The Volunteer Fall 2016

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A Publication of Maranatha Volunteers International

The Gift of Clean Water

The Difference Between Surviving, Thriving, or Neither

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San Cristobal, Dominican Republic Brandon Westgate prays with Zakeya Swenson before baptizing her on the last Sabbath of Ultimate Workout 26. Zakeya was one of 38 young volunteers who asked to be baptized or re-baptized at the close of the life-changing mission trip. This year, the teens-only program took 137 volunteers to the Dominican Republic to build and paint churches, assist with medical clinics, and organize outreach activities.

Photo by Lisandro Stout

SHARING THE MISSION

“I was thirsty…”

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n early august, my family worked on a maranatha open team

project in central Kenya. The lack of water is visceral here. According to a 2015 United Nations study, Kenya has the third worst water availability per capita in all of Africa. Without water, there is little food. Nothing has changed here for a thousand years.

Go with us to the Turkana village of Chumviere. The climate is so arid that very few bugs exist—they simply don’t like it here. Average rainfall is less than 2 inches a year. A villager sits, watching volunteers build a One-Day Church structure. My son Corbin and I speak to him. All he wants is water. The six children around him want water also, and maybe a soccer ball that isn’t flat. The Chumviere villagers typically eat one meal and drink one glass of water a day—Pastor Bernard Emuri says sometimes they eat nothing, because there is no food.

The debate and questions rage in my mind. How do we solve this? How do we get water here? These people will be our neighbors in heaven, and they are thirsty.

Another day, an hour down the road in the Samburu village of Larisoro, we build another One-Day Church. To meet the extreme thirst we give out some of the few water bottles we have, but the line is many thirsty people longer than the bottles we have. We hand out the last bottle.

Kenneth—do something!

There is a common fiber in each of us that wants to help. What is the best way? Have you ever had a child put their hand out hoping to get a water bottle, and you do not have water? Have you ever had to tell a village that the well that was just dug came up dry? Have you had to tell a group of eager members that have been praying for a church that you do not have the funding to make their building happen? What about a group of parents who desperately want a school for their child so they can educate themselves out of the vicious cycle?

When we speak to the community and church leaders in these villages, they want help solving physical needs. They are very good at sharing the Gospel but need help with basics like water, food, and structures. The request is simple: please drill a well for us. That will help us drink, be healthier, spend less time walking to get water. We can also start small gardens. We will be able to water our small herds. Then, please build us a school so our children can learn. And the final element in the solution: build us a church.

That is precisely what Maranatha seeks to do—yet it is even more. The ultimate and most important goal is not just to solve a temporal, physical need, but it is to quench a spiritual thirst. Jesus knew that the physical need is often the barrier to the true solution. Wells are being drilled in Zimbabwe and Kenya. Maranatha is building schools, churches, and dormitories. We are also working to meet the physical needs of people, which open minds to satisfying the spiritual thirst.

What did Jesus do when faced with the huge need? What is expected of each of us when faced with the need? “… and you gave me something to drink.”

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Kenneth Weiss, vice president

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WATER: A High-Risk Habit

By Carrie Purkeypile Photos by Tom Lloyd

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woman and her two young sons

are crouching in the bed of this dry river for the very last time. This woman, we’ll call her Anele, visits the river at least three times a day, in search of water. She has done this her entire life. She grew up helping her mother fetch water, and it will be her reality for as long as she lives. The river swells wide during the rainy season, and the influx brings crocodiles as well as all kinds of wildlife. Last year a six-year-old girl was snatched by a crocodile while she was here filling her buckets with water. Such tragedies are frequent events in this harsh landscape.

There are no crocodiles to snatch children today. That is because there is almost no water. Anele squats on the dry, cracked riverbed and fills a metal tumbler with water, carefully pouring it into her bucket, cup after cup. It takes more than an hour to painstakingly fill her bucket, plus the smaller jugs that her sons are carrying.

But she is not done yet. Anele will carry the heavy bucket home, then turn around and come back. She has to make this trip at least three times today and every day.

NECESSITY

Accessible water marks the difference between surviving, thriving, or neither.

There are few material things worth risking a life for. But those few things– those necessities–rule our lives if they are lacking. For millions of people in southern Africa, water is a necessity that baits them in constant struggle. Millions die for lack of water or even in their attempts to find it.

Water to drink is terribly important, even more so in this hot and dusty environment.

But the simple substance also makes every other part of life possible. If a family has a few chickens, a goat, or a cow, they need extra water to help their animals survive. If they are to wash their dishes or clean their hands after using the restroom, therefore avoiding disease, they need extra water.

Many survive on dried cornmeal porridge, but they need water to cook. And if a family hopes to add any extra vegetables to their diet, constant water is a must to grow a garden.

Khulekani Nyoni is a young man, but he carries the title of church elder at the Seventh-day Adventist church in his small village of Simangani, Zimbabwe. Simangani

ANXIOUSLY WAITING: Khulekani Nyoni (bottom left) is an elder at the Simangani Adventist Church. He and the other members of the community are anxious and excited as they wait for the drill rig to reveal their fate. Having water close at hand will change life for everyone in the village.

is one of tens of thousands of villages in need of water.

“Living in this community is very difficult, especially from last year and this year,” says Khulekani. “It has not been raining, and the people have not been farming. And this year, as I am talking, there is no one with anything grown from their own farm, because there was no rain.”

No food. No farming. No chance to better their lives.

women. For many it takes hours per day and leaves little time or energy for anything else.

The second way to get water is to visit the river where we found Anele and her boys. It runs fairly close to the village, where water seeps up through the ground. A handful of people visit here each day. This method is dangerous in the rainy season, due to crocodiles and filth in the river. In the dry season it is achingly slow. A shallow well has been dug here, and water seeps through the dirt, a cup at a time. It isn’t a practical way to meet the need, but it does tell us something important. Not far below the surface is what everyone needs: water.

BETTER OF TWO EVILS

There are two ways to get water in Simangani, Zimbabwe. The first way is to walk about three kilometers to a private water spout where a coal mine allows villagers to access water they have piped in from the mighty Zambezi river. It is a long trip to make several times per day, but it has to be done.

For a girl or woman in Simangani, this trek is their destiny, over and over.

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DRILLING FOR WATER

On a warm morning in April 2016, the residents of Simangani gather for one of the most important days the village will ever experience.

Maranatha has arrived, and they will not only build a church here but meet the community’s need for water. Just

outside of the village, and right beside the Adventist church lot, a drilling rig is already setting up. The area has been studied by geologists and water experts.

This land is almost guaranteed to have water. Not all sites are. Sometimes the rig digs deep with only dust spouting out. Dry disappointing dust.

But today will be different. Khulekani is here with dozens of other church members and neighbors. Khulekani doesn’t want to just watch. He somehow wants to help, so he jumps forward to help the crew unload their equipment.

When the drill begins to turn, the strange, loud noise reverberates through the whole village. The spinning drill eats down into the dust then hits something firmer and chews right through.

In the meantime, Anele is still down at the riverbed scooping up water one cup at a time.

Khulekani is spellbound at the drill site, praying and hoping for God’s favor on their well and on their lives.

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In less than an hour, from start to finish, water bursts up out of the drill shaft, turning the dust to mud. They’ve only drilled eight meters! The crowd yells, overjoyed.

“When the building team came and began to drill, no one had an idea of what was really going to happen. But when the people saw the water coming out … the whole community was very excited. Even I was very excited to see the water coming out!” says Khulekani.

The effects of this well will ripple into the community in untold ways. What will it mean to have easy access to clean water at a close distance? Every woman’s life is now instantly easier and has room for more activities, like caring for her children, taking classes, or holding a job. Water will no longer be deemed too precious to waste on washing hands.

Babies and toddlers will be more likely to live to adulthood. Families will plant gardens and spice up their diet with

fresh vegetables. Life just got a whole lot better in Simangani.

“We are very happy to have water,” smiles Khulekani.

About an hour after striking water, Anele walks back by. She is heading to the dry riverbed for another bucket of water. Little does she know it will be a lot different this time! The other women call to her, and she comes to the new well, filling her bucket in less than a minute. It’s a good day in Simangani. • DISCOVER MORE Go beyond the story at www.maranatha.org • Watch a Maranatha Mission Stories episode about our water program in Zimbabwe at www.maranatha.org/ zimbabwewater

THE BURDEN IS LIGHTENED: Anele will no longer have to spend hours every day fetching water from the slow seep of the dry river bed.

CHURCH HOSTS WATER WELL: Maranatha crews pour the cement apron on the well and build the new church, all on the same day. This well will bring people close to the church every day and give the congregation lots of opportunities to serve and show God’s love to their neighbors.

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WATER WELLS AND MARANATHA’S MISSION Water scarcity is a problem that affects more than 300 million people in Africa. In 2014, Maranatha started drilling and repairing wells in Zimbabwe alongside church construction.

In 2016 we’ve also begun drilling our first wells in Kenya.

Maranatha’s well program works in conjunction with our church building efforts in both countries.

Our crew not only installs pumps on the newly drilled wells, they also build churches.

With your support, Maranatha will continue sharing God’s love.

Sometimes it’s as simple as a drink of water. Your donation directly impacts how many people we can serve. You can help Maranatha provide life-giving water by donating to the water project. Full sponsorship of a well starts at $10,000, depending on the location.

Send your gift in the envelope enclosed in this magazine, or make a secure donation at www.maranatha.org. You can give one time or set up a recurring donation to continue to provide water for more people every month.

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The Long Journey of the Gospel and a Church

Building One-Day Churches On the Amazon River

By Carrie Purkeypile

Photos by Carrie Purkeypile

A DREAM COME TRUE: These three siblings, Jorge, Maria and Edevaldo, represent a large family in rural Brazil. Edevaldo’s dream to bring the Gospel to his family’s remote village came true over the past year, and now they even have a One-Day Church.

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no stranger to remote locations. Many church requests come from places with little access, making traditional construction nearly impossible. In some of these places Maranatha’s One-Day Church is the perfect solution. This simple structure provides the most important part of the building—the framework and a solid roof. Then, local members build the walls with readily available materials.

Cuiteua—this obscure little village in the Amazon—is in need of a church.

So Maranatha recently took a One-Day Church on an epic journey to provide

emote and surrounded by the

vast Amazon River, Cuiteua, Brazil, is one of those towns that no one has ever heard of. It’s a tiny settlement with only one dirt road, no stores, and no electricity. Even in Brazil, this village is virtually unknown. For most of the seven billion inhabitants of earth, Cuiteua is nothing. But for a few dozen people, Cuiteua is everything.

Part of the reason no one knows much about Cuiteua is that it is very hard to get to. It is an arduous trip on the Amazon River and through the surrounding jungles. Yet Maranatha is

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a place of worship for the people of Cuiteua. This is the kind of place that the One-Day Church was designed for!

TAKING A CHURCH DOWN THE AMAZON

The trip begins with a crew of five young Brazilian men boarding a plane for the city of Santarem, Brazil. This crew travels extensively in select areas of Brazil to build as many churches as they can, as fast as they can, without sacrificing quality. Most of their travel has been on bumpy roads or down wild rivers, and for several of the crew, this is

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their first time on an airplane.

The church structure has already made its own journey to Santarem via boat, and it is waiting for the crew at the dock. Making their way from the small airport to the port, the men load the steel frame, hardware, roofing sheets, scaffolding, and hand tools onto a large ferry. Then they climb to the third floor of the huge ferry and string their hammocks from hooks—a place to settle in for the day.

After eight hours, the ferry arrives at a tiny port in the town of Obidos, just before midnight. The large ferry can take them no further toward their destination. The Maranatha crew are the only passengers to exit at this small town. The crew jumps into action, slipping on gloves and unloading each metal sheet as quickly and carefully as possible. There, waiting on the dock, is a man whose significance they have yet to learn.

THE MAN BEHIND THE MISSION

Edevaldo Pinto Venancio is the reason there is a Seventh-day Adventist presence in Cuiteua today. Years ago Edevaldo and many of the men in his family served time in prison in Obidos.

During that time, Adventist missionaries visited them and gave extensive Bible studies to many of the incarcerated family members. When they were finally released, most of the men returned to their home village of Cuiteua.

But Edevaldo was different. He was released from prison on a Thursday and immediately sought out the Adventist church in town. That Sabbath he was in church, and he loved it!

Edevaldo was happy in his newfound faith. But he was not at peace knowing that his large extended family still hadn’t heard the good news. There was no Adventist presence anywhere near Cuiteua. For years, Edevaldo pleaded with God and with the pastor of his church to begin an evangelistic effort

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in his hometown. “I didn’t tire of that desire to bring the Gospel here,” says Edevaldo. “I prayed many nights—even crying by myself—because I have a little bit of knowledge [about the Gospel], but my family doesn’t have the privilege to know yet. So I felt a great desire to bring it here.”

Pastors in this region shepherd many churches, most of which are hours away from their home base. So adding a new congregation in an extremely remote area is difficult. But in 2014, the new pastor finally told Edevaldo, “Let’s go!”

Edevaldo and other Adventists from Obidos traveled to Cuiteua together to introduce the Adventist message. They held an evangelistic effort, and eight people were baptized. It was a great start, but the new Adventists needed a place to meet and grow.

Two years later, Edevaldo’s prayers are being answered once more. Today, Maranatha is scheduled to arrive and build a One-Day Church in Cuiteua.

Excited and determined, Edevaldo rode his bicycle several miles to be at

the dock for the late-night unloading of materials. His heart pounds as he watches the huge ferry pull up to port. He jumps into action to help the Maranatha crew unload all the materials, happy to touch the galvanized steel answer to his prayers.

AN AMAZON ADVENTURE: Bringing the church to Cuiteua is largely a waterborne expedition.

The crew traveled in huge ferries and small canoes.

LOGISTICS ON THE AMAZON: The One-Day Church materials were transferred from a ferry, to a fishing boat, to canoes, to an oxcart before arriving at their final destination.

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DELIVERY INCLUDED: When you sponsor a church with Maranatha, our crews do whatever it takes to bring the materials to remote locations like Cuiteua.

THE RIVER AS A ROAD: Around here people use the expansive river and inlets as the main road. A ride through this swampy path is part of Maria’s trek to church.

carefully slide each steel sheet and pole over the side. Maranatha crew members and Edevaldo’s family paddle the unwieldy construction materials to shore, eventually stepping out of the canoes and sloshing through the last few yards of water and floating plants.

Once on shore they load the materials into Jorge’s oxcart to be hauled up to the church site.

“I did not expect this,” says Allan Freitas Ferreira, who is just starting his second month as a Maranatha crew member. “I don’t know if the other guys were expecting this, but I did not expect it. I imagined that we would be traveling by land, by truck, but never that we would use so many types of transportation! Water, canoe, ox. It was amazing!”

THE FINAL LEG TO CUITEUA

The ship’s late arrival makes for a short night. But Edevaldo and other church members from Obidos meet the crew at the river before 7 a.m., ready to help build a church for their daughter church plant in Cuiteua. The group loads the One-Day Church kit and themselves onto a private fishing boat as pink dolphins jump in the water around them. Once again, they string their hammocks, to serve as seats or beds, on the small craft. The motorized boat travels for hours as the Amazon river flows, narrowing and widening intermittently, with huge crops of green foliage forming islands in the massive expanse.

Hours later, the fishing boat comes upon Jorge Pinto Venancio, Edevaldo’s brother, in a small motor boat. He is waiting to meet the group and guide them on the last leg of their travel to Cuiteua.

There is no dock or port at this tiny riverside village. The fishing boat enters as close to land as the captain dares. Then crew members drop over the side, down into small canoes, and

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A REMOTE CONGREGATION

The Adventist Church in Cuiteua is a group of recently baptized relatives, meeting in a shack in Edevaldo’s mother’s yard. Before Edevaldo and the pastor came to minister here, the nearest established church would have been hours away. In a place like Cuiteua, the

people usually stay pretty close to home.

That is the reason that Jorge hasn’t been attending church for the last four years.

“We didn’t have a way to get there. It was very difficult to go by boat or by motorcycle.”

As it is, some of the Pinto Venancio family have an incredible trek to get to worship each Sabbath. They have to take a canoe across the expansive river, then slog across the wetlands, and finally walk across a makeshift bridge of two planks resting on tree roots above a muddy bog. Some wear hip-high waders to get home. It is challenging but a much better option than trying to attend the next-nearest church, located hours upriver.

A CHURCH AND A VISION

At the building site, the Maranatha crew springs into action. Quickly but surely, they piece together the frame of the new church. By evening, everything but the roof has been installed. But it is Friday evening, so instead of pushing on, the crew stops and heads back to the Pinto Venancio homestead for worship and showers.

Each crew member hangs their hammock for a good night’s rest in

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the open air. Despite a tropical storm in the night, the Sabbath day dawns early. Sunrise is crowned with rooster cries as women bustle to provide a hearty breakfast and get ready for the last church service in their old meeting place. Every possible seat is filled on the benches inside; outside, people set up plastic chairs around the hut to partake in the service. Everyone is excited and smiling. It is a Sabbath of celebration and fellowship.

Edevaldo is a reserved man, but even he can’t hide his emotion today.

“I cannot even express the joy I feel … especially since I am sure … I have faith in God that my mother will be baptized.

So, it’s a lot of joy. A lot.”

All along, Edevaldo’s dream has been to share the saving news of Christ with his family. And that family is very, very big. His mother had ten children.

They each have families of their own, as well as uncles and aunts, cousins, etc. In fact, in the entire settlement of Cuiteua, everyone is related in some way or another.

But Edevaldo’s vision goes beyond saving his family. “Another dream we have—it’s not just me, but all of us here … It’s evangelizing in Såo José, a nearby community, bigger than this one, more populated,” explains Edevaldo. “I believe God is already working in the hearts of the people there.”

FRUITION

After the sun begins its descent, concluding a beautiful Sabbath day, the Maranatha crew put on their hard hats and gloves, once more, to lay the final roofing and finish the Cuiteua One-Day Church.

As the men work, Maria, another of Edevaldo’s siblings, stands nearby to watch, her eyes filling with tears. She is a member of the Adventist Church, but her husband and children have kept their distance. Now, this new church is a step forward in her personal story. “[My

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HERE TO STAY: Church members in Cuiteua are delighted with their new church. Many neighbors speculated that the Adventists would give up and leave the village, as other churches have before. This church represents a permanent presence here.

husband] already told me that when the church is ready he will come to church with me,” says Maria. “So this is why I am happy. That’s why I’m working hard here … to win souls for Jesus.”

This is a new era in Cuiteua. It took years of prayer and three days to get here, but just a few hours to build a church they thought would never exist.

It’s an exhilaration that even the crew feels with each completed mission.

“Every time we put together a church structure, I think about how there is now a place for people to talk about Christ, the love of Christ, and people turning to the kingdom,” says Allan. “I already feel amazed! The fatigue goes away, everything goes away, and the happiness is not just mine, but for the whole team. It’s contagious!”

When the moon is high in the sky, the crew finally finishes their work in Cuiteua. After saying heartfelt goodbyes to their newfound friends, the crew

A HAPPY GOODBYE: The last Sabbath in their old temporary church is a high day as members praise God and thank Him for providing for their every need.

paddles out in canoes to board the fishing boat and begin their journey to the next church site. They’ll sleep on the boat, eat on the boat, and arrive somewhere, tomorrow, to do this all again. • DISCOVER MORE Go beyond the story at www.maranatha.org • Watch a Maranatha Mission Stories segment on this story at www.maranatha.org/ amazonodc

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Randolph, New York Maranatha volunteers revamped this classic Seventh-day Adventist church in upstate New York during the month of July. The crew worked together to put on siding, expand the bathrooms, paint and much more. After working all day many volunteers participated in a local evangelistic effort and some even gave Bible studies to neighbors, who were eager to learn.

Photo by David Woods

NEWS

Maranatha to Begin Work in Uruguay

In 2017, Maranatha will begin work in the South American country of Uruguay, where Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders have requested assistance for the Barros Blancos Adventist School, located in a suburb of Montevideo.

A few years ago, the Adventist Church voted to close the primary school, due to crumbling infrastructure and a lack of students. Teachers fought to keep the school open, sacrificing much of their salaries and working hard to recruit new students. Today, Barros Blancos is thriving with 140 students and more than 90% are not part of the Adventist Church.

Many more students have shown interest in enrolling, but growth has been limited by a lack of space.

In 2017, volunteer teams will begin work on a campus expansion project involving an eight-classroom Education and Evangelism Center. The new building will have capacity for 320 students.

Uruguay has a population of 3.3 million people, with an Adventist membership of less than 9,000 believers. Uruguay is considered one of the most secular countries in South America, and Adventist

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leadership in Uruguay is hoping that education will help to strengthen the Church’s presence.

During a 2013 interview, when Maranatha first began conversations about working in Uruguay, Almir Marroni, then vice president of the Adventist Church in South America, said interest in the Adventist Church was increasing in Uruguay with noticeable growth taking place in recent years.

“I would say that the church in Uruguay is experiencing a new era of optimism and faith. We believe the church will grow, which will demand more churches and schools,” said Marroni. “With the support of Maranatha Volunteers International, we want to move forward enlarging the church influence in the most secular country of South America.”

First Volunteers to Kenya

In early August, the first volunteers to Kenya returned from a mission project that included church and school construction, well drilling, and plenty of outreach.

The work was focused in and around the city of Isiolo, in the central part of Kenya, at the Upper Hill Adventist Primary School and

in the villages of the Samburu and Turkana tribes.

At the school, volunteers constructed a new girls’ dormitory.

The old building was in a terrible state of disrepair, with cracks in the wall and a dirt floor. The girls slept, sometimes four to a bunk bed, in the old space. The new dormitory has brick walls and a galvanized steel roof and frame.

Volunteers also raised funds for new mattresses, blankets, pillows, and storage trunks for the girls.

In the villages, volunteers built One-Day Churches for two Adventist congregations in Larisoro and Chumviere. Previously, the congregations were worshipping under a tree. In Larisoro, Maranatha drilled a water well and made a commitment to drill in Chumviere.

The team also coordinated health education seminars and medical clinics at the various villages. The medical clinic saw more than 1,200 people over seven days.

A second volunteer team began a project in the Meru region of Kenya in late August, and more groups are scheduled to work in Kenya in 2017.

Maranatha is hoping to construct 75 One-Day Churches and 12 One-Day School classrooms in Kenya this year.

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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Create a Project!

If you are interested in taking a team on a mission trip, let Maranatha guide you through the process! We’ll help you set a budget, find a site and accomodations, organize your team and provide in-country support from our staff. For groups ranging from 5-105, call for a consult and we’ll help every step of the way.

Photo by Lisandro Stout

For more information, call

You can serve on a mission trip with Maranatha! From construction to cooking to outreach, there are many ways to help, and no experience is necessary. Simply look through the opportunities listed below or visit our Volunteer Opportunities page at www.maranatha.org. For more information, email us at volunteer@maranatha.org or call (916) 774-7700.

(916) 774-7700 or email

Bhalki India Open Team BHALKI, INDIA

Multiple Group Project LIMÓN, COSTA RICA

The following Group Project Teams are serving during the months of October/November/December:

Egypt Open Team CAIRO, EGYPT

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Leadership: George Carpenter, Lorin Rubbert November 2-13, 2016

Christmas Family Project SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Leadership: To Be Determined December 19-29, 2016

Ultimate Workout Alumni Project DAVID, PANAMA Leadership: Dan Skau Dec. 26, 2016-Jan. 8, 2017

Brazil Open Team 2017 SALVADOR, BRAZIL

Leadership: Merrill Zachary, George Alder January 18-30, 2017

Uruguay Open Team BARROS BLANCOS, URUGUAY Leadership: Vickie & Bernie Wiedmann February 22-March 5, 2017

Zimbabwe Open Team HARARE, ZIMBABWE

Leadership: Steve Case March 16-26, 2017

Leadership: To Be Determined April 2017

Camp MiVoden Open Team HAYDEN LAKE, IDAHO Leadership: Jerry Wesslen May 7-18, 2017

Big Lake Youth Camp Open Team SISTERS, OREGON

Leadership: To Be Determined May 28-June 11, 2017

leaders@maranatha.org

Thanks for Serving!

Cornerstone Mission Team Virginia Carmichael Adventist Church Team California

INDIA SAGE WA Team Washington

Family Project: Guyana GEORGETOWN, GUYANA Leadership: Steve Case June 15-25, 2017

Family Project: Kenya KENYA

Leadership: Karen Godfrey July 12-26, 2017

Leadership: Loretta Spivey, Peter Thomas March 1-12, 2017

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THE MISSION SCENE

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Non-Profit U.S. Postage

PAID

Roseville, CA Permit No. 111

990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678

About Maranatha Maranatha spreads the Gospel throughout the world as it builds people through the construction of urgently needed buildings.

A LEGACY OF SERVICE For Don and Alice Kirkman, missions have been an important part of their lives. From their time as a young family to life after retirement, the Kirkmans have helped Maranatha to provide urgently needed buildings around the world. Now, they have partnered with the Maranatha Volunteers International Foundation to be sure that this commitment to service lives on.

What will your legacy be? Call the Maranatha Foundation to speak with a Planned Giving specialist.

(916) 774-7700

ON THE COVER: Girl drinks water from the new well in Nechilibi, Zimbabwe.

Photo by Tom Lloyd.

All notices of change of address should be sent to the Maranatha Volunteers International United States address.

United States Headquarters: Maranatha Volunteers International 990 Reserve Drive Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678 Phone: (916) 774-7700 Fax: (916) 774-7701 Website: www.maranatha.org Email: info@maranatha.org In Canada: Maranatha Volunteers International Association c/o V06494C PO Box 6494, Station Terminal Vancouver, BC V6B 6R3 CANADA

Julie Z. Lee, Editor Carrie Purkeypile, Managing Editor Heather Bergren, Designer