Cape Verde: Church Chronology

1980s • EuropeCape Verdeans living outside the country joined the Church prior to returning to their homeland.

March 1989 • Praia, Cape VerdeThe first missionaries arrived in Cape Verde and found accommodations and a meeting place for church in the home of Policarpo Maria Andrade Gomes and his wife, Ofelia.

March 14, 1989 • PraiaThe first convert was baptized in Cape Verde.

June 27, 1989 • PraiaThe Praia Branch was organized with approximately 25 members.

July 22, 1989 • PraiaMissionaries were forced to leave the country due to visa problems.

April 1990 • PraiaMissionaries returned to Praia. They met and baptized Beatriz Lima, who became the first Relief Society president in the country.

1991 • Mindelo, São VicenteIn May, the island of São Vicente was opened for the preaching of the gospel. A branch opened a year and a half later, in November 1992.

October 5, 1991 • MindeloJoão and Sabina Silva were the first couple baptized on São Vicente. Sabina became first Relief Society president in Mindelo, and João became patriarch in the Mindelo Stake.

1991–1992 • Cape VerdeSeveral Cape Verdean Saints were called to serve full-time missions.

November 18, 1992 • PraiaThe Praia Cape Verde District was created, with Anibal A. Moreira as president.

1993 • Mindelo and Fogo, Cape VerdeTwo more districts were created: Mindelo Cape Verde with Antero Fortes Andrade as president and Socorro-Oriza Andrade as Relief Society president, and Fogo Cape Verde with Raul Gomes as president.

January 1993 • Cape VerdeThe first seminary and institute programs began. By 1996, more than 400 students had participated in these programs in Praia and Mindelo.

President Dallin H. Oaks and Church member

September 14, 1994 • Praia

Almost 100 local members gathered in the Fifth of July Park when the Republic of Cape Verde was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel by Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve.

April 1995 • PraiaMilena Sa Nogueira, president of the Praia District Relief Society and a widow and mother of five, helped organize shipments of food and clothing for more than 1,000 displaced persons when a volcano erupted on the island of Fogo.

February 22, 1998 • PraiaNearly 800 members, some traveling from outlying islands at great personal sacrifice, gathered to hear Gordon B. Hinckley, the first prophet and President of the Church to visit the Republic.

March 2001 • Boston, Massachusetts Cape Verdeans living in Boston participated in their West Bridgewater Third Ward’s project to send 100 Sunday clothing items to their friends and relatives in Cape Verde.

July 2002 • PraiaThe Cape Verde Praia Mission was created with 68 missionaries, 30 of whom were Cabo Verdean, in three Districts: Praia, São Vicente, and Fogo.

October 2002 • Cape VerdeThe Career Workshop program was introduced to branch and district leaders. Meetings were held with various diplomats, business groups, trade schools, and colleges in preparation for implementing the Church’s Perpetual Education Fund in Cape Verde.

November 2002 • Cova Figueira, FogoThe first Church-built meetinghouse in Cape Verde was dedicated in Cova Figueira.

January 12, 2004 • Sal IslandMembers of the Sal branch met with Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.

May 2008 • PraiaJoselito Medina Costa Neves and Mafalda Sofia L. B. Ferreira were called to lead the Cape Verde Praia Mission.

June–September 2009 • Cape VerdeCape Verdean Saints harvested vegetables they grew in household containers as part of a Church welfare services initiative on gardening.

April 29, 2012 • PraiaThe Praia Cape Verde Stake was organized with Rosiveltt de Pina Teixeira as president.

August 24, 2012 • PraiaAt an Especially for Youth conference, 40 Cape Verdean youth participated in an oral history workshop, where they asked four local leaders questions about their experiences in the Church.

May 25, 2014 • Cova FigueiraThe first stake on the island of Fogo, São Filipe Cape Verde Stake, was organized with Luis Manuel Dias Vieira Vicente as president.

2015 • Cape VerdeLigia Dias Fonseca, First Lady of Cape Verde, was featured at the beginning of the Church video “Cape Verde: Islands of Miracles.”

Praia Cape Verde Temple

May 4, 2019 • Praia

Members, Church leaders, and representatives of community and government participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the first temple in Cape Verde, which was being built on São Tiago in the city of Praia, east of Avenida Cidade de Lisboa in the Tahiti district.

July 26, 2019 • PraiaThe Praia Cape Verde Stake of the Church donated 100 folding chairs to the Red Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church.