Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Two things of cultural interest.
First, a look into an "evangelical" Forum for discussion - in Portuguese, of course, so I won't give you the reference. However, this was the gist of a discussion. The opening title was "Why I burned my Bible". Well, being intrigued, I began to read. Turns out that the Bible which was burned was one without the Apocrypha, because the person who had owned it was disillusioned with the explanations s/he was receiving from evangelical pastors about why these books were not included in the Canon. There followed various responses to this, some of which were unpleasant and unhelpful, using inappropriate language for a Christian website. Two other people had also burned their Bibles for the same reason. Some people affirmed their use of a Bible with Apocryphal books. Only one or two were actually attempting to give a sensible explanation, in the right attitude, as to why the books were omitted and what they contained that led to their exclusion. This may give you some inkling of how deep-seated loyalty to Roman Catholicism and its teaching is in Brazil, even among young people, although, as in evangelical churches, the main draw to participating in church life is the sense of belonging to a community and enjoying social life together in a relatively safe environment. Please pray that there will be true reformation here through the preaching of the truth in the Bible, and people will want to read it, not burn it.
Second, last night we went to the passing out parade of our friend, R, (aged 18) as a soldier in the Brazilian Army. The only security at the gate as we drove in was a question about whether people had a son in the parade, no paperwork or ID checks. As yet, Brazil is blessed with no fear of terrorism. Parents and friends were assembling at one end of the parade ground, with the young recruits mingling freely with their families, the whole atmosphere extremely informal. The brigade band appeared and entertained us with an eclectic range of military style music- Colonel Bogey, The Grand March from Aida, Toreador from Carmen -while the recruits went to get into formation. Eventually, two platoons marched in, singing a song commemorating the Brazilians regiments who fought with the allied forces in Italy in the Second World War. (Monte Cassino, the one proper Brazilian engagement.) There was a little bit of speechifying, then the business of marking the transition from recruit to soldier began.
Each recruit was to exchange his recruit's hat for a soldier's beret, which he would receive from a member of his family: a father, mother or grandparent, or whoever he had chosen. How was this going to work, we wondered? Would the recruits be called out individually? We envisaged a long drawn-out period of solemn exchanges. Instead, at a given moment, the corded barriers were let down and recruits and families mingled while the exchanges were made, hugs and kisses given, photos taken, tears shed, until families drifted back to watch the new soldiers re-form into platoons. Following this, there was a display of the uniforms of different sections of the military, including airforce parachutists, marine, and UN Peacekeeping, and a march-past of Veterans (mostly from the Italian engagement in the Second World War). Then, after a short interval, an enactment of the daily life of a soldier in the barracks, followed by a mock battle (to the music of Carmina Burana), concluding with an extremely sentimental and yet alarmingly realistic war poem, in which a soldier cries out to his mother describing how he is dying from shrapnel wounds. I am trying to get hold of a copy to translate and perhaps post later. Finally, there was a firework display, and then, of course, to the "festa" - food and drink in the soldiers' refectory.
This was quite a strange experience for us, It is some time since we felt so totally out of things culturally. We found it all very human, and therefore, in the context, not very real. Yet, later over pizzas in a restaurant, we learned from R that his training was certainly real – learning to kill human forms, handle firearms and machine guns, as well as survival techniques. In fact, recently, his “Special Operations” section had been involved in thwarting an armed sabotage attempt, and he and his colleagues could have been killed. So please pray for him, as a Christian in the Brazilian army; and for the excellent ministry of some solid evangelicals who are providing helpful teaching on the Internet for military personnel. For those who read Portuguese, the site is at:
www.militar.cristao.nom.br/paginas/estudos/estudos.htm
First, a look into an "evangelical" Forum for discussion - in Portuguese, of course, so I won't give you the reference. However, this was the gist of a discussion. The opening title was "Why I burned my Bible". Well, being intrigued, I began to read. Turns out that the Bible which was burned was one without the Apocrypha, because the person who had owned it was disillusioned with the explanations s/he was receiving from evangelical pastors about why these books were not included in the Canon. There followed various responses to this, some of which were unpleasant and unhelpful, using inappropriate language for a Christian website. Two other people had also burned their Bibles for the same reason. Some people affirmed their use of a Bible with Apocryphal books. Only one or two were actually attempting to give a sensible explanation, in the right attitude, as to why the books were omitted and what they contained that led to their exclusion. This may give you some inkling of how deep-seated loyalty to Roman Catholicism and its teaching is in Brazil, even among young people, although, as in evangelical churches, the main draw to participating in church life is the sense of belonging to a community and enjoying social life together in a relatively safe environment. Please pray that there will be true reformation here through the preaching of the truth in the Bible, and people will want to read it, not burn it.
Second, last night we went to the passing out parade of our friend, R, (aged 18) as a soldier in the Brazilian Army. The only security at the gate as we drove in was a question about whether people had a son in the parade, no paperwork or ID checks. As yet, Brazil is blessed with no fear of terrorism. Parents and friends were assembling at one end of the parade ground, with the young recruits mingling freely with their families, the whole atmosphere extremely informal. The brigade band appeared and entertained us with an eclectic range of military style music- Colonel Bogey, The Grand March from Aida, Toreador from Carmen -while the recruits went to get into formation. Eventually, two platoons marched in, singing a song commemorating the Brazilians regiments who fought with the allied forces in Italy in the Second World War. (Monte Cassino, the one proper Brazilian engagement.) There was a little bit of speechifying, then the business of marking the transition from recruit to soldier began.
Each recruit was to exchange his recruit's hat for a soldier's beret, which he would receive from a member of his family: a father, mother or grandparent, or whoever he had chosen. How was this going to work, we wondered? Would the recruits be called out individually? We envisaged a long drawn-out period of solemn exchanges. Instead, at a given moment, the corded barriers were let down and recruits and families mingled while the exchanges were made, hugs and kisses given, photos taken, tears shed, until families drifted back to watch the new soldiers re-form into platoons. Following this, there was a display of the uniforms of different sections of the military, including airforce parachutists, marine, and UN Peacekeeping, and a march-past of Veterans (mostly from the Italian engagement in the Second World War). Then, after a short interval, an enactment of the daily life of a soldier in the barracks, followed by a mock battle (to the music of Carmina Burana), concluding with an extremely sentimental and yet alarmingly realistic war poem, in which a soldier cries out to his mother describing how he is dying from shrapnel wounds. I am trying to get hold of a copy to translate and perhaps post later. Finally, there was a firework display, and then, of course, to the "festa" - food and drink in the soldiers' refectory.
This was quite a strange experience for us, It is some time since we felt so totally out of things culturally. We found it all very human, and therefore, in the context, not very real. Yet, later over pizzas in a restaurant, we learned from R that his training was certainly real – learning to kill human forms, handle firearms and machine guns, as well as survival techniques. In fact, recently, his “Special Operations” section had been involved in thwarting an armed sabotage attempt, and he and his colleagues could have been killed. So please pray for him, as a Christian in the Brazilian army; and for the excellent ministry of some solid evangelicals who are providing helpful teaching on the Internet for military personnel. For those who read Portuguese, the site is at:
www.militar.cristao.nom.br/paginas/estudos/estudos.htm
# posted by Andrew and Cora @ 12:41:00 pm 
