We Are Now Delivering Program Services in Portugal

Migrants needing daily food and assistance with finding employment in Portugal.

Editor’s Note: It has been a busy six months relocating the Together for West Africa center for operations from Togo, West Africa, to Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. Mike and Lynn have been very busy and somewhat mired in several snags along the journey, e.g., closing the facilities in Togo and shipping some of the resources to the US and then on to Portugal. Also, the task of establishing a residency in Caldas, Portugal, and then applying for a resident visa in Portugal has been a very lengthy process. With all that said, Mike and Lynn are now living in Caldas and are ramping up the "Together for West Africa in Portugal" ministry programs. Please read on for additional details.

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Greetings to all our faithful supporters from Mike Hutchinson:

We now have our apartment in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, mostly set up and have already opened it to a weekly dinner for migrants.

Every Saturday night we have Rice Night. Secular associations in town provide soup kitchens during the week that many immigrants profit from. But on weekends there is nothing to eat for those who have no work. So, Saturday night we have the favorite of everyone here… Rice…Red beans and rice, curry rice, jambalaya, Chicken rice… Got any recipes let me know!

Lynn spoke to the children’s group at the Baptist church about missions this month. I work with several young men, mostly from East Timor. We are helping them know the process for finding work and tips [guidance] about how to appear before Portuguese people to enhance their chances. Today everyone is working! Great success.

There are always those who would take advantage of immigrants who do not know their rights so we pray that our friends will not fall into these human trafficking traps. Augustino was taken to Spain this week on promise of a job, but he knew to have money in his pocket for a return trip before he went. As suspected, it was an agricultural job where you slept in the open fields, no food provided, except at the boss’s high prices, no guarantees for salary… Augustino came right back seeing it was just a trap. We pray he can find real work.

We have lived in Portugal before so our learning curve on many things was a little easier than a first timer. But there are still a few things that take a double look. I take buses wherever I go, not having a car. Only twice I didn’t have the right ticket and could not get on.

We’ve only showed up a few times at the grocery store without bags…you must provide your own. The Baptist churches here have a strong influence from the lively Brazilian community that participates. The Catholic Masses are much simpler and less frequent than American churches. Both groups collect food during the week and distribute it to the poor in the community. My friends from East Timor are so happy to receive their food package each week. We are helping with these projects.

We will be helping 5 kids from Guinea Bissau whose families are now here. We are paying their way to Christian summer camp, a first for them. Thanks for your donations that allow us to do this.

Prayers:

The Visa process that we are in is nothing more than a total nightmare. The government has not been able to process the temporary visas they issued. We are among 400 thousand waiting for an agency that is having trouble keeping their computers online. Pray that we can find a way to be processed.

In July I will be returning to Togo for 6 weeks. I will be doing self-help classes as before and a work project for kids to earn school supplies for the coming year. Because of our temporary visa restrictions I must fly to the USA first then on to Togo. Hopefully once or twice a year 2gether4westafrica can be in West Africa to keep our ministry going there.

Blessings, Mike