15 Years in Brazil
(osted 10/21/08)

This month, we complete 15 years in Brazil. When we boarded a plane on August 9 , 1993, I never
imagined that we would still be living here. Our original plan had been to stay for three to five years.
God had other plans for us.

Our lives here have been good. The work has never really slowed down. Along the way the emphasis
has been in different areas, but we have never been bored. Dennis has commented many times that
he has never been unexcited about the work here, but right now he is as excited as he has ever been.
Our children all being adults has given us some “freedom” we did not have before. It is now much
easier for us to travel. Dennis has been doing a lot of travelling to follow up on contacts in other cities
and states. I do not always go with him, but have gone with him a lot. I enjoy being able to help Dennis
and be an encouragement to people in other places.

When we arrived her in 1993 my primary role was taking care of the kids and keeping things running
smoothly at home. I still try to keep things running smoothly at home, but my kids pretty much take
care of themselves. :-) I have taken on some other tasks. One of the biggest of those is keeping the
correspondence courses and mailing of publications up to date. There is a young woman from the
congregation who helps with data entry. Dennis helps read the letters that come in. We get letters that
have to be opened, read, marked what the people are requesting, enter the data in the computer, fill
the orders and then mail them out. It takes a bit to get all that done but I enjoy the work.

In 1993, I spoke very little Portuguese—barely enough to get by. The kids spoke no Portuguese. Dennis
spoke the language, but was far from fluent. Dennis improved very quickly because he used the
language a lot in teaching and communicating for our daily needs. The kids picked it up quickly
because other children helped them. I remember kids coming out to our house on Sunday afternoons.
All the kids would be in the yard pointing at different things. Our kids would say the word in English and
the Brazilian kids would say the word in Portuguese. It really helped them a lot.

In the early years, I did very little teaching of kids' classes or ladies' classes. The first ladies' class I
taught, I read just about every word I said. Now I teach kids' classes and am in the rotation with the
other ladies for teaching ladies' class.

A few months after we moved, we put the girls in a public school. This really helped their language
skills. Later, we also put Joshua in school. Since then, all the kids graduated from high school and
Megan has also finished college with a degree in translation and interpretation. Heather is taking an
online education course.

When we arrived here everything was difficult, even things that should have been simple. We had to
learn how to clean our houses differently. Grocery shopping was a challenge because we didn't always
know what things were, and communication was very difficult because of limited language skills. The
list could go on for a long time. I am happy to report that in 15 years we have adapted very well to the
culture, etc. All of us are fluent in Portuguese, which has made life so much easier. Now, not only do
we know what the items are that are on the store shelves, but there is a lot more available. We are also
able to communicate well.

On visits to the U.S. I always have somebody who asks if I speak Portuguese. My answer is always “Yes,
if I didn't we wouldn't still be living in Brazil.” In order to really feel at home in a foreign country, you
must be able to communicate. That involves more than saying hello and goodbye and talking about
the weather. You must be able to talk about your joys and sorrows and be able to understand when
people are telling you about their lives. I am still working to improve my language skills, but I have close
friends here. I could not have that without reasonably good language skills.

We arrived here with three young children. Heather was 11 ¾, Megan had just turned 10 and Joshua
was six. Heather is now almost 27. She is married to Renato and they have four children – Emily (6),
Logan and Lucas (2 yrs 10 months) and Elisa (15 months). Megan is 25 and married to Joel. Both of
the girls' husbands are Brazilian. Joshua is 21. He is still single. Dennis and I commented not long ago
that we now have a granddaughter who is the age that Joshua was when we moved here. It seems
unreal.

Over the years we have had others who have worked with us. We came down here with Gary and
Sandra Fisher and their children, Kyle and Laura. Greg Chandler, Tim Richter and Cathy Saint were
with us the first year. Joe and Beth Works and their daughters, Hannah and Miriam, came six months
later. I'm not going to put dates on all these because I will mess them up. Allen and Debbie Dvorak and
their sons, David and Jonathan, were here for 2½ years. Tim Richter came back with his wife, Lorrie,
and their son, Colton, and were here for 1½ years. In that time they added Madison. The Works family
came back for two years. Greg and Day Gravitt along with their children, Noah and Darby, were in
Jequié for six months. They would have stayed longer, but Darby (4 at the time) developed diabetes.
Carl Ballard was here for 6½ years. During this time he married a very fine young lady, Patricia, from
here and they had a son, Christopher. Most recently, Mike and Monica Bozeman and their children,
Ryleigh, Sam and Rheanna, spent three years here in São Paulo.

We have also been blessed with having lots of visitors from the U.S. I won't try to name them all
because I will forget someone. We have been very pleased that both sets of parents have been able to
come. My parents have been here three times and Dennis's dad and step-mother have been here once.
Other relatives that have visited include Dennis's brother, Doug, and his niece Carolyn, my sister,
Dawn and her husband, Peter, with their boys, Nathan and Noble, and my brother-in-law, Dan.
Hopefully, someday more of the family will be able to come.

People talk about the sacrifices we have made to be here. Life would be easier in the U.S., but I don't
feel like we have really sacrificed to be here. The only thing that could be considered a sacrifice is being
so far from family. It is hard being here when family events are taking place or one of our relatives is
sick and we can't be there to help. We are often asked what people can do to help us here. The
number one thing is to pray for the work here. Also, communicate with us. Even after 15 years, we still
enjoy getting letters from family and friends back in the U.S.

Those difficult times at the beginning seem so long ago. The work here continues to go well and there
is much to do. I can't imagine walking away from it. Our roots grow a little deeper with every child who
marries and with each grandchild that comes along. We love the people here and the work. This is very
much our home. We are thankful that we are able to be a part of the work here.

Benita Allan
Sao Paulo, Brazil