‘Lighthouse restoration centre’ to enrich community through activities |26 April 2018

‘Lighthouse restoration centre’ to enrich community through activities

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Seychelles has set up a lighthouse restoration centre aimed at playing a pertinent role in the lives of people in the Anse Etoile and other districts by offering a holistic and natural approach to achieve better health.

It was officially opened yesterday and will offer services such as healthy lifestyle improvement programmes, create a friendly environment for enrichment and restoration, provide family life through educational programmes for children such as practical life skills, art and craft works, outings, seminars and other organised spiritual-centered events to alleviate social, mental and emotional stress through community outreach programmes.

The idea for setting up such a centre came about after the church observed the needs of the community, thus church members started to look for better ways to help out in solving the problems that their friends and neighbours were suffering from.

The name ‘Lighthouse Restoration Centre’ came about after the owners decided there was a need to shed light on the community by helping them, and the location of the house which fits in well with that of a real lighthouse.

Pastor Ellsworth Max Baxen, president of the Seychelles Adventist Mission, opened the lighthouse and he was helped by the district’s pastor Nelson Joubert. Present were Marie-Josée Bonne, principal secretary in the Ministry of Family Affairs, officials and followers of the church. Explaining the idea behind the name, Pastor Baxen described the definition of a lighthouse which is a tower that provides light from the top guiding navigation. It has two main purposes which are: to serve as a navigation point and to warn boats of dangerous areas, like a traffic sign in the sea.

 “This is more than a lighthouse itself but also a restoration centre. It is where you can come to find help, healing and support for the challenges you are going through,” said Pastor Baxen, adding he hopes that people who use the centre leave changed.

In his remarks, Pastor Nelson said by looking at the community around us, light is needed.

“We need people around us to make an impact. Apart from the spiritual aspect, we also need to bring in mental support aspects in the community and put emphasis on prevention rather than cure,” he remarked.

Both the land and house of the centre were purchased from Renny Accouche, who was also present at the ceremony.

Dr Gandy Madzalo, a nutrition and wellness educator from South Africa, delivered a talk on the subject of mental support.

Dr Gandy will be the doctor based at the centre to provide such a service.

The event was held in joint collaboration with Impact Seychelles, a grouping of people doing community-based works aimed at growing strong communities and building resilient youths.