Church Pays Respects To Adventist Centenarian in The Bahamas

July 21, 2023 | Nassau, The Bahamas | Michelle Green, Henry R. Moncur III, and Inter-American Division News Staff

Seventh-day Adventists bid farewell to one of its oldest members during a memorial service at the Johnson Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nassau, The Bahamas, on Jul. 16, 2023.

Elizabeth Fountain Moses, a former worker of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Bahamas and the oldest living member in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Atlantic Caribbean region, died on Jun. 22, 2023.  Affectionately known as “Sister Betty,” she was among those celebrated in The Bahamas for becoming centenarians in their lifetime.  She was 104.

“Her long journey of faith in Christ as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church here in The Bahamas has made her a legend,” Pastor Peter Kerr, president of the Atlantic Caribbean Union (ATCU). Kerr shared that Mrs. Moses was one of his favorite people and a very precious treasure to the Adventist Church. “During her 104-year lifetime, she proved to be a lady of noble and honorable character, a humble, gracious, and purposeful individual, and a spiritual giant,” Kerr said.  “We will always miss her; but we thank God that hers was a life well lived to the fullest.”

When Pastor Leonard Johnson, executive secretary of the Inter-American Division (IAD), was president of the Bahamas Conference, Mrs. Moses was invited to serve as a receptionist at the new office headquarters, where she retired in 2008 at the age of 89.   In reflecting on Moses, Johnson fondly remembered her service as being truly representative of Christ.  “She brought a sense of order and professionalism, sprinkled with Christian poise and charm,” he said.In 2022, Elizabeth Moses was honored by the Inter-American Division for being one of the centenarians in The Bahamas during the IAD’s centennial anniversary celebrations. She was known and respected by both church and civic leaders, as well as visited and honored by two of Governor Generals of The Bahamas.

Moses was the eldest of three children born to William and Olive Antonio. Her grandfather, William Charles Antonio, was the first Bahamian to accept the Seventh-day Adventist beliefs in The Bahamas.  According to Moses, her grandfather, then a Sunday School teacher in Zion Baptist Church, began his studies with a colporteur named Charles Parmele, using two books – Bible Readings for the Home and The Desire of Ages, both written by Seventh-day Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White.   “My grandfather read these books, and Mr. Parmele, on subsequent visits, would answer his questions,” she said during an interview for national television. “He eventually found out that the doctrine of the SDA church was correct and was baptized.”

After her father and mother were baptized, the family home became the meeting place for Sabbath School studies. Moses and her family also began worshipping at the Shirley Street Seventh-day Adventist Church, the first Adventist church in The Bahamas.   “When Phil and I were little, daddy had a carriage come every Sabbath morning and picked mommy and the two of us up, and then we went to pick up our grandmother, and then we clipped-clopped in the horse and carriage to Shirley Street,” Moses shared during an interview in 2019.

Moses was a product of Adventist education.  She was one of the first students enrolled at Bahamas Academy. The academy is still providing K-12 education on the island of New Providence in The Bahamas.

In 1954, Elizabeth was employed by the Bahamas Mission of Seventh-day Adventists located at that time on Shirley Street. She worked at first in the Book and Bible House, now known as the Adventist Book and Nutrition Center (ABNC).

Elizabeth followed in her father’s footsteps by serving her Adventist community. William W. Antonio became a part-time Bible worker in the country and was also among the first Bahamians to serve on the executive committee of the Bahamas Mission of Seventh-day Adventists.

Mrs. Moses served as Sabbath School teacher, sang in the church choir, led the Missionary Volunteer Society (now Adventist Youth Society) as well as unit leader of the Pathfinder Club, Sabbath School superintendent, deaconess, church treasurer, and church clerk.  An avid lover of young people, Moses continued her service as an active Master Guide in Adventist Youth Ministries.

Moses often used her time after retirement to visit and call fellow church members in the hospital or at home to encourage them and offer inspirational words of comfort and wisdom. She was the mother of an only child named Ian Antonio and was married to Alfred Moses, both of whom died before her.

There are more than 27,000 Seventh-day Adventists worshiping in 92 churches and congregations in the Atlantic Caribbean Union, which is headquartered in Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas. The Atlantic Caribbean Union is comprised of the Cayman Islands Conference, the North Bahamas Conference, the South Bahamas Conference, and the Turks and Caicos Islands Conference.  The union operates four primary and secondary schools, two radio stations and two television stations. In addition, Northern Caribbean University, which is in Mandeville, Jamaica, is jointly owned and operated by ATCU and the Jamaica Union.

John Garcia contributed to this report.