The first Seventh-day Adventist church in Nauru was officially opened on April 9 by Maveni Kaufononga, president of the Trans-Pacific Union Mission (TPUM) church region, based in Fiji, and Nauru Government Minister Shadlog Bernicke.
Reagan Aliklik, the elder and landowner who donated the land for the church, shared a brief history of Adventism in the small nation.
He said a small group of Adventists made up of I-Kiribati and Solomon Islanders came to work in the phosphate mines in 1975 and started worshipping together.
Later, Nauruans who had studied in Adventist schools in Fiji, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea returned and joined the group.
Eventually, church ministers were sent to nurture and grow the small group.
Today, total membership has grown to more than 50.
Construction of the church began last year after lengthy negotiations. Land in Nauru is expensive and not easily transferred to others.
A three-bedroom house has also been built under the church for the resident pastor who up until now has lived in rented houses and temporary shelters.
There is enough space of the land to build a primary school, and plan are in hand for this.
The church reports that Church members have also been actively involved in visiting asylum seekers at the processing centre on Nauru.
Religious affiliation in Nauru
Protestant 60.4% (includes Nauru Congregational 35.7%, Assembly of God 13%, Nauru Independent Church 9.5%, Baptist 1.5%, and Seventh Day Adventist .7%), Roman Catholic 33%, other 3.7%, none 1.8%, unspecified 1.1%
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