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American Presbyterians in Brazil 151 Years (and counting) of Missionary Involvement www.APIB.org |
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Martha Little 1948 - 1983
Martha Little with Joe Martin - 2005 Brazil Missionary Reunion
Martha Little was an educator who served in Brazil between 1948 and 1983 with the Presbyterian church. She was assigned to Region III (the old West Brazil mission), at the Edward Lane Bible Institute in Patrocinio, Minas Gerais, and in Ceres, Goais.
Her first assignment was language study in 1948 at Patrocinio. She served her first term there teaching the Bible at the Edward Lane Bible Institute. After a furlough in 1954 she began supervising the missions primary schools in the West Brazil region. She visited the schools during her first semester and then returned to teach methods of teaching for those that were preparing to teach.
In 1971 Martha moved to Ceres, in Goais, to supervise the schools that were being built along the Brasilia - Belem highway. At one time there were 35 schools under her supervision.
Martha's travels and experiences were related in "Field Letters" that were mailed to churches back in the United States. Some of these have been scanned and posted here at APIB. Links are below and under "Mission Stories". Her journey's were truly remarkable and the lives she touched made a tremendous difference.
Field Letter May 14, 1967 Martha Little Field Letter - December 1, 1970 Martha Little Field Letter - March 15, 1966 Martha Little Martha Little - Annual Report - 1967 Field Letter July 24, 1982 Martha Little Field Letter - November 13, 1968 Martha Little
My Five Parents
Yes, two fathers and three mothers. Now, how blessed can one be?
My Heavenly Father – all loving and present, all merciful and compassionate, who gave His only Son so that I could live.
My earthly father Pedro – who left me with a legacy of integrity and simplicity and was called to his heavenly home in 1975.
My “from the womb” mother Ana – a witty, fun and beyond humorous little lady, who left me for the home prepared for her in heaven in 1992.
My “under the law” mother Virginia – who brought my husband into this world and gladly embraced me as her own.
My “from the heart” mother Martha – whose history with me you will find in the lines below, and who stepped into heaven just this week.
A DAUGHTER’S TRIBUTE TO MARTHA LITTLE
(Written by Ezia Mullins [Brazil] and read by Fern Jennings at Martha’s funeral service on Friday, October 12 in Carnesville, GA).
Martha came into my life when I was only 2 years old. That day I was being baptized and she was directing the choir. As she waved her hands in front of the choir I stared wide-eyed from my perch in my dad’s arms. My parents, brand new Christians, had never seen anything like that, and my mother thought that Martha was having some kind of spell, ready to fall over, trying desperately to keep her balance. Over the years, as she and I shared and remembered that event, we giggled and laughed till our sides nearly busted. And oh, how Martha could laugh! Sweetness and humor. One of my many lessons from her.
I was already 7 the next time we came face to face again. And I mean really “face to face”, as she stooped down getting to my eye level, talking to me out of her deep love for children. I have lovely and fond memories of that moment. And here is another lesson from her: all these many years later, whenever I speak to children, I stoop down and talk to them at eye level. “That is important to a child”, she once told me, “to see a caring adult paying attention to him/her, and not someone towering over them”.
On that day, she and my mother made some decisions about my education. You see, I was child number 20 in a very poor family, and a girl at that! My educational future back then would go as far as fourth grade, at best. No more. But Martha, at the Lord’s prompting, was determined to see me through college. And that she did! Over the years she was my encourager, my mentor, my coach, standing proudly by my side at every academic accomplishment, cheering me on, uplifting me like nobody had ever done.
Before my 8th birthday I was already helping Martha in her Brazil office. Those were some of the best years of my life. She would take time everyday to read the Bible with me and pray with me, just the two of us! Imagine that! What a privilege! It was during that time that she led me to the Lord and I received Him into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior. Over the years Martha and I shared many Bible reading and prayer times together. We always ended up in tears. For those of you who knew Martha you will remember that she was a crier. But she wept because of God’s greatness, overwhelmed by His steadfastness, mercy and love.
During those early years she gave me several responsibilities, increasing them as I grew older and was able to handle them: cutting pictures out of magazines, classifying them by subjects, making copies, helping prepare teaching materials, and even conducting teaching sessions for her elementary school teachers! When I was 13 she encouraged me to learn how to type. By that time I also discovered that I could understand some English, and later she prompted me to try and speak it, which I timidly did. Today I speak English with relative fluency and with a very Southern accent! And of course you don’t have to wonder where that came from!
In my early years, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, Martha’s smiling face always came to mind, but I knew full well that there would never be another like her. Nevertheless, I did try (and still do) to imitate her. My husband tells me that whenever I teach children I sound and act just like Martha.
Alan and I were married on her 53rd birthday, and since then she always called January 27th “our special day”. Sometimes she would send us a check with a note that said: “Alan, take our best girl out to dinner for our special day” – the wonder of belonging and of being loved!
She would always proudly introduce me around her hometown of Carnesville, GA and everywhere else as her daughter. And that I was! Once when I was visiting, I remember one particular gentleman’s puzzled look on his face as he said: “Miss Little, what have you been doing all these years in Brazil?” And then he gulped and said: “Yeah, she does look like you!” I told her that this could get her in big trouble in the Carnesville community. A “single saintly missionary lady” coming back to this country with a grown daughter? She just grinned with a twinkle in her eye. My children lovingly called her Vovo Martha (Grandmother Martha).
I remember another time she introduced me in a church in Lavonia, GA. She told the congregation about someone telling her, when she first went to Brazil, that since she was there, she should be investing in precious stones, such as diamonds. She told them that she was indeed investing in precious gems. Then she pointed to me and said: “Here is one of them”! It was such a humbling experience to me, but that is how Martha viewed so many people: precious stones needing the Master Jeweler’s touch to bring out all of the beauty He made. And that was Martha, who spent her entire life investing in lives. She is now reaping the eternal dividends of those investments.
How can I begin to tell what Martha meant to me? I thank God for her life and work - all for the Lord, not only on our Brazil mission field, but wherever she found herself. Her love for the Lord and for her Brazil family, as well as her family and community was absolutely remarkable. Her open home and heart to so many of us cannot be put into words. I will sorely miss the house on Court House Square with its welcoming signs, ancient looks, scents and smells, plus Martha’s filling presence. These will be forever etched in my memory.
My memories of her are warm and fond. How faithful she has been in everything. My heart is broken, yet I rejoice for how she was able to serve the Lord up to the very end. Although not biological, I am her own, linked to her heart, a bond of more than 50 years. I weep for my loss, but I rejoice that she is more alive now than ever, enjoying sweet fellowship with her Savior and Lord, whom she faithfully served.
“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29)
Ezia Mullins – Loving daughter and missionary colleague
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