An arrest has been made in what local police are calling an arson fire at the office of the Turks & Caicos Mission of Seventh-day Adventists on May 21. The flames burned most of the inside structure of the office and the adjacent home of the local church leader. No one was injured.

Pastor Peter Kerr, president of the church in the Turks and Caicos Islands, was attending executive meetings of the church's Inter-American Division when the fire occurred. His wife was working at the church's primary school at the time of the incident, and their two children were at Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, Jamaica.

The building, which houses the church president and his family, has only outer walls and a few kitchen appliances left, says Kerr. The mission office lost important documents such as church record books, titles and deeds of church properties, and school reports.

"At the moment they are gathering more evidence on this case," says Kerr. He adds that some evidence shows that the blaze was deliberately set in the filing cabinets of the mission's church office and the master bedroom in their home. "Fortunately, the service records of our workers are kept in the [regional office in Jamaica], nor was any cash kept there," he says.

In the meantime, "the administrative functions [of the mission] have shifted to the island of Providenciales, in a new office," explains Kerr. A 30-minute flight on a small plane takes Pastor Kerr to the temporary office every week, while initial stages have begun for reconstruction of the damaged building.

"As soon as we are able to complete the reconstruction, we will resume operations back on Grand Turk," says Kerr.

Although the incident has been devastating to church members, Kerr says "the spirit of the people has been very supportive and kind amidst this tragedy. They are determined that this shall not end the progress of the work." Currently, they are engaged in summer evangelism efforts.

Turks & Caicos, with a population of 21,000, are two island groups belonging to the British commonwealth in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has nearly 1,000 adult baptised members worshiping in seven congregations, and operates two secondary schools and one primary school on the islands. [Editor: Libna Stevens for ANN/APD]