How kids are being raised in a family tradition of service
Julie Z. Lee Editor
Heather Bergren Managing Editor/Designer
Dustin
Sidney
Comm Writer
Needles 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.
NGUUNI, KENYA
A man fills his multiple barrels at a water point, a well where you can purchase water. He makes this journey on a regular basis, accompanying his cow-pulled wagon to the station to pay about 1.5 cents per jerry can. In the United States, this amount is negligible, but it is a sacrifice for many families in Kenya. Yet the consequences of not paying are dangerous.
The nearest source of free water in Nguuni is the Galana River, also called the Athi; it the second longest river in Kenya. For people who cannot afford to buy water, they gather at the banks to fill their jugs. But this water is not safe in a number of ways. First, the water is not clean. The river
is shared with animals, resulting in much contamination. Second, the river is home to crocodiles and hippos; the trail to the river hides many snakes. The mere act of collecting water could result in severe injuries or even death. The locals have plenty of stories about hippo attacks and snake bites.
In 2024, with the help of generous donors, Maranatha is making water safe to drink and to collect in Kenya, one of five countries where we are drilling new wells and repairing existing ones. Each one brings not only clean water to thousands of people, but also more time, health, and safety for the community that surrounds it.
Maranatha spreads the gospel throughout the world as it builds people through the construction of urgently needed buildings.
About the Cover:
Clockwise from top left: Adam ReimcheVu, Leif Torgerson, Joey Yai, Catherine Adap, and Reimche-Vu take a break from laying block at the La Selva Seventh-day Adventist Church to pose for a photo. This crew of young people, along with their parents and siblings, were part of this summer's Family Project, in Pucallpa, Peru.
Photo by Julie Z. Lee
Photo by Christina Lloyd
CHANGE FOR A BETTER FUTURE
By Kyle Fiess
On April 18, 2018, when Maranatha visited the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya for the first time, I had no idea that this would not be an ordinary site visit.
We see lots of school facilities that have urgent, even desperate needs. And this school fit right in with that. We toured classrooms with shaky roof structures and crumbling concrete floors. We held our breath as we walked through the smoke-filled kitchen. The dorms were makeshift, with up to four girls sleeping on one twin mattress. The staff lived in a shed.
But what happened next touched my heart deeply. Four girls got up and recited a poem titled, “Agony, Agony, Agony.”
I agonize about my future, For I know that I am a potential mother, Merely at the age of nine.
And so we began to learn that this place was more than a school. It was also a refuge for young girls who had managed to escape the traditions of early marriage and female genital mutilation that are still common in some Maasai communities.
SHARING THE Mission
As I grew up, I looked at my mom, And I understood the future that awaited me, Oh, what a painful future.
The poem went on to describe the heartbreaking decision to leave their families and the hope they carried for a new start at Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center. It ended with a phrase repeated several times.
Make a change for a better future.
For these young ladies to realize their aspirations to become teachers, doctors, and lawyers, the campus needed to make some changes for a better future also. Maranatha committed to helping with dormitories and bathroom facilities. Volunteers came, and they were impacted by their interactions with these young ladies.
As additional needs were presented, Maranatha could see that God was opening the door for further involvement. Soon a major redevelopment of the school was underway, stretching over the next six years.
In July of 2024, Maranatha concluded the project at Kajiado.
Twenty four new buildings have been constructed. More than 1,600 volunteers and donors collaborated to make the school a beautiful and safe place.
When I last visited the campus, I noticed that the students behave differently than they did during my first visit in 2018. The kids are more confident. They interact easily with visitors. They act as if a better future is available to them.
When Maranatha provides a dorm, classroom or dining hall we create an environment that enhances the growth and wellbeing of students. But that impact is magnified by the involvement of volunteers. The love and attention that hundreds of volunteers brought to Kajiado made powerful impressions on the girls.
Thank you for making the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center a safe refuge for young women. With a new environment, the support from teachers and new friends who love them, and a growing relationship with Jesus, these girls have made a change for a better future.
Kyle Fiess is the vice president of projects for Maranatha
AROUND THE World
A snapshot of volunteers and projects in the mission field.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Volunteers from the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, worked hard to build the walls of the El Rosal II Adventist Church.
Members of the Mnukwa Seventh-day Adventist congregation are thrilled with their new One-Day Church.
Youth from the West Houston Seventh-day Adventist Church in Texas helped to construct a new sanctuary for the Compone congregation.
PERU
ZAMBIA
UNITED STATES
Volunteers made a difference in Oregon at Milo Adventist Academy, working to renovate and beautify this boarding high school.
BRAZIL
Members of the Umari Seventh-day Adventist congregation are excited to have a strong Maranatha church frame.
INDIA
One of Maranatha's in-country crews is nearing completion on renovations of a girls' dorm at the Binjipali Adventist School.
INDIA
The village of Naraingarh is grateful to have clean, accessible water at the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
UNITED STATES
Volunteers served in Northern California to spruce up Redwood Area Camp Meeting property ahead of summer camp meeting.
UNITED STATES
Volunteers tackled numerous projects at Union Springs Academy in New York state.
The Sachangwan congregation is overjoyed with their new One-Day Church.
KENYA
News + HIGHLIGHTS
After breaking ground on the project in 2022, Southwestern Adventist University and Maranatha dedicated the impressive new field station this past summer.
DINOSAUR FIELD STATION DEDICATED
On June 3, 2024, representatives from Maranatha, Hanson Ranch and Research Center, and Southwestern Adventist University gathered on the rolling plains of eastern Wyoming, to dedicate the newly constructed Southwestern Adventist University Dinosaur Field Station. The 8,000-square-foot structure, which includes classrooms, offices, kitchen, bathrooms, and bone storage facilities, was constructed by Maranatha volunteers
The new facility, located on the Hanson family ranch, is a place for scientists and students to study fossils unearthed at the nearby Lance Formation. This sandstone belt is one of the richest dinosaur bone fields in the world and creates a special opportunity for study from a Creationist perspective. Each summer, the program welcomes students from all over the world.
During its earliest years, Southwestern’s dinosaur research program operated out of tents and a dilapidated motorhome. In 2001, they
acquired a functional research station, complete with a kitchen, classroom, and toilets. The program operated from this structure for roughly two decades. But class size expanded from six students in 1997 to 130 in 2015, and the building was too small to accommodate the growth. After a few years with a leaky roof and rotting floor, the structure collapsed completely during a storm.
But hope was rekindled when Maranatha committed to building a larger, permanent station. During 2022 and 2023, six volunteer groups and Maranatha’s full-time staff worked tirelessly on the project. Crews had to haul all building materials and equipment for hours to the remote construction site. But the pain was worth the gain, because the beautiful new building now serves Southwestern University’s research program.
Some of the Lance Formation’s largest bone beds are located on the 8,000-acre Hanson ranch. Its late owner, Glenn Hanson, was a resolute Creationist. So it didn’t sit right with him
when paleontologists began studying the bones on his land and teaching evolutionary theories exclusively.
In 1996, the Hanson family contacted Southwestern University Research Professor Arthur Chadwick and invited him to visit the ranch to consider operating a Creationist research program there. One look at the bone bed, and Chadwick knew his answer. “I had never seen so many dinosaur bones over such a wide area in my life,” he recalled. “We decided we couldn’t pass this up.”
Today, with the new field station, Chadwick says the program will never be the same. “In this new building, we have accommodations, office space, and a research area where we can actually carry out experiments on these bones. So we expect that this will greatly enhance our ability to communicate this information, not only to our fellow believers, but also to the scientific community. And that’s been one of our goals. We want to reach the scientific community for Christ.”
VOLUNTEERS WRAP 13TH PROJECT AT YAVAPINES
In April, 65 Maranatha volunteers gathered in Camp Yavapines, in Prescott, Arizona, to help with a variety of maintenance and small building projects on the campgrounds. Volunteers built covered decks, installed rock retaining walls, replaced bathroom sinks, and helped landscape the camp grounds.
“The camp is beautiful because of Maranatha,” said Yavapines’ manager, Scott Blake. He is one of the camp’s three full-time employees, and explained that they simply can’t afford the manpower to maintain the camp grounds. “[Maranatha volunteers] do about $80,000 worth of labor in ten days,” he said. “That’s a very
conservative number we came up with.”
Since 2012, Maranatha has organized 13 mission trips to Camp
Yavapines, welcoming more than 650 volunteers to the property to help with renovation and construction projects.
ANDREWS UNIVERSITY RECEIVES DORM UPGRADES
In May, volunteers arrived at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, to help renovate 23 rooms and 12 bathrooms in Lamson Hall, the school’s undergraduate women’s dormitory. These rooms were built in 1967 and in dire need of a facelift. “The complaints have been through the roof about, you know, the things that we have to work with here,” said Trudean ScottElliott, an associate dean at Lamson. “And we are just so thrilled at this project because it's going to provide new rooms and new bathrooms.”
Volunteers stripped rooms of their old amenities before installing new carpet, tile, desks, light fixtures, toilets, and showers. They also gave each room fresh paint and electrical wiring. In total, there were 61 volunteers, ranging from repeat participants to first timers, including some who traveled from Papua
New Guinea, Peru, Brazil, and Jamaica. “When you have a calling from God to give back, it is a turn,” said volunteer Ruth James, who came all the way from Jamaica. “There's a certain type of fulfillment and a satisfaction and accomplishment that you are doing this
in honor of what God has called us to do. He asks us to serve our fellow men.” Andrews was one of 18 projects that Maranatha worked on in North America in 2024, and among seven campuses that volunteers helped to renovate this year.
GENERATIONAL WEALTH ON THE Family Project
The impact of missions on a man’s life, and how he’s passing it down to his daughters.
By Julie Z. Lee
Jonathan Visscher’s first Maranatha mission trip was in 1992. It was in Bremerton, Washington, where 46 volunteers gathered to build a Seventhday Adventist church. Jonathan was only 11 years old, and an outlier in the group when it came to age. Most folks were older and retirees, including the grandparents who brought him.
“I didn’t do very much construction at the time, but it was fun. It was good,” remembers Jonathan with a chuckle. He enjoyed working with his hands and working with a friendly group of senior citizens who were happy to teach a kid new skills.
“After pulling a first tooth, it just opened up a different world.”
The Bremerton project kicked off a succession of mission trips for Jonathan. From Washington, he headed to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize with his family. Then, in 1998, he went to Venezuela for his very first Ultimate Workout, Maranatha’s mission trip exclusively for teens.
By then, Jonathan was 17 years old. Two years prior, he had started helping on a few construction jobs, putting his previous Maranatha experience to good use. The work was interesting, and the money was good, so he dropped out of high school and jumped into
construction full-time. “I would have just stayed out and continued in construction … if there hadn't been a reason to go back to school and add another career,” says Jonathan.
In Venezuela, Jonathan found his reason. Like his previous mission trips, Jonathan spent the bulk of his time on the construction site. Then one day, a fellow volunteer waved Jonathan over where Maranatha was running a medical and dental clinic. “Hey Jonathan,” the volunteer said. “Here, come pull a tooth.”
Under the guidance of a local dentist, Jonathan wrapped his hands around an extraction tool and tugged. Out popped a tooth, and a revelation was born.
“After pulling a first tooth, it just opened up a different world, because I realized that there’s more to service–there’s more ways to serve. And if I had the opportunity to work towards something like that and help people in need or pain, that’s probably what Jesus would do,” he says.
When Jonathan returned from Venezuela, he finished high school then went on to Walla Walla University and graduated from Loma Linda University School of Dentistry. He now practices dentistry in British Columbia, Canada.
And today, on a hot day in June, Jonathan is working at a dental clinic in the rainforests of eastern Peru, as a volunteer on Maranatha’s
Family Project. This is his 18th mission trip, and his first with his wife and children. The experience is especially poignant because it not only fulfills his own dream to serve with his family but also his mother’s. Missions was a priority for his parents; Jonathan remembers his mother “saving every penny we had and working so hard” to send him and his sister on mission trips, even if she couldn’t afford to go herself. For his parents, this was a way to make Christianity real and put it into action. “Instead of just talking about something, they were doing something… They wanted us to understand that we’re part of a worldwide church family. No matter what country we go to, we find Adventists and it feels like we’re home.”
So when Jonathan became a father, his mother told him, “Make sure you bring your girls.” Ideally, this milestone would have been accomplished with Jonathan’s mother–just as his first mission trips were with his grandparents. But last year, his mother died after a short battle with cancer. The intensity of the illness and eventual loss consumed the family’s energy. But when he had a moment to breathe, Jonathan turned
to Maranatha’s website and saw an opportunity in June. Unfortunately, the project was already full. It was a longshot, but Jonathan decided to reach out to Maranatha anyway. “I emailed and got on the waiting list for this Family Project like a month or so ago,” says Jonathan. “It was 6 a.m. on a Sunday, and at 7 a.m. I got a phone call saying, ‘Yeah, you should come. We’ve got a space for you.’”
The Family Project is one of Maranatha’s most popular mission trips, even as it is one of the newest programs. The idea came about 26 years ago, when Carol Moses, a former Maranatha staff person, noticed the gap in volunteer participation between teenagers and retirees. She mentioned the situation to her brother Steve Case, who had a ministry specializing in youth. He had also led multiple Maranatha trips.
“We said, what can we do to involve the children that are younger than teenagers? And the idea that came out right away was you can't work eight days on one project if you're a kid. So we created the day camp idea where you get one
FAMILY PRACTICE:
1 Jonathan Visscher with his wife Debra, and daughters Ilia (left) and Alexis in Pucallpa, Peru on the Family Project.
2 Jonathan mentors Hannah Reimche-Vu, a student in dental school, while she tends to a patient at one of the dental clinics organized by the volunteers.
3 Mary Johnson and the Rasmussen family lead one of the two Vacation Bible School programs during the project.
or two hour blocks of work, play, some kind of cultural experience, and some kind of service activity,” says Steve, who led this summer’s Family Project in Peru. “And that has made the difference for families to be able to come. It doesn't make any sense if you're a parent and you have a 6-year-old to come to a country and then just babysit your child and not actually engage in this stuff. So this allows everybody to participate at the level they want.”
“My goal is to give these kids a love of missions.”
The first project, which took place in Mexico, welcomed about 50 people–half of whom were children. Since then, Family Projects have doubled in size and frequency; Maranatha typically offers a project for families in the summer and one over the Christmas holiday. This one, in the city of Pucallpa, welcomed 125 volunteers, including Jonathan, his wife Debra, and his daughters, 10-year-old Ilia and 8-year-old Alexis.
Unlike in his youth, when Jonathan spent long hours laying block on mission trips, this time he has been with the medical and dental team, where he and fellow volunteers treat hundreds of patients a day. This team has been moving through different neighborhoods every couple days. In total they went to four sites–from school campuses to churches–to offer medical checkups, vision care, dentistry, ultrasounds, gynecology,
pharmaceuticals, and prayer.
In addition to healthcare, the Family Project scope included the construction of a new church for the La Selva congregation, a new Sabbath school classroom for the Villa Jesus congregation, and the painting of the recently constructed Villa Jesus and Villa Azul churches–both of which were built by previous Maranatha volunteer teams. All this plus teams offered two Vacation Bible School programs at two locations. So while Jonathan has been stationed at the clinics, his family has been hopping from activity to activity as part of the Day Camp.
“Day Camp is an opportunity for kids who come to the Family Project to experience a little bit of everything that a mission project is about,” says Audra Grellman, who coordinated the Day Camp this year. “My goal is to give these kids a love of mission. I want them to have a full experience–to learn, share, and serve. I want them to just want to go on another mission trip.”
Along with getting to lay block, painting, assisting with VBS, and visiting the medical clinics, the kids have also learned about Peruvian culture by visiting the marketplace to shop for exotic fruits and vegetables. They’ve helped the kitchen staff with cooking. They also had a chance to visit Peru Projects, an Adventist mission organization in Pucallpa, to fly over the rainforest with one of their mission pilots.
Says Jonathan, “[During the day] I don’t know
where they are, what they’re doing. But every night they come back and say, ‘Dad, we learned this, we learned this, we got to go see this, and we’re helping with this. My older daughter likes laying block now, and so it’s really good for them to experience so much and to kind of go through what I did and get so much experience of life, of travel, and learning other people’s culture, but service as well.”
Already, the lessons that Jonathan hoped for his daughters to learn are already taking hold. From the moment she landed in Pucallpa, Ilia noted the warm weather, the bumpy roads, the risk of drinking tap water–all things that were different from home. But Ilia has also come to truly understand what remains constant in life, no matter where you go.
“I’ve learned that God loves everybody,” says Ilia. “It doesn’t matter what color, skin, or hair, or what language you speak. He loves everybody.”
Given Jonathan’s track record, it’s likely that the Visscher family will sign up for another trip in the future. Perhaps, when they are old enough, Ilia and Alexis will go on the Ultimate Workout and have revelations of their own. Until then, they know that service isn’t something that only takes place abroad. Five years ago, Jonathan and Debra started their own project in their city–a church plant in Squamish, British Columbia. It’s
a journey that has helped them teach their girls about the importance of mission work in their everyday lives.
“Even though we weren't on Maranatha mission projects within the last few years, we tried to raise them to think mission-wise–why they do what they do or act or the way that they act… everything makes a difference because you're representing Christ to people who don't know him,” he says.
“Maranatha projects and the ability to do so many different things and learn different skills and serve in different ways has changed–I don't know if it's changed my life; it just helped, from a young age, to grow and guide my life into thinking about things in ways that we can serve God and thinking about life as not just a career and a purpose for making money and living, but as finding ways to serve God, whether it be in one country or home country. It’s made me think about what’s important long-term.”
Watch a Maranatha Mission Stories about this summer's Family Project at maranatha.org/generationalwealth or scan QR code.
FULL EXPERIENCE:
1 Father-son duo, Micah (left) and Eric Dant, lay block on the Villa Jesus Sabbath School classroom, one of the two construction sites.
2 Joey Yai, who came with his family, carefully pours cement into the walls of the new La Selva church.
3 The children from the Day Camp visit a marketplace, where they selected fruit to be served at dinner for the volunteers.
4 Members of the Villa Jesus congregation stand proudly in front of their new church, constructed and painted by volunteers.
5 Jenny Heras leads a group of kids for VBS.
6 Krisha Togerson checks on a young patient at one of the medical clinics coordinate by the volunteers.
THE Power OF A CHURCH
In Brazil, many faithful groups are meeting in small, rented structures that stifle growth and their full potential.
By Dustin Comm
“The structural integrity of the entire building is compromised. It’s not safe, but there aren’t many options here.”
It’s true that the Church is not a building but rather the people inside of it. People who embody the love and grace of Jesus amongst their neighbors no matter where they gather. This is never more true than on Sabbath morning around the world. Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists come together to praise God and fellowship, no matter if it’s under a tree, in someone’s home, or in a rented space. Many of these groups have no permanent place to call home. And yet, church is at the very core of daily life for each member, providing encouragement, inspiration, and an earnest sense of pride.
But that pride is sometimes tested when the physical meeting space is lessthan-ideal. Maybe members invite a neighbor to church but are declined because there is no building. Or worse, people poke fun at the idea of a powerful God that can’t provide a decent place of worship. Without the means to construct a new sanctuary, church members put their heads down and continue to worship on their own. They want to grow their number, but they don’t have the required space. This is a common scenario in the northeastern part of Brazil. In the desert state of Pernambuco, many faithful groups are meeting in small, rented structures that don’t allow for growth.
One of the most dramatic examples of this may be in the small village of Serrote. Along the shores of the San Francisco River, Serrote traces its roots back to a settlement of people who escaped slavery in the 1600s. Such places are called “quilombolas,” and most of the modern day residents of Serrote are descendents of those who founded the village. The Adventist congregation here worships in a rental that used to be a bar. Nova Schin beer company stickers adorn the plastic chairs and tables. However, the furniture is the least worrisome issue. As members enter the building each week, huge cracks around the left side of the doorway are
visible. Whole chunks of brick are missing from the door frame.
Once inside, a glance upward reveals numerous gaps in the cracked tile roofing. When it rains, the porous covering allows plenty of water inside. The wooden beams supporting this roof are water damaged. But if you walk to the front of the sanctuary and pull aside the white sheet, you arrive at the worst issue of all. The bottom of the back wall is crumbled due to a settling foundation made of bricks. The structural integrity of the entire building is compromised. It’s not safe, but there aren’t many options here.
For years, church member Maria Aparecida de Oliveira Dias has known that Serrote needed a miracle solution. A faithful viewer of Maranatha’s Portuguese television program, “Histórias de Missão,” Maria watched congregations around the world receive new sanctuaries and wondered if there was any possibility of Maranatha coming to her village. It was more than a wish; it was a fervent prayer. Because to Maria, church is more than just a weekly worship program.
In the past, there was no Adventist church in this area. Each Friday, Maria would drive for more
than two hours to the city of Petrolina, spend the night, and go to church the next morning. On Sunday she would sell her crops at market— bananas, passion fruit, mangoes, and green beans—before returning home. She did this for years with unwavering commitment. In 2020, a man named Raimundo Nonato Nunes da Silva moved to Serrote and started an Adventist group. They met in members’ homes as people joined and got baptized, until they moved to the current rented space. It was fine for a while, but with around 500 people in Serrote, the congregation wanted more of their neighbors to know about Jesus and join them at church. However, there was simply not enough space. Then one day she got word that the improbable was actually happening: Maranatha was coming. She says it was a dream come true.
“I didn't know that the Lord Jesus had already planned it, had everything ready, that you were going to come here,” says Maria. “It seems like I'm living a dream. I knew that God has the power to use his children, but I kept looking at it like this. I'd say, ‘That's a dream, I'll never see that, but it doesn't matter.’ But today I'm able to realize my
Members of the Vila Malta Seventhday Adventist congregation walk to their Sabbath rental space that is small and full of distractions.
PHOTO: DUSTIN COMM
dream, which is to be here talking to you and that this is really real, there's no way. Wow, I got here [today]. I'm very happy, you know?”
“[People] want to hear the Word of God, but it's difficult. How are you going to take the gospel to people and then bring them to stay here?”
When the Adventist Church in Brazil asked Maranatha to help with churches like Serrote in northeast Brazil, we committed to building 20 structures with a strong foundation that won’t sink or settle, a sturdy metal frame, and an impervious roof. In some situations, these new temples will provide peace of mind for precarious sanctuaries like Serrote. Other church locations around the state are not in physically dangerous situations, but are held back from flourishing.
In the town of Inajá on a Sabbath morning, you can find the Vila Malta Adventist congregation in a rented room of a whitewashed building on a dirt street. The space is in decent repair, but there is a deterrent to peaceful worship that becomes apparent within seconds. Dogs barking. Incessantly. Barking during the prayers, barking during the announcements, barking during the singing, barking during the sermon. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. Some might even call it tortuous. You might wonder why someone doesn’t go outside and chase the dogs away?
Unfortunately, they can’t, because there is a pet shop next door. The dogs roam on the other side of a shared wall, where openings for ventilation broadcast the noises of these anxious pets directly into the sanctuary. But the members push through it, despite the canine’s yelps. They don’t really have a choice. They could meet in a member’s home, but no one’s house is big enough. They could meet outside, but in this desert region of Brazil, the heat is oppressive, plus this is not attractive to potential guests. Other rental spaces are too expensive.
But the biggest complaint for this group isn’t the barking. The biggest issue they have is that there is no room to invite their neighbors to worship. They desperately want to bring their friends and community members to church, but how can they bring them to a cramped place with barking dogs?
“How are we going to do evangelism in a church of this size?” says church elder Ailton Bezerra de Almeida. “That's one of the main [issues]. People are thirsty to hear. [They] want to hear the Word of God, but it's difficult. How are you going to take the gospel to people and then bring them to stay here?”
Maranatha is building a new church for Vila Malta, and Ailton couldn’t be more
excited. “I was happy, very happy, because it's a boost, right?” he says. “And our difficulty in finding resources is very, very difficult. There's no way. And then, when we heard that Maranatha was coming and was going to practically build the church for us, that was an immense joy. All of us here in the church rejoiced; we were happy to know.
Whatever challenges these congregations face when renting, at the core is a lack of dedicated space. The Serraria Church knows all about this. Located on the coast near the state capital of Recife, in the town of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, this place experienced drug violence for years. But in 2018, around the same time as the Adventist church was established, things started getting better as the economy improved and the community services offered by the church began to take hold.
Serraria met in a rented house for years, but after saving up enough money, they bought a plot of land in 2022. Wanting to save money for their own church building eventually, they stopped renting the house and began to use the free community center building for worship each Sabbath. In some ways it’s a great networking opportunity because community leaders see the church at work and get to know the members. But it’s a tradeoff because they don’t have a dedicated space. They have to bring their sound system, pulpit, computer, TV, food, and serving ware each
week. If there’s a last minute space they need for church business, it may not be available depending on the community center schedule. Maranatha has poured a slab at Serraria, and the congregation is excited to have their own dedicated space soon. It will be a base for the community service they are so passionate about.
Across the state of Pernambuco, even more congregations are renting small spaces like these– only a shell of their full potential. With Maranatha’s help, having more room, safer structures, and 24/7 access to a dedicated space will allow for more outreach and greater church growth. These enthusiastic groups will no longer just survive with what they have—they’ll finally thrive in new opportunities to push forward God’s kingdom, a kingdom made up of the true Church: His people.
Watch a Maranatha Mission
Stories about these congregations at maranatha.org/powerofachurch or scan QR code.
WAITING FOR HOME:
1 Serrote Church elder Raimundo Nonato Nunes da Silva preaches in a crumbling building.
2 Each Sabbath, Serrote members make their way to a small rental space that is a safety risk.
3 Vila Malta Church elder Sivaldo Lima dos Santos and his family faithfully attend worship each week in a space next to a loud pet shop.
4 The Serraria Church foundation is poured and ready for volunteers to arrive in October, when their dreams of a permanent church home will be realized.
THE DEPTH OF Kajiado
By Dustin Comm
“To have to go through the kinds of things they go through at seven, eight, nine, ten years old, it’s just unthinkable.” “
Iremember standing there, and we just kind of shook our heads,” recalls Kyle Fiess, Maranatha’s vice president of projects. “It was sad, thinking about how these girls had to go through this. And I was thinking about my girls who were in that age range, thinking, ‘They never even have to know about the subject.’”
It was 2018, and Kyle was the first person from Maranatha’s headquarters to step foot on the dusty, aging campus of the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya. What
he saw and learned on this site visit would impact him forever. Maasai girls, as young as six years old, ended up here, having left their homes and families, sometimes without even knowing where they were going. Most had escaped child marriage and a dangerous ritual called female genital mutilation (FGM).
“To have to go through the kinds of things they go through at seven, eight, nine, ten years old, it’s just unthinkable. So when you're presented with that, what do you do? Do you say,
Kajiado Adventist School students and staff gather on dedication day to celebrate a completed campus six years in the making.
‘Okay, there's nothing I can do about that. That's sad.’ I think in this case, we felt like this would be a great place for us to try to make a difference.”
“Very few projects in the history of Maranatha have had such a powerful impact in so many ways.”
So Maranatha got to work. Initially, the focus was to address overcrowded girls' dorms with two or three students sharing twin mattresses each night. Eventually other needs presented themselves, like classrooms, staff housing, a water well, perimeter wall, state of the art kitchen and cafeteria, brand new high school, and farm. Over the course of six years, 24 new buildings were added—only two original structures remain. Sidewalks, gazebos, and beautiful landscaping complete the stunning transformation.
On July 11, 2024, Maranatha consecrated this special place. Old students returned and Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders attended. More than 40 Maranatha volunteers traveled to the campus for the dedication, representing the 1,600 volunteers and donors who supported this project over the years. The celebration included a campus tour, prayers of dedication, choir performances, a student poem, and the handing of keys to the local Adventist regional leadership. It was a full circle moment for all of the people who have been involved from start to finish.
“This is a powerful project that God has made possible for us to establish,” said Blasious Ruguri, president of the Adventist Church in East Central Africa, who spoke at the dedication ceremony. “I cannot know how to say thank you on behalf of the East Central Africa Division, East Kenya Union Conference, and South Nairobi Kajiado Field…This is an amazing, amazing project that God has given to this new field so that they can start creating impact in this area and beyond.”
Over the years, not only were living and learning conditions improved at Kajiado, but relationships were formed between Maranatha and the students.
Hundreds of volunteers served as mentors and positive role models, listening to the girls’ stories and encouraging them to pursue their dreams.
“Very few projects in the history of Maranatha have had such a powerful impact in so many ways as the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center project has had,” admitted Maranatha President Don Noble. “Hundreds of volunteers were immediately impacted with the reality of the lives these girls have experienced, and the emotions went deep, especially when they met the girls. The result has been a totally new campus and expanded education opportunities that will establish a strong future that the girls could have only dreamed about.”
Maranatha staff made connections too. On Kyle’s first site visit to the campus he met a girl who had just arrived the day before. The principal told him her story—it was painful. Moved, Kyle offered to support her in ways he could and connected with her on subsequent visits to check on the campus. “On one of my visits, as I was leaving she handed me this piece of paper, and it said something about me being
her father. And so, you know, that really was a little bit of a sucker punch.”
This is the depth of Kajiado. Hundreds of lives changed in profound ways. A new family created when old ones must be left behind. Despite the pain and trauma of the past, health and well-being are restored. Visions of bright futures are formed. Support systems are created.
A Heavenly Father is introduced. Kajiado is a perfect reminder of Maranatha’s mission to build people. Even in a place with so many physical additions, the emotional, relational, and spiritual renewal is just as compelling. And although Maranatha’s work at Kajiado is finally complete, the reverberations of service will continue into eternity.
Watch a Maranatha Mission Stories about Kajiado's completion at maranatha.org/transformationatkajiado or scan QR code.
COMPLETE
1 Over the course of six years, 24 new structures were added at the Kajiado school.
2 Maranatha volunteers and donors, as well as Kajiado staff, offer prayers of dedication at one of the buildings.
3 Dedication attendees got a tour of the entire campus.
4 Students dressed in traditional Maasai garb for the dedication.
HOW YOU’VE Helped
CHISAPA, ZAMBIA
BEFORE The Adventist congregation in Chisapa, Zambia, worshiped in a mud hut, which offered little protection from weather and insects.
A look at how your support is making a real difference for communities around the world.
LEAVING YOUR Legacy
Chisapa members enjoy Sabbath worship under their new, sturdy One-Day Church frame. And they plan to build walls for their structure from local materials..
First and second graders at Pine Hills Adventist Academy in Auburn, California, are using the skills they learn at school to make a big difference beyond the classroom. Each year they participate in their class’s “Great Snowball Book Blitz” to raise money for charity. Students are divided into two teams: the north and south poles. They enlist friends and family members to pledge donations and then get to reading. “This is something I have done basically every year that I’ve been a teacher,” said the teacher, Carrie Lebarre. “We have fun seeing how many pages we can read and how much money we can raise.”
This year the class dedicated their combined earnings to help fund Maranatha’s church construction in Peru. Inspired by this mission, these 15 students read 12,984 pages in just two months, and raised $1,086.40! “It’s just a super fun way to learn,” remarked Lebarre. “I’ve seen some kids that are really struggling as readers, and they really get inspired and have things fall into place for them during the book blitz.” These students are living proof that a gift given in love benefits the giver as well as the receiver.
AFTER
PROJECTS THAT NEED YOUR HELP
These are the projects in most urgent need of funding right now. Please consider making a donation!
THE $10 CHURCH
The $10 Church program has funded nearly 500 churches for congregations around the world. As the cost of construction goes up, we need more $10 donors to increase the impact of this program that asks people to give just $10 a month. The combined $10 donations go towards the completion of urgently needed churches. If you aren’t already, please start giving to the $10 Church!
ONE-DAY CHURCHES
The One-Day Church has been a successful program for providing strong church frames and roofs for remote congregations, where traditional construction is difficult. The need for One-Day Churches is constant. Please consider donating toward a One-Day Church. You can give any amount, sponsor a share for $1,500, or sponsor an entire structure starting at $7,500 (total cost varies by project).
CHURCHES
This year, we urgently need more support for church projects, and one way you can help is to give to churches in general. Make a donation of any amount to help us complete these important construction projects or call to ask about sponsoring an entire church. In India, full sponsorship of a church starts at $30,000. In other areas, costs will vary by project.
Give online at maranatha.org/donate or call (916) 744-7700 to speak to a representative or to make a donation.
Countries IN 2024
Here’s where Maranatha is working this year.
UNITED STATES
ZAMBIA
CHURCHES
SCHOOLS WATER WELLS CAMPS
PROJECT Calendar
Oct. 3 - 13, 2024 Dominican Republic Project
Oct. 18 - 29, 2024 Brazil Project*
Anyone can join a Maranatha mission trip! Check out our upcoming opportunities here or go to maranatha.org for the most updated list.
REPUBLIC Karen Godfrey, David Shull Church construction
Nov. 5 - 21, 2024 Uchee Pines Institute ALABAMA, USA
Nov. 15 - 24, 2024 Paraguay Project*
Dec. 19, 2024 - Jan. 1, 2025 Family Project
Jan. 6 - 15, 2025 Camp Kulaqua Project FLORIDA, USA
Apr. 24 - May 8, 2025 Dakota Adventist Academy Project NORTH DAKOTA USA David and Susan Woods Dorm renovations
May 11 - 25, 2025 Andrews University Project MICHIGAN, USA
May 25 - Jun. 8, 2025 Andrews University Project MICHIGAN, USA
Jun. 19 - 30, 2025 Family Project
Jul. 24 - Aug. 4, 2025 Ultimate Workout
* Projects where Portuguese, Spanish, and English are spoken.
Go to maranatha.org to see all the volunteer opportunities being offered, including full projects and mission trips being coordinated by church or school groups.
Thank You FOR SERVING
Jon Harvey, Ron and Nancy Davis Dorm renovations
Jon Harvey Dorm renovations
Steve Case Church construction
The following Group Project Teams served during the months of July through September.
THE Mission SCENE TOP FIVE FUN FACTS
Information about Maranatha operations is internally gathered. Other statistics and records in this list were taken from the World Bank and the CIA World Factbook.
1 The countries Maranatha is working in 2024: Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Kenya, India, Paraguay, Peru, United States, Zambia.
2 The economic ranking varies by reporting government agency. The stats are based on 2021 numbers which are the latest available for all countries. Zambia is ranked 180th / 215 countries in the report. The figure takes total economic production and divides it by the population and adjusts for inflation and exchange rates across countries. Some countries in the world do not provide economic information.
3 The membership number is as of the end of 2023 as published by the Adventist Statistical Report (ASR2024A). Total includes Northern Zambia Union and Southern Zambia Union.
4 A church is counted when a structure is built where members worship. The buildings are different sizes, have different finishes, and always are of great impact to the community.
5 The calculation for total worshipers comes from averaging membership, visitors, and other attendees.The calculation utilizes 150 members per building. Some church buildings will have less and some buildings will seat a thousand people.
990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100
Roseville, CA 95678
The $10 Church
Easy. Effective. Eternal.
$10 has built more than 500 churches! Here’s how it works:
• You commit to giving $10 a month to Maranatha.
• We combine everyone’s monthly donations into one gift.
• The monthly gift is enough to sponsor the construction of a church!
Join this community of donors, today!
The more people who give, the more churches we can build. tendollarchurch.org
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 Saturday, 3:00 p.m.
ON DEMAND
The Maranatha Channel App
Watch current and archived episodes and other videos on demand. Download for Apple, Android, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.
watch.maranatha.org
View all episodes online at Maranatha’s video website. Find segments by using our “Search” function.
