VOLUNTEER the

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

Website: www.maranathacanada.ca

BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Charles Eddy, from British Columbia, smooths out the freshly poured concrete on the main walkway at Camp Hope, a Seventhday Adventist retreat facility. He was one of more than 30 volunteers who worked on a number of renovations for Maranatha’s latest mission project there. From painting to flooring to light electrical to installing panels on a massive ceiling—in just two and a half weeks, the group accomplished a long list of tasks.

This was Charles’s first Maranatha project. He came on the project after his wife, Nadine, signed him up. Recently retired and living in a rural area where the nearest city was two hours away, Charles was bored. He had been cooped up in the house through six weeks of winter and “I needed something to do,” said Charles. The couple had long heard of Maranatha and talked about participating but never made the leap. So when Nadine saw her husband getting antsy, she looked for Maranatha projects online and was delighted to find something local at Camp Hope. “It’s the first time we’ve lived this far out in the country without access to people, and I thought this would help,” says Nadine. “He called me every night from the project. He was happy working: He was meeting new friends.”

While there, Charles certainly found that boredom was no longer a factor. But beyond the productivity, Charles also appreciated the spiritual and social aspect of the experience. “It was a beautiful experience. The testimonies and mission stories were very spiritual and inspiring. I really enjoyed the fellowship and the love of the different participants.”

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.

About the Cover: Phil Becker, from Chehalis, Washington, works on the walls of the Luz de Nuevo Amanecer Seventh-day Adventist Church, Dominican Republic. (See page 22.)