Bahamas Prime Minister commends Adventist Church for health commitment
November 11, 2014 | Nassau, The Bahamas | ATCU Communication Department/AR/IAD
Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Perry G. Christie addresses church delegates at the church’s quadrennial business meetings of the South Bahamas Conference as leaders look on at the Hillview Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nassau, The Bahamas, Nov. 2, 2014. Image by ATCU Communication Department.
Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Perry G. Christie praised the work of the Adventist Church for its positive role in the areas of education, youth and health, as he spoke to church leaders and members at the Hillview Adventist Church in Nassau, The Bahamas, on Nov. 2, 2014.
Prime Minister Christie asked the Adventist Church to open a health and wellness center in his Caribbean island nation after hearing a local top church leader present a report on Adventist centers worldwide.
“You have an extraordinary history of commitment to best health practice. In this report, it speaks to the success of wellness programs that you have, but it also says we must move to create in the Bahamas a wellness center,” Christie told local church leaders in the Bahamian capital, Nassau.
Christie, speaking at the opening of a three-day quadrennial business meeting of the church’s South Bahamas Conference, pledged his government’s support in the opening of an Adventist wellness center.
“When you find a body like yours, that has an international reputation for its commitment to wellness and healthy lifestyle and you are prepared, and you do it in this country, then the government of the Bahamas will find a way to help you succeed at doing that,” he said to an audience that included Hubert Minnis, leader of the official opposition in the House of Assembly in The Bahamas.
Christie’s call gives church leaders a reason to review the possibility of setting up a wellness center in a country where the church does not operate any medical facilities. Wellness centers have opened in Indonesia, Kenya, Ukraine, and other countries as world church leaders prioritize plans to link every Adventist church building to a community health center that provides a Christ-modeled blend of physical and spiritual healing to local communities.
Over the years, Adventist members have actively promoted good health practices through various initiatives in the Bahamas, a fact recognized by the prime minister and opposition leader in separate speeches at the meeting.
Pastor Leonard Johnson, president of the church’s Atlantic Caribbean Union, which includes the Bahamas, said a new health initiative titled “I Want to Live Healthy” would be implemented throughout the union’s territory in 2015.
Plans are underway to establish a health ministry center at the Global Mission Center of Influence in New Providence, Bahamas, added Pastor Johnson.
Johnson also reaffirmed the church’s commitment to continuously pray for Bahamian leaders.
“When we visit with leaders of our country, it is not just to solicit help from them or to deal with issues but, as spiritual leaders, it is to take time to pray for them,” he said.
Meanwhile, delegates at the business meeting re-elected the leadership of the South Bahamas Conference to new four-year terms: Paul Scavella as president, Peter Joseph as executive secretary, and Melvin Lewis as treasurer.
The South Bahamas Conference is the largest of the four fields within the Atlantic Caribbean Union territory with a membership of 21,000. It covers the central and southern islands of the Bahamas, including New Providence, the location of the country’s capital.
For more information on the Seventh-day Adventist Church in The Bahamas, visit atcunion.org