Posted this before

[Sister Alvear]

I was sitting at this little house and I looked out and I could see the pond that was their drinking water, and the animals were drinking water also. We got to the ice box and get a cold drink or water; we just take it for granted. The little woman who lived where we were to have the house meeting that night didn't come to the service at the church that morning.
When I was riding the oxcart it got so rough that I decided to walk a while. I asked where the man's wife was. He said, "She stayed home to work on the stove." I thought, Um, work on the stove, it must be tore up. I didn't know she had stayed home to cook dinner for us. She had to use the water out of that pond. Then, I understood why the Lord had said, "Get your flesh and bring it down." I understood because the town where Brother Jose lives they have a big open market every Saturday morning. Sister Alvear told us, "I want you all to see the market."
Before we went to see the market, I stepped outside and Brother Jose was coming with a big roast in his hand, unwrapped. He was just smiling, he was so tickled. He had cut hair and made enough to buy a piece of meat for us. He was just smiling because he was bringing it for us. The weather was about one hundred and ten degrees. We went down to the market, and there was oxen laying by their carts. They had traveled all night. They had hung it up, laid it on tables, or whatever. Chicken, pork, beef, beans, etc. They don't have much money, but they trade meat for beans and beans for meat. Then they go back home.
Well, the little man where we were going to have the house meeting on Sunday went to that market on Saturday and got some of the meat, because they were planning to fix dinner for us, and they were so happy that they could do it. They had cooked some of that meat and I sat down there and said, "Oh flesh, you're going to eat it."
We had a wonderful service; the power of God was so strong. Sister Alvear's little boy counted, one hundred and seventy-six people in that front yard, for that service. And that little lady was there for service. When she got back home after service that night, she would have walked a total of about forty-two miles that day, and she didn't even have a seat that night.
No seat was provided for her, and that Lord brought out that scripture to me again. He said, "I have not asked anyone to send all that they have. They can eat their meat and dessert but send a portion for those whom nothing has been prepared. When the missionary plate is passed our way, we better feel our obligation. We had better feel, I had better send a little portion of what I have been blessed with to someone who has not had a seat provided for them.
When the service was over, it started raining, and those poor people had to walk in the rain. They didn't even have a flashlight. They had to walk home in the dark.
We went to another place in Brazil. We stayed in the pastor's home. He had six children. Two girls were married, and the four boys were home. All of the man's married life, he had worked for $12.50 a week and supported his family. He would catch a truck on Monday morning, go into an Indian reservation, (He is a carpenter) and stay until Friday. He had to feed himself, and support his family on twelve dollars and fifty cents a week.
This pastor was starting a work fifty miles away, so we hired a man with a van to take us to his work. There was a little old woman and her husband. They had taken some sticks, pieces of lumbar, and stuck them up to make a frame for a house. They had taken some black plastic and made the top and the walls.
The people in that area are so ragged. I had never seen such big patches on britches, as I saw on her husband. They didn't know we were coming, the appointment was for next Sunday, for the pastor to go, but because we came, he wanted us to go up there to meet these people.
As soon as we got there, this brother (looked like he weighted one hundred pounds) ran and put on a dingy white shirt with those patched pants, and put him on a necktie, and ran to invite the people. He was telling them to come on; we are going to have service. The people gathered there in front of the little plastic shack.
After the service the woman wanted to show us her house. She was so proud because it was the first house she had ever owned. It was only two little tiny rooms. I looked at her feet, and at all of their feet. I've never seen human feet look like their feet. Their feet looked like animal's feet, because they have to go barefoot. How man y pairs of shoes could you buy out of $12.50 a week and feed a family?
This is a place where it gets cold in winter, and Sister Alvear said they suffer when winter comes. (It is in the opposite part from Bahia) They are humble, kind, thankful and happy. You will never find a more appreciative people than the Brazilian people.
While I was at the Alvear's house, I picked up a book and began to read. I thought, This explains them so much. I told about the first hospital that was built in Brazil by a doctor who came from London. It told about this lady who was taken on an oxcart to this hospital. She was there several days before the baby was born, and she was so thankful for how sweet the nurses treated her. She had never been treated so kind in her life, and when the little baby was born (it was a girl) she named her "Hospital."
Just before I left Bahia, Brother Jose cried and said to me, "Sister Holmes, stay and help us." In addition, I thought, how could I help you? I can't understand what you say; you can't understand what I say. I was speaking this through Sister Alvear. I thought, "Sister Alvear and them have to go back to Campinas where they live, and the people couldn't understand what I say, I don't know how I could help you.
But, I thought, I can help you. It's like Brother Joel told the church when I got home. After they heard the story, he said, Folks, we can't feed the whole world, but we can help feed God's people who are hungry.