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Memorial Service to Celebrate the Life and Work of Brother Mayer.

brothermayer31082019PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday, September 8, friends of Robert Allen Mayer, better known on Sint Maarten as Brother Mayer or Bob Mayer, will gather to remember his life and his achievements. His Memorial Service will be held at the New Testament Baptist Church in Philipsburg at 5:00 pm. Brother Mayer passed away on August 6, 2019, at the age of 91.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, Brother Mayer felt the call of God to serve as a missionary to the West Indies. At age 24, his first stop was St. Thomas where he preached the gospel and established Calvary Baptist Church.

He learned from Puertorican businessman, Don Pedro Ortiz, of the great need for preaching the gospel in Sint Maarten. So in 1955, Brother Mayer flew to Sint Maarten in a single engine plane and held open air services in Dutch Quarter on the property of Cephus de Weever. News of the meetings spread rapidly. Brother Mayer remembers Mr. Oswald Rohan, bus driver, bringing a busload of people from French Quarter every evening to listen to his preaching.

When Brother Mayer and his wife moved to Sint Maarten in 1956 he lived in town and started holding open air services at night, preaching from the top of an above-ground cistern, in the backyard of the house. “Some government officials were not too happy about these meetings but Claude Wathey intervened for us”, according to Brother Mayer. During his first visit to the island he had made friends with Claude Wathey and it was Claude who had invited him to come back to Sint Maarten. It seemed as if heretofore missionaries were not allowed on Sint Maarten. Claude even sent his children to Sunday School and church and lent him the chairs, from his movie theatre, so that he, Brother Mayer, could use his house for services.

Brother Mayer held open air services all over the island. One of the first persons to accept Christ on the French Side, was Marie Elise Rollan (known as Sister Rollan), mother-in-law of Apostle Rosemond Romney. He also rented homes all over the island in which he conducted regular church services. In Grand Case, services were held in Frank Mingo's home. In Cole Bay, he rented a house from Mr. Laveist. Even the Methodist Church in Simpson Bay was rented for services. When his home in Cephus de Weever’s yard in town could no longer hold all the converts he rented a house further up the Front Street, which belonged to Anderson Vlaun.

Besides establishing the New Testament Baptist Church in Philipsburg, Brother Mayer also established the Bible Baptist Church in Cripple Gate, French side, as well as a Baptist Church in Anguilla. To be able to spread the Gospel beyond Sint Maarten, he leased the broadcast license from Chester Wathey and turned the official call letters “PJD2” into Proclaiming Jesus Deliverance To You! Through this radio station, he was able to reach out directly to the other Caribbean islands, where once a year he would conduct island-wide open-air services. Hundreds of people from across the islands like Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St. Vincent and Barbados, would gather to hear the gospel from the “tiny man with the big voice”, as he was called.

Several persons worked with Brother Mayer to proclaim Jesus deliverance via the airways. Brother Ralph Rogers from St. Kitts spent several years managing and announcing on PJD2. Other well-known announcers at the time were Clemence Romney, co-founder of Christian Assemblies in Grande Case. Kenneth Richardson, a former pilot for WINAIR. Victor Bell, founder and Senior Pastor of Praise Tabernacle in Cole Bay. Helmich Snijders, founder of the Helmich Snijders Christian Schools. Asha Steven, founder of the Asha Stevens Christian School and Wycliffe Smith, presently the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.

Brother Mayer was serious when it came to the preaching of the Gospel but was a very amiable and outgoing person. Even though he and his family only lived five consecutive years on Sint Maarten he was able to develop lasting friendships with people on the island. Three pastors who worked very closely with Brother Mayer during his time of ministry on Sint Maarten were Pastor Victor Bell, Senior Pastor of Praise Tabernacle in Cole Bay, Apostle Rosemond Romney of Christian Assemblies in Grande Case and Pastor Constant Hodge of Bible Baptist Church in Cripple Gate.

Brother Mayer is best known for the impact he had on the local businessman, Charles Vlaun. In the late ’50s, people had given up on this businessman because of his alcoholic addiction. So when Brother Mayer began to preach about how Jesus can change lives, everyone in Sint Maarten agreed that if anybody in the community needed Jesus it was Charlie Vlaun. If this new religion worked for Charlie, who was considered the biggest drunkard and biggest sinner at that time, then they seemingly would be more receptive to the “new religion” as they called the gospel. Before Brother Mayer started witnessing to Charlie, he spent three months in prayer and fasting. Gradually Charlie began to be receptive to the gospel and after three months he finally turned his life over to Jesus. Shortly after his conversion, Charlie attended all the open-air services with Brother Mayer and he would tell how God delivered him from his alcohol addiction. As a result, many people on the island gave their lives to Christ because of Charlie’s testimony. Brother Mayer mentored and encouraged Charlie Vlaun, who eventually established Vlaun and Sons, a very successful car business.

Even though he was passionate about Sint Maarten and its people, to the point of even wanting his heart buried on Sint Maarten after his death, he always promoted the concept of locals being in charge. This is one of the reasons why, after living for five consecutive years on Sint Maarten, he relocated to the USA with his family. All the pastors who succeeded him were locals, to name a few. Ralph Rogers, Charles Richardson (b.k.a. Brother Max), Charles Vlaun, Alwyn Lake, Wycliffe Smith and currently Nolan Nanton. A clear sign of indigenization was him turning over his home, the church building and the property to the New Testament Baptist Church Foundation in 1993 for the symbolic price of one Antillean guilder.

Brother Mayer always remained in touch with his friends and with the members of the New Testament Baptist Church and visited as often as was possible. The church, originally constructed on the edge of the Great Salt Pond now finds itself in the center of Philipsburg. It’s the memorial and the legacy of the Small Man with the big voice who had a heart of compassion for the souls of Sint Maarten and the West Indies.

The members of the New Testament Baptist Church and the entire community of Sint Maarten mourn his passing and will surely miss him. However, we do not mourn as having any hope, because we are confident that he has gone to be with the One whom he served and if we are faithful we will meet him again around the throne of God. Rest in Peace, Brother Mayer!

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