Sappington's Say "Orevwa"

Ed and Linda Sappington have prepared for a lifetime to serve as Perpetual Education Fund specialists for 18-months in the West Indies Mission. Ed, a former banker with First Interstate . . . and later with Wells Fargo Bank; and Linda, who has recently stepped down from her longtime position as Director of the Volunteer Center of Washington County, are excited about their assignment although it will be hard to leave behind their six children,(nearly) 13 grandchildren and one adorable little "great."

The Sappington's will divide their time between Trinidad and Guyana, where - they have been told - constant change is common in this fledgling mission field so one of the best skills couple missionaries need to have is the ability to “roll with the punches.”

Geographically speaking, Guyana is at the top of South America, immediately next door to Venezuela. It is described as a country of exceptional natural beauty, a very high cost-of-living and a turbulent past. In this, the 3rd smallest country in the mainland of South America, the official language is English, and is one of only two remaining countries where traffic still drives on the left. Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana, has a population of about 250,000 people (roughly twice the size of Washington County), fine colonial buildings and wide, tree-lined streets.

The church in Guyana has only been recognized for about 30 years so is still small with about 5000 members in 15 wards and branches.

The West Indies Mission includes the South American countries of Guyana ("Where the Caribbean meets South America"), Suriname and French Ghiana, Trinidad and Tobago and several little islands northeast of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean.

Back in the earliest days of the church, Brigham Young established the Perpetual Emigration Fund to provide the means for new converts from all over the world - most of these more than 66,000 pioneers were impoverished - to obtain a small, low-interest loan to purchase wagons, horses or oxen and supplies needed to cross the American frontier as part of the second largest exodus in the history of the world.

In 2001, President Gordon B. Hinckley introduced a modern version of the PEF in the form of the Perpetual Education Fund which provides loans to needy, ambitious and temple worthy members - mostly in impoverished 3rd world countries - seeking additional education, mainly through vocational school and technical training. Career training options include school teacher, network administrator, computer science, systems analyst, human resource specialist, flight attendant, managerial, clinical lab technician, computer support technician, university faculty, political analyst, physician's assistant, physical and corrective therapy assistant, lawyer and judge.

In its first 8 years, more than 40,000 students in 40 countries have improved their position in life through PEF. These loans, for college / university schooling, have resulted in an average increase in wages from $179 a month to $756 a month, an increase of 320%

Ward members are invited to follow the Sappington’s spiritual journey in the West Indies at http://sappingtonmission.blogspot.com.