Remember...

[Sister Alvear]

Help in the time of need:

In March my mother would have been 83…

Mother had always been my greatest supporter and prayer warrior. When there was any serious thing going on anywhere in the work, anyone sick I knew I could call on her to pray.
It has been said that the lips that prayed the prayers may be closed by death but prayers are always before the throne. Prayers are deathless…

Mother was 80 when she told me she wanted to come back to Brazil for her last time. Now mother I said, “you are getting up in years and something could happen”.
Well, Janice she said do you think it would be any difference where I depart from to heaven.”
She was determined to come with me to Brazil. Brother Alvear and I got our air miles together and it was just enough for her ticket. She was thrilled beyond words. Raul Jr, Michelle, Michael were all with us. Brother Alvear stayed in the states for a week later he would be going to the Philippine Islands for a conference.

We had a good flight, everyone helped us. We stopped in south Brazil for services at Raul Jr’s church and she got to see all her great grandchildren in that area and got to be in several services. From there we went on to my home in Northeast Brazil.

The following week after we arrived she helped us write thank you cards to the places Michael and I visited in the states, talked with our people about heaven, sat on my porch each morning and watched the birds and told me paradise would have beautiful flowers and birds like around my house.

Early one morning the voice of the Lord woke me up and I heard Him say to me, “You are going to go through one of the greatest trials, you will cry and wonder, why this but there will come a time you will smile again.” I sat up in bed and began to pray…You know that uneasy feeling…I went to mother’s room and told her what had happened…My first thought were our grandson Gabriel that has had so much heart trouble and at that time he was not doing well…

One day she called me in her room, she loved vanilla wafers and we cannot get them in Brazil so she had brought a box from the states and shut the door and said, Janice, I don’t have enough for everybody but lets you and me eat some cookies. I sat down on the bed we talked and ate cookies and then I said, “Mother, I need to go outside and see what the bricklayers are doing and if they need anything but I will be right back. She walked on to the living room and started talking to some of the folks. I don’t think it had been over 10 minutes when Fatima, Marcela’s’ mother came running and said to Arlei come and help me. I could see something was wrong and I ran to the house to find mother in the arms of some of the Brazilians, “she just passed out missionary they said”.

We put her in the car she was unconscious. Michael drove, Sister Janet a nurse from our church helped us hold her and I sat in the front trying to help Michael get thorough the evening traffic…
Finally we got her to the hospital…we were trying to get her out of the car and the hospital guard was saying I had to give the hospital 7000 dollars or she could not be admitted. We tried to get her out of the car and the guard kept pushing her back in the car.
Brother Alvear was in the Philippines and there was no way to get in touch with him. I don’t think I have ever felt so alone.

I kept pulling at her trying to get her out of the car but her body was so stiff but finally we got a rolling bed from the hall way and we put her on it. The guard was still screaming… “Take my car” I said: I don’t have any money…

By this time I was crying because no one would look at her because I had no money. I was crying leaning up against a wall when a doctor lady walked through the door and looked at me. And said, “what is wrong, Missionary”? I pointed to mother and told her they would not even look at her and I did not have any money or no where to get 7000 dollars…I had no ideal that this doctor worked at this hospital I had met her somewhere else on another occasion and really did not hardly remember her until she told me her name.

Look, missionary I will get her admitted. You wait here. It seemed like forever but she returned with a paper in her hand and said it is taken care of for the moment, They wheeled her bed into emergency. They let me go in and finally they came and told me mother had had a stroke. They put her in the ICU unit. I guess I will never know if my friend paid for it or how they got her in there I only know God sent an angel in the form of a doctor lady and helped me out that night.
We have never had any extra money, a saving account and have never belonged to an organization to support us other than a fellowship card for government reasons. We do not preach for money. We trust in Him that called.

Mother had insurance but it would not work in Brazil. So after they took her out of the ICU unit they put her where the poorest of the poor were.

The room was filthy. The hospital walls in that room were smeared with dried blood and the smell was horrible. I went out and bought some pine sol, cloth and soap and a small bucket. Threw were 4 other beds with sick people in her small room. My daughter and I closed the door and washed down the walls, cleaned the stained bathroom. We washed her bed down, the water was not a gray color it was black it was so dirty! There was no air conditioner no fan and it was probably in the 90’s. The doctor ordered them to bring me a chair. Most did not have one so I was blessed.

Finally we were able to get in contact with Brother Alvear and he flew back to Brazil.

One of my sisters came and could not get over the filth of the hospital, nurses that seldom wash their hands, the guards that fought with us every time we wanted in. Most of them wanted you to give them money.

For ten long months we had mother back and forth to the hospital. She came out of the coma and only went back into the coma a couple of weeks before she passed away.

She was better taken care of at our home than in the filthy hospitals of the northeast. We bought a hospital bed and over the months bought different things she needed with the help of our homeland friends and my sisters. She developed huge bedsores. But through it all she never complained.

I asked her one day if she knew what happened. Yes, I had a stroke. I said mother who told you? She looked so surprised and said, “Jesus told me”.

I really don’t know how much she understood but she knew us all right to the end. When she was able we would roll her chair over to the church and she would sit there and raise her good arm worshipping the Lord.

I would ask her who was her pastor and she would tell me and ask her what she was doing at my house and she would tell me, “visiting you and Brazil”.

Before she had her stroke she had told me she was going to raise money to help buy some of the people a pair of shoes. After she returned conscience she always wanted to know if I had bought the people shoes.

When the pastors would come pray for her she would ask me, “Now, Janice do they have a car?” I would say no so she would tell me now you go write a check on my account and get them a car…even in her state of health she wanted to help someone else…Of course she had no money but she thought she did…

She would ask each pastor that would come to pray for her, what color car they wanted…

One of her doctors that would come to the house would take lots of time with her and came to our church on several occasions. One day I said Mother Dr. Olandina is a Christian. She took one look at the doctor and the way she was dressed and said, “Must not have got the Holy Ghost at my church or she would look like a Christian”…Olandina loved to hear her talk. One day she spotted Olandina’s rings and motioned for her to come closer, and then she tried to take her hand so Olandina held up her hand to see what mother wanted .Mother looked very serious at her and said, “If I were you I would take those rings off and give to Janice to sell to buy a church!” So every time she spotted the rings she would have Olandina take them off and give to me to build churches.

Her final days were suffering and pain but she just lay there. I knew she was hearing heaven calling. I wanted her to stay but I didn’t want her to suffer.

We always have an end of the year party at our church. The night of the party she was so sick. Two doctors rushed to my home. It was so difficult. On one side of the street a party was going on for our people and the other side I knew mother was dying. I would run across the street and talk to our people at the party then run back over and watch mother struggling for breath. That was the last night she would be at my home for early the next morning we took her to the hospital were she stayed until Jesus called her.

Dr. Eleane was with mother and Dr John both Neurosurgeons, the night of the party. Eleane said to me, “Sit down missionary and tell me how you do it”.
“I could not smile if my mother were dying no matter what was going on.” “Dr. You don’t understand but my mother prayed for almost 40 years for the Brazilian people and even though she is looking over to the other side she would want me to be happy for the sake of our people. I cannot spoil their party because of my personal sadness…”

Oh, how I praise the Lord for the hope beyond this life…Inside while I smiled at the people my heart was breaking…

My fellow climbers up life’s road there is a peace that passes all understanding. We can have calm in a storm. There is never a night so dark that the sun will not shine again.

…and in His city all tears are wiped away…and He is the light of that city…