History of the French Harbour Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Three Angels' Message to the Bay Islands
Elizabeth Elwin was born February 3, 1840. She was the eldest of twelve children. Her father was governor of the Bay Islands when they were owned by England, it was in the Bay Islands that she spent most of her early years. Her father sent her to school in Belize where she obtained sufficient education to teach her brothers and sisters.
Elizabeth married Mr. Gauterau and went to New York in 1867, and later to San Francisco. It was while in San Francisco that Mrs. Gauterau attended a Seventh-day Adventist camp meeting in Oakland, California, and accepted the Three Angels’ Message.
Upon accepting the Adventist message, Mrs. Gauterau began to send tracts, magazine, and other Christian materials home to her family in the Bay Islands and Belize. She was filled with a burning desire to bring the message personally to her family and friends in Central America.
On December 9, 1885, Mrs. Gauterau left for her long voyage to the Bay Islands. Arriving in Belize on December 22, she shared with her friends and neighbors her new found faith. She states:
I did missionary work at Belize, could sell all the papers and tracts I had. People all over are greatly interested in the Three Angels Message. Wrote for more books, papers, and tracts…I feel so good in doing the word for the Lord….It had made me so happy.
She arrived at her mother’s home on the island of Roatan on Friday evening in early February of 1886, nearly two months after she had left her home in San Francisco. Of this experience she wrote:
All arose early Sabbath morning in our home and gave thanks to our Heavenly Father. Found other Sabbath keepers…Oh, how my heart was full of love and thanks to the almighty God for all his blessings and light from above shone upon my dear mother, brother, and sisters who were earnestly trying to do His precious will… Our joy was too great for the pencil to describe. We had a glorious Sabbath-day with the Lord and each other, at our home in Brick Bay. A beautiful Sabbath morning, oh, a perfect heaven on earth; all peace and joy: nothing to mar our joy as we studied God’s word.
She gave thanks to God for other who found the joy of keeping the Sabbath. “And after more than six months laboring in the Bay Islands, she left 35 people keeping the Sabbath.” At this time there was no church organized, but as a result of her effort, in December of 1891, the General Conference sent its first official worker, Frank J. Hutchins, to the Bay Islands, who set up headquarters in Roatan. On arriving in Roatan, Hutchins found that several of the local people believed in the Sabbath. After a short time, a company of thirty-three believers was organized in French Harbour, known today as the French Harbour SDA Church. It was called the French Harbour church company because they did not have their own church building.
On the island of Bonacca, the work was so well advanced that within seven weeks of Hutchins’ arrival on the island, the first SDA church was organized with thirteen members in 1892. They received the status as an organized church because they had their own church building.
By the year 1895, there were almost one hundred members belonging to three organized groups of believers, two organized companies were on the island of Bonacca. It was divided into two companies, but only one church. One was on the cay of Bonacca, which had its own building, and the second organized company was at an unspecified location. The third organized company was in French Harbour on the island of Roatan. The French Harbour company was organized with 33 members by Hutchins days after he arrived in Roatan in the year 1891. They company worshipped in the home of Christopher Jones.
Under the blessing of the Lord, the French Harbour company banded themselves together to build a church to God’s glory, and to worship Him. The plan was drawn up for the little church and the work began. The following are the names of those who gave financial support and labor at the time.
- Mrs. Elizabeth Spagure
- Mr. Irvin Jones
- Mr. Albert McNab
- Mr. TV Elwin
- Mr. Robert Page
- Mr. Christopher Jones
- Mr. RG Jones
- Mr. Willie Elwin
- Mr. William Walker
- Mr. Evert Page
Willie Elwin and Irvin Jones, as young teenagers, prepared the ground with the help of a “Carib boy,” they leveled enough of the hill on the west and began digging post holes.
On May 27, 1905, the first SDA Church in Roatan was free of debt and was dedicated by HC Goodrich, president of the International Tract society.
Christopher Jones served as the first elder in the church until his death in February 1920. Then Eddie Elwin served as elder until he died.
