Development of Seventh-day Adventist Work
The first SDA in Algeria was Joseph Gomis, who had been born into a Spanish Catholic family but had become a Protestant at the age of 16.
During a trip to Switzerland he became acquainted with SDAs through reading the magazine
Les Signes des Temps, and was baptized. About 1886 he established himself as a baker in the town of Relizane, in the province of Oran, Algeria.
While working at his trade he shared his faith with several members of his family and others, some of whom accepted the new doctrines. About 1889 J. D. Comte and Albert Vuilleumier visited these new converts, and Vuilleumier baptized them.
Many of the early converts emigrated to South America, while those who remained continued to be faithful in Sabbath observance though they were not visited for many years.
READ MOREIn 1905 S. Jespersson and his wife were sent to Algiers to do medical missionary work. In September 1907 Paul Steiner arrived to assist them in evangelistic work, but for health reasons he had to leave before completing his first year.
Before the end of 1908 Ulysse Augsburger, a minister, and Joseph Abella, a colporteur, arrived. In April 1909 four women were baptized. Thus was laid the foundation for a church in the capital.
At the time of the Latin Union Conference session in 1909, Albert Guyot was invited to go to Algeria.
He went first to Algiers, then in October 1910 to Oran. In Oran he renewed contact with the early adherents of Relizane, met the founder of the group, Joseph Gomis, then 77 years old, and found four large families keeping the Sabbath.
As a result of the work of Paul Badaut, J. C. Guenin, R.T.E. Colthurst, W. E. Hancock, and others, the work spread gradually to the different sections of Algeria. In 1912 the field was assigned directly to the General Conference.
Then after World War I it again becamea part of the Latin Union Conference. In 1921 the Algerian Mission was organized, with Albert Meyer in charge, and with a membership of 61.
When the North African Union Mission was organized in 1928, the headquarters were placed in Algiers. By 1933 there were 207 members in the Algerian Mission. Colporteur work contributed substantially to evangelism in Algeria.
The medical work was represented by the Vie et Santé Institute of Algiers (established 1933) and dispensaries at Mostaganem and Bel-Hacel in the region of Relizane-Oran.
In 1950 a church and headquarters building was dedicated in the center of Algiers.
In 1958 the Algerian-Tunisian Mission had 12 churches or companies, with a membership of 540. At that time 15 evangelistic and other workers and two colporteurs were at work in this vast territory.
When Algeria became independent in 1962, more than a million Europeans left, and with them nine tenths of the SDA members.
A school for boys aged 12 to 17 in Algiers was closed by the government in 1968. The clinic, Vie et Santé, was taken over by the government. Our other properties were classified as “available for possession,” although our office was endeavoring to function.
In 1993 there were six members in Algiers and six in the rest of the country.
Evangelistic efforts are confined to Arabic radiobroadcasts, and the Bible correspondence course originating in France.
