Sao Vicente Cape Verde and Jon Dias

Over a three week period, Rita and I took 11 plane rides and 5 ferries to visit 8 of the 9 inhabited islands of Cape Verde. This gave us about two days on each island to conduct interviews and explore the communities of Cape Verde. After our arrival in the capital of Praia Santiago we were soon off to visit the second most inhabited Island Sao Vicente. Compared to Santiago’s rich green appearance and rolling hills, Sao Vicente was rather flat. Mindelo, the capital of Sao Vicente is another picture of little Europe, cobblestones and quaint pubs around every corner. In the center square, (where free wi-fi could be found, crazy), I began to notice the extreme diversity and acceptance among ethnics .There seemed to be no aversion to inner-racial marriage. Throughout the park I noticed many multi ethnic couples. Among the children there seemed to be no cultural clicks either. Perhaps these couples and mixing of ethnics seem particularly striking to me now only because I have been living these 6 months in a rather confined atmosphere. Driving in West Africa we make a game of calling out the white person or Asian person if we happen to see one.

In Sao Vicente, we stayed at the Nazarene Seminary located in Mindelo.  It was at this seminary that we were honored to meet with Steve and Trina SIL translators who are working on Luke-Acts in the Northern Cape Verdean Creole. In Trina and Steve roof top apartment they have many visitors. Trina has been feeding some Spanish Finches since they were little fledglings and now they firmly believe they have a right to their office area. They fly in threw the open window and door steal whatever seeds or crumbs they want, fuss about and chatter at anyone invading their office.  Trina says if she is slow in getting up they will impatiently knock on the window in the mornings.  Trina and Steve have been working with SIL for many years in various West African countries.  They are now working furiously on Luke-Acts trying to complete it before their deadline. Steve and Trina were a wealth of information on Cape Verdean culture. Steve said though Cape Verdeans are very literate the oral traditions are still highly cherished. To begin a Storying session women will stretch a plastic bag between their legs and beat it like a drum. Many of their stories concern moral issues or lessons on adulthood.  

At the seminary we also met the first of many Nazarene pastors in Cape Verde and learned the history of the Nazarene’s on the Islands. Catholicism was brought to the islands with the Portugal settlement in the 1500’s, no evangelical presence could be found on the Island until 1901. In the late 1800’s a young man name Jon Dias traveled from him home island Brava Cape Verde aboard his father’s sailing vessel to Massachusetts USA. In America he learned began to attended a protestant church, accepted the Lord and had a deep desire to return to his home country and share his new faith. In 1901 Jon, still a young man, returned to Brava and began a small mission. Jon mission face fierce persecution from the zealous Catholic community. Multiple times Jon and his new converts were beaten and mobs shouted and tried to disturb the protestant congregation when they met. Still the church grew and by 1916 there were 87 members in the Brava congregation. This church became one of the first organized Nazarene Congregations in 1908. Because of Jon commitment the Nazarene’s today hold a respected place in Cape Verdean society. “If you are Cape Verdean you are either Catholic or a Nazarene” is a statement we heard from more than one Cape Verdean. Though the Nazarene are recognized and are no longer physically persecuted like Dias, they still struggle against the Catholic bias. Today there are more evangelical missions, without the 100 year history that the Nazarene’s have on their side, they are finding it difficult to push through cultural traditions and find the heart of the Cape Verdean. Pray that G0d will not forget the faithfulness of the Nazarene believers and that they will reach into every community in Cape Verde. Pray that G0d will break down the cultural barriers keeping Cape Verdeans from seeing the truth. Pray that other evangelical denominations will be able to push through and make an impact for the Kingdom in Cape Verde. And pray for unity among the believers from each denomination in Cape Verde.