THE
W I N T E R 2 0 11
A Publication of Maranatha Volunteers International
INSIDE THIS ISSUE :
A BILLION PEOPLE
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O N E - D AY S C H O O L
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O N E - D AY C H U R C H
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Photo by Terry Schwartz
Photo by David Lopez
Photo by David Lopez
Photo by David Lopez
Photo by Terry Schwartz
Photo by James Willison
Photo by Terry Schwartz
Ministering in the Land of
A BILLION PEOPLE BY CARRIE PURKEYPILE
The sheer magnitude of people in India is overwhelming. When volunteers disembarked at the Delhi International Airport this past October, a whole new world crowded in around them. Dragging their bags through long lines after an interminable flight, volunteers met each other for the first time, and boarded a bus, their refuge from the bustle of people rushing from here to there. The bus whizzed past bicycles, overloaded trucks, taxis and motorcycles transporting entire families on one sagging seat. Traffic is always a crash course introduction to India. At the first rest stop a barefooted man squatted on the ground wheedling a tune on his gourd flute for the entranced cobra in his basket. Bathroom attendants greeted each person and passed out hand-folded squares of toilet paper. In the land of a billion people these are legitimate occupations, not relics of the past.
A few days later at the Ongole school a similar reception awaited. “It was amazing. I doubt any of us have ever experienced such a ‘red carpet’ greeting,” says Sheri Butterfield, a volunteer from Ontario, Canada. “All the kids … lined up and holding the sweetest hand written signs welcoming us!” In the midst of vast green rice paddies soaked in water and rimmed with thin dirt paths, the m a r a n a t h a . o rg
Photo by David Lopez
After hours of buses and planes, the reason was waiting. Lining the sidewalk into the Cuddapah school were more than 400 children. Boys on one side, girls on the other they flanked the entryway and sang, each one bowing or shaking hands as the exhausted travelers made their way through the happy reception line.
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This school will one day support more than 1,000 students, with dorms that don’t exist yet. Over the next few months volunteer groups will build the campus. “The impact is quite huge,” says Terry Schwartz, a volunteer from Nebraska. “There are so many people there that do not have the opportunity to get an education, and especially if you are female … It is hard to put a value on what a life-changing thing these schools are.” Just ten years ago there were only 800 Adventist Christians in Ongole. But a 50 village evangelistic campaign turned the page of history. 15,075 were baptized and over the next decade the number of Adventist Christians in the state has swelled to 900,000.
ow entire villages are begging N to have their children admitted to Fjarli Adventist Academy. “In some of these remote areas there are no other schools to go to,” says Terry. “The schools are going to play a major, major role in educating these kids, and the byproduct is that in getting a Christian education they are getting to know Jesus Christ. In many of these villages they have never heard of Christ.” The progress has been amazing, but there are still unlimited opportunities for sharing the love of God in this land of a billion people, where ALL Christian denominations combined still make up only 2.3% of the population. Volunteers helped host hundreds of men, women and children from 10 villages who were trucked in from as far as two hours away each night. All ages sat in rapt attention listening to the presenters and singing with gusto during musical breaks. After the meetings they stood in long lines asking for prayer from
volunteers, and boarded the truck beds for a standing-room-only trip back home. Indian nationals attended smaller events at the local churches with equal enthusiasm. Volunteer Ashley Daily of California was impressed. “At the church dedications, basically every single person in the entire community would come out, like it was the most important event in their entire life. “They were so diligent, even though they had nothing. Why don’t I have that diligence? I don’t need anything. They need everything. Yet they were faithful.” Faithful in little. Faithful in much. These parents living in poverty accept Jesus with their whole hearts, and want only a chance for their children to do the same. Evangelism here works hand in hand with education. Schools are creating the next generation of leaders for this burgeoning population. If anything will make a mark on history, this is it.
Photos by David Lopez
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Photo opposite page by David Lopez
school is an idyllic paradise lit with fireflies and laughter - an opportunity at a life these children never dreamed possible. Indeed the children are the main attraction at the Fjarli Adventist Academy in Ongole, India.
Are you Eager to Get Involved? Join the next project to help build the Ongole School and participate in evangelism and outreach. The India Fjarli Family and Friends Open Team will visit India February 1-14, 2011. It is a guaranteed unforgettable experience! To volunteer or donate to the project to help build the Ongole school visit maranatha.org or use the envelope in the center of this magazine.
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Churches are for
THE NEIGHBORS BY DICK DUERKSEN
Photo by David Brillhart
Orlando lives “next door down” from the new UW20 Maranatha church at Malpaso, Chiapas, Mexico. Photo by Dick Duerkesen
He watched quietly as the teens laid the blocks, set the windows, and screwed down the roof. He pretended to care for his garden, but really spent most of the time leaning on his rake and watching the church grow out of the hillside. “The children are doing good work,” he complimented on the afternoon the roof was going up. “Much better than I expected when they started.”
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Orlando is not a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church. “And I have no interest in becoming a member,” he told me that afternoon. I had found him leaning through a window while the teens were away on a break, considering the blocks, and what they would mean for his community. “How do you feel about the new church on your road?” I asked.
“Many of us in the neighborhood don’t like it,” Orlando answered, speaking like an electric screwdriver locked onto “fast.” “We have enough churches in the area already and really don’t need another. And most of us neighbors are already involved in our own religion and don’t want to have the Adventists move in next door. They’ve already got a school just over the creek. Most of the neighbors think that ought to be enough.” m a r a n a t h a . o rg
now Orlando and I had walked By back to his cinder block home and he was leaning out his own window. “But I’ve thought about it a lot,” he continued. “I’ve especially thought about the alternatives. What if a bar had bought that lot and brought truckloads of beer up the hill and gotten all the neighbors drunk. That wouldn’t have helped the neighborhood. All of the neighbors would have been very angry.” Orlando chuckled, and waved at a neighbor who was ponderously pushing a wheelbarrow full of beans up the curving mountain track. “But it’s not a bar,” he looked back at me and grinned widely. “It’s a church! Instead of loud drunken music we’ll be listening in on hymns and prayers! I rather like that. Even though I’m not a member, I’ll listen, and maybe even sing along.” Orlando and I talked some more about the neighbors, the road, the weather, and the butterflies playing around the hibiscus blooms. Then wandered back to the church to watch the teens finish the roof and close the last bit of light (and rain) out of the new church. Then “Grandma Isabela” waved me up to her porch. I struggled up the nearly-vertical road, ducked under her laundry, and listened to the “Queen of Malpaso” as she pronounced her blessing on the project. “We didn’t want the Sabbath church.” She was clear! “But now that we’ve met the American workers – the kids we thought couldn’t build anything – we like having them and their church on our road. You tell them thank you for me in your language. OK?” Photos by Dick Duerksen
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Photo by Tom Lloyd
ONE-DAY SCHOOL
The One-Day School is making waves around the world already. Adventist education is an important asset to many communities around the world. Where teachers and students are plentiful, but resources are not, the One-Day School creates opportunities for education. The Adventist school in Choluteca, Honduras outgrew their facilities long ago. Students crowd into classrooms and spill out into the narrow hallways. Their musical groups have to wait to make sure no one is taking exams while they attempt to rehearse in the small outdoor courtyard. After peaking at more than 900 students, enrollment started to drop because of the obvious over-crowding. Volunteers
are currently building a large Education and Evangelism Center, along with 34 One-Day School structures to complete the campus. After Haiti’s disastrous earthquake last January Maranatha sent 140 One-Day buildings to be used as housing. Many of these buildings were made into schools, with classroom after classroom filled with rows of brightly uniformed
students. Now 34 One-Day Schools complete with walls, desks, doors and windows are on their way to Port-au-Prince. Several schools will benefit from these classrooms as soon as they clear customs and are assembled. Several One-Day School rooms are being erected on the campus of the Fjarli Adventist Academy in Ongole, India. The One-Day School will help ensure that the campus is up and running at full capacity in record time.
Photo by Terry Schwartz
The One-Day School phenomenon is poised to grow exponentially. In the next few months containers will ship to campuses in Malawi, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere. Formal requests are pouring in from many parts of the world. The year 2011 will mean a new chance at life for children and teens all over the globe.
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ONE-DAY CHURCH Honduras
Mozambique
Vanuatu
Swaziland
The One-Day Church continues to grow. It is exciting to see how fast countries can be transformed by this simple building that meets the needs of so many. Maranatha crews, partnering organizations and volunteers are erecting the steel structures in many countries simultaneously. Though the frames start out the same, each is soon finished with local materials for a distinct look, and filled with songs of praise in the language and style of the resident congregation. Take a look at a sampling of the countries where the One-Day Church is making an impact.
Honduras Teams have already built 57 churches in this small Central American country, mostly in the south. Another container of 37 One-Day Churches is on its way to Honduras now. Congregations in the north have heard about the sturdy churches that are built in a day, and excitement is high as they wait for their structures to arrive. “The congregations in the north have a great desire to see these churches come to their territory,” says Asbel Gonzalez, a Maranatha employee who has been visiting each construction site to prepare for the crew’s visit.
Mozambique It is finished! Mozambique has been Maranatha’s first foray into the African continent, and one of our biggest projects to date. The One-Day Church has played an important role in meeting the many needs of this country. Volunteers and crews have erected the last of the 657 One-Day Churches and
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the buildings are already filled with grateful, happy worshipers. These new churches are placed in many distinct areas throughout the nation that is nearly twice the size of California. Our crew is now saying goodbye to the Mozambique sands and moving north into Malawi.
Vanuatu Residents of the island nation of Vanuatu were trained to put up the One-Day Church earlier this year. That crew has erected seven churches so far. Moving the supplies from one island to another is a slow process and may be delayed weeks or months at each island waiting for the next small boat. Churches will be built on 11 of the principle islands in Vanuatu.
Swaziland This small landlocked country has less total population than some large American cities. A large segment of the people are Zionists, and combine Christian teachings with animism and ancestral worship.
For Adventists in Swaziland it is very important to have a distinct place to meet, rather than under the trees they used to worship. Volunteers from neighboring South Africa have built nine churches in Swaziland and will complete a total of 21 churches when shipments arrive.
The One-Day Church Tally Belize. . . . . . . . Ecuador. . . . . . Haiti. . . . . . . . . Honduras. . . . . India. . . . . . . . . Kenya. . . . . . . . Malawi. . . . . . . Mexico. . . . . . . Mozambique . . Swaziland. . . . . Tanzania. . . . . . Vanuatu . . . . . . Zambia. . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
37 91 87 62 31 69 199 . 39 657 . . 9 . 75 . . 7 . 90
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,453
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PROJ ECT CALENDAR
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Jump Start
Fjarli Family and Friends
Roseville, California Victoria Falls Open Team LEADER:
Karen Godfrey
January 13 - 30, 2011
Youth Mission Weekend
Ongole, India
LEADER: Steve Case
LEADER: Bruce Fjarli
January 14 - 15, 2011
February 1 - 14, 2011
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Are you ready to get out there and volunteer?
Eden Valley Institute Open Team
Summer Family Project
Ultimate Workout 21 Tuxtla GutiĂŠrrez, Mexico
Loveland, Colorado
Choluteca, Honduras
For high school age teens
LEADERS: Ken Casper and David Schwinn
LEADER: Steve Case
LEADER: Steve Case
June 8 - 29, 2011
June 16 - 26, 2011
July 12 - 25, 2011
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Honduras Open Team – PROJECT FULL
Multiple Group Project
Solusi University Open Team
Choluteca, Honduras
Tapachula, Mexico
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
LEADERS: Merrill and Diane Zachary
LEADER: Steve Case
LEADERS: Merrill and Diane Zachary
February 2 - 15, 2011
March 17 - 27, 2011
April 6 - 19, 2011
Maranatha has opportunities for volunteers of all kinds to get involved in service around the world. What project looks most inviting to you? Whether you are heading off on your own to join up with a group of soon-to-be-friends, or taking your family along for the ride, we are happy to help you find just the right project to join. Visit our online Project Calendar at www.maranatha.org for the most up-to-date listing of projects. Then contact us by emailing volunteer@maranatha.org or call us at (916) 774-7700 to receive more information.
Collegiate Project
Young Adult Project
India Open Team
Tuxtla GutiĂŠrrez, Mexico
Honduras
Ongole, India
LEADER:
Rebekah Widmer
July 12 - 25, 2011
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LEADER:
To be determined
July 28 - August 8, 2011
LEADER:
To be determined
October 12 - 26, 2011
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TEAM PROJECTS
Group Projects October - December 2010
India Finland Maranatha Team (Finland)
Mexico Enumclaw Adventist Church (Washington) Markham Woods Adventist Church (Florida) Grand Rapids Central Adventist Church (Michigan) Cedar Creek Adventist Church and Friends (Washington) Photo by Richard Cochrane
Take Your Whole Group on a Project – and Witness the Change at Home
“It is a really well-organized effort,” says Pastor Pete Braman. “Maranatha went out of their way to create the type of experience that would not only be a benefit to us and our spirituality, but to best serve local residents, too.” The Paradise volunteers built four steel One-Day Church structures, and laid up block for two of those buildings. The Nsongwe church because very special to the group. After the construction was complete they attended a special ceremony and watched the congregation of 40 swell to more than 200 as community members flocked to the church. “We really saw the power of the built church,” says Pastor Braman. “To see all those people
come out and experience a service together with us was pretty special to us.” After their return the group met with the rest of the church to share their experiences. “One thing to come out of that experience was, ‘OK - we have been energized by the people of Zambia. Now what?’” tells Pastor Braman. “We saw God working there in so many ways. The question became, ‘how can we really have an impact on how God is working here in Paradise?’ It generated a passion for local missions and the whole church is getting behind it. We have really had a ripple effect from the Maranatha experience.”
Seniors in Action for God with Excellence (SAGE) (Washington)
Thank you for serving!
How do I Prepare to Take my Group on a Project? 1. First determine if you have enough interest to bring at least 15-20 volunteers. 2. Call Maranatha at (916) 774-7700 and speak to our Coordinator for Group Projects about getting started. 3. Begin recruiting participants and leadership. 4. Work with Maranatha to set a budget.
Photo by Richard Cochrane
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For more information call us at (916) 774-7700 or email groups@maranatha.org. ma r a n a t h a . o rg
Photos Mudge Photo onopposite oppositepage pageby byRobin Dick Duerksen
Every year members of the Paradise Adventist Church volunteer to work hard and face unexpected obstacles on foreign soil. In September of 2010, the group traveled to Zambia to build One-Day Churches, lay block, host medical clinics, minister to local children and spread the love of Jesus.
Andrews Academy (Michigan)
Haiti - One Year Later One year after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, amidst rubble life moves slowly on. The first 50 buildings to arrive entered Haiti with no problems and were immediately used as churches, schools and shelters. Soon after the borders tightened, and getting anything into Haiti became challenging. The remaining balance of the 140 buildings was stuck in customs for months and finally released in November. Maranatha crews have now built nearly 100 buildings in Port‑au‑Prince, as well as more than 2,400 linear feet of solid wall around the Adventist University campus. Haitians have an incredible will to live, and The One-Day Church is providing opportunities for success every day. Please pray for the quick release of three containers of One-Day Schools currently in customs at the border.
NEWS NOTES
What’s Happening in Honduras
Three years after building a fellowship hall and classroom block, volunteers returned to Plymouth, Indiana last summer to build the long-awaited Sanctuary for the Plymouth congregation. “There was nothing but a cement slab when we got there,” says Mary‑Linda Hampton, a volunteer from Virginia. ”We did the framing, put up the outside walls, the trusses, roughing in the two rooms on the side … The windows and doors were in when we left. They will probably put in carpet, but they could have had services in there on the cement slab if they’d wanted to!”
Maranatha’s work in Honduras is well underway. Of the 56 One‑Day structures already built in the country, 12 are on a school campus in Valle de Angeles. Over the Christmas holiday volunteers began working on a large Education and Evangelism Center in Illustration by Choluteca. That campus Sean Eichelberger will eventually have 34 One‑Day School classrooms to accommodate their growing student body. Groups of volunteers will be working there through July. Another school campus is planned for the northern part of the country in Olanchito using the One-Day School classrooms. Volunteers will put up churches in the surrounding
Back for More
Photo by Maranatha Field Staff
area too. Between December 2010 and July 2011, more than 500 volunteers will serve on Maranatha projects in Honduras.
Maranatha holds several projects in the United States and/or Canada each year. “I prefer to do just stateside projects,” says James Prelog of Colorado. “I’ve always enjoyed helping people and volunteering, and I enjoy doing the construction. It just keeps me active.”
What’s Happening in Vanuatu Maranatha has delivered a container of One‑Day Church structures to the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Long‑time Maranatha builder Karl Schwinn arrived shortly after the shipment to teach local laymen and pastors how to assemble the churches in the mud, jungle, and lava landscape of the islands.
Pastor John Leeman, President of the Vanuatu Mission, is thrilled with the new buildings, expressing deep thanks and saying, “these churches will be far nicer than anything the congregations could afford on their own!”
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Photo by Dick Duerksen
The nation of Vanuatu consists of 86 islands, 83 of which are inhabited, most of which have Adventist congregations. The materials for new One-Day Church buildings have now been shipped to 11 of the islands and will provide worship shelter for nearly 40 congregations.
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NEWS NOTES
One-Day Buildings to Revive University Campus Solusi University in Zimbabwe has been providing higher education since 1894. One hundred years later the school received the support of the Zimbabwe government and became a charter school. They were asked to upgrade the facilities over a period of 15 years to keep Photo by Thembinkosi Moyo their accreditation. The Join us for the Solusi University economic situation in Zimbabwe open team project in April 2011. You has prevented many of those will help build One-Day Schools changes from being realized. The and participate in other outreach university has requested 22 One-Day opportunities. For more information buildings to be used as classrooms, and to register, view our project laboratories, offices and other calendar at maranatha.org. necessary structures.
Maranatha Says Farewell to Doug Clark After sixteen years, Doug Clark is leaving Maranatha to pursue other ventures. During his time with Maranatha Doug led Maranatha efforts in El Salvador, Cuba and India.
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visit maranatha.org
About Maranatha Maranatha spreads the Gospel throughout the world as it builds people through the construction of urgently needed buildings. All notices of change of address should be sent to the Maranatha Volunteers International United States address. Kyle Fiess, Editor kfiess@maranatha.org Carrie Purkeypile, Managing Editor cpurkeypile@maranatha.org
Under Doug’s leadership, Maranatha built many churches and schools in India, and helped Photo by Dick Duerksen provide the infrastructure as Assistant to the President at needed to accommodate significant Maranatha’s home office in Roseville, growth of the Seventh-day Adventist California. Church in that country. Since returning to the United States two years ago, Doug has worked
Read The Volunteer Online
We express deep gratitude to Doug for sixteen years of service and his passion for the mission of Maranatha.
Heather Bergren, Designer hbergren@maranatha.org United States Headquarters: Maranatha Volunteers International 990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678 Phone: 916-774-7700 Fax: 916-774-7701 Website: www.maranatha.org In Canada: Maranatha Volunteers International Association 45175 Wells Road, Unit 20 Chilliwack, B.C. V2R 3K7 CANADA
Non-Profit U.S. Postage
PAID
Roseville, CA Permit No. 111 990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678
The Reason for a School BY DICK DUERKSEN
Professor Bill Yapsin is Principal of the Kwataparan Adventist School on the island of Tanna in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Recently a team of local church members and students, led by Maranatha builder Karl Schwinn, built this double-size One-Day Church at Kwataparan so that the school’s 120 students would have a “Real Church” for weekday assemblies and Sabbath worship services. During his time at the school, Principal Yapsin has increased student enrollment, improved the school’s finances, brought new life to an old farm, and helped establish a deep spiritual culture in every aspect of school life.
Photos by Dick Duerksen
“This school is here to help young people meet Jesus and become His followers,” Yapsin says. “And there is nothing more exciting than seeing these youth choosing to become God’s disciples.” The cover photo was taken by David Lopez in India.
Principal Yapsin travels more than an hour to his home village of Lownalapin several times each week to give Bible Studies to several of his neighbors. Even though it is very difficult to convince the local men to abandon their traditional life-style, Principal Yapsin recently celebrated baptism with eight men from his home village.
Maranatha Mission Stories is a weekly half hour show featuring mission stories from around the world. The program highlights inspiring stories from communities that have been changed, and personal testimonies from volunteers who have been touched by Maranatha.
W AY S T O W AT C H : • Hope Channel • 3ABN • Maranatha.org • i Tu n e s