Building Site Ceremony Is a Harbinger of Better Things to Come, Leaders Say
Church members and stakeholders follow the May 24 consecration service at the building site of the new Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist Primary School in Roseau, Dominica. [Photo: Kendell Barrie Photography, Eastern Caribbean Conference Media]
June 2, 2025 | Roseau, Dominica | Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review, and Inter-American Division News
Under a makeshift tent that offered little protection from the tropical afternoon sun for church leaders, members, and supporters of Christian education, Seventh-day Adventists from across Dominica met for a consecration service in Roseau on May 24. The ceremony at the building site of the new Ebenezer Adventist Primary School included General Conference president Ted N. C. Wilson, Inter-American Division president Elie Henry, and IAD executive secretary Leonard Johnson, among other regional and local leaders and teachers. Also in attendance were Robert Guiste, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Education in Dominica, and Careen Prevost, secretary of the Cabinet.
“Today I am the happiest person on earth,” said Daphney Magloire, education director of the Caribbean Union Conference (CUC). “Today we stand on consecrated ground, not simply to acknowledge the progress of a building construction but to celebrate the unfolding of a divine vision—the establishment of a reserve for learning, character building, and spiritual growth,” Magloire said.
“Today I am the happiest person on earth,” said Caribbean Union Conference education director Daphney Magloire in her opening remarks. [Photo: East Caribbean Conference Media]
A Pressing Need
The idea of a new school building in the capital city of Dominica has been present for decades, leaders explained. The momentum grew, however, after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017. It flooded floors of the current Ebenezer school building with both water and mud. Also, the growing enrollment makes sensible learning difficult in cramped conditions, leaders said.
East Caribbean Conference president Anthony Hall introduces Franklyn Magloire, chair of the Island Development Council, and architect Rodrick Royer. [Photo: Kendell Barrie Photography, East Caribbean Conference Media]
Royer reported that the new school building will include classrooms for up to 300 students, a main auditorium, a multipurpose room, a laboratory, and an Adventist Book Center. It will also include administrative offices, a staff room, a room for first aid, and a small kitchen.
Architect Rodrick Royer explains some of the features of the new school building to be constructed. [Photo: Kendell Barrie Photography, East Caribbean Conference Media]
Franklyn Magloire emphasized the importance of every member coming on board, of uniting and joining hands to help build God’s kingdom—in this case through the new school building. “When we build for God, we must leave aside our differences, our personalities, and together we have to join hands and build for God. . . . We need to rise in 2025 and build the school. We have nothing else to do than to preach the gospel and build the school,” he said.
Inter-American Division president greets church leaders and members in Dominica. “This project is marvelous for the church and also for the whole community in Dominica,” he said. [Photo: Kendell Barrie Photography, East Caribbean Conference Media]
Kern Tobias, CUC president, highlighted the importance of the event and the long preparations that allowed church leaders from every level of church administration to be present in Dominica. But to IAD president Elie Henry, they are just “doing what God called us to do.” He added, “Coming here is a call from God. . . . This project is marvelous for the church and also for the whole community in Dominica.”
Henry emphasized the role of the new school in the context of Adventist education. “This is not just about passing knowledge or exams,” he said. “This is about building people to be . . . citizens of the community where they are in, and also citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
Church leaders, including General Conference president Ted N. C. Wilson, follow the special consecration service in Roseau, Dominica, May 24. [Photo: Kendell Barrie Photography, East Caribbean Conference Media]
Wilson, who said he loves to dabble in minor construction and do-it-yourself projects at his home, celebrated the thoroughness of the plans for the new school. “I am fascinated by these architectural plans and what they represent to God’s people and to the public in this precious nation.”
According to Wilson, the location of the new school is “a beautiful place to help build up God’s church and the public in this country and this region.” He reminded those present at the ceremony that education is of the highest order “because it is given by God Himself.” And “we are told that we will be learning throughout eternity. . . . God will be our Master Teacher, our Master Architect. And what you are doing here is of eternal worth.”
Church leaders and stakeholders gather at the construction site of the new Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist Primary School to unveil a symbolic plaque at the building site. [Photo: East Caribbean Conference Media]
After Wilson’s words, Eastern Caribbean Conference (ECC) treasurer Valrica Harrison-Dottin led the audience in the antiphonal litany of prayer and consecration.
Osbert Hector (left) and Keith Bruno (right) are Seventh-day Adventist lay members who have been coming on Sundays to help move forward the construction of the new school. [Photo: Adventist Review]
Church leaders reminded those present at the ceremony that the Ebenezer school project benefited from the Thirteenth Sabbath Mission Offering from the fourth quarter 2024, which collected US$325,000 for the initiative. The IAD also contributed with a special appropriation of $60,000. Other leaders and members pitched in as well. But not all are money contributions, some shared, as scores of church members are actively involved by giving of their time and effort to see the project succeed.
For Jefferson Carbon, a lay member who is an accountant at a soft drink bottling company, the new project is extremely important. “The youngest of my children graduated from the Ebenezer school last year, and I don’t have more children looking forward to studying at the new school,” he said. “But I have been and still am a member of the board; and as such I want this initiative to succeed.”
Caribbean Union Conference president Kern Tobias during the unveiling of a plaque at the construction site [Photo: East Caribbean Conference Media]
In what seems to be a constant, the construction manager donated his time and labor to support the project. “The buy-in of members and supporters is admirable,” one of the Adventist members explained. “We dreamed that the new school will soon become a reality and a light across our small island and beyond.”
Church leaders stand by a plaque at the site of the new Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist school building on May 24. [Photo: East Caribbean Conference Media]
On behalf of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Guiste also celebrated the progress toward the new institution. “After listening to all the speakers, I think I am more excited about seeing this school than all of you are,” he said. This site “will soon become a beacon of hope, growth, and opportunity for children.” According to Guiste, the Ebenezer school project “aligns with the vision of an inclusive, high-quality education system that measures not only academic success but the whole child.”
At the end of the consecration service, Wilson and other Adventist leaders, members, and supporters participated in an unveiling of a symbolic plaque on one of the foundation walls of the new building. Praises and prayers crowned a day that, many said, Adventists in Dominica will always remember.