martyrs...yes and no???

[Sister Alvear]

melted wax from the candles...burnt to idols...

[Sister Alvear]

The painting of the nuns and priest are in Rome so I was told...

[Sister Alvear]

In no way and under no circumstances do I agree with the Catholic church however in missions they put us to shame. (hanging my head and weeping)

[Sister Alvear]

The massacre was rooted in cultural and religious intolerance, ethnocentricism, and a belief in the superiority of the white-Christian culture.

[Sister Alvear]

I can feel pity for the indians because I have seen so many missionaries that considered themselves so much better than the people they work with...What happened there was very sad and the aftermath...the killings even until today...however we must never forget those people that may look like salvages to us know much more than we will ever know about the jungle, its plants, teas and all kinds of things...

[Sister Alvear]

(my letter may help you understand more of what I am talking about...taken from another thread)

To all who helped make this trip possible we want you to know you have made a difference! Thank you so much. Dengue fever stage 3 and 4 is very dangerous and often fatal.
Our grand daughter has had a hard time getting accustomed to the new area…after all she left her friends, her church, her school, her grandpa and grandma…(they lived with us since she was a baby) then moving to a jungle city full of Indians and scary stories of Indians killing and raping…has not been easy for her. Especially after she found out how true those stories are.
She held my hand and said, “Grandma. I knew you cared but did not know others cared enough to send you money for you all to come and pray for me…” It is hard on parents to make a drastic move but many times much harder on the children. I know God healed her but our coming meant so much to her.
There are 15 thousand Indians in that one area…and believe me tension is always there between them and the non Indians…
In 1900 the biggest massacre of Brazilian history took place and ever since for the last 100 plus years, tensions, killings, and misunderstandings take place… The Indians busted into a catholic mass and killed nuns, non Indians, priest and kidnapped the little white girls…
Right in the mist of the jungle town the catholic church has pictures on the outside of their church of the nuns and priest the Indians killed…of course the Indians think they should have a shrine with pictures of those Indians that were killed…
I have been twice in Barra do Corda when there were Indian uprisings…it is not a pleasant thing…Brazil is the country with the largest number of uncontacted groups in the world! Brazil is a land of paradox, from modern universities to cannibal indians.
It is to this land the Lord commissioned us to preach the gospel.
When Jesus told His church to go to every creature that included the wise and unwise and facing many difficult times and often persecution those are things our flesh does not like. We are no better than those early missionaries who went before us. This mandate, from the Lord Himself, is simple, beautiful, and binding. The go ye command includes the backlands, the interior, the jungles the congested cities with the interminable alleys. It includes the innumerable villages going over impossible roads to many times get there.
I think of the thousands of homes hidden in the fastness of snow clad mountains of Chile (I love the country of Chile) there are so many mountains yet to be crossed and then hot burning desert lands in northeast Brazil.
Every way you look traveling here in Brazil there are villages by the score, thousands of unreached souls.

Many times we are met with inhospitable receptions, fanatical idolaters, entrapped in pagan darkness, chained to rituals that take and never give… spiritual destitution and the obstacles which hinder the spreading of the gospel. Total commitment means facing unknown things, eating strange foods and trying to understand a different culture.

Just the challenges faced on a daily basis are staggering. We learned long ago there is no guarantee of comfort in our calling. We are faith missionaries like those of old. We have no guarantee of food even for tomorrow…yet He who called has kept us over 40 years on the field…retirement is not on our list we are looking for new cities, and new challenges…we are continually working on Bible studies to give out and leave as a heritage to the young workers that follow behind us.
Politics is not on our agenda we have no time for such a base thing. The early church lived and died for missions had no missionary societies or organizations to propagate the faith…they lived and died for the cause of Christ and HIS cause alone.
I agree with the writer of Hebrews in the glorious faith chapter…they all won tremendous victories…some by life and others by death…God’s work will emerge and triumphant if we are not concerned with who gets the earthly glory. All these things and many more tremendous difficulties pale as we see new souls have born again.

Do we win every battle? No, sometimes we walk away hurt and battle weary but we know hundreds of battles have been won and churches stand today as monuments for victories that only a higher power could give. Just in our recent convention Church pastor’s and members wept on my shoulders, hovering around me with hugs and kisses. These expressions of love come from the closeness developed during over 40 years of service, living like they live, helping them be established on the Rock of Ages. There are times on the mission field when we wonder if we are really making a difference. There is so much to do that even significant gains can be dwarfed by the overwhelming needs however when we see the saved we know our light sufferings are nothing compared to the joy of sharing Christ with others and then seeing them share Him with yet others

I will gladly push my body to reach the souls that are racing madly through the darkest night into eternity without hope. The sounds of paganism still pain me. I have never grown accustomed to candles burning to gods that cannot save,

A sovereign God is working today and will work tomorrow. All His works are perfect works and all His victories are complete victories even though we may feel defeated at the time. Jesus Christ is our God. And He will not fail and in His name we and the true Brazilian church will go forward.
We hear the forward drum beat and we march…I am a pioneer at heart.

There are Millions of people who die untouched, unhealed, unreached and that is enough to make angels weep.
We need holy haste to go into the entire world. The church has wasted its money long enough over selfish causes and minors. It is time that we rise and go into His harvest no matter what the personal cost may be.
If only you could witness the souls awakening in hopeless eyes your life would be changed forever!

Thanks once again for your love and concern…

Bishop Raul and Janice Alvear and family
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