Welfare Gardens and Basketball Standards

A couple of days in the life of an over the hill senior couple on the islands of Cape Verde.

One of our mission duties is to help the missionaries with their visa renewals.  On Friday we had a few renewals scheduled and we had to go to the national police to have it done.  Friday morning Sister Erickson awakes and shares a dream about visiting with the chief of police to talk about our humanitarian work and she insisted that we should do it.  I was somewhat skeptical since the police are somewhat brusque and treat everyone with an air of authority.  As we climbed the steps to the police station, a police officer was walking down and stopped to talk with us in English.  He was exceptionally friendly.  We asked him how we could make an appointment to talk with the Chief of Police and he said we could come back on Tuesday afternoon and setup an appointment but the Chief was out on vacation and would not be available for a couple of weeks.  We entered the station and got in line for the visa renewals.  A few minutes later the same police officer comes and gets us and says that the Comandante (Commander) of the police was available to talk to us.  Somewhat taken off guard, we agreed and were escorted into the Comandante's office.  For twenty minutes we talked to him and explained our purpose as humanitarian missionaries.  He was very friendly and gave us several suggestions of organizations that we could visit.  He then gave us his contact information and told us to contact him if we ever had any other questions or concerns.  We left with the realization that a miracle had just happened.

Last week we went on the ferry to the island of Santo Antão and on the way home we wanted to bring back a double bed frame that was for some reason left in one of the missionary apartments.  However we didn't have the slightest idea how to manage it since it was too big for us to carry.  So we got a rental truck, essentially a taxi, and headed with a set of missionaries to the ferry dock.  We arrived at the freight gate and asked what we have to do.  The young man in charge just happened to be a returned missionary.  The bed frame was unloaded and stored on the ferry.  As we sailed back to our home island we wondered how we were going to get the bed frame off the ferry and eventually to our apartment.  Upon arrival we walked down to the lower deck and told an officer that we needed help to unload the bed.  As he talks to a deck hand, another ferry employee walks up and says "I am a member of the church.  Do you need help?"  Five minutes later the bed is loaded on a cart which is pushed about two hundred yards across the dock to the gate.  At the gate the ferry employee flags down a rental truck, the bed is loaded and we are on our way.  At our apartment the two men in the rental truck carry the bed up the stairs and into our spare bedroom.  Just another day in the mission field.

These type of occurrences literally happen everyday.  We have come to realize that when the Lord opens a door, we enter even though we may be frightened and unsure of what to do.

Below are some pictures of a few of our activities over the past two weeks.

Pizza night with Bishop Jose dos Santos, his wife, Anita, and Moroni and Tatiana

We can't hug our grandkids for two years but these kids are pretty special, too

A visit to the garden project on the island of Santo Antão.  Two families received drip lines and garden tools from the Church and are becoming self-reliant.

This is the ground before they start the garden.  Thousands of rocks have to be removed by hand.

This is the drip line that the Church provided for these families.

After five months this is what it looks like.  It is amazing what a little water and a lot of hard work will do.  We are hoping to expand upon this project with other families.

Off to Praia for four days

Elder and Sister Biven have been working as humanitarian missionaries in the southern four islands.  Their mission has come to an end and we visited them to become acquainted with their projects and the different organizations that they have been assisting.  A replacement couple will arrive in December and we hope to help them make the transition.

Elder Biven helping with the final adjustments for a basketball project that provided two basket standards made from material provided by the Church and welded together by volunteer labor.

Elder and Sister Biven completing their last project.  The coach with the big smile and the kids that get to learn about basketball.  They can have fun and at the same time learn discipline and dedication and enjoy the rewards of hard work and sacrifice.

An early morning stroll on the beach with Elder and Sister Biven and Elder and Sister Moraes.

Breakfast at the beach.  This was the last day for the Bivens.  Elder and Sister Moraes are the mission office couple and are from Brazil.  We along with E/S Moraes are currently the only missionary couples in Cape Verde.  A year ago there were seven.  The Lord needs more senior couples.