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Pentecost 1996 |
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C
an
R
obert
O
r
S
chroeder
More than one of you readers has asked that. The answer is Yes. For starters let's try the vowels of the alphabet: A-E-I-O-U and (sometimes) Y. A is for America, the Southern One. . . . . . or it could also be for the Awe Appropriate for the Amazon upon seeing it for the first time. We did see it, even spent two days on it (pink fresh-water dolphins and all). But the real reason for being in Amazonia was the series of Crossings seminars after Easter in Manaus and Santarem, big Brazilian cities on The River. How we got there you will learn below. But a better "A" to start with is A is for Azevedo, Gilvan de Azevedo, pastor of Hope Lutheran congregation in Brasilia, the nation's capital. Gilvan also serves as chaplain to the Military Police contingent for Brasilia -- 14,000 (sic!) men and women. After our Sunday evening session with his congregation, Gilvan offered (I thought) to take me along next day to see how he does his regular Monday
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As if that weren't enough for one gringo's Monday, he then whisked me past the guards to meet the commander. "He's a Lutheran!" Gilvan said. In conversation with Lt. Colonel Gleno E. Faria da Costa I asked my (standard) Crossings question: "What's the best thing, what's the worst thing, sir, about your daily work?" His answer: "Worst is that so few people believe in God any more. So any sense of responsibility is hard to find. "Worst here on the job is my constant need to urge restraint and non-violent response on those whom I command. Yet all the time, of course, we train them to coerce people by use of force. [I had seen as we entered his office a rifle practice range with mere human silhouettes as the targets.] So the tension never goes away. The best part is that we do succeed -- though never perfectly -- in actually protecting and saving lives." I'd come to Brazil prejudiced against military police. A niece had run afoul of such in the course of her pastoral work in El Salvador. Yet with these
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Pastor Gilvan de Azevedo (r) stands ready to translate Ed's next
words into Portuguese.
