The Volunteer Issue 3 2022

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 POInternationalVolunteersAssociationc/oV06494CBox6494,StationTerminalVancouver,BCV6B6R3CANADA

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

DAYS CREEK, OREGON

Austin Morehouse, age 19, first heard about the Young Adult Project at Milo Adventist Academy a week before it started. To join the mission trip this late in the game, he would have to quit his job. Most people would pass on the chance, but for Austin, this was par for the course. “One thing that I’ve found in my walk with God is that He’ll give me opportunities like this that require a lot of sacrifice. Each and every time I’ve sacrificed it, He’s given me a huge reward in spiritual growth and understanding,” he says. “I’m hungry for spiritual growth. I’m hungry to understand love. I saw it as an opportunity to really grow in the love of Jesus and to grow in my understanding of who He is.”

So Austin quit his job, moved his stuff to his father’s house, then headed to Oregon. There, he joined 10 other volunteers in building an

addition to the school’s outdoor marketplace, where the boarding academy sells produce from its farm and operates a thrift store. The new covered space will allow for larger items to be displayed for sale.

The work was fun but it wasn’t easy. Temperatures skyrocketed into the triple digits most days. But Austin says the shared struggle only made the group bond more. When they weren’t baking in the hot sun, the volunteers spent time getting to know each other on a deeper level, as they shared stories from their life and their perspectives on God. Austin says the love the group formed for each other shed the prejudice and preconceptions that people often have with strangers, and they were able to simply be in communion and share the love of Jesus with each other.

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

About the Cover: Francisco Nina and his wife Julia Ayala stand in front of their home in Peru, where they started the Alto Tacna Seventh-day Adventist Church. Read more about their story on page 14.

Photo by Julie Lee

Photo by Lisandro Staut

SHARING THE Mission

THE SPARK CONNECTIONOF

By Christina Lloyd

At Maranatha, March is one of the busiest months. Church and school groups flood into the mission field, as spring break is an ideal time to schedule a mission trip. March 2020 was shaping up to be no different. Our marketing team spent weeks researching and planning a major push to collect media from as many locations as possible.

It was a carefully crafted strategy, and even the smallest hiccup would have a cascading effect on the trips. But what would challenge this plan was larger than any of us could have

Newsanticipated.ofanovel respiratory virus hit, and all of our careful preparation was called into question. I spent days rebooking flights, reorganizing travel, and rethinking my plans until there was nothing to rebook, nothing to reorganize, nothing to rethink. All of my flights were canceled.

For months, the back of my closet housed my bags packed and ready as I clung to the hope that the devastation and turmoil we all were experiencing would be short-lived. But it would be more than two years before I would head back out into the mission field. In the more than 15 years I’ve spent

working for Maranatha, never before had I spent such a long period of time so physically disconnected from the work we do, the people we serve. I was trying to internalize the mission through the stories of our field staff, aided by tiny WhatsApp photos. It was undeniable that incredible things were still happening. My brain could comprehend the magnitude of the numbers of churches, classrooms, and wells our tireless crews were raising out of the ground, but my heart wasn’t connecting.

In June of 2022, my travel hiatus finally ended. Over those two years, the process of travel had drastically changed. There were more lines, more checkpoints, more paperwork. But as I landed in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, all of the travelrelated hassle faded away. I was hit with a familiarity that is hard to describe.

The Dominican Republic has a Maranatha heritage that is hard to find anywhere else in the world. Congregations take pride in tracing their lineage back to structures Maranatha built 30 years ago. Visit on a Sabbath morning and you’ll hear joyous singing and loud Amens. Maranatha

churches dot the landscape, but the completion of a church is just a stop on a journey to share Christ with as many people as possible. Evangelism isn’t a task. It’s a way of life.

Members don’t rest easy in their brand new churches. They tackle new areas, start new groups even if it means trading comfortable worship conditions for cramped, crowded spaces. Their fervor and dedication is contagious. And the spark, the connection I had missed was back.

What God does through Maranatha defies logic. It’s something that’s hard to comprehend through reports, photos, even video. It is an impact best felt through the rousing song service at a church dedication, through the sparkle in a grandma’s eye as she pumps water from her new well, or the hug of a child on their first day in their new classroom. It’s a movement that’s building people, changing lives, including mine.

—Christina Lloyd director of television for Maranatha Volunteers International

AROUND THE World

A snapshot of volunteers and projects in the mission field.

INDIA

KENYA

Our volunteers from the “Modern Missionaries” group worshiped with a Maasai tribe on Sabbath during their project.

Members of the Kummarapalli Seventh-day Adventist Church are excited about their new Maranatha water well.

ZAMBIA

Maranatha’s in-country crew erects a One Day Church for the Yambani Seventh day Adventist Church.

PERU

PERU

UNITED STATES

Some of the most important volunteers on a mission trip are the kitchen volunteers, like this crew on the Pine Tree Academy project in Maine.

BRAZIL years, Francisca dos Santos struggled for clean water each day. Now, she can easily collect it at the Lagoa do Prado Seventh-day Adventist Church water well.

Youth from the West Houston Seventh-day Adventist Church in Texas raised the block walls of the Portachuelo Church.

Volunteers facilitated free vision clinics in the Los Portales community during a Maranatha Family Project in June.

ZAMBIA of the Indi Seventh-day Adventist congregation rejoice in their new One-Day Church Elementary Education Center is nearing completion at the Raymond Memorial Higher Secondary School in the town of Falakata.

CELEBRATING ADVENTIST EDUCATION IN KENYA

Since 2018, 851 Maranatha volunteers have served at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in southern Kenya, an institution that serves Maasai girls who have escaped child marriage. This includes the latest group of 38 volunteers, with the Modern Missionaries Team, who helped to construct two structures on campus: a new elementary classroom building and a building that will house vocational training like cooking, sewing, and tailoring. Beyond construction, volunteers put on a health clinic in the area, providing medical services and education to around 400 patients, including Kajiado students themselves.

Volunteer Brenda Weiss held a training session for the science

teachers at Kajiado and the Kiutine Adventist Secondary School, instructing them how to teach with new science equipment donated from PASCO Scientific, a science education company founded by a Maranatha board

Duringmember.thetrip, Maranatha leadership and volunteers also participated in the dedication of the Kiutine Adventist School in central Kenya. The campus has undergone several years of construction work by Maranatha, transforming the old ragged infrastructure into a serene haven, filled with new dormitories, classrooms, staff housing, a church, a water well, and extensive landscaping.

The ceremony was attended by leadership of the Seventh-day

Adventist Church in East Central Africa and East Kenya. “God told Abram that He would bless him,” said Samuel Makori, president of the Adventist Church in East Kenya. “Then Abram went and blessed others. I have seen Abram’s blessing come out of the Bible and bless Maranatha. In turn, Maranatha has blessed us too.”

Adventist Review news correspondent Marcos Paseggi volunteered on the project and wrote a seven-part series on his experience that was published on both the Adventist Review and Adventist World websites. You can read each article here: maranatha.org/arkenya

Peter Thomas, Maranatha board member (left), and Blasious Ruguri, president of the Adventist Church in East-Central Africa (right), participate in the dedication ceremony of new buildings at the Kiutine Adventist Secondary School in Kenya.

In the mission to provide places of worship in the furthest corners of the world, Maranatha’s One-Day Church found its way to one of its most unlikely locations: a prison.

Years ago, a group of Seventh-day Adventist prisoners, at the Ruiru Prison in central Kenya, started a Bible study to minister to their peers. When two of the inmates were released a couple years ago, they asked an Adventist pastor to visit the prison and continue the ministry. The pastor agreed to go, and slowly the weekly Bible study group grew in size. Soon they outgrew the small shed they had been

A ONE-DAY CHURCH IN ULTIMATEPRISONWORKOUT

Maranatha’s annual mission trip for high school teenagers, Ultimate Workout, recently made its international return after a threeyear hiatus from the overseas mission field. One-hundred and forty-eight volunteers, from six countries, landed in Tacna, Peru, where teams of youth served in various communities to construct churches and complete otherThoughoutreach.thegroup accomplished a substantial amount of work, the project wasn’t without significant challenges. Key volunteer leadership positions had to be filled at the last minute, and COVID cases prompted adjustments in housing and other logistics. But for Maranatha’s International Volunteer Manager Rebekah Widmer, dealing with unexpected roadblocks on these projects is par for the course.

“Ultimate Workout is always one of our most challenging projects with lots of moving pieces, but it’s also one of our most rewarding,” said Widmer. “This year was no different. We were

meeting in and began studying Unfortunately,outside.it was difficult for everyone to focus without any shade to protect them from the scorching sun.

In July of this year, Maranatha headed to Ruiru to build a One-Day Church for this budding congregation. After receiving special permission to enter the property, the crew started with prayer and worship, then began construction. A few prisoners even joined in to help. Today,

there is a comfortable space for the prisoners at Ruiru to learn about God and plenty of space for the outreach to grow.

forced to shift and adapt multiple times. But through it all I saw God working to provide the right person at the right moment for aonlymovingallowopportunitiesgrowthandtoustocontinueforward.”Thechallengespromptedgreaterdependence

on God, strengthening the volunteers’ faith. The trip ended with 12 baptisms. “We believe strongly that God has this project in His hands, and at the end of the day God’s will was accomplished. Teens found a connection to Christ, each other, and adults who care about them,” said Widmer.

For more than three decades, the Ultimate Workout has provided high school-aged teenagers the opportunity to flex their physical and spiritual muscles. Stripped of electronics, parents, and other familiar comforts,

volunteers step into the mission field in search of a fresh perspective on the world, relationships, and God. During the project, volunteers live in spartan conditions while building a church or school, coordinating outreach for the local community, and strengthening their personal connection to Jesus Christ.

Look for a full report on Ultimate Workout in the next issue of The Volunteer.

TORETURNINGROOTSOF Service

In 1997, Daphne Meza went on her first Maranatha mission trip to Mexico. The group, led by long-time Maranatha project leader, Steve Case, constructed a church in the state of Chiapas. As a teenager, seeing the walls of the church rise and experiencing the influence of a mentor like Case, had a profound impact on Meza. It cemented a desire to serve throughout her adult life. She even had dreams of becoming a full-time missionary.

Fast forward to 2022. After a tumultuous last few years personally, Daphne, now a mother of two living in Chico, California, felt distant from the aspirations of her youth. Life’s ups and downs had taken their toll—she believed she wasn’t worthy to be used by God like she was as a young“Circumstancesperson. that have happened, choices that I’ve made, made me feel unworthy of God’s love in a lot of ways,” says Meza. “We always say, ‘We’re all sinners.’ I feel like we all kind of hold different sins to different levels, and we can be really hard on ourselves, even more so than other people are. So I’ve felt unable, in a way, to be able to continue serving in the capacities that I used to serve in.”

Nearly 4,000 miles away, on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten, Efrich Rombley had also been evaluating his own past. Managing a professional career and the pace it demanded had shifted his priorities in recent years. He kept the Sabbath, but the rest of the week, he did what he pleased. He lived for vacations and parties, and Scripture

reading was rare. He realized his focus had become more and more about himself.

In time, he heard an announcement on Maranatha’s television program “Maranatha Mission Stories” about a family mission trip to Peru. “[Volunteers] gave testimonies of how these trips have influenced their life and changed them, and brought them spiritually closer to God,” says Rombley. “That’s the experience I was looking to have for myself.”

Meza shared a similar hope. In addition, she also had a teeanger of

“I’ve felt unable, in a way, to be able to capacitiesservingcontinueinthethatIusedtoservein.”

A Family Project in Peru sparks renewals of faith and service.

Story and photos by Dustin Comm

her own now and wanted to instill a love for missions in her daughter at a similar age as when she served in Mexico. Plus, her old mission trip leader, Case, would again be leading on this project. Rombley had a reassuring sign himself: he won a significant cash prize from a work contest. In the past, he would have used it on a vacation for himself. This time, he took it as a gift from God, prompting him to move forward on this mission trip.

Meza and Rombley both registered for the project, and in June 2022 they journeyed to the city of Arequipa, Peru. Here, 63 volunteers of all ages assembled to serve the Los Portales Seventh-day Adventist Church and community

at an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet. The primary objective was to raise the walls of a new church for the congregation. For years, the members met in the open air, sitting on mats each Sabbath. Eventually, they raised enough money to build a small structure 11 years ago. Children’s Sabbath School classes met in an even smaller, dark shed next to it. Although these buildings were better than nothing, they weren’t ideal for worship or large enough to allow the church to grow. Then they received the news that Maranatha wasHeadcoming.elder

Mauricio Flores was excited at the prospects of receiving a new church, but uneasy about how Maranatha would accomplish this big

TOGETHER:SERVING

Families of all kinds joined together to serve the community of Los Portales, Peru, AdventistSeventh-daywallsconstructingincludingtheofthelocalChurch.

task and who would be doing the work. “When the news came, I was [reserved] because we had many questions about how it was going to be,” says Flores. “But Steve [Case] said a very nice prayer that touched me on that first visit. He said, ‘Lord, let those who have to come, come. And those who don’t, let them stay.’

It touched me very much to say that those who were here, it is because God brought them. There was no chance, there was no good luck. They all came because God was here.”

Rombley and Meza, pulled by this same divine impulse, later arrived to the Los Portales church with the rest of the volunteers and started to bring this dream to reality. Though many of the volunteers had little construction experience, Maranatha’s in-country crew patiently guided them in the art of block-laying. Even the youngest volunteers could participate in the work. “One of my favorite moments at the construction site was when this church member named Luciana came over to me, grabbed my hands, and told me how thankful she was that we had come,” says eleven-year old Austin Comm. “She said she’d been praying for a long time, so that made me really happy.”

Children as young as two years old worked at the church site for several days, until the walls rose above their reach. Once scaffolding was needed, children ages 12 and under served in other ways as a part of the project’s Day Camp for kids. Children helped a team of volunteers to paint a local police station, supported the children’s ministry outreach team who put on programs in the Los Portales neighborhood, and even contributed in the kitchen for meal prep.

Day Camp also provided cultural experiences such as shopping at a local fruit and vegetable market, where kids picked out their own produce to try later. “In the U.S., you usually go to a grocery store and buy your groceries there, but it was really nice to see all those different kinds of fruits [in the market],” says 11-year old Miriam Urrutia. “Some I hadn’t even tasted [before], like the dragonfruit and the star fruit. I’d always wanted to taste those, and I finally got to.”

“Those who were here, it is because God brought them. There was no chance, there was no good luck. They all came because God was here.”

4 65

In addition, campers experienced part of a typical school day at the local Adventist elementary school. Interacting with Spanishspeaking students their own age was a favorite for many of the kids. “I’ve never been to a country that speaks a different language so this was a very new experience for me,” says eight-year old Katherine Elliott. “It turns out you don’t always need words to communicate.”

One day, Meza accompanied her 10-year old son, David, on a Day Camp field trip to a local instrument shop, where an artisan presented the process he’s been using for 40 years to create handmade mandolins and guitars. A guitar player herself, the process intrigued Meza technically. But as she listened to the mandolinmaker explain how he colors leftover sawdust for designs on the instruments, she was also captured by it

“Thingsspiritually.that we normally would just throw away, sweep into a corner, toss in the garbage can–he actually used to make something beautiful on these instruments,” says Meza. “And it’s just a reminder that God does the same thing with us. We might feel like we’re garbage or our lives aren’t what he wants, but He can take that and He can turn it into something beautiful if we let Him.”

On Sabbath, volunteers came to the unfinished Los Portales sanctuary for a joint church service with the local members. Though many were separated by a language barrier, all participated in worshiping a shared Savior. “They welcome us as if we are them,” says Rombley. “And that’s amazing. You can see that the Seventh-day Adventist family, no matter which part of the world you go, you feel welcome as a family.”

Rombley came to the Family Project alone but quickly connected with his fellow volunteers, creating new friendships that felt deeper than merely a few days old. “Although I’m by myself, I feel that the other families include me as their family,” says Rombley. “We are just one big happy family here together.”

Larry Fox also came alone. The Battle Creek, Michigan, resident has been attending Maranatha Family Projects by himself for years. After his wife passed away in 2007, Fox spent two Christmases without her before making the decision to go on a Maranatha Family project over the holidays in 2010. He’s been on nearly every one since, as well as some summer projects. “It was helpful because when you’re alone, what do you think of?” says Fox. “But if you have other concerns and interests, that [thought] doesn’t come back to you. People grieve in

CHANGED BY SERVICE:

1 Efrich Rombley arrived in Peru seeking a spiritualmuch-neededboost.

2 Daphne Meza returned to a Maranatha mission trip for the first time since serving as a teenager in 1997.

3 Project leader Steve Case leads the group in prayer during Sabbath worship.

4 Day Campers helped with construction, but also experienced cultural activities.

5 After his wife’s passing, Larry Fox spent two Christmases at home before joining Maranatha’s Family Project in 2010. He’s been nearly every year since.

6 11-year old Austin Comm scrapes mortar from freshly laid blocks on the Los Portales Church.

various methods, in different ways, so [going on mission trips] was just a way of getting past that and going on with life.”

Fox has been on more than 25 Maranatha mission trips around the world and develops new relationships each time. Sometimes he sees an old friend from a past project and re-connects. He likens it to going to a family reunion; you never know who is going to show up.

These deep connections with fellow volunteers permeated the project. From the younger children, to the teens and young adults, to the most experienced volunteers, people quickly bonded over service, coaxed forward by the leadership of Case in the morning and evening worship programs.

In a week’s time, the walls of the Los Portales Church were complete. Yet the group also made a big difference beyond just the church compound. The local police station received a facelift thanks to new paint. The walls had been peeling so badly that it took almost as much time to remove the previous layers than it did to apply new paint. This goodwill gesture raised the stature of the Adventist church in the eyes of local law enforcement and showed the neighborhood that Adventists care about the community.

Dozens of local kids spent fun-filled hours each day at children’s programs facilitated by volunteers. Each afternoon they were greeted by joyful worship songs, energetic leaders, Bible stories, and fun crafts. Another dedicated team of volunteers put on free community vision clinics at various sites throughout the area. Around 600 people were seen and 500 pairs of glasses were distributed.

At the culmination of such an impactful week, local church members invited the volunteers to a dedication ceremony in the new space and a home cooked meal afterward. It was at this service that 17-year old Juliana Girotto wished to be baptized. The teen from Ferndale, Washington, had served on a prior Family Project in 2019 in Zambia, also led by Case. She wanted her return to the mission field to be the backdrop for this public display of commitment to God. On that

“You can see that the AdventistSeventh-dayfamily,nomatterwhichpartoftheworldyougo,youfeelwelcomeasafamily.”

chilly (southern hemisphere) winter night, “Juju” was baptized by Case, proud and honored to be the inaugural baptism in the new sanctuary.

The trip concluded with excursions to the world-famous destinations of Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu, each impacting volunteers in their own way. But on this Family project, it was the work in Los Portales that struck the deepest chord. For many volunteers, it was a return to their roots of service. It brought Rombley the prioritization he hoped for. “You’re helping other people,” says Rombley. “You’re getting to see people who have way less than you have and are even happier than you are, and that’s just an amazing feeling. And then you can get back down to earth and can appreciate the smaller things of life even more than just chasing after the riches and glory of this world. Because eventually, that will bring us nothing.”

Meza was thankful for the opportunity to serve with her kids—for them to live out their faith in service to others, just as she had as a teen. Her hope is that this family missions experience will accompany them home and flourish there too. The project also helped her to appreciate her own value. “I’ve grown to realize that despite this vessel and the paths that I’ve gone down previously in my life, God can still use me,

and that’s helped to build me up a little bit,” saysOnMeza.this

Family Project, volunteers looked outside of themselves as they served Los Portales and connected with brothers and sisters they’d never met before. Their prayer: for God to fill each one with the energy and passion to be His hands and feet however they could be used. “Sometimes we feel like we have things to offer God,” says Meza. “But maybe it’s when we’re completely emptied of ourselves and realize that we truly don’t have anything to offer Him, that gives Him the opportunity to do what He really wants to do in us.”

MAKING DIFFERENCE:A

1 Kathy Brannan paints the exterior of the local police station.

2 A team volunteersofput on free vision 500peopleseeingthroughoutclinicsthearea,around600andgivingoutpairsofglasses.

3 Gina Thompson paints the interior of the local police station.

4 Cousins Sienna Escobar and Katherine Price work on the construction site.

5 After serving in Zambia in 2019, Juliana Girotto wanted a mission field baptism and got her chance at this project.

6 Volunteers celebrate their work on the Los Portales Church with a dedication service. 65

A INCOMEDREAMTRUEPERU

By Julie Z. Lee

At first impression, the city of Tacna doesn’t seem too different from any other medium-size city in Peru. There is the requisite grid of streets, concrete block-style buildings, and glorious cathedrals in the town square–the remnants of its colonial past.

But push through the city center and up into the elevated perimeters and you’ll see that Tacna is wedged in a long desert valley between two hills, into which buildings, streets, and cars have been poured. On one end, the city butts against layers of sandy hills. On the other, toward the southwestern side, there is the space where the sun sets, and the Chilean border.

Maranatha first visited Tacna during the 2005-2006 effort that saw a school and 100 Seventh-day Adventist churches constructed, including three in Tacna. The results of those projects were so successful that the Adventist leadership in Peru asked for Maranatha to return for a second campaign, and in December 2019, Maranatha kicked off a new commitment to build another school, water wells, and churches for congregations without a proper place of worship. While the majority of the projects are on the outskirts of Lima, Peru’s capital city, there was one congregation in Tacna that made it on Maranatha’s list to receive a new church.

The Alto Tacna Seventh-day Adventist Church is composed of 45 members who live on one of the plateaus rising above the main city of Tacna. It was started eight years ago by members who had once belonged to El Faro Seventh-day Adventist Church, located in the lower valley. Francisco Nina was a member, but given his residence in Alto Tacna, he remembers walking down and up the mountain from his home to church, several times a week.

“We walked down, and it took us almost 40 minutes, sometimes 50 minutes,” remembers Nina. “And at night we would also have to walk up, which was very hard for us, and I prayed a lot about it.”

Finally, Nina and some others decided to start a group in Alto Tacna. Twelve people began meeting in Nina’s small home, having Bible studies and worship together each week.

A mountaintop congregation finally receives an answer to prayer in the form of a church.

“I think

In the meantime, they saved money to go towards a plot of land.

In 2013, they succeeded in purchasing a site. They erected a temporary structure, using plastic, scraps of wood, tin, and rubber.

“The Alto Tacna church is made with materials–I can’t say they’re recycled, but they’re quite brittle,” says Maribel Coarita, one of the elders. “The floor is still made of sand. We have no floor. We covered it with some sacks to keep the place from getting dusty.”

The structure keeps them somewhat sheltered from the sun and rain, but it is in no way representative of a proper church. Coarita says it gets unbearably hot sometimes, despite the addition of fans. Also, it isn’t safe. “Sometimes, people want to help us and donate equipment or something, but we can’t take anything because it’s not safe. We’re afraid that someone might come and steal something,” says Coarita. Anything valuable they have has to be locked into a wood and glass china cabinet.

Sabbath School classrooms take place in the outdoor corridor next to the church, where people sit under tarps and on rickety benches. The children’s room, made of more scrap materials, is tucked in the back corner of the property, crammed with a small table and plastic chairs.

Coarita says they’ve done their best to organize outreach activities to motivate the local community to visit. The social activities go well,

but once they come to the church itself, the conditions of the structure drive people away. “The problem was that many of them come and see that it’s a simple church, and they don’t feel comfortable. They don’t feel like sitting here and relaxing,” says Coarita. “I think that building a church here will be very important because the neighbors will see a church where they can worship God, a place they can go to and learn.”

After years of prayer, the Alto Tacna congregation finally received a new place of worship–an actual building of block walls, a steel roof, and concrete floor. In July 2022, 150 volunteers with the Ultimate Workout, Maranatha’s teens-only project, arrived in Peru to build a new sanctuary for the congregation. They worked together to build the walls of the church while also doing a variety of outreach in the community. This fall, Maranatha’s in-country crew will install the roof and paint the church.

“We are very grateful, first to God, for this dream that has become reality–the construction of the Alto Tacna church,” says Coarita. “A strong hug to each of you, and we will soon meet again either here on this earth or at the Second Coming of Christ. Thank you very much, Maranatha!”

BUILT SCRAPSFROM&FAITH:

1 The congregation45-membermeets in a structure made from a mix of affordable but flimsy materials, such as thin plywood, bamboo, rubber, and plastic bags.

2 Francisco Nina and his wife demonstrate how they used to hold church services in their home. 3 Maribel Coarita, one of the church leaders, hopes a nice building will attract young people in the area.

4 Following the worship traditionmembersservice,haveaoflining up, singing, and shaking each others hands.

PHOTOS BY JULIE LEE

THE REMARKABLE LIFE, SO FAR, OF REBEKAH DELANEY

By Julie Z. Lee

Rebekah shook her head. She refused to tell her life story to a group of people she had just met–most of whom were retirees and three or four times her age. But Betty Beattie, the project coordinator on the Jamestown, Tennessee, project, where nearly 50 people had gathered to build a new church, kept nudging Rebekah to share her testimony during one of the worship sessions.

“I fought with this. I thought, no, I’m not doing worship. I get kind of nervous. I fought with this for several days. She asked me every morning and every evening,” remembers Rebekah.Then,almost a week in, Rebekah opened up to one of the volunteers. She told him about what had led her to this mission trip, what had preceded it, and why she was there. When she finished, he promptly got up, grabbed the worship sign-up sheet, and crossed his name off.

“He took a Sharpie and wrote my name in,” saysThatRebekah.night, 15-year-old Rebekah gave her testimony. And what a testimony it was.

support, but my mom would sell the money off the food stamps for cash, so that she could get more drugs” remembers Rebekah. “We would always get our clothes out of the garbage… I only remember like two times ever taking a bath.”

As the oldest, Rebekah felt a sense of responsibility for her siblings. She did her best to protect and care for them, even stealing food from time to time. But the courage could only hold up for so long, especially as she had to go to school—another minefield of cruelty where other children teased her for her clothes, her smell, and her lack of academic ability. She remembers crying, often, wishing for something more.

“I always dreamed about a home where we could run and play outside. It’s funny because I’d always dream of having a lot of siblings because I loved kids, and I was like, I want to have a lot of siblings, and a family that would just love me,” sheThen,says.

when Rebekah was nine years old, the family took a trip to Walmart. By then, she, her siblings, and mother had been living in a domestic violence shelter for a couple of months. In the store, her little brother requested plums, sparking an outburst from her mother. “She got so mad at us… and she picked him up–I believe he was only 6 or 7–and she slammed him in the cart, and then she punched him in the stomach.”

For as long as Rebekah can remember, her biological mom and dad were addicted to drugs, an affliction that resulted in much physical and emotional abuse towards the family. They were violent. They were neglectful. They were unfit to be parents, yet they had six children crammed into a filthy, one-bedroom apartment.

“We never had food, or clothes very often. They had food stamps and WIC and government

For Rebekah, the abuse was par for the course. She barely noticed anything out of the ordinary. But the other customers certainly did, and they notified the authorities, who hauled the entire family to the police station.

As she rode in the car, Rebekah laid her head against the window. A memory came to her of a neighbor who had once taken her to a Vacation Bible School program. The only reason she had gone was to eat the snacks; she didn’t believe in

“Okay God, if you’re there, why are you doing this to me? Why would you be letting this happen to me?”

God. But in that moment, as she peered out and watched the street flicker by, she had a thought.

“I was like, ‘Okay God, if you’re there, why are you doing this to me? … If there was a God, then you would not be like this and let this happen to me.”

Shortly after, Rebekah and her five siblings were placed in foster care.

The experience was a catalyst to take action on an idea that Catherine and Dale had discussed before: adoption.

“We just had a burning desire in our hearts to really do more for the Lord and that was part of it,” says Catherine. “Our kids, both Dale’s grown children and my grown children, were out of the house. So we came home to an empty house all the time, and we just felt like we had a lot to offer, and we discussed adopting.”

The year was 2010, and Catherine and Dale Delaney had recently married. It was a second marriage for both, and they were ready to start a new life in a new place. So they moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to a sprawling, 25-acre property in rural Kentucky, where the newlyweds began to imagine what the future could hold. One thing they both agreed on was the decision to go on a Maranatha project, and that next year they joined a North America project at the Eden Valley Lifestyle Institute in Colorado, where they helped with campus renovations. The experience was spiritually rewarding, and they returned home invigorated.

“It changed our lives. It just made us want to do more. I can’t think of one opportunity that we have ever had in life that has been so blessed as working with Maranatha. I mean, to us, it changed our lives forever. It made us feel like we were part of God’s team. So it was quite a blessing,” remembers Catherine.

“These children need a home. They need a place to call home, they need guidance, they need someone to help try to teach them in the right direction, show them Jesus is the most important thing,” says Dale. “If you can make a difference in a child’s life or in a young adult, to help them in that direction, that’s what we’re striving for.”

In 2012, Catherine and Dale started the process of becoming licensed foster parents. “We started out with a couple of placements and then those placements turned into those children needing permanent homes,” says Catherine.

This was when Catherine, Dale, and Rebekah’s lives began the crawl toward each other, aiming to Afterintersect.the

encounter at Walmart, Rebekah and her siblings bounced through a couple of foster homes and were split, with two brothers going to separate homes and the rest ending up in another.

FINALLY HOME: The Delaney family, coming from the United States, China, and Bulgaria, pose for a picture at their property in Kentucky.PHOTO:JULIE LEE

While Rebekah’s foster parents provided a home and food on the table, the situation was not ideal. But the security that came from a more stable situation reaped benefits for Rebekah. She was able to focus and her grades steadily improved.

Then, one day in April, Rebekah came home from school to find that her younger sister was gone. Her foster parent refused to tell her what had happened except that she had been“Sherelocated.said,‘She’s gone, and she’s never coming back, just stop asking me.’ And I remember just crying myself to sleep,” says Rebekah. But the pain didn’t stop there. Two weeks later, she returned from school to find another sister gone. There were only two left now, just Rebekah and her youngest sibling–a little brother.Amonth later, Rebekah came home to find her social worker waiting for her with news. Rebekah and her brother were going to be relocated to a new foster home in a matter of weeks. Rebekah was apprehensive, but she had no choice in theOnmatter.thelast day of fourth grade, Rebekah’s

social worker showed up in the gymnasium, where Rebekah was competing in a spelling bee. But she had a guest in tow–a woman with a sweet smile. As she peered across the room, checking out her new foster mom, she thought to herself, Maybe this won’t be so bad?

At the spelling bee, Catherine remembers making eye contact with nine-year-old Rebekah and trying to assess her newest foster child. Catherine was nervous. She had fostered plenty of kids, but it was always tough when a child was older. They were more set in their ways, leaving more room for emotional collision.

“I was kind of worried how she was going to perceive us, and you know, how everybody would get along,” says Catherine.

After the spelling bee, Catherine and Rebekah formally met. They picked up Rebekah’s little brother, then stopped for lunch. Then, they went shopping to pick up a few items, before continuing on their way home. During the hour drive, Catherine talked about the property–about the chickens, dogs, and cats. The forest with endless trails. The pond on the property. She told Rebekah about the other children at home, some who were her age.

When they got closer to the house, rolling down the dirt road and up a long driveway, Catherine could sense Rebekah getting excited, 1

“I can’t think of one opportunity that we have ever had in life that has been so blessed as working with Maranatha. I mean, to us, it changed our lives forever.”

incredulous that the big green lawn, miles of trees, and two-story farmhouse was going to be her new home. It was like a dream–it was like her dream, the one Rebekah had imagined in her mind as her forever home. The one she had prayed about to a God that she wasn’t sure existed at all, at least not for her. But here it all was, her dream coming true.

Then, Catherine said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you

Ifsomething.”beforeRebekah

had thought she was in a dream, now she thought she was in heaven.

“We pull up, and then we park, and she goes, ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you something,’” says Rebekah. “Literally right when she says that, my two younger sisters that I had been separated from for two months come running out of the house.”Rebekah tore out of the car and embraced her sisters, weeping and shouting for joy. They told her they were so glad she was finally there. They told her they had been waiting for her.

Two months ago, Catherine and Dale had been asked to foster one of Rebekah’s sisters. Two weeks later, they were asked to take on the other. One month later, the agency asked the Delaneys if they had room for Rebekah and her little

“Webrother.didn’t tell her just simply because we

wanted her to be surprised, and initially going into it, we weren’t even sure how long the girls were going to be with us, and there was so much uncertainty,” says Catherine, about the decision to keep the details under wraps. “The agency told us the siblings were going to be up for adoption. There’s a lot of legalities to that and termination of parental rights, and there was a lot of road ahead of us. So you know, telling her too much, too soon, could have been harmful because she may get her heart broken.”

But it ended well with hearts restored. Within weeks, Rebekah was calling Catherine and Dale “mom” and “dad.” A couple months later, the titles became official. In time, the Delaney’s located Rebekah’s two other brothers and ended up adopting one and keeping in regular contact with the other.

They were the Delaneys. They were a family.

FOREVER:FAMILY

1 Dale reads a Bible story for worship, a nightly family ritual. 2 projects.onkitchensiblingsRebekahHomeschooled,andhergatheratthetabletoworkassignmentsand

3 God led Rebekah and her four siblings to Catherine and Dale; a fifth sibling was adopted by another family but the children keep in touch.PHOTOS: JULIE LEE

By the time Rebekah was 15 years old, she had been a Delaney for six years. She had gained a couple more adopted siblings, bringing the total number of children in the household to ten. Catherine and Dale had also introduced the kids to God, and Rebekah loved worshiping with her family each night and going to church on Sabbath. She also enjoyed watching “Maranatha Mission Stories” with her family.

“Maranatha has done a lot for me, spiritually…

I told Rebekah that she might think about that, because she had a big interest in some of the same thoughts that we had,” says Dale. “So I had her look at the project and then I showed her some of the DVD missionary trips for Maranatha, and that seemed to really inspire her.”

Says Catherine, “It was just something that every time we watched, we just felt we needed to tell our kids, ‘This is what you need to be doing,’” says Catherine of the program. “And Rebekah’s the one who really just had such a desire to work in the mission field.”

So when a church family offered to take Rebekah on a Maranatha mission trip to Tennessee in July 2021, she jumped at the chance. It was there that Rebekah reluctantly shared her testimony and opened her life to more family, more love than she could have ever imagined.

“Rebekah was really on fire after she came back from the Jamestown project. She was super excited and wanted to do more. She just had such a wonderful experience,” says Catherine. “The people there, they just embraced her. She was able to share her life with them and them [with her], and they all became very close.”

The volunteers were so touched by Rebekah’s story that when they heard about her hope to one day serve in Kenya, they secretly organized an opportunity for her to join an upcoming Maranatha trip to the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya.

“Unbeknownst to all of us, they all gathered up funding to help support her trip. And by the end of the [Jamestown] project, they presented her with this wonderful gift of this trip to Kenya,” saysThatCatherine.September, Rebekah headed to Kenya, where she met an entire campus of young girls who had also escaped a life of fear, abuse, and denigration. Young women, like her, who were aching for family and finding hope in the compassion of strangers and a mighty God. Each day, between hauling blocks and mixing mud, Rebekah found a way to connect with the girls through play and conversation. She wanted them to know that “God can definitely change our situations and turn them into good,” as He had certainly done for her.

Since Kenya, Rebekah has been on two more mission trips with Maranatha. After Kajiado, she joined a team to Peru in February 2022. That July, she returned to Peru for her first Ultimate

Workout, Maranatha’s mission trip for teens where her mother reports she had “the time of her“Ilife.”think ever since she started the project in Jamestown, it has spiritually just grown her in so many ways,” says Catherine. “She has more of a desire to serve the Lord. She’s trying to gear her life to be in missions… it has changed her tremendously. I think being able to be around so many like-minded people and spending time helping others has been a real blessing in herThelife.”experiences have shaped the trajectory of Rebekah’s life. “I really still want to keep traveling the world. I have a passion for going to foreign countries and sharing the love of Christ,” she says. She’s considering becoming a nurse or maybe a midwife so that she can travel and serveWithoverseas.herstellar grades and drive, there’s no doubt Rebekah will achieve her goals.

It’s hard to believe that not too long ago, sitting in the back of a state trooper’s patrol car, Rebekah had asked where God had gone. Had He been there in the first place?

“I can only picture God sitting in Heaven, kind of laughing. And he’s like, ‘My precious child, just give me a little bit. I’ve got your back. I’m there with you,” she says, with a smile. “He always brings back into my mind when I first questioned Him. He’s like, just give me some patience. Remember what I did with you before. I was there with you, and you thought I was leaving you. But look at what I’ve done for you and what I am doing for you now.”

MISSION TO PERU:

Rebekah takes a photo with two kids from the Vacation Bible programSchoolthat her volunteer group put together. Rebekah and the toweptbond,developedchildrenagreatandthekidswhenshehadsaygoodbye.PHOTO:JULIELEE

Check out our upcoming opportunities here or go to maranatha.org for the most updated list. Please note, projects are subject to adjustments due to restrictions or complications that may arise from COVID.

DATE PROJECT NAME PLACE LEADERS SCOPE

Oct. 20 - 30, 2022

Nov. 2 - 15, 2022

Dec. 22, 2022 - Jan. 1, 2023

Jan. 4 - 12, 2023

Feb. 9 - 19, 2023

Mar. 9 - 19, 2023

Jun. 15 - 25, 2023

India Project POLA, INDIA

Zambia Project KASAMA, ZAMBIA

Family Project SANTO DOMINICANDOMINGO,REPUBLIC

Camp Kulaqua Project FLORIDA, USA

George Carpenter, Jon Harvey Construction, outreach

Jason Blanchard, David Woods Sabbath ClassroomSchoolConstruction

Stacy and Laura Peterson, Danny Poljak Church OutreachConstruction,

Betty Beattie-Chrispell Renovations

Dominican Republic Project SANTO DOMINICANDOMINGO,REPUBLIC Karen Godfrey Church OutreachConstruction,

India Project POLA, INDIA Loretta Spivey School OutreachConstruction,

Kenya Project KENYA Loretta Spivey TBD

Jun. 22 - Jul. 2, 2023 Family Project TBD Steve Case, Danny Poljak TBD

Jul. 13 - 23, 2023

Ultimate Workout 33 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TBD TBD

HOW YOU’VE Helped

A look at how your support is making a real difference for communities around the world.

PAU FERRO , BRAZIL

LEAVING YOUR Legacy

The first time Gerald (not his real name) saw the great need for water wells on our television program, “Maranatha Mission Stories,” he wanted to do something. But drilling wells is expensive, and Gerald had never been a wealthy person. He prayed for God to somehow open a way for him to fund a water well. Soon enough, he was approached by a friend who had recently moved away in retirement. The man was liquidating undeveloped real estate in Gerald’s area, and needed his help selling it. In return, he would split the profits with Gerald. “I immediately saw God’s hand working to sponsor not just one, but many water wells!” says Gerald.

After the properties were listed, buyers made offers on two of the properties within the first couple of weeks. Yet, property markers had to be reestablished on the land and surveyors were booked out for quite some time. Gerald wondered whether both deals might fall through without a survey.

Then, he received a call from justwereline.thepropertiesmovingandwassurveyor—theretheacancellation,theywereGerald’stofrontoftheThesurveyscompletedafewdaysbefore closing.

“These things were surely the work of God throughout the process, and I’m happy to send the results,” says Gerald. With the proceeds of these sales, Gerald was able to fund several water wells around the world through Maranatha.

BEFORE The Pau Ferro Seventh-day Adventist congregation in Brazil used to meet in a church member’s converted garage.

AFTER Maranatha constructed a One-Day Church that provides a more spacious structure under which the members can build up walls with local materials.

YOURTHATPROJECTSNEEDHELP

INDIA CHURCHES

Our team in India has been busy building churches in the states of Manipur, located in the northeastern part of the country, and Kerala, located in southern India. At the beginning of August of this year, crews had already completed 22 out of the 30 churches planned for this year. Churches in India are completed in full by Maranatha; they include the roof, frame, walls, floor, window, stucco, and paint. You can help by making a general donation toward this effort or even sponsor an entire church. Churches in India start at $30,000.

BRAZIL ONE-DAY CHURCHES

For years, Maranatha’s efforts in Brazil have been concentrated on providing water wells. But this year, the Seventh-day Adventist Church leadership asked Maranatha to restart its church building program in the country. One-Day Churches come with a steel roof and frame, and the rest of the structure is completed by the congregation, in the local style. You can sponsor a full One-Day Church in Brazil for $7,500, give a share for $1,500, or donate any amount for churches in Brazil.

THE $10 CHURCH

For more than three decades, The $10 Church has sponsored more than 400 churches around the world. This program asks you to give just $10 a month toward church construction. It is Maranatha’s smallest giving program but it makes a huge impact. The collective donations of thousands of people adds up to a lot of change in hundreds of communities. But support for this program needs to grow if we can keep up with the requests. So if you haven’t already joined, please give today.

This year, Maranatha is working in 8 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. where Maranatha is working this year.

Rancho

990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678

Travel into the mission field and see how God is leading ordinary people to make an extraordinary difference in communities around the world with our television program, Maranatha Mission Stories.

HOW TO WATCH

BROADCAST CHANNELS (all times PT)

3ABN

Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:00 p.m.

Hope Channel

Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m.

ON DEMAND

The Maranatha Channel App

Download our app at the App Store and Google Play.

watch.maranatha.org

View all episodes online at Maranatha’s video website. Find segments by using our “Search” function.

Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV

Download The Maranatha Channel to watch all current and archived episodes and other videos on demand.

YouTube

Go to www.youtube.com/missionstories to watch. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and automatically receive updates.