the
VOLUNTEER A Publication of Maranatha Volunteers International
FAITH COMMUNITIES
How God brings healing, belonging, and faith through missions
I S SUE 2, 2021
the
VOLUNTEER
Julie Z. Lee Editor Heather Bergren Managing Editor/Designer Dustin Comm Writer
UNITED STATES HEADQUARTERS: Maranatha Volunteers International 990 Reserve Drive Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678 Phone: (916) 774 7700 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 All notices of change of address should be sent to the Maranatha Volunteers International United States address.
Maranatha spreads the Gospel throughout the world as it builds people through the construction of urgently needed buildings.
LIUMBA HILL, ZAMBIA Matakala Litebele works at the Liumba Hill Adventist School, where she teaches secondary school English and Silozi (the local language). When a group of Maranatha volunteers were working at the campus, she stopped by to ask if she could help; she wanted to learn how to lay block. Susan Woods, one of the project leaders and Maranatha’s medical services coordinator, took Litebele under her wing. Together, they laid two rows of block. Litebele was one of many
local people who dropped by the construction site to assist the volunteers. Everyone was happy to see Maranatha providing much needed help to the school. Woods was part of the second volunteer group at Liumba Hill, which welcomed 12 volunteers. (Read about the first group of volunteers on page 11.) The team helped to continue work on the campus expansion project, which includes the construction of new classrooms, bathrooms, and staff housing.
About the Cover: Anita Robinson carries blocks to the worksite at the Liumbia Hill Adventist School in Zambia. She was one of 24 volunteers on the Mission IS Possible team. They were among the first people to participate on a Maranatha mission trip in Zambia, post COVID. Photo by Auston Robinson
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SHARING THE
Mission
MY GRANDMOTHER’S NAME By Julie Z. Lee
If you have a couple hours to spare, I could tell you a thousand stories about my grandmother. How she moved in with us after my parents’ divorce to take care of me, my brother, and my mom. How she used to make homemade tofu and brown rice flour bread. How she told everyone I was raised on her back, because the only way I could sleep, as a colicky baby, was to be swaddled to her body. My grandmother was always there for us. Until one day she wasn’t. Following a drawn out battle with Alzheimers, my grandmother died in October 2020. She spent most of her last year alone, due to COVID restrictions in the facility where my mother had reluctantly placed her, right before the pandemic. My mother, brother, and I went back and forth on the myriad decisions required following a death. As with many people who lost loved ones in the past year, we didn’t have a service and struggled with how to honor her memory. Then my mother asked, “What if I sponsored a well?” We loved the idea. We logged onto Maranatha’s website and helped my mother give a well in my grandmother’s name. A few months later, Maranatha sent us photos of a new well in the village of www.maranatha.org
Hillside, Zambia. There were shots of people crowded around the well and a video of women, with babies wrapped to their bodies, pumping water into sunny, yellow buckets. In one picture, there is a view of a plaque, on the side of the hand pump, with an inscription: ”In memory of SI H. UM who cared for her family with such deep and overflowing love.” I’ve worked for Maranatha for more than 13 years. I’ve seen donations come in to remember loved ones. I’ve helped to write plaques for mothers, fathers, and even children. Yet nothing prepared me for the emotion of seeing my grandmother’s life honored through the gift of a well. When I saw these photos, I wept. My grandmother didn’t have a fancy education. She didn’t have a career. She wasn’t a leader at church nor did she have any occasion for public glory. She spent the majority of her life caring for us. Now, there is a well in Zambia with her name on it. It is perhaps one of a handful of times her name has appeared
in print. Few who can read it will see it. But every day, my mom, brother, and I will know that my grandmother’s well provides clean, fresh water to women who are nameless to much of the world, but mean the world to the babies wrapped on their backs. At Maranatha, my job is to tell stories in hopes that they will inspire you to give to this precious mission. My job is to convince you that making a donation is transformative to those you help. But for the first time, after 13 years of working here, I can truly understand how a gift can be transformative for the giver. Maranatha’s mission is centered on God’s call to serve, in whatever way we can. How deeply moving it is to know that this calling can transcend our greatest loss, our most profound pain. That we can keep giving, reaching out, and providing hope, even in death. Always, in love.
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AROUND THE
World
A snapshot of volunteers and projects in the mission field.
ZAMBIA Volunteers recently served at the Liumba Hill Adventist School.
PERU After months of strict pandemic lockdown, Maranatha workers were able to resume construction on a large 10-room building for La Tinguiña Adventist School.
KENYA The village of Kwa’ Luma rejoices after the Maranatha well drilling team hits water.
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INDIA Local members of the Vennikulam Seventh‑day Adventist Church held a ceremonial groundbreaking for their new building as our crew prepped for construction.
BRAZIL Brothers Alaíde and Vanderlei Ferreira Neves stand beside their new well at the Várzea da Caatinga Seventh-day Adventist Church. They used to walk to a muddy river to collect water, but since Maranatha drilled a well, they can get clean water close to home!
KENYA Our in-country crew completed eight staff housing units at the Kajiado Adventist School & Rescue Center.
CÔTE D’IVOIRE Volunteers lay block at the Niangon Adventist Secondary School outside the city of Abidjan.
BOLIVIA The Gremial congregation worships under their new church structure, to which they will soon add walls. Gremial is one of the final churches to be built in Bolivia as Maranatha completes its commitment in this country.
INDIA Members of the Karimaram Seventh-day Adventist Church pray before well drilling begins. We hit water! www.maranatha.org
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News + H I G H L I G H T S
The Kwa’ Luma congregation, in Kenya, with their new One‑Day Church. Maranatha also hoped to drill a new well for them, but their first attempt came up dry.
RETURNING TO KWA’ LUMA, AGAIN
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n June 2020, Maranatha Volunteers International constructed a One‑Day Church in the Kenyan village of Kwa’ Luma. This new place of worship spurred membership growth from only a handful of people to more than 70. Maranatha then quickly turned its attention to the problem of water. Kwa’ Luma is located in the terribly hot and dry Ukambani region of Kenya, and the people here are desperate for water. Women walk for more than 10 miles a day to fetch dirty water from a seasonal river. Along the way, they worry about deadly snakes, dangerous men, and the loss of time with their families. Maranatha’s water drilling team arrived shortly after to provide a well, but it came up dry. Some time later, Maranatha went back to Kwa’ Luma to
follow up on the congregation. To the team’s surprise, everyone had been waiting for hours to present the gift of a goat. Even though they had not been able to have a well, they wanted to give a gift of gratitude for all that Maranatha had already done for their community and country. A goat is a big cost for people who have so little. Yet even in their scarcity, they wanted to give a token of their appreciation. For Maranatha’s country director in Kenya, Ron Kedas, the gesture was overwhelming. “It was emotional for us. I was crying. My wife was crying. To see their positive outlook, even in a disappointing situation and to understand how big a gift that goat was for them to offer, it was so humbling. So when they asked us to try again, we
knew we wanted to give it another shot if there was a chance at finding water.” As he left, Kedas asked the villagers to pray—they said they would. A new geological survey was commissioned, and the report indicated a possibility of finding water at a different location nearby. Later, Maranatha returned to Kwa’ Luma again and started drilling at the new site. To everyone’s joy, they hit water at 340 feet. The well at Kwa’ Luma is one of 40 water wells Maranatha plans to drill in 2021, along with 100 churches and continued work on a school campus. Maranatha has been working in Kenya since 2016, building One-Day Churches, schools, and water wells. More than 650 structures have been completed so far.
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SLEEPING IN A GARAGE
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he Emmanuel Adventist Secondary School is a boarding academy in Zambia that serves 320 students. With high performance in standardized tests over the years, the school’s enrollment increased, but campus facilities could not keep up. Because of the lack of space, some of these students had to sleep in a garage. In 2020, Maranatha Volunteers International responded to a request from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Zambia to address the dire situation at Emmanuel. The project was a major focal point for Maranatha throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with our crew sheltering in place on campus to construct a girls’ dorm and bathroom, and add six new classrooms. The team also made improvements to the school’s water source and supplied it to the boys’ side of campus. A recent gift will allow Maranatha to also construct 6 duplexes for teacher housing.
These additions will facilitate a proper learning environment and allow the school to take on more students. Previously, school leadership was forced to turn away 40 kids each year due to a lack of space. Now, as students return to campus, there is capacity for more students, and all of them will be properly
housed in a dorm. Maranatha worked in Zambia from 2009-2015, completing hundreds of projects. In 2018, Maranatha returned to Zambia in response to a request for more churches, schools, and water wells across the country.
VIRTUALLY GATHERING
M
aranatha has been hosting a variety of Zoom meetings to connect with supporters, share stories, and keep everyone updated on what’s coming up next in 2021. In February, the projects department led the way with meetings for international and stateside project leaders. They joined to share tips on mission trip planning and organization. In March, the advancement department provided a special update on the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya. Volunteers and donors signed on to talk to Ron Kedas, Maranatha’s country director in Kenya, to hear about the latest progress at the school. This past year, local crews www.maranatha.org
have been continuing to work on campus expansion, building classrooms, staff housing, and an administrative building. Then, the marketing department hosted a discussion on wells for World Water Day on March 22. Kyle Fiess, vice president of projects, talked about our goals for 2021 and answered questions on well drilling and water from the participants. Although mission trips and other travel are opening up in 2021, most
in-person meetings still have limitations, depending on local protocols. For now, Maranatha plans to coordinate more Zoom meetings throughout the year. Look for upcoming meetings in our weekly email newsletter, Maranatha Matters. Subscribe by writing to info@maranatha.org.
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OF FAITH AND Belonging
The story of a first mission trip and a first experience with Christians By Julie Z. Lee
S “I’m not an Adventist. I’m not even a Christian... I felt very scared that I wouldn’t be accepted and welcomed.”
andy Patel has worked with Gino Wolff at the same medical office for the past ten years. Every year, Patel has come to expect that Wolff will go on a mission trip with Maranatha Volunteers International. And when he returns, it’s become a tradition for him to invite her. “You should go next year,” he always said. But every year, Patel found a reason not to go. She didn’t want to leave her young kids; she didn’t have enough time off work. “I would look for excuses,” she says. Yet Wolff sensed a curiosity from Patel about the projects, beyond just looking at travel photos. “It’s not often that I talk to people who aren’t Christian about my mission trips. But when I talked to her about it, she said, ‘Wow. I would really like to do something like that,’” remembers Wolff. “I know she’s done smaller service projects. I know she wants to try and serve and do things for other people.” So Wolff kept telling stories from the mission field and sharing photos. He even brought her The Volunteer, Maranatha’s quarterly magazine. Once, she got close to joining a mission trip to the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya, where volunteers were going to build a classroom. But that fell through; Patel says, “Obviously I found more reasons not to go.” Then, last year, Wolff told her about Zambia. The project was to build classrooms at the Liumba Hill Adventist School in western Zambia. Patel still pushed back against the idea. She wasn’t afraid of travel; she and her family traveled quite a bit around the world. Rather, she was afraid of being the odd person out on the trip. “I’m not an Adventist. I’m not even a Christian. To me, I felt very scared that I wouldn’t be accepted and welcomed—that I would be an outsider,” says Patel, who was raised in a non-practicing Hindu home. Wolff’s mission trips are coordinated through Maranatha but organized by Greg Hatch, a member of the West Houston Seventh-day Adventist Church in Texas. Twenty years ago, Hatch started organizing mission trips for the congregation. At the time, Wolff was a member, and in 2003, he joined one of Hatch’s trips. Since that first experience, Wolff has never looked back, not even when he moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Instead, he started recruiting local church members and friends to join Hatch’s projects. Today, the group that originated in West Houston welcomes
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volunteers from all over the country. Most of the participants have been on multiple mission trips together, and they are a tight-knit family. For this reason, Patel’s concerns were valid—she would likely be one of the few new people on the project. But Wolff finally convinced her to give it a try. Patel says, “Gino told me to just put it in God’s hands and let it be. So I put it away and gave it to God and let Him show me what the right answers were.” She contacted Hatch and signed up for Zambia. She wasn’t entirely sure she would go, but it was a big first step. Soon, it came time for her to confirm her participation with a $100 deposit. “Even at this point, I had mentioned the trip to my husband, but not to anybody else. Nobody knew that I was even considering going on that trip,” says Patel. Then, on the very day that she received the deposit notification, Patel’s mother stopped by her house. “She gave me $100. She told me to use it for whatever I needed. And I hadn’t even mentioned the trip to her,” says Patel. “It was not my birthday. www.maranatha.org
It was not a special day. I’m an adult. She doesn’t just give me money for random reasons—she never has and hasn’t since then.” To Patel, the unexpected gift from her mother, in the exact amount required for the deposit, was a sign. She had put the decision in God’s hands, and this was the response. She was supposed to go on the trip. From there, the signs kept coming, affirming her decision and nudging her closer and closer to her first mission trip. Until one day, Patel was in Zambia. When the volunteer bus pulled into their home base in Kalabo, about 9 miles from the construction site, they were welcomed by a crowd of dancing, shouting, and joyful locals. “It just brought tears to my eyes. These people were so excited and happy to see us. They were singing and just ecstatic that we were there to help them,” says Patel. “That reception was out of this world.” That week, Patel worked on the construction site, mixing mud, hauling blocks, and making new friends. “I didn’t feel like I was looking in from the
NEW FRIENDS:
Sandy Patel sits with a group of students from the Liumba Hill Adventist School during a dedication ceremony. After years of being invited to go on a Maranatha trip, this was Patel’s first time going, and the experience was life changing. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SANDY PATEL
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outside. I was part of the group. It was really nice.” When it came to the daily worship, Patel was initially “worried and scared.” After all, she knew little to nothing about the Adventist faith or even Christianity. Religion was a part of her heritage, but it hadn’t been an integral part of her life. But the experience was neither alienating nor problematic; instead, she was drawn to it. “She was very intent. We’d have our morning and evening worship, and she just seemed very intent on listening to what was being said and what was going on,” says Wolff. “Because she doesn’t know all the stories from the Bible like we do, she would listen and ask me things—‘Hey, what is this story about?’” Even the construction had a spiritual theme and testimony. One night, Wolff told the story of how God systematically whittled down the number of soldiers in Gideon’s army when they were about to face a mighty enemy. This way, when Gideon’s meager army was victorious, the success could only be attributed to the hand of God. Wolff compared this to the volunteers’ situation. Initially the volunteer team had started with 40 participants, but people kept cancelling until the number dropped to 24, with five of them assigned to the dental clinic. That left only 19 to work on the construction site, which was a small number of volunteers for the project the team had accepted. The goal was to build a three-classroom structure spanning about 90 feet in length. Several people, including some of the block team leads, were dubious that they would be successful, due to their
“This is the type of people who are Christians... I want to be like them.”
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reduced numbers. But Gideon’s story became motivation for the volunteers. And at the end of each day, everyone, including Patel, would stand back and observe the rising row of blocks, amazed at what had been accomplished. “How is this even possible with the number of people we had? It just didn’t make sense how it was possible that this building was going up so quick and so fast,” remembers Patel. “It just shows that it wasn’t us. It’s all God.” Six days later, Patel sat on the campus with her fellow volunteers for the dedication of the completed building. During the ceremony, school leadership and students turned out in full, singing and dancing in celebration of their new classrooms. After establishing the school in 1928, locals say missionaries hadn’t been back to Liumba Hill for nearly 100 years. This visit was an historical moment for the campus. Patel watched the program as tears rushed down her face, soaking her mask. “After working for a whole week and seeing all of the progress and seeing the excitement and happiness from the people and the community… it was so overwhelming that I couldn’t control my emotions anymore,” says Patel. “When we drove away from the site for the last time, I felt so complete. I even said to Gino, ‘At this point, if we were to pack up and go home right now, I would be content.’” When Patel finally did go home, she returned as a changed, or rather, a changing person. Her first dive into a Christian experience has cracked open a window of new possibilities. Days after her return, Patel is ruminating on episodes from the mission trip and what she wants to do next. She often thinks back to the worships they had in Zambia,
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MISSION IS POSSIBLE
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where friends shared stories from their lives and the Bible. “The little snippets from the Bible that they would quote— it intrigued me and makes me want to know more about the stories. So I’d catch myself so intrigued in listening to whatever they were doing the worship on for the day,” says Patel. For Wolff, his goal was to introduce Patel to the mission experience in hopes that she would get a glimpse of God. “I was hoping that she would find more of God and be able to let that seed be watered more. Hopefully this helps to open the door for her,” he says. “And it seems like it has, based on some of our conversations.” So what happens next for a Hindu woman who just got back from her first Christian mission trip? Patel isn’t entirely sure. She is still processing and doesn’t even know how to begin talking about what she’s experienced with her family. But one thing she does know is that she wants to learn more. “Truly the group that I went with were so welcoming and so nice,” she says. “This is what I want. This is the type of people who are Christians, and I want to be that person. I want to be with that group. I want to be like them.” “I’m pretty sure that there’s people like me who believe in God, but they don’t believe in a religion. And we’re confused. So I feel like this experience has helped me and is guiding me to the right religion. And I’m very intrigued to know more about Christianity, to just learn and see if this is where I belong.”
www.maranatha.org
GIDEON’S ARMY:
1 Sandy Patel with Gino Wolff, the colleague who convinced her to try out missions. 2 Volunteers work on a three-classroom block at Liumba Hill Adventist School. 3 The small but mighty team of 24 people from all over the United States. PHOTOS: (1) PROVIDED BY SANDY PATEL (2-3) PROVIDED BY GREG HATCH
This project at Liumba Hill was completed by the Mission IS Possible Team in March. This group of 24 volunteers built a three-classroom building at Liumba Hill Adventist School and treated 77 patients during a dental clinic that was organized on campus. Liumba Hill is located in a very remote part of western Zambia and sees few visitors from outside the country. Locals say that since missionaries established the school in 1928, no one has been back. Part of this may have to do with the difficulty of traveling to the area. From the airport in Lusaka, volunteers had to endure a 12-hour drive to reach the town of Kalabo, which was where the volunteers stayed. With no lodging options in the area, Maranatha worked with the Yuka Adventist Mission Hospital to convert the former tuberculosis wing into bedrooms for the volunteers. From the hospital, it took volunteers an average of 50 minutes to travel nine miles to the school, due to terrible roads. This campus now has more than 360 primary students. The new classrooms will not only provide more space, it will also permit Liumba Hill to offer a secondary education program. In addition to classrooms, the school has also requested assistance in building staff housing and bathrooms. Maranatha will continue to send volunteers to work at Liumba Hill throughout the year.
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A LESSON IN PATIENCE IN Peru
After almost a year of lockdown, Maranatha is starting back up in Peru By Julie Z. Lee
L
ast spring, Asbel Gonzalez remembers waking up in the morning and peering out his apartment window, in Ica, Peru. Down below, on the next block over, he could see the construction site for La Tinguiña Adventist School. Just a couple weeks prior, the place had been humming with activity from a group of Maranatha volunteers, who were laying block for a large Education and Evangelism Center and coordinating outreach in the community. But all that quickly changed when, on March 15, the Peruvian government announced the closure of borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers were rushed out of the country, future projects were canceled, and everyone was put into quarantine. Suddenly Gonzalez and his colleagues were stuck at home. No one in Peru was permitted to leave their homes except during designated hours for specific tasks. But this wasn’t actually home for Gonzalez and his colleagues. They were in Peru because of their work with Maranatha. Their families were back in Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, and Bolivia. But with all flights cancelled and borders sealed, there was no way to get home. So Gonzalez and his coworkers quarantined in their apartment building. They had weekly worship with a pastor who lived in the same complex. They held video conference meetings with their supervisor, Darrell Hardy, vice president of construction for Maranatha, who offered prayer and encouragement. And each day,
“The church in Peru needs more help now than when we first arrived.”
Gonzalez kept looking wistfully out his window. “He told me, ‘We can see the school site, but we can’t get out there or do anything about it,’” remembers Hardy. About 155 miles away, in Lima, Elmer Barbosa, Peru country director for Maranatha, was stuck in his own apartment with his wife and two young children. For 62 days, no one left the house except to grab groceries or medications once a week. Barbosa is an energetic young man who isn’t used to sitting around. “After a while, it started to feel really bad to stay home and not produce anything. We can’t build a church from our home office via Zoom,” says Barbosa. “Professionally not being able to produce for months can be discouraging.” When it became clear that the lockdown was a long-term situation, Maranatha started sending team members back to their home countries, as soon as humanitarian flights became available. Barbosa and Ruben Trujillo, a colleague who had his family with him, remained in Peru. Along the way, the government slowly eased restrictions, allowing some people to return to work. Barbosa, Trujillo, and a local employee started visiting church sites to lay blocks, install doors or windows, and paint. It was a tiny crew, but they slowly finished up where the volunteers had left off. “It helped to keep us sane after 62 days of lockdown in Peru,” says Barbosa. “But it was also important for the Church in Peru to know that Maranatha was not canceling the project.”
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More than one year later, Peru has been through the gauntlet of rising and falling COVID cases and a series of lockdowns and openings. Today, the country isn’t out of the woods yet; Peru has had 1.4 million COVID cases and nearly 50,000 COVID-related deaths. Barbosa says that hospitals are still struggling with a shortage of ICU beds and oxygen. But the country is slowly reverting to a cautious version of life, pre-COVID. At the same time, Maranatha’s international mission trips are also opening back up. At the time of publication, volunteers had completed the first four overseas projects since the start of the pandemic with more mission trips planned for 2021. There are also a handful of volunteer projects tentatively scheduled in Peru for the summer; however all are subject to change, depending on traveler requirements. But even before volunteers started heading out on international trips, Maranatha’s local crews were steadily working around the world in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, India, Kenya, and Zambia— everywhere except Peru. But Maranatha is determined to keep pushing forward in Peru to complete the projects that were already started and committed, prior to COVID. In total, there are 10 churches left to build in and around Lima, along with La Tinguiña Adventist School. The goal is to finish everything in 2021 by relying on construction crews and volunteers, www.maranatha.org
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when possible. Already, crew members have been returning to Peru to restart the effort. For the congregations in Peru, the work can’t get started soon enough. Some groups have been homeless after tearing down their old structures to prepare for Maranatha’s arrival. And while the pandemic has prevented meetings anyway, the members are eager to see their new church homes take shape. “We are committed to finish all the projects that were started in Peru and that’s a promise we made to those individual churches and the school that we’re also building there,” says Kyle Fiess, vice president of volunteer projects for Maranatha. In the meantime, Barbosa has been checking in with congregations to remind them that Maranatha is still here. “We visited many churches that were supposed to receive groups of volunteers to remind them that we had not forgotten about them, and we were praying for them,” says Barbosa. “We were also sending reports back to the donors to remind them of the reason we came here to Peru in the first place. I can say now that the church in Peru needs more help now than when we first arrived.”
SLOW BUILD:
1 Elmer Barbosa, country director for Peru, takes a selfie on one of the church sites. The small crew of three have been working every day to complete structures without volunteers. 2 Asbel Gonzalez, Maranatha staff, stands next to a stack of doors that are ready for installation in the new Education and Evangelism Center. 3 A wide shot of the La Tinguiña school construction project, which was at a standstill for months due to the pandemic. PHOTOS: (1) ELMER BARBOSA (2-3) ASBEL GONZALEZ
We are grateful for a major gift to help us complete some of the churches we have started, but more funds are still needed. Please make a donation to help these communities who are patiently waiting for their new churches and school.
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A MOTHER'S
Mission
A single mother’s journey through parenthood alongside missions By Dustin Comm
D
ina Ramirez remembers the moment the emptiness started. She was 17 years old, and despite having been raised in a loving Seventh-day Adventist home, new relationships had started to pull her away from God. When she graduated from high school, things only got worse. She started working full-time while attending school and became too busy to go to church. She could feel her faith slipping away. The emptiness was enveloping her life, and she knew something needed to change. Then, in an instant, everything did change. Dina was pregnant. “At 21, when I got the news that I was going to be a mom, I knew that this was a lifetime commitment,” said Dina. “I knew there’s no going back. You are responsible for this precious little baby that God is blessing you with. You’re responsible for teaching this baby everything. What morals are you going to teach, what values are you going to instill in this child, what behavior are you going to model for this child?” After her son, Seth, arrived, Dina’s priorities and values shifted—she returned to God. “When I had Seth in my arms, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to give my life for this baby,” said Dina. “That made me realize firsthand, God, you really love me because you allowed me to experience this love—that I would be willing to die for this child, and you died for me.”
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When Seth was a toddler, Dina became a single mother, inducing new challenges. From financial worries to childcare to transportation, juggling life as a solo parent while working full-time proved distressing. How would she provide for everything her little family needed? How would she pay for childcare on one income? In the early years, feelings of inadequacy and loneliness crept in. Then, as Seth grew older, Dina also considered the spiritual duty to Seth and how she would answer for his faith development. How would she raise him to embody the love of Christ? What kind of relationship would he have with Jesus? Would he leave the Church as some young people do? Would he be prepared for eternity? Ironically, it was Seth himself who brought forward a remedy for these concerns. In the third grade, his school sponsored a “Week of Prayer” series focused on a topic that instantly captivated him: missions. Each day he came home from school telling his mom about different heroes of the mission field in Africa or India, fascinated by their stories of adventure and service. “I want to be a missionary too!” he said. Observing his growing interest, Dina saturated him with missions resources in the form of books, audio narratives, and even Maranatha Volunteers International’s television program, Maranatha Mission Stories. She figured he’d either be encouraged further or the phase would run its course. Seth couldn’t get enough. “I really want to be a missionary,” he said. “I www.maranatha.org
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want to do this. This is what I want to do when I grow up. I want to serve God this way.” Then, one Sabbath in church, two young ladies shared their experience of going on a mission trip with Maranatha. Dina and Seth were mesmerized. During the presentation, Seth looked up into Dina’s eyes and said, “Mom, I want to go. I want to go on a mission trip.” In that moment, she made him a promise. “I promise you, one day, I don’t know when, but one day, we will go,” said Dina. “One day, God will provide a way for us to go on a family mission trip, just you and I. We will go.” Dina made good on that promise in 2013, when they traveled to Panama for one of Maranatha’s annual Family Projects. For Seth, it was a surreal moment to realize that his dream was actually coming true—he was going to the mission field. His happiness was uncontainable. “Mom, we’re actually going on a mission trip. This is really happening!” he said. Looking at her son across the worksite each day throughout the project, Seth’s permanent smile told Dina that this is where God wanted them. She was fulfilled too. More than just a volunteer opportunity, the trip was an introduction to the power missions offered in the spiritual and emotional development of her son. The connection to God and the lessons they experienced together on a mission trip could be transferred back home. “I learned that I can continue to teach Seth and model that behavior, model that relationship [with
GROWING INTO MISSIONS:
1 Dina Ramirez is a mission trip veteran who has served on 10 Maranatha projects around the world. But none of it might have happened without her son, Seth. 2 As a young adult, the news of pregnancy forced Dina to re-evaluate her values and purpose. 3 At a young age, Seth became enamored with stories from the mission field, prompting his desire to go on a mission trip. PHOTOS: (1) LEO MACIAS (2-3) PROVIDED BY DINA RAMIREZ
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God],” said Dina. “What does it look like, what does prayer look like, what does your personal time with God look like? [The trip] definitely changed me, and it changed Seth because he was able to see God firsthand in a way that he had not seen [before].” Although they returned home from that first trip with new perspective, life still presented its challenges. Being a single parent continued to be hard. Providing for the family, being the emotional cornerstone for her son, and coordinating logistics for childcare, transportation, and extracurricular activities, was overwhelming at times. When the day-to-day was difficult, Dina set her sights on the next Maranatha Family Project as a future reprieve. She looked forward to the change of pace and renewal she knew it would provide, and considered it a sacred opportunity to connect with her son around service. In 2014, Dina and Seth planned on volunteering with Maranatha in the Dominican Republic, and they couldn’t wait. They registered for the project, purchased airline tickets, and counted down the days. But taking a child out of the country requires notarized consent from both parents, and this year, Seth’s father refused to sign the paperwork, no matter how hard she pleaded. Devastated, she realized they couldn’t go. “That was hard, having to put it in nice words, when I had just told [Seth], ‘We’re going to go, I
“It’s going to be okay Dina. It’s not always going to be this hard. You’re not always going to struggle this much being a single mom.”
have the airfare, it’s paid for. I have the time off from work, it’s going to be amazing, it’s going to be fun.’ His little dreams were shattered.” By the time Dina and Seth made it back on a Family Project the following year, Dina was at a low point. The constant struggle of single motherhood had taken its toll. She limped into that mission trip in 2015, desperate to connect with God. Despite her outward smile, no one knew how tough the year had actually been. After worship one evening, the project’s coordinator, Pastor Steve Case, pulled Dina aside to ask how she was doing. Fearing she might become emotional, she simply replied that she was good. Case said, “How are you really doing?” “I don’t know what he saw,” said Dina. “Maybe he saw something in me. I like to believe that it was the Holy Spirit that was prompting him to come talk to me, and pray for me because then he asked me, ‘Can I pray for you?’” After bottling up the tension for so long, the tears came. As Case prayed, Dina felt God speaking to her. “He said, ‘It’s going to be okay Dina. It’s not always going to be this hard. You’re not always going to struggle this much being a single mom. It’s going to be okay. Trust me. Continue to believe in me. Continue to put me as a priority in your life. You will see how I can bless you, how I can bless your family, how I can bless Seth. You will see the young man he will become.’” Each year since that prayer, Dina has seen its promise on display as Seth grew into adolescence. The two began volunteering on Maranatha’s teens-only mission trip for high schoolers, the Ultimate Workout. She watched as Seth observed the relationship between volunteer Dan Klein, Jr.
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and his own son, commenting how he wanted to be a strong father like Dan. She noticed the conversations Seth had with Pastor Brandon Westgate, the project spiritual coordinator, showing him how relatable pastors can be. Dina observed her son, a shy kid by nature, coming out of his shell as he worked alongside other teenagers. She glimpsed him learning the value of hard work, gaining lifelong friends, and growing closer to God. Seth is now 19 and realizes the sacrifices his mom made to make missions a part of his upbringing. He recognizes now that she sometimes went without, so could have what he needed. He knows what an impact this life of missions has meant for his faith. “I wouldn’t be as close to God as I am now,” said Seth. “Any experience with God draws you closer, but a missions experience provides a one-on-one connection that is more personal.” Reflecting back to her youth, Dina realizes the vastly different place she was in at Seth’s age. “I compared my teen years and his teen years,” said Dina. “What I can say is I know with certainty, I have no doubt in my mind, that going on mission trips has strengthened his faith in God, his personal relationship with God. He encountered Jesus like I had never encountered Him at that young age.” Seeing the example his mom set throughout his childhood, Seth wants to follow in her footsteps in creating a strong spiritual foundation for his future family. He knows it’s not uncommon for young people to leave the Church, and has made a point to set his long-term priorities now. “I want to raise my family to be strong Seventh-day Adventists,” said Seth. “I wouldn’t want to be another statistic. [Missions] provide an eye-opening way to get close to God.” www.maranatha.org
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“He thanked me for raising him the way I raised him,” said Dina. “Teaching him about faith, teaching him to make God a priority, and teaching him to know Jesus and love Jesus. He sees the difference between him and his friends. He sees the difference and he knows he’s different, not in a bad way, in a good way, because his priorities are different. He reminded me that going on these mission trips helped him set his priorities in order. You serve God first. You dedicate your life to him. And he thanked me. He thanked me for dedicating my life and his life to God in missions.” For Dina, these mission trips have sustained her through the tumultuous journey of parenthood. She’s formed friendships so close, she now considers them family. She feels the support of a loving faith community spread out around the world, bound together by service. She knows that no matter the obstacles life throws at her, she is not alone. She also credits missions with bringing her and her son closer together. She hopes more parents will follow her lead. “Start saving, start planning, make mission trips in your family a priority because the returns you get are incalculable,” said Dina. “You cannot see and count all the blessings that you will have as a family. You will be more united, you will have that bond that you don’t create or forge any other way. You create lifelong friendships. Your kids can grow up on those friendships that don’t just last on that one mission trip, they will last for eternity. And you yourself will be impacted by it. You will be changed.”
BONDED THROUGH SERVICE:
1 Dina, her mother, and Seth, finally made it to the mission field for the first time in 2013 for one of Maranatha’s annual Family Projects. 2 Over the years, Dina credits missions with helping to shape and mold Seth into the young man of faith that he is today. 3 Dina’s commitment to missions for their family has inspired Seth to want to follow in her footsteps for his future family. PHOTOS: (1) MARANATHA STAFF (2-3) PROVIDED BY DINA RAMIREZ
SEE THE STORY Watch a Maranatha Mission Stories segment on Dina at maranatha.org/dina
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FROM SEWER TO Serene Maranatha dedicates new campus in India By Dustin Comm
“I have seen schools in dire need. But when I entered the Jingshai Mihngi school‚—I cannot even describe it– it was the worst conditions of any school I’ve seen.”
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n February 11, 2021, Maranatha Volunteers International participated in a dedication ceremony for the new campus of the Jingshai Mihngi Adventist School in Jowai, India. A number of dignitaries attended the dedication ceremony, including members of the state legislature and regional Seventh-day Adventist leadership. All noted how impressive the new campus looked and how much it will positively impact the community for years to come. “I never expected this kind of building. So when I came today I’m really amazed and I’d really like to congratulate and thank the management. They have done a tremendous job,” said Wailadmiki Shylla, a member of the legislative state assembly for Jowai, at the ceremony. Shylla said that in a small state like Meghalaya, resources are limited, and constructing school campuses is difficult. “So it is a great help when such a kind organization comes and gives this kind of beautiful building. So it will be of great help not only to the people of this area but to the district as a whole.” The school is a literal breath of fresh air for the students, teachers, and families. For years, students met in classrooms that were located next to an open sewer line. Besides the horrible stench, many children learned in dilapidated sheds that were dark, cramped, and leaky. Yet, this K-10 school boasted an enrollment of 477, due to caring teachers and high scores on standardized tests. After acquiring new property, the school leadership approached Maranatha to request help in building a school. Throughout the course of 2020, Maranatha constructed 12 classrooms, administrative offices, 1 bathrooms, and a water well for this new campus, which sits atop a hill surrounded by forest and plenty of fresh air. “We are free from many distractions like the bad smell, flood, and dripping of water from the roof especially during the rainy season. And then we have clean surroundings… The students are safe, and we also feel secure when our students are safe,” says teacher Daemlang Shylla. “And then we are free from all these distractions, then we can teach better. The students also, they can concentrate, they can pay more attention.” At the beginning of construction, volunteers worked on the campus without a hitch. Soon after however, Maranatha’s local crew experienced a series of challenges, starting with COVID-19. When the pandemic began in
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March 2020, work was halted multiple times as India locked down. In time, working with local officials, Maranatha’s local crew received permission to safely resume construction. Because of transport restrictions, there were also delays in the arrival of building materials. Then the monsoon season came, bringing large amounts of precipitation that paused the work almost daily. This prolonged progress, coupled with travel limitations, meant that several of Maranatha’s workers weren’t able to see their families for months. Despite these hardships, Maranatha’s team relentlessly pushed forward, completing the campus in early 2021. The bright, spacious classrooms will afford students a conducive learning environment. Strong, weather-resistant buildings will protect them from the elements and www.maranatha.org
reduce distractions. And maybe best of all, the air at the new campus is fresh and clean. For Maranatha’s country director in India, Vinish Wilson, the new campus represents a transformation. “I have traveled the length and breadth of this country for the past twenty years. I have seen schools in dire need. But when I entered the Jingshai Mihngi school,—I cannot even describe it–it was the worst conditions of any school I’ve seen. Knowing the situation they were in before and standing here today on this beautiful campus, it is really amazing to see that the children who were studying in that school will be able to now come to these bright classrooms.” The new campus officially opened to students in early April for the new academic year. Maranatha has had a continuous presence in India since 1998, establishing an office while building places of worship and education throughout the country. In 2019, Maranatha started drilling water wells in areas in need of clean water. Maranatha has constructed more than 2,400 structures in India.
A REFRESHING NEW START:
1 Students perform during a dedication ceremony for the new Jingshai Mihngi campus. 2 Students and teachers enjoy the improved setting of the new campus. 3 While the old classrooms smelled of a sewer, the new campus sits on top of a hill next to green forest with plenty of fresh air. PHOTOS: (1-2) JOHN ALFRED (3) EMMANUEL MALLICK
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HOW YOU’VE
Helped
A look at how your support is making a real difference for communities around the world.
TAHALIMA, ZAMBIA
BEFORE The Tahalima Seventh-day Adventist Church used to meet in a structure made of mud, sticks, and grass that was literally falling apart.
BUILDING YOUR
AFTER The congregation now has a strong steel One-Day Church structure with a metal roof that will not crumble.
Legacy
Spring brings the sense of new beginnings and new projects. We are pleased to see the world gradually opening up and volunteers stepping back into the mission field. Our local teams are busier than ever, helping communities in need. The future feels hopeful! And as we continue planning future projects, Maranatha wants to help you think about your own future with our free estate planning resource to help you write your will online. Did you know that nearly 70% of American adults do not have a legal, up-to-date estate plan in place? Estate planning is the easiest way to protect what God has blessed us with and get peace of mind for years to come. Writing a will can also be a great way to continue your ongoing commitment to Maranatha. With our online tool, you can join many of our supporters who have taken this step and included a gift in their wills to this mission. Visit FreeWill.com/Maranatha or email estates@maranatha.org to learn more.
PROJECTS THAT NEED YOUR HELP
This year, Maranatha is working in 10 countries to provide churches, schools, and water wells to communities in need. Here are a few programs that urgently need your prayers and financial support. KENYA ONE-DAY CHURCHES
Maranatha has a big plan to build 100 One-Day Churches in Kenya in 2021. These will be provided in rural areas where congregations are meeting without a building, and traditional construction is more difficult. In order to meet this goal, we need your help. Please make a donation for One-Day Churches in Kenya. You can sponsor a share for $1,500 or an entire church for $7,500. Or make a donation of any size for the project.
INDIA CHURCHES
While the country is still not permitting tourist visas, which prohibits volunteers from serving in India, Maranatha crews have been keeping busy at several project sites. One of the urgent needs in India is the funding of churches. We hope to build 20 churches this year, and the projects need sponsorship. If you are interested in sponsoring an entire church at $30,000, call (916) 774-7700, or make a general donation by going to our website to donate online, sending a check using the envelope provided, or calling the office.
WATER WELLS
In 2021, Maranatha will continue drilling water wells in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, India, Kenya, and Zambia. The goal is to drill 510 water wells this year! Please help us to reach this goal and keep the momentum going for clean water. Make a donation. Or sponsor a well, at $10,000 for Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, India, and Zambia and $30,000 for Kenya.
Countries
I N 202 1
Here’s where Maranatha is working this year. BOLIVIA BRAZIL CANADA CÔTE D’IVOIRE CUBA INDIA KENYA PERU UNITED STATES ZAMBIA
CHURCHES SCHOOLS WATER WELLS CAMPS
www.maranatha.org
P ROJ ECT
Check out our upcoming opportunities here or go to maranatha.org for the most updated list. Please note, projects are subject to schedule adjustments due to restrictions or complications that may arise from COVID.
Calendar
DATE
PROJECT NAME
PLACE
LEADERS
SCOPE
May 23 - Jun. 4 , 2021
Camp Lawroweld Project
MAINE, USA
Betty Beattie-Chrispell, Wayne Moon
Camp renovations
Jun. 2 - 17, 2021
Milo Academy Project
OREGON, USA
Ed Jensen, Leroy Kelm
School renovations
Jun. 2 - 23, 2021
Mount Pisgah Academy Project
NORTH CAROLINA, USA
Jeanice and Ernie Riles
School renovations
Jun. 6 - 18, 2021
Union College Project
NEBRASKA, USA
Lisandro Staut, Jon Harvey
Dorm renovations
Jun. 16 - 29, 2021
Kenya Project*
KAJIADO, KENYA
Loretta Spivey
School classroom construction
Jun. 17 - 27, 2021
Peru Project*
ICA, PERU
TBD
School construction
Jun. 22 - Jul. 2, 2021
Weimar Institute Project
CALIFORNIA, USA
Leroy Kelm
Construction and renovations
Jul. 1 - 11, 2021
Young Adult Project*
ICA, PERU
Angela Boothby
School construction
Jul. 4 - 14, 2021
Union Springs Academy Project
NEW YORK, USA
Barbara Mayes, Bill Boyd
School renovations
Jul. 8 - 17, 2021
Kenya Project
KAJIADO, KENYA
Karen Godfrey, Peter Thomas
School construction
Jul. 11 - 23, 2021
Upper Columbia Academy Project
WASHINGTON, USA
Cathie Clark, Jon Yearlott
School renovations
Jul. 13 - 29, 2021
Fulton Adventist Church
MISSOURI, USA
Leroy Kelm
Church construction
Jul. 14 - 30, 2021
Jamestown Adventist Church Project
TENNESSEE, USA
Betty Beattie-Chrispell, Roger Hatch
Church construction
Jul. 15 - 25, 2021
Ultimate Workout 31
KAYENTA, ARIZONA
Lisandro Staut, Rebekah Shephard
School construction, outreach
Jul. 21 - Aug. 6, 2021
Project Patch Project
IDAHO, USA
Susan and David Woods
Painting, renovations
Aug. 2 - 13, 2021
Holt Adventist Church Project
MICHIGAN, USA
Emily Morris, Leroy Kelm
Church construction
Sept. 26 - Oct. 8, 2021
Camp Lawroweld Projects
MAINE, USA
Susan and David Woods
Camp renovations
Dec. 17 - 30, 2021
Family Project India
INDIA
Karen Godfrey
Construction, outreach *Changes likely to occur
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BOUAFLÉ, CÔTE D’IVOIRE This is a public school near the town of Bouaflé, northwest of Abidjan. The small campus is a combination of crude buildings and open-air classrooms with dirt floors and thatch roofs. While the situation is bearable during good weather, learning is challenging during unfavorable weather conditions, such as rain or wind. Gilberto Araujo, Maranatha’s country director in Côte d’Ivoire, says this school is typical of what you’ll find in more rural areas of the country. Araujo came upon the school on his way to the towns
of Daloa and Boauke, where the Seventh‑day Adventist Church in Côte d’Ivoire has asked Maranatha to build two schools. The hope is to provide more Adventist education in the country. Already, Maranatha has constructed one school in Abidjan with a second in the works. Charles Assandé, education director for the Adventist Church in Côte d’Ivoire, says, “School is a powerful factor of evangelism.” Church leadership believes that membership in the country will grow quicker with the presence of more Adventist schools. Photo by Gilberto Araujo
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PAID
Roseville, CA Permit No. 111
990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678
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