Skip Navigation

MKs Help in Outreach to Small Town Portugal

Miriam Tyers, Portugal

Hannah Lowe Teaching English

“Oh, no, Aunt Miriam, you can’t move away! You’ll be too far away from us!” Hannah said.
“Look,” I began, trying to brighten her perspective, “I’ll be like Aunt Bea in Mayberry, and you’ll get to visit me! Okay?”

With that, we continued our picnic on the front lawn of the library in the small town of Venda do Pinheiro in Portugal. I had been asked to move to the town to begin outreach to the community. Little did they realize at the time, but that conversation would be the beginning of many adventures for me and Hannah (12) along with her brother Brian (nicknamed Xano, 13), who would became my sidekicks in making contacts in the town.

The pair is the son and daughter of Ken and Amy Lowe—missionaries who serve in another part of Lisbon where rural life is being taken over by urban sprawl and green areas are being consumed by apartment complexes. 

After I moved to Venda, Hanna and Brian visited me often. Their excitement for country living was manifested when they stood in awe in the driveway and saw the constellations in a clear night sky. The next day, they led me blind-folded into the living room and then had me look with them out the window at the stunning view of the forest that was covering the hills across from my house. It was their adaptation to country living chores, however, was the most impressive change.

Whether they were picking fruit in my orchard, walking the dog, or collecting firewood, they were up to the task. Xano became the expert in making lemonade from the lemons that he and Hannah had picked, scrubbed, and juiced in an assembly-line fashion. Hannah, meanwhile, helped with baking, ironing, and barbecuing—all essential tasks in order to have the time to go out to evangelize the children.

Being a blonde and a red-head in a predominantly brunette society and being fluent in English made a stand-out team whenever they went around town inviting children to an English club. But they also conformed well to the Portuguese language and culture.

“I really like those mini-shopping carts,” Xano said one day as we visited the corner store. He surprised the clerk with a greeting in her native tongue. Her grandson, who was Xano’s age, was stocking the shelves. “I would just love to work here,” Xano said with a typical 13-year-old’s enthusiasm. Then, seeing an opportunity, he said, “We should get her grandson to come to our club!”

I invited the two junior missionaries to my English classes in the local public schools where I taught six hours a week. The Portuguese children gathered around my “niece” and “nephew” in curiosity, and paid rapt attention as their guests answered questions about themselves.

“I loved playing soccer with them the most,” said Xano after finishing a game on the muddy field at the two-room school house. He and Hannah were in-demand players for the two teams, as they were bigger and stronger than the grade three students. Xano then served them some of his tasty lemonade.

The highlight of the year was helping to host the final English club at my house. Xano and Hanna participated as instructors and were excited to see the 19 children that attended.

Xano was amazed at the turnout. “Wow,” he said, “this is the first year we are here and look how many people came!” I assured them that whatever reward there would be for reaching out to Venda, they would share in the reward. 

At one point, Xano and Hannah even made a short film of their adventures with me in Venda. Hannah began, “Jesus said, ‘Go to the ends of the earth.’ Venda do Pinheiro is the ends of the earth. Aunt Miriam is here planting a church with a dog and two kids. She needs your help.” 

Seeing these two children live as faithful, enthusiastic servants during their time with me proved that our youths can be amongst the best missionaries in the world!