Two children were baptized on November 30, 2024, marking the first-ever baptisms for the Seventh-day Adventist Church on the island of Ifira, Vanuatu.

The two young people had been attending a branch Sabbath school on the island when they decided to be baptized.

This milestone event happened two days after the opening of a Seventh-day Adventist Church on the island on November 28, 112 years after Adventism was introduced in Vanuatu in 1912. The church was named the Peter Terepakoa Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church after one of the late pioneers on the island.

John Leeman, Efate district leader, took the first service in the newly built permanent church. During the church opening service, Leeman spoke about Simon Garae, a pastor, who would paddle across on a canoe to visit and speak with the people on the island about the Sabbath and Bible truth in the 1990s.

“If late Pastor Simon Garae were here today, he would be really happy,” Leeman said.

Anna Seth also discussed her days as a literature evangelist, where she would visit people on the island with books in 1993.

During the program, Adventist teacher Allan Martin was honored for his efforts in gathering a group of students to worship each Sabbath when he was teaching on the island from 2004 to 2005.

Cutting the ribbon to enter the church.

Photo: Adventist Record

Outside the new building.

Photo: Adventist Record

The original article was published on the South Pacific Division news site, Adventist Record.