A CORAL CHURCH | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 17, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 33.

A CORAL CHURCH.

The illustration on this page represents our first church in the Cook Islands. It is located in Rarotonga. The illustration and a brief description was sent to the Union Conference Record, Sydney, N. S. W., by Bro. A. H. Piper, who labored for some time as a missionary in Rarotonga. There was considerable opposition to our work there at one time, especially when it was known that a church was to be built; but of this Brother Piper says: “We are thankful to state that towards the completion of the building, many who at one time opposed us came in and helped us finish the house. It is often so with God’s work in the earth.”

By way of description and other information, he adds: “The walls of the church are built of coral rock which our natives procured from the sea, and the roof is of iron. Its measurements are forty feet by twenty-two. The cost of the building was £95 [about $475]. Of this amount, £55 was sent to us from Australia and New Zealand, chiefly from the Sabbath-schools in these fields. The balance was raised by the workers of Rarotonga, past and present, and by the native brethren. No money was paid out as wages, for the brethren did all the labor. Without a penny of debt on it, it now stands, finished and furnished.”