Development of Seventh-day Adventist Work
Seventh-day Adventism was introduced to Mauritius by Rosie (Rosina) Le Même, of Mauritius, who in 1912 visited Switzerland to improve her health.
In Lausanne she attended lectures by H. H. Dexter and accepted the SDA faith. Soon after her return she won her two sisters, and awakened such an interest in her neighborhood that she was unable to cope with it alone. She requested the Mission Board to send a missionary as soon as possible.
The Latin Union Conference sent Paul Badaut from France, who, on May 2, 1914, held his first preaching service in Mauritius. On Sept. 12, 1914, the first converts (four men, 21 women) were baptized and the first church was organized on the island. About 1921 Paul Badaut was succeeded by Marius Raspal, of France. As the work progressed, new churches were established and chapels were built.
READ MORE
The first known SDAs to enter the island of Rodrigues were E. Michel and his family, who came from Mauritius in 1925 and settled and worked in Port Mathurin, the principal town on the island. In 1929 A. J. Girou, president of the Mauritius Mission, went to Rodrigues to baptize seven converts. While there he supervised the purchase of a house for Michel and also bought a store that was remodeled as a meeting hall.
In 1932 Girou returned to baptize others and to organize a church with Michel as elder. In 1933 he paid a third visit to baptize the converts at La Ferme, where he also purchased property for a chapel.
The Mauritius Mission was a part of the Latin Union Conference until December 31, 1928. For seven years after that it was a detached field administered by the Southern European Division. On Jan. 1, 1936, when the Indian Ocean Union Mission was organized, this mission became a part of the union. Beginning in 1950 a medical dispensary was operated for a number of years, but it no longer exists. The following figures show the steady progress of the work on Mauritius—1928: six churches, 201 members; 1935: 10 churches, 529 members; 1947: 11 churches, 829 members; 1962: 14 churches, 1,282 members; 1974: 16 churches, 1,554 members; 1992: 25 churches, 2,915 members.
Institutions
Phoenix Adventist Secondary School; Rosie Le Même Home.
