Humanitarian Service is Goodwill for the Church

Elder and Sister Angus, WIM Humanitarian Services missionaries who travel from island-to-island and country-to-country building goodwill for the Church, had a particularly busy mid-May as they finished up three large projects benefiting, perhaps as many as, 2000 people in Guyana.

On Monday, May 16, family and friends of the New Amsterdam Special Needs School, the school’s 72 children; 18 teachers and staff employed there, along with local leaders and members of the Church came together for handing over festivities to celebrate the completion of multi-faceted church-sponsored humanitarian service projects at the school suggested by Elder and Sister Young, another senior couple serving in the West Indies Mission.

The nearly month-long project included repairs to plumbing to bring water into the kitchen and washroom, a privacy door and 4 new toilets, installation of taps for all sinks and air conditioning in the computer room; a metal filing cabinet, stationary and school supplies for the office and use by the children, and 25 new student desks.

On Tuesday, May 17, the Humanitarian Services missionaries handed off a 40-foot container of materials and supplies to the Guyana Relief Council to assist in their ongoing efforts to alleviate at least some of the trauma suffered by persons whose lives have been disrupted by disasters.

The container, donated by Church Humanitarian Services, was filled to capacity with clothing, shoes, hygiene kits, school supplies, baby kits, toys, household items and blankets valued at $74,219 USD. Also donated were mattresses, bedding, kitchenware and story books for the children all purchased locally and valued at another $891,580 GYD. It is estimated the contents of the container will help as many as 1600 individuals, particularly those who have lost their homes to fire.

For more than seventeen years, the Guyana Relief Council, chaired by Yvonne Hinds, wife of Guyana's Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, has provided for the needs of those in distress in the country’s 10 regions. In 2010, for instance, the GRC provided help to 75 families who had lost their homes to fire; 3 families suffering from losses due to wind damage; and 166 persons who needed welfare assistance, including those in 4 Hinterland communities.

On Wednesday, May 18, parents, teachers and sixty-four first and second grade students at the Windsor Forest Primary School excitedly accepted delivery on Wednesday of a new television, a DVD player, tables and chairs, as well as books for their new reading room.

In addition to the electronics and other materials, valued at $1580 USD (about $316,000 GYD), the school was also the beneficiary of a youth service project involving more than a dozen young men and women from Georgetown’s Vreed-en-Hoop Branch who showed up on a recent Saturday morning to paint some of the interior of the school.

The Church's Humanitarian Services program has long been actively involved in humanitarian relief and development activities throughout the world. These include emergency relief assistance in times of disaster and humanitarian programs to strengthen the self-reliance of individuals, families, and communities.

Seven Enter Through the Gate

Seven young converts stepped into the baptismal font on Saturday, May 14 to show their willingness to come into His kingdom and keep His commandments from this time forward. Surrounded by friends, family, branch members and Elders Scott and Fernandes, Andre Jacobus, Martin Kassim and five of his seven children – LaToya (age 15), Kristine (14), Emmanuel (10), Christopher (9) and Lawrence (8) – entered the strait and narrow way to become members of the Church and the Diamond Branch in Georgetown, Guyana.

18-year-old Brother Jacobus, who was introduced to the gospel by a young woman with whom he goes to school, has expressed a desire to serve a mission when he is eligible to do so.

When asked how the miracle of today’s baptism of all the eligible members of her family had come about, Sister Kassim – who was herself baptized just 6 weeks ago - simply said, “we started praying together night and morning and reading the scriptures as a family. Soon the children began asking, ‘why can’t we be baptized, Mommy?’”

The names, faces and circumstances may be different but this same scenario is being repeated weekly in the West Indies Mission in fulfillment of prophesy by Elder M. Russell Ballard who petitioned the Lord in his dedicatory prayer on February 23, 1990, for a future day in Guyana when “wards and stakes [will] dot the face of this land [where] Thy honest-in-heart children, those who love Thee and are seeking for the truth, may . . . flock by the hundreds, yea, even thousands to receive their saving ordinances in preparation to receiving all the blessings of the House of the Lord, even a temple.”

Meet Sister Ludwig

Elizabeth Ludwig, a widow with 8 children (2 deceased), 33 grandchildren and 22 “greats” felt she “needed something to do” when she put in her papers to serve a mission in the West Indies. With a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) 4-year academic degree from BYU, this resident of Payson, Utah enjoyed a rewarding career in home health, hospice and most recently as an RN in a hospital medical-surgical unit, until she made the decision to retire to care for her husband who was in failing health. After his passing, she "wanted to use my nursing skills to help others rather than sit home and eat bonbons.”

Sister Ludwig has had a long history of service in the Church, including most recently teaching adults in Sunday School and the activity leader for the Primary’s 8 and 9-year old girls; and, together with her now-deceased husband, Sister Ludwig served a fulltime mission to Nebraska where the couple worked to reactivate members. “I’ve done everything except hold the Priesthood and work in the nursery,” she notes.

In her second mission as a senior she will serve alongside Sister Ellison helping keep young missionaries healthy so they can continue to “bring souls to Christ.”

Welcome, New Missionaries

In harmony with the inspired pattern described in the fifth Article of Faith, seven new missionaries have been called by a prophet of God and set apart to represent the Lord Jesus Christ and His church in the West Indies Mission. On Tuesday, May 3, after a full day of orientation to the mission, they enjoyed dinner with President and Sister Gamiette before traveling on to their area of service. At the left of President Gamiette are Elders Roger Daniel Gines (Kaysville, UT); Adam Walter Watchman (Salt Lake City, UT); Mitchell Todd Larsen (Salt Lake City, UT); Jeremy Fernandes (Brussels, Belgium); Daniel Thomas Hansen (Sandy, UT); Benjamin Harvey (Post Falls, ID) and Sister Delphine Gamiette. Elders Larsen, Watchman and Hansen will serve on the French side of the mission, while Elders Gines, Watchman and Harvey are assigned to the English-speaking areas of the Caribbean, bringing the total number of missionaries "worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel and an official representative of the Church" in the West Indies Mission to 117.

Meet Elder and Sister Andrus

The newest – and 19th couple missionaries - in the West Indies Mission are Elder James and Sister Mary Andrus from St. George, Utah. Elder and Sister Andrus raised their family in Nevada where the couple worked side-by-side for more than 35 years building Andrus Transportation, Inc, a family owned long-distance trucking business serving 11 Western states. “From scratch to 350 trucks,” states Sister Andrus who was the company accountant until she had to pack her bags for a mission to the West Indies. For more than three decades, “we didn’t do anything but work . . . at the office, at home and in the Church.”

Sister Andrus has served as president of the Relief Society, Primary and Young Womens program and has had numerous other callings, including teaching. Elder Andrus, a pilot who operated a touring company over the Grand Canyon for a number of years, was recently released from the Bloomington Utah Stake High Council but has also served as a bishop, Elders Quorum president and was a scoutmaster for 17 years, earning the Silver Beaver, the award given to registered adult leaders who have made an impact on the lives of youth.

As they begin their service to the Lord and His children in the West Indies Mission, the Andrus’ will serve in the Mission Office in Trinidad. Elder Andrus will serve as the WIM Finance Secretary making certain bills are paid, missionaries receive their monthly subsistence; and a log is developed and maintained of mission vehicles, apartments and cell phones. Sister Andrus will serve as the WIM Secretary, with particular responsibility for immigration, but will also order materials and supplies, prepare for incoming and departing missionaries and “other duties as assigned.”