,
we have to drive inihe car 23 kilometers. Dp you know how
far a kilometer is? 23 Icilometers is about 14 miles. Not
long ago the last part of the road which was dirt was paved,
so we have a pretty good road to get there. Just outside
Icoaraci'jWe sometimes have a hard time getting through the
road though. In February, March, and April, the tide on
the Amazon River is higher than in the other months, and
twice every day the river rises up over the road. Sometimes
we have to go through long stretches which are under "vreiter.
Once we were afraid we wouldn't make it, but finally did.
To get to the Seminary, after we leave Icoaraci', we go
through the air base. Here big airplanes land, many of
them coming from the United States. We've been to the air
port several times to welcome new missionaries ooming to
work in Brazil. It is very interesting to go there. If
you came to visit here you would land at that airport,
Jlaybe you will come down here sometime. It will be years
and years before there voUbe enou^ workers here, to tell
these people about Jesus, the Son of Gtod, Maybe you can
be one of them. Think about it. Ask God to help you know
what to do to work best for Him. And please pray for us,
so we can do our best too.
Your friends in Brazil,
David and Beverly
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CHRIST; FOR THE AMAZON VALLBX Story 8
If you canfe to our house for a visit, y6u should have
a pretty good time. A lot of things are different though,
fran what you are used to. They're different from what we
were used to, too, when we first came here to live.
About 6:30 inUie morning you mi^t wake up to hear the
boy who delivers bread. He has a bicycle with a. great big
basket which looks like straw. He rides all over town
delivering the bread. We get a loaf every morning. It
looks like American bread, because we took a pan to the
baker and asked him to make it that way. On Sunday morning
or Thursdaymorning about 7:00 o'clock, you might hear some
one outside clapping his hands. This is the waypeople here
let you know they are at the door they clap instead of
knocking on the door. Each bundle of meat is wrapped in
several banana leaves. The meat man tells us how many
IcLlograms of meat he has brought, and we pay him. Things
here are weighed in kilograms (a little over 2 pounds).
If you don't wake up when someone comes to deliver to
your house, you might wake up at6:30, when the electricity
goes off. If you use a fan at night to keep things cool,
it will run only until 6:30 in the morning. We have elec
tricity from 6 in the evening until 6;3Q in the morning.
At 11 o'clock it comes on again and stays until 3 in the
afternoon. At 11:00 we alwaystum on the water pump, to
pump water from our well up into a big tank high over the
xfell. Even though the electricity isn't on all day, we
use an electric refrigerator, and it works fine.
If nothing else will wake you up, our washing machine
certainly will! It has a gasoline motor on it, and surely
makes plenty of noise! We get up early to wash, so we
xTill have time to heat the water on the stove and get
throiagh before it rains. Nearly every day we have rain.
In the rainy season it sometimes rains nearly all day, and
for two or three days at a time. In the dry season, which
is called summer, it rains only in the afternoons, and not
for very long usually. The rainy season is called winter,
even though it doesn't get cold. But it doesn't get too
hot either, in the dry season, for which we are thankful.
Our weather is usually pretty nice.
Even if you don't speak Portuguese, you could probably
do pretty well at the market here in" Icoaraci. It is in a
big building which is mostly one huge room with stalls a-
round the sides & down the middle. One stall sells fruit,
another vegetables,and another meat. There are several of
each kind of stall. The Japanese have the best vegetables,
so we always buy from them. If we buy a lot of things they
give us a great big straw basket to put them in. We go to
+ 'I5 -
different, stands to buy bananas, as there ars ij icinds of
.banaras; but we like best the. kind which is; sold in the
Unitea Sta,tes.v ^ kind .is called "ciying banana". So
ire ask for-I'cjTying bananas",. Usually the man in the booth
doesn't want to sell;, them because they're green, and he
tells us they won't be gpod until tomorrow. We tell him
wo want to eat them tomorrow, so he sells them.to us!
. About tvTice a month a man comes to our house selling
chi';ken3w He takes several out of his big basket to show
us how fat they are. They never are, and we usually don't
buy any unless he lowers the price a lot. We-have to feed
them plenty of com before they are fat enough to eat,
When you come to see us, you'll hang your clothes in
our hot closet. There is so much moisture in the air here
that clothes get mouldy if we don't do something to keep
them dry. So we have a closet Ydth light bulbs ip it, to
keep the air moving and dry it so the clothes don'tmould.
We also have a bookcase made the same way, for books are
soon ruined vriLthout such a hot closet to keep them dry.
Our millonan has a home & cart which he uses to deliver
milk. He brings us tvxo quarts every other day. We have to
strhin it to cleaii itand then pasteuiriize it, so it v/ill be
iaafe to drink. We make lots of ice cream, which is always
a treat on a hok aftemoon,
' Every Saturday we go put to the Children's Home, about
2 miles ifrom our house, where there is a workshop with a
pit in the floor. I grease the car there and usually get
Someone to help. Gaudencip is a good mechanic, and helps
work on the car ~ better and cheaper that at a garage, and
it wastes less of our time, as they are slow at garages.
So many thin^ here are different that you would enjoy
seeing all there is. Of course, many things are like they
are in the United States. No tirro coimtiles are alike. The
Brazilians a.re proud of their country, jiist as you are
proud, of. youfsV Millions of these people don't know about
Jesus, and they won't unless someone tells them. That's
why we came down here* There are a lot of things to get
used toj but we don't mind them. Jesus did even more thsm
this for iis, when He came from* heaven. We want to do what
wo can- forffijtt. Maybe ypu tpo; will go to some other country
some day, to teach people who don! t know about Jesus. Please
pray for us and the people of Brazil!.
Your friends in Brazil
. Bavid, and Beverly
. <?HpST FOR-THE MAZON VALLBT , Story ^
. . How would you recognize aBrazilian if you saw ohe? .ToU
probably vWouldn*t be able to, because Biaziliians. lOO^ ijust
like everyone else. But as you know, everyone else ddesn't
look like everyone else. Some are tall, some aa^ short.
The]?e are lig^Brazilians and dark ones.' S(mie are Indi.anh,
some are partly Indian, some are Negroes, some look like
Portxiguese; and scmie are juOt like most Americans.' The'
Brazilians call people from the tMted States "Americans",
and call themselves just Brazilians.
Here, in the north part of Brazil^ the pebpie are mostly
short and dark ~ not very many Negroes, but the people
are a mixture of Portuguese and Indian ^ mostly Indiaii'.
[Etiat' s; why they*re: short. They think I'm (David) really
tall, because I*m over six feet tall, and they notice me
more becaiise I have red hair. The Brazilians have blacdc
hair and brown eyes.'
But down in the sout^ein part of Brazil, ,tiie people are
less Indian, and mdie Portuguese, German, and descendants ,
frcan other Edropean settlers. . There are. even whole towns,
in Soutliern'"Brazil where German is sppkeii, because so many:.
people hav^e cbnie from Germany tb live here. There are
thousands of cEapanese -. living ih Brazil. -They are still
coming, by ithe- shiid;oad. This is siich'' a l)ig cbtuitry with;
so much lahdi and Japan is so small and has so many people,
that many Japanese comie. They kiiow how to make land grow
crops even where other people can't get anything to grow.
Brazil is much better off because of: the Japanese here.
As^ you .can see,. Brazil, like the United States, is a'/
melting pot . It is interesting to live here and learn more
about these: people. We learn to love them, just as we grow
to love people wherever we are. They are friendly, and
many of thffltt try: to helpus because we are foreigners.
How many of you have evbr been outside; the United' States?
Maybe you know what it feels like to be a foreigner.
Since most of Ihe settlers of Brazil were fromi Portugal,
a lot of the buildings resemble those of Portugal. They
are made in a very Old-faShicwied style. In a small town,
everything usually looks oldj because progress comes slowly.
The streets are not paved, there are hardly any cars, and
things move slowly. There are lots of donkey carts, and
ox-carts. The people build their houses of rough boards
- 17 -
or out of mud. The wooden ones are built on stilts, about
two feet off"the ground. They have tile^^ roofs^ or grass
roofs;v'and of course have wooden floors. The mud houses
are built bymakingawall out of poles, with spiace between
the poles, and then plastering mud over it all, to make a
solid wall. These houses usually have dirt floors. In the
small towns there isn't electricity usually, here in the
north, and everyone iises little kerosene lamps made of inn
cans. our town, though, as we have told before, there
is electricity part of the time.
In northern Brazil, in the Amazon River Valley, the
means of transportation is by river. There are over two
hundred rivers running into the Amazon, and inthese rivers
there are thousands of islands. People live ontiie islands,
and in many small towns and villages along the rivers.
Every family has a canoe, and theyknow how to travel pretty
fast in them; at least they go alot faster than we could.
There are maiqr sail boats on the rivers big ones and
small ones. Since the river doesn't run in just one di
rection, but goes back and forth with the tide from the
ocean, the boats can wait till the . tide is goingthe way
they want to go, or wait till the wind is blowing right.
Around Belem, a large citynear us, there are some roads,
and most people travel in trucks or .buses. Sometimes about
forty or fifty people ride in the back of a truck all to
gether. That's cheaper than riding in a bus. Many buses
are just trucks with covers over the backs.
The coimtry is different, the people are different,
living is different, the language is different, many other
things are different, but C!hrist is the same; and all the
people need Him! We have the same gospel to preach here
that we preaiched in the United States. Jesus has promised
to be with us wherever we go. We trust Him! He has pro
vided eveiything we have needed.' Jesus said that if you
will seek first His kingdom andiighteousness. He will pro
vide everything you need. Do you believe this? You can
use.your life for Him if you really want to.
Your friends in Brazil,
. David and Beverly
18 -
CHRIST FOR THE MZOR VALIEI Stoiy 10
let's go ^brou|^ a couple of <3^78 together^and see what
one Mssionaiy does- in Brazil. Xhave told you in another
Qfihese stories that our work is very much different from
work we woUld do in the Iftiited States. It's not the same
tiTo days in a row.
The day before yesterday Pi^cisco, the preacher in the
church in Agulha, came to our house when we were eating
breakfast and wanted me to help h^ni get some material to
Use infdastering the'inside of Ihe church hoiisebeing bvdlt
there.. We v/ent in the car to a limber yard about a mile
away and bou^t a dozen poles 15 feet I6ng. It took two
trips to haul tha to the church house in the car. Next
we went to find cement, \diich is scarce now, and hauled it
to the church house in the car. It's a good thing we have
the Jeep station wagon. The churches in the Ikiited States
bought it for us to use here.
That afternoon a missionaiy arrived. *from Macapa, Usually
our cnr is transportation for the missioneiries when they
come over from the other side of ihe river for business or
to see the doctor. So the next day we left home at 7:30
in the momingrand after a hard day in Belem got back home
at 7:30 in the evening. That day we really were tired!
A day in Belem is enough to tire out anybody!
On each of the days I have mentioned here I had classes
to teach at the Belem Bible Seminary. All of us who teach
there enjoy this part of the work as much as any. Students
there want to leam, and enjoy being in the school*. Three
days a week I teach there, le classes are arranged so the
boys work in the morning-when it's cool, and study in the
afternoon, so all classes are in the afternoon.
This.morning I -went to the city office to pay our el
ectric bill for last month. That took about a half hour.
It seems that there isncthing fast here. Later our visit
ing missionary friei^ went with me to haul some tiles for
the roof of a cover over the sidewalk be'tween our house
asg^ the garage, which our landlord had built. Now we can
get out to the car without get-ting wet. We put the tiles
up when we got home wi-th them, then ate dinner, and, left
for the. Seminaiy again. It -takes about half an hour to
get to the Seminary,
-19-
Tonight we will be with the Outeiro Road church, where
I mil lead grayer meeting, Dowi here most of the members
come to pr^er meeting, instead of staying away. This is
one of the reasons we enjoy working with these people.
Tomorrow we mil take our friend to the airport to fly
back home. Of course there isn't a bridge across the Amazon
River! It's too big, so he flies when he goes over. To
morrow is a holiday;lhat means we'll have electricity all
day long. Maybe we can malce enough ice to have ice cream.
Well, you see how our days go. And how they fly! It
seems that we'11 nearer get the things done which we havebeen
putting off in order to get something else done. Something
interesting which needs to be done is to translate help
ful teaching materials into Portuguese, so the men working
in the churches can use them in teaching people about Jesus
Christ, We really need someone here just to do this kind
of work, translating all kinds of things into Portuguese,
so the churches can \ise them,
Sach week I help Beverly translate her Sunday school
lesson into Portuguese. She has started using flannelgraph
lessons in her class because the members of the class can't
read orwrite, and don't understand some lessons very well.
She teaches the women's class. So I translate the story
for the lesson, and she gets ideas from it to use.
We surely hope you have enjoyed hearing about our work
here, and the country we live in, I guess you Imow why
we're down here. It's only because Jesus wants us to be.
He wants everyone in the world to knovr about Him, because
unless people know Him and obey Him, they don't have the
promise and hope which we have who do know Him. We love
Christ, and we know you love Him too; that's why you are
studying about Him. Do you want to serve Him too, in a
place like this? You will have an interesting life, but
moffb of all you vn.ll be serving Jesus, He said to go into
2l11 the world. If we are going to obey Him, we have to
do just that. Goodbye for now, and God bless you always!
Your friends in Brazil,
David and Beverly
Sponsored by;
Ridgecrest Christian Church, 5300 Eastern Avenue S E
Albuquerque. New Mexico
- 20 -
Christ For The Amazon Valley
MR. & MRS. DAVID M. BAYLESS
CAIXA POSTAL 926
BCLEM, PARA, BRAZIL
Diivid and Beverly Bayless will soon have been on the mission field in Brazil
two years, having arrived there on the 8th of November, These have been
busy years of language study (proficiency for David and beginning for Beverly, who
has made splendid progress), translation of study material to be used in the churches,
helping in the erection of church buildings and improving old ones, the supervision
of Youth Camps, and helping to organize and teach in the Bible Seminary--along
with a host of other necessary things too ntimerous to mention here, such as the
encouragement given to local ministers and leaders, along with some preaching and
evangelizing work. Their August News Letter is inside this folder; pictures on buck.
Christ For The Amazon Valley
MR. & MRS. DAVID M. BAYLESS
CAIXA POBTAl. 926
BELEM, PARA, BRAZIL
SPONSORED BY PORWARDINB AQENT
RIDGECREST CHRISTIAN CHURCH J FRED BAYLESS
S300 EASTERN AVENUE, B. E. P. O BOX A92
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO CLOVIS, NEW MEXICO
August 1961
Dear Friends in Christ:
This month many things have begun. In the Belem Bible Semi
nary classes began again after a month of vacation in July. This
is now second semester of the Brazilian school year. Our seven
students are continuing their studies in the Seminary. I'm teach
ing Atts and Music, as before.
Several of the Seminary students have begun going out on
week-end trips to the city of Vigia, about 100 miles from Belem,
preaching and teaching in homes of interested people. On the last
trip there were sixty people present to hear the gospel, inside the
house, and several outside. We are all hoping that a strong church
will result from this work of the students.
During our July vacation we worked two weeks in Camp, in
which we had forty-three registered in Junior Camp and twenty-
six in Senior Camp, held at the Seminary grounds. The missionar
ies and church leaders worked in-the-Campall were happy with
the results, and we believe the young people learned a lot.
This month the leaders of the Outeiro Road church, with which
we have been working near Icoaraci, decided that the church might
grow more and the members take more responsibility, if the child
ren from the Home near the church did not attend there. So we
have begun to meet separatelywith good results so far. Members
are beginning to attend more regularly. One Sunday night there
were 55 present. Morning attendance is not so good and we will
have to work on this. Sunday is the main shopping day for these
people and most of the men have to work too.
Some people have wondered if Beverly teaches her Bible school
class in Portuguese or English. None of the people understand Eng
lish, so it has to be in Portuguese. Her Portuguese isn't bad at all.
I wish you could hear her.
The dedication of the new Outeiro Road church house was held
in July. Nearly two hundred people were present, including a bus
load from another church. During the week before, the men paint
ed tiie building. It is very pretty. They built a platform and had
a pulpit made. Thanks to you who have contributed to our working
fund for your help in this project. The church is repaying about
half of the cost, which was loaned to themover $1000.00. It will
take several years for them to repay; then we hope they will help
other churches in other places. We will teach them toward this end.
In July we took a vacation trip after Camp, going to Salinas,
on the Atlantic coast, driving there over mostly good roads, and
spent three days. It was a nice trip, and we rested a lot-getting
ready to start in again in the Seminary and other activities.
The Agulha church, with which we have also been working, in
Icoaraci, has had five baptisms in the past few weeks: three men,
a woman, and a teen-age boy. This church has a Brazilian preach
er, who also studies in the Seminary; so we spend less time with
it than with the other church. There are always more men present
than women and children in the Agulha church.
This year we have had the pleasure of having missionaries visit
ing with us in our home for a total of about three and a half months.
Sometimes it looks like a hotel here! We've learned how to get
people into the country; how to get them out; and a lot of other
things, helping various ones. It takes many hours of running around.
You good people who send offerings and keep us in your prayers
make this work possible. Since it is difficult adequately to express
appreciation, we just say "Thanks"! We will be happy to hear from
you postage rate by Air Mail for one-half'ounce is now $.15.
Please continue sending all gifts to our Forwarding Agent, J Fred
Bayless, at his new address-Box 492, Oldvis. New Mexico.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
DAVID M. BAYLESS
'1 ' i
Part of the boya of the Children's Home in front of Boy's Dormitory, along with
two of the workers and a turkey pet.