1956

 

    Many interesting facts and stories surfaced as I researched the year 1956 in the world, in Argentina and in our little corner of Don Bosco, in the province of Buenos Aires.

    Among the highlights of the year in Argentina, the name Juan Manuel Fangio stood out. It was familiar to me, but didn't mean much then. Fangio won the Argentine Grand Prix and the World Championship of Drivers five times, a record he held for 46 years. I better understand the significance of Fangio's win now that I live in Indiana, home of the Indy 500, also known as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

    Another surprise was that Rebel Without a Cause(1955) was showing in Argentina. James Dean died in a car accident shortly before his most celebrated film was released. He won two acting awards posthumously and has become a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment. 

    James Dean is a big name in our county because he was born and grew up here. In Fairmount, a nearby town, a large annual festival bears his name. Visitors come from all over the world to honor his memory. They visit the gravesite and the museum, the James Dean Gallery. His image and popularity seem to grow with time. Most recently, two gigantic art representations were installed in Fairmount, his hometown, and in Marion, his birth town. 

    From the long list of historical highlights, I chose a few more that may be of interest to some of us for a variety of reasons.

• January 8 - Operation Auca: Five missionaries killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador.
• January 28 - Elvis Presley's first television appearance.
• March 15 - "My Fair Lady" premieres on Broadway.
• May 1 - Jonas Salk's polio vaccine is made available to the public.
• July 30 - U.S. Congress joint resolution, signed by President Eisenhower, authorizes 'In God we                 trust' as the U.S. national motto.
• September 13 - the first commercial computer to use disk storage is introduced, the IBM 305                     RAMAC.
• October 15 - Fortran, the first modern computer language is shared with the coding community.
• October 17 - The Game of the Century, Bobby Fisher plays Donald Byrne in chess and wins a                     Brilliancy prize.
• November 13 - The U.S. Supreme Court declared Alabama segregated buses law illegal ending                   the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

    The first event on the list, stands out in my memory for the magnitude of its impact. Five young men purposed to reach an uncontacted tribe in the rain forest of Ecuador. For several months, they regularly flew over the area and dropped gifts which were then reciprocated. January 3, 1956, they set up camp on a sandbar along the Curaray River, a few kilometers from the people group they were attempting to evangelize. Their efforts came to an unexpected end when tribal warriors attacked and speared them.

    However, that was not the end of the story in God's book. The widows of these men did not lose hope or question God's direction for their families. Two women went back sometime later and lived among these unreached peoples and they were converted. Here is what one of the killers said, 

    Many books, articles, and films have been produced to represent the resulting impact of this event that shook the world and transformed untold numbers of lives.

    A quote by Jim Elliott, one of the five martyrs has oft been repeated.      

    Meanwhile in our little corner of Argentina, the family routines were similar from year to year. We traveled to summer camps, annual conference, and Dad had other important mission-related meetings in the interior as well. 

    Lynn and I attended the public school from March through November.

Lynn's third grade class

A school patriotic parade

 

My 6th grade class field trip to La Plata, 9.28.56

End of year photo with my teacher, Srta. Dina and the directora

    Mother certainly had her hands full keeping our guardapolvos (school uniforms) crisp white and starched in addition to all the household chores and church ministries. 

    
    This was the year of the Templo. Dad was once again immersed in a building program, and Mother always at his side, even involved in the actual construction at times. 

    Here is the story as Dad remembered it in his farewell address a few years later.    

Primera Etapa del Templo     The Temple - First Phase 

    El cinco de julio de 1956 esta iglesia recibió un regalo de la Sociedad Misionera, el lote para su templo. La única condición era que los creyentes se encargaran de levantar el templo. Con este desafío, los creyentes pronto aprobaron un plano y en el mismo mes de julio con la ayuda de Francisco Sparta y el Sr. Fischer se marcaron los cimientos. Luego fueron cavados por algunos jóvenes, el pastor y su señora.

    July 5, 1956, this congregation received a gift from the Foreign Missionary Society, a piece of land for the temple. The only condition was that the believers take charge of building the church. The believers took on the challenge and approved a blueprint and in that very month of July, with the help of Francisco Sparta and Mr. Fischer, laid out / marked the foundations. Some of the young people and the pastor and his wife dug the foundations. 

    Recordamos el 17 de agosto con gran placer porque unos cuantos amigos y hermanos de Mármol vinieron para ayudarnos a llenar los cimientos. Ancianos y jóvenes, mujeres y niños - todos trabajamos fuertemente y además de llenarse una parte de los cimientos, se pudo cavar para las bases de las tres columnas y armar el hierro correspondiente. Mirando una foto sacada el 17, descrubrimos que el baño quedó hecho antes de ese día también.    

    We remember August 17 with joy because several friends and believers from Mármol came to help us fill the foundations. Old and young, women and children - all worked hard and in addition to filling the trenches, were able to dig holes for the bases of the three columns and put together the corresponding iron frames. Looking at a photo taken that day, we realized that the bathroom had also been completed before that day 

    Con la ayuda de unos jóvenes, especialmente el hermano Angel Díaz, se siguió trabajando hasta levantar las paredes a una altura que nos hizo sentir nuestra necesidad de un albañil y con él seguimos hasta techar. Recordmos con agradecimiento el amplio andamiaje que nos prestó el Sr. Escala cuando llegamos a ese punto en la construcción. 

    With the help of some young folks, especially brother Angel Díaz, we continued working until the walls were at a point where we felt the need to hire a mason / bricklayer and kept him on until the roofing stage. We remember with gratitude the ample scaffolding that Mr. Escala loaned us when we got to that point in the construction/building.

 

   El día del techado tuvimos la colaboración de muchos. Por cierto, éramos pocos para hacer un trabajo tan grande y pesado, pero éramos unos cuanto más de lo acostumbrado.

    On roofing day we had the collaboration of many. We certainly were few for such a huge and heavy job, but we were more than usual. 

 

Brethren Missionary Herald, 11.03.56

    Ya que se aproximaba la Navidad, nos fijamos la meta de inaugurar el templo con el programa de Navidad. Había tanto que hacer que era para deseperarnos, pero diariamente seguimos adelante. Terminamos de cortar el hierro para las ventanas y el Sr. Allessándria las armó. Nos pusimos a colocarlas mientras el Sr. Rocobertón hacía las puertas. Así hicimos una cosa tras otra pero se nos acababa el tiempo. Llegó la víspera del día para el programa y hasta tarde quedamos colocando vidrios. Faltaban las luces y no las pudimos conectar hasta unas horas antes del programa, y para hacerlo tuvimos que pedir la corriente a un vecino. ¡Pero entramos - diciembre 23, 1956! El templo estaba sin revoque, sin piso, sin contra piso, ¡ambiente perfecto para celebrar el nacimiento humilde de nuestro Salvador! 

    Christmas was drawing near, so we set the goal of inaugurating the temple with the Christmas program. There was so much to do that it was overwhelming, however, we kept moving forward daily. We finished cutting the iron for the windows and Mr. Allessándria put them together. We installed them at the same time that Mr. Rocobertón was making the doors. Thus we accomplished one thing after another, but we were running out of time. The day before the program, we worked late putting in the glass. There were no lights and we were unable to connect them until a few hours before the program, and to do so we had to ask a neighbor for electricity. But we were in, December 23, 1956! The temple had no plaster, no flooring or subflooring, a perfect atmosphere to celebrate the humble birth of our Saviour! 

Inauguración del Templo

23 de diciembre de 1956

    I look at the group gathered that day and wonder where life took each one. Several, I know, are in heaven. Some of us have lived full lives, grateful for God's direction and faithfulness. 

    My parents laid down their lives in tireless labor and believed that God would give the harvest. 

    I am reminded of Jesus words, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24)."