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In the latter part of the year 1974, an island-wide evangelistic crusade was conducted here on St. Maarten by the then district pastor: Earl Malone. Many persons accepted the message and decided to follow Christ all the way in baptism. The Philipsburg SDA Church located at Zagersgut Road, was the only established Seventh-day Adventist Church on Dutch St. Maarten at the time. After this spirit-filled and fruitful crusade, it was obvious that the building could not accommodate the growing membership. so the new converts along with a few formaer members continued to worship under the tent, which was located where the present KFc in Cole Bay is situated. A small wooden tabernacle was built for a more secure place of worship: By November 1976, that structure was complete, and all the memebers then living in the Cole Bay and the French side area became the original members of that company. To date we still have some of the original fiathfum members with us. the extended lease was coming to conclusion and the co-owners did not want to grant any extension to the lease. Consequently the membership had no altenatives to build a place of worship. A strong team in search of land was formed namely the late Vilma Letang, Ruth Connor, the late Ralph Letang, Antonio Samuel, and Alvin Connor. It was around that period when the Orange Grove area was developed. the area was designated for commercial purposes and warehousing. With prayer a bold step was taken to talk to the owner or manager, Mr. Albert fleming and eventually a deal was negociated with the help of Brother Antonio Samuel. It was early 1984, the Seventh-day Adventist Foundatin was established. The membership was so excited to move to their own location, thatit took only eightmonths to have the building completed. Men, women and children were involved, ompleting every necessary activity for our new place of worship. it was the first Sabbath of December 1984 when a proud membership body worshiped for the first time in a building that belonged to them. After a short time the building was expanded to include an office and eventually a second floor creating spce for the children and the different departments. It was in August 1995 when the school opened its doors to the community to offer Christian Education. The school and the church shared certain facilities, like electricity, water, the main auditorium, the yard...both the church and the school grew and struggled for the need for space. The leadership againg sought out Divine Guidance and the Lord opened the way. Under the leadership of Pastor Henry Peters and many other elders a new parcel of land was purchased. On January 18, 1998, the official Ground Breaking Service was conducted with plans to complete the structure in two years. The official construction began on January 25th and by February 2001 the church was dedicated to the service of God. In February 2011, we celebrated 10 years in our most recent sanctuary – which brings us to the present time (November 2011), where we celebrate 35 years established as a blessed and unified congregation. |
