Elder and Sister Nish are serving as fulltime missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based on the island of St Lucia, which forms part of the Barbados Bridgetown Mission. Senior Couples, like Elder and Sister Nish, serve throughout the world as Welfare Missionaries, engaged in service assessing needs within the communities and countries in which they are assigned and then overseeing the completion of projects once they have been approved. Potential projects need to fulfil four criteria for approval: demonstrating Self-reliance, sustainability, providing a service and using local solutions to address problems.
Volunteers, like the Nish's are stationed in over 50 countries around the world where they oversee projects and humanitarian work for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. They typically volunteer for 18 months and can serve anywhere from Armenia to Zimbabwe.
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The Nish's worked to oversee a project for the School for Children with Special Needs in Kingstown, St. Vincent. The school is one of three schools in the Island Nation, serving children with various special needs relating to hearing, sight impairments, children diagnosed within the autism spectrum and the physically and intellectually challenged. The school currently supports 57 students within the ages of 6 to 21 years, with a staff of 10 teachers. Students are empowered with life-skills and the curriculum embraces various income generating skills such as Woodwork, Agricultural Science, Home Economics, Hair Styling and Braiding, Sewing and Music, Drumming and Dancing to maximize each student’s unique potential for transitioning into a wider community.
President Sutherland, the Kingstown Branch President, (local congregation leader) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, requested this assistance for the school, after being apprised by members of his Kingstown Branch congregation.
Regarding the donations from the church humanitarian services, Ms. Naseem Smith, the school’s principal said, “Thank heaven for sending these angels. A higher power was involved in bringing the church here”. The Church Humanitarian funds paid for a stove and a microwave oven which allows the students to gain cooking and baking skills. Other requests covered a sewing machine, an electric iron and ironing board, mannequin heads for hair-braiding and styling, collapsible tables, art paintbrushes, wall mounted fans, floor tiles, cement and grout for flooring a computer laboratory. The YSA, which includes the young adult men and and women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will lay the tiles and mount the wall fans as part of this Community Service.
We are grateful that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes these acts of service possible by the service of senior missionaries serving humanitarian and welfare missions worldwide, local members giving of their time and talents, and through charitable donations from church members around the world. These service endeavors bless thousands of Heavenly Father’s children every day.
