The Volunteer Issue 2 2023

the

VOLUNTEER A Publication of Maranatha Volunteers International

I S SU E 2, 2023

THE INCREDIBLE GROWING CHURCH:

How you are building faith in the Dominican Republic

the

VOLUNTEER Julie Z. Lee Editor Heather Bergren Managing Editor/Designer Dustin Comm Writer

UNITED STATES HEADQUARTERS: Maranatha Volunteers International 990 Reserve Drive Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678 Phone: (916) 774 7700 Website: www.maranatha.org Email: info@maranatha.org IN CANADA: Maranatha Volunteers International Association c/o V06494C PO Box 6494, Station Terminal Vancouver, BC V6B 6R3 CANADA Website: www.maranathacanada.ca

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

This was Charles’s first Maranatha project. He came on the project after his wife, Nadine, signed him up. Recently retired and living in a rural area where the nearest city was two hours away, Charles was bored. He had been cooped up in the house through six weeks of winter and “I needed something to do,” said Charles. The couple had long heard of Maranatha

and talked about participating but never made the leap. So when Nadine saw her husband getting antsy, she looked for Maranatha projects online and was delighted to find something local at Camp Hope.

“It’s the first time we’ve lived this far out in the country without access to people, and I thought this would help,” says Nadine. “He called me every night from the project. He was happy working: He was meeting new friends.”

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

Photo by Ed Jensen

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

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

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

(See page 22.)

Photo by Julie Z. Lee

SHARING THE

Mission

UNCOMFORTABLE JOURNEYS

By Dustin Comm

I don’t like small planes. I just don’t.

I can get motion sickness, and smaller planes produce a bumpier ride. But there I was, in the Amazon jungle, about to get into a boat with wings. It was an amphibious plane that allows the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Peru to fly missionaries to remote indigenous villages that are only accessible by water.

The aircraft hadn’t been flown for a year due to permit complications; this would be the first test flight in a long while, and this wasn’t exactly reassuring. Then, as water was drained out of the hull before the flight, they tried to tell me that this was normal. Did I mention the plane hadn’t been flown in a year?

Despite all of this, I decided to board the floating 4-seater and proceeded to have a smooth, safe flight. Afterward, I reflected on the uneasy travel that many of our volunteers and in-country crews have endured over the years trying to reach communities in need around the globe. Many of these locations aren’t easy to reach, which is often why these communities are ignored. But not by us.

Maranatha volunteers bring their might and determination. Local Maranatha crews transport materials for churches, schools, and water wells. The people of

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Maranatha have gone to the ends of the earth for the mission—each trip unique and not always comfortable.

Common journeys involve sleepless international flights and day-long rides in cars, trucks, and buses over horrendously rutted roads. Sometimes stuck vehicles have to be freed from deep mud or sand. Occasionally we fly in small planes that land on dirt airstrips, ride in boats for hours, or hike on foot through the jungle to reach a congregation in need. Even in the United States, volunteers will roadtrip on interstate highways for days, over thousands of miles from one side of the country to the other to reach the job site.

The mission of Maranatha calls people to travel beyond their comfort zones. It’s not always glamorous or fun— some moments can be uncomfortable or even unenjoyable. Yet we continue to

make these journeys because we know that we’re making a difference for the Kingdom, for the people we serve, and for ourselves. As you read this issue of The Volunteer, I encourage you to consider where God might be calling you to travel that is outside your place of comfort. It might be a physical place in a far away country, or it may be growing the ways you support the mission. No matter the calling, you may be presented with uncomfortable moments along the way. However, I consider these moments as milestones that naturally change us for the better and reconnect us to God in very personal ways. Ultimately you’ll leave the journey with a smile, no matter how you get there. Just like me, exiting an amphibious airplane in the Amazon.

—Dustin Comm is the communications manager of Maranatha Volunteers International

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AROUND THE

World

A snapshot of volunteers and projects in the mission field.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Teens on the Northern California Conference and Lodi Academy Team work on the La Ureña 4 Church.

UNITED STATES Volunteers helped to renovate the school auditorium at Mount Pisgah Academy.

ZAMBIA A Maranatha crew member in Zambia works on a previously drilled well. This maintenance team ensures that Maranatha wells receive routine service and repairs when needed.

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PERU The Los Portales Seventh-day Adventist Church in Peru is finished, complete with landscaping. www.maranatha.org

KENYA In June, 42 volunteers served at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center, building the walls of staff housing units.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Maranatha leadership participated in a dedication of the Luz de Nuevo Amanecer Church, also attended by regional Adventist Church leaders.

INDIA The Chinapgre Seventh-day Adventist congregation in India celebrates their new Maranatha-built church.

ZAMBIA A child enjoys fresh, clean water at a Maranatha well in the village of Lutwi, Zambia.

INDIA Members of the Kangti Seventh-day Adventist Church in India are thankful for their new Maranatha water well. www.maranatha.org

CUBA Critical aid provided by Maranatha donors is unloaded from a third shipping container at the Seventh-day Adventist Church headquarters in Cuba.

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News + H I G H L I G H T S

The community celebrates the first Sabbath inside the newly constructed Nueva Jerusalen Seventh-day Adventist Church in Peru.

PERU WELCOMES FIRST VOLUNTEERS OF 2023

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fter a rough start to the year due to political unrest, Peru finally welcomed its first Maranatha volunteers in 2023. Forty volunteers from the Grand Rapids Central Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Michigan, arrived in the country on March 30 to construct the Nueva Jerusalen church, in Puno.

Led by Judy and David Shull, the team worked swiftly to build the walls, finishing all the blockwork by the end of their mission trip. The volunteers, which included several students and parents from Grand Rapids Adventist Academy, also organized a Vacation Bible School program during the week, constructed 18 wooden pews, and funded and erected a new exterior fence for the property. They also paid for a new walkway leading up to the front doors. All the work for the property was completed in time for a joyous Sabbath dedication.

“We are so thankful we went to build the church for this community. It was just awesome,” says Judy.

The new place of worship has been a lesson in patience and faith for the Nueva Jerusalen congregation. The

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group started in 1990 by meeting in a home. Eventually, they bought the current property, which came with a small adobe structure. Unfortunately, the building started falling apart. There were leaks and flooded floors during the rainy season, and eventually the integrity of the church was compromised. Jose Flores, one of the church leaders, said, “We needed another temple, no matter what… [this one] was about to collapse.”

Then, in 2019, the congregation heard of Maranatha’s latest effort in Peru and were ecstatic to learn they were on the list to receive a new church. They tore down the building and prepared the property for construction. But just then, the pandemic hit, shutting down the world and all Maranatha projects.

Peru was especially hard hit by the virus and suffered one of the highest mortality rates for COVID. The government also enacted strict regulations on the population, monitoring movement and banning travel in and out of the country. In the meantime, Maranatha was able to start working in other areas of the world in a

matter of months, while Peru sat waiting for more than a year.

In June 2021, 29 volunteers headed to Peru for the first time since the pandemic. Since then, there has been a steady stream of volunteers.

But in December 2022, the country faced another challenge in the form of political instability. The situation caused significant disruption to parts of Peru, impacting the delivery of food and resources to certain regions. It also had ramifications for Maranatha, as seven volunteer projects were slated to take place in Juliaca and Puno, areas especially impacted by unrest. One by one, those teams canceled projects or were reassigned to the Dominican Republic–except for Grand Rapids Central. They decided to wait and see how things would unfold in Peru. Their patience won out as the demonstrations finally subsided.

“I think waiting on the Lord, we were able to see His hand sheltering us as we went to serve other people.

We were able to see what an impact the new church will have on the local congregation and their vision for growth,” says David. “Seeing their dream fulfilled, it just takes your breath away.” www.maranatha.org

BUSY ACROSS AMERICA

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ver the course of April and May, Maranatha volunteers have been very active across the United States.

In rural Wyoming, work continued on a dinosaur research station for Southwestern Adventist University.

Volunteers served on a project in April, and then again in May, where they painted and stained the building, and paneled the walls, along with other tasks. While there are still a bit more details to be completed on the project, the month of June welcomed participants with the university’s annual dig to use the new field station for the first time.

From mid-April to early May, more than 100 volunteers worked on various renovations at Camp Wakonda in Wisconsin, while 55 served at Camp MiVoden in northern Idaho. In southern Idaho, around 25 volunteers started a project at a residential center for at-risk youth called Project Patch,

working on siding, flooring, and painting.

Throughout the spring, a small group of volunteers worked at the Kayenta Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Arizona, to construct a brand new school. The entire twoclassroom building was completed in nearly 60 days, thanks to a small group of dedicated volunteers and pre-fabricated sections of the building that were constructed by teen volunteers on Ultimate Workout in 2021. The school will soon open for kindergarten through second grade to provide quality Christian education to the people of the Navajo Nation who live here.

The summer calendar was also busy in the U.S., as Maranatha put on projects at Milo Adventist Academy

in Oregon, Mount Pisgah Academy in North Carolina, Upper Columbia Academy and Walla Walla University in Washington, Union Springs Academy in New York, and Pine Tree Academy in Maine.

NEW VICE PRESIDENT FOR VOLUNTEER SERVICES

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n January, the Maranatha Volunteers International Board of Directors appointed Lisandro Staut as Maranatha’s new Vice President for Volunteer Services. In his role, Staut manages all operations related to volunteers. Kyle Fiess, Vice President for Projects, is continuing in his role of managing all field staff while also overseeing new projects and construction-related matters. Staut began working with Maranatha as a consultant in Michigan in 2016. Three years later, he moved to Maranatha’s headquarters in Roseville, California, to be the Director of Volunteer Services.

Prior to his work with Maranatha, Staut worked in marketing and communications for the Seventh-day

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Adventist Church in Brazil, holding multiple positions at the conference level. He also served as Manager of the News and Television Departments at Hope Channel South America, from 2011-2015. Staut has a bachelor’s degree in communication from São Paulo Adventist University in Brazil and is currently working on his Master of Divinity from Andrews University in Michigan.

“To serve God through Maranatha and be part of His mission in any capacity is the greatest privilege of my life,” said Staut. “It is a great responsibility now to join a very experienced leadership team that has the ultimate goal of building people.”

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A Dream AMIDST THE TEA LEAVES

One man’s vision for an Adventist campus in the hills of western Kenya helps to spread the Gospel despite horrendous conditions.

By Dustin Comm

“Though the school offers a high-quality education, the living and learning conditions are deplorable.”

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n 1952, Paul Sigira attended an evangelistic campaign in western Kenya and began reading the Bible. Five years later, he became a Seventhday Adventist. He started meeting with a small group under a tree on his property, which was surrounded by tea fields. It was the genesis of a congregation that would eventually become the Kimogoro Seventh-day Adventist Church. Later, Sigira visited another campus with a church, school, and hospital on-site, and had a vision that Kimogoro should also be a shared campus.

Sigira held onto this dream for years and eventually donated his land on the top of a ridge for a school to be constructed. Finally in 1996, the Kimogoro Adventist School was founded with 35 students. Today, the school serves prekindergarten through 12th grade, educating 230 students each year, with a waiting list. Over the past three decades, thousands of children have learned of God’s love for them here and received the best education in the region, driven by dedicated teachers. But though the school offers a high-quality education, Kimogoro’s living and learning conditions are deplorable.

Cramped, rickety dormitory buildings have leaky roofs and termite-ridden frames. Huge gaps in the walls allow in the rain, wind, and cold. Critters scurry across the dirt floors. And because there isn’t enough space, kids are forced to sleep two, sometimes even three, to a bed. This can severely hurt students’ ability to learn and focus. Without a good night’s rest, it can be hard to concentrate and retain information.

“It normally impacts the learning process because at times, maybe there is coldness,” says Shadrack Kirui, principal. “The dorm is being rained on. The children might be sleeping in class because they did not sleep well at night.”

www.maranatha.org

Besides sleeping quarters, other living conditions at Kimogoro are challenging. Bathing happens in a muddy outdoor enclosure with a bucket. There’s no cafeteria— kids have to eat outside, scattered under trees. The current kitchen is a smoke-filled outdoor shack which isn’t wellsealed; sometimes kids find things in their food.

“You know those cockroaches that get into the food?” said student Sharon Ngatia. “When you eat, you may just get those cockroaches in the food.”

Another challenge that plagued the school for years was the lack of water. Without a water source on top of the steep hill that Kimogoro rests on, each day students had to make the long walk down to a small river to fetch it and bathe. They brought their clothes to do laundry, and once clean, made the burdensome hike back up the hill with the full jugs of water needed for the school to function. Not only was this a tiring daily chore, but the water in this river was brown in color and could make them sick. Yet without another option, they used it for many years.

With all of Kimogoro’s adversities, one might assume that students don’t want to be there. But the truth is that despite all of its problems, kids and their parents love the school, and especially appreciate the teachers. Marzi Chelangat is a mother of two students at Kimogoro, but her

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“Sigira is overjoyed with how far his dream has come from decades ago. These new facilities will improve hygiene, nutrition, sleep, and concentration on a daily basis.”

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third child attends a local government school.

“The one that is in public [school], he returns home, and the books, there is nothing in the books,” said Chelangat. “If I ask, ‘Why? Why did you not write?’ he’s telling me, ‘The teacher was absent.’ After lunch they return home and nothing was written. Nothing. They are not writing anything.”

In contrast, Kimogoro’s staff is what draws people to the school, even though the physical environment is lacking. The teachers deeply care for the students, not only academically, but as individuals. The rapport created allows for effective instruction, resulting in the higher test scores that make Kimogoro a desirable school. In this way, good teachers are a part of a positive cycle—they can help to recruit more students, which brings in more tuition to improve the program. But the opposite is true also—if good teachers don’t stay at a school because of the poor conditions, the program suffers and fewer students attend. Could Kimogoro avoid this negative cycle?

In 2019, the beginnings of change came to this campus amidst the tea leaves.

Maranatha saw the need for accessible, clean water at Kimogoro, and drilled a well so students have more time for their education.

“We have been performing well because there’s water,” said Ngatia.

“Everything is available. And when we have water, we can wash our clothes at the right time, and we can [still] run to class for our various studies.”

Now, more improvements are on the way. With long-term school projects in Kenya at the Kiutine and Kajiado Adventist Schools coming to completion, Maranatha has shifted its focus to Kimogoro. The transformation is starting with the construction of new dorms with restrooms and showers, as well as a kitchen and cafeteria.

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Sigira is overjoyed with how far his dream has come from decades ago. These new facilities will improve hygiene, nutrition, sleep, and concentration on a daily basis. This institution will continue to be the best option in the area academically—the new buildings will now make it an adequate place to live, and ensure that hundreds more children will be led to Jesus for years to come.

Church leadership finds that institutions like Kimogoro are a crucial tool in spreading the Gospel in Kenya, not just as a supplement to other initiatives, but as a leading source of soul-winning itself.

“In one year, we baptized about 150,000 students,” said Andrew Mutero, Education Director for the Adventist Church in East Central Africa. “We baptized more people than are baptized in any public campaign in our division. So evangelism in Adventist schools is real.’

This soul-transformation can be felt at Kimogoro too, just as Sigira envisioned it. As Maranatha’s in-country crew and volunteers begin the work, the campus is set to securely shine its light on the hilltop for generations to come. The ambitious dream of one man will be amplified through construction and the willing hearts of everyday people like Maranatha donors, all desiring to share Jesus with young people until He comes back.

A DREAM REALIZED

1 For years, Kimogoro students collected water and bathed at the bottom of a steep hill.

2 Paul Sigira is all smiles as his dream starts to become a reality.

3 The Kimogoro School sits atop a picturesque hill surrounded by tea fields.

4 Parent Marzi Chelangat has seen the difference between Kimogoro and the local public school and is thankful to be able to send two of her three children to this Adventist school.

PHOTOS: CHRISTINA LLOYD

www.maranatha.org

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THE INCREDIBLE GROWING CHURCH IN THE

Dominican Republic

By Julie Z. Lee

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www.maranatha.org

“The Adventist Church in the Dominican Republic is very active. They are very dynamic, and that makes it possible for the church to grow so much.”

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he year was 1992. Gabriel Paulino was 15 years old and had only been a Seventh-day Adventist for less than a year when he first heard about Maranatha.

“I had visited a church that had been built by someone named Maranatha,” recalls Paulino, who lives in the Dominican Republic. “And it was a nice experience to be there, to see that new building. Then I was invited to another meeting in another church that had also been built by that same person named Maranatha.”

“And I became interested in knowing who is this person called Maranatha?”

Of course, Paulino later learned that Maranatha was not a person but a ministry, and this ministry had just completed an effort called

Santo Domingo ’92, during which 1,200 volunteers converged in the Dominican Republic to build an unprecedented 25 churches in 70 days. It was a watershed moment for Maranatha’s mode of operation, and it changed the way the ministry organized mission trips. It was also a watershed moment for the Adventist Church in the Dominican Republic, a country on the brink of exploding in faith and growth. Little did either group know that 1992 would be such a pivotal year for the future of both entities.

Fast forward to 2021. After years of pastoral experience, Paulino was now president of the Adventist Church in the southeast region of the Dominican Republic, which he says currently has 58,000 members and 372

Members at the Agape Seventh-day Adventist Church worship on Sabbath under this plastic tarp. They own a property but have been unable to build—until now. Maranatha is hoping to provide them an actual sanctuary.

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“In the last few years, the Adventist Church in the Southeast Conference has created over 100 new congregations.”

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churches. (Overall, according to Paulino, there are more than 321,000 members and 1,536 Adventist churches in the Dominican Republic.) But he was in a predicament.

“The Adventist Church in the Dominican Republic is very active. They are very dynamic, very missionary, and that makes it possible for the church to grow so much. And that is why, in just a few years, the church is multiplying, multiplying,” says Paulino.

“In the last few years, the Adventist Church in the Southeast Conference has created over 100 new congregations. Many of these churches are daughters of temples that Maranatha has built in the past. And this growth has made it necessary to build new churches.”

But how? According to Paulino, most of the members live paycheck to paycheck or rely on assistance from family members who live abroad. There is little money left to donate toward the construction of a church, although people certainly try. Groups do manage to purchase plots of land but often have no funds left for construction.

“The condition in which many of our members adore God is very deplorable.

We have members who worship under trees, under tents, in very, very precarious conditions, which hurts our hearts to know that they have no way of solving these needs of building a worthy house of God on their own,” says Paulino.

With the need for churches rising and no immediate solution available, Paulino decided to step out in faith and start making contact with ministries in the United States. In 2021, he ended up in Orlando, Florida, at the Adventist-laymen Services and Industries (ASI) annual convention. It was there that he ran into Don Noble, the president of Maranatha.

“And in my poor English I said, ‘Hey Don Noble. Do you remember me? I need to talk with you,’” says Paulino. “And that is why Maranatha has now, once again, come to the Dominican Republic to help us build the Kingdom of God with the construction of new churches.”

Multiple conversations, many meetings, and much prayer later, Maranatha

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kicked off the first project in its fifth effort in the Dominican Republic in December 2022, where volunteers constructed La Caleta 5. The current scope involves nearly 40 projects, ranging from churches to a large school campus, and even water wells. Most of the projects are offspring of churches that Maranatha built during past efforts, where members split off to plant new groups in neighborhoods without an Adventist presence. In the Dominican Republic, there are generations of churches born from a single mother congregation.

One of the most iconic examples of this multiplication phenomenon is the original La Caleta. More than 30 years ago, La Caleta was a congregation of Adventists meeting at a park under trees. While idyllic in the most perfect conditions, hot or rainy weather coupled with noisy neighbors could ruin worship. When Noble learned of this group in the early 1990s, he quickly added their name to the list of 25 churches to be constructed during Santo Domingo ’92.

Since then, La Caleta has birthed 32 churches that can trace its lineage back to this first, outdoor group. Many of these offspring churches have received Maranatha churches during followup efforts in the Dominican Republic, and there are at least two that are receiving a new church

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this time around.

Among them is La Caleta 4. Alessandra Montero de Alcántara was a member of La Caleta 3, many years ago. But when the group got too large and the distance too far to travel, in 2011, Alcántara and others started a church plant in their neighborhood. They started by meeting in someone’s house, then hopped from home to home to home until they found a space to rent.

It’s not a proper church building by any means– it’s meant to be a store–but it is a place with four walls, a sliver of space for a children’s Sabbath School room, and a bathroom.

The problem is that it’s too small for the growing congregation. It’s also very noisy because of its location on a busy street corner. Motorbikes whizz by often, drowning out the sermon or any conversation for several seconds at a time.

Alcántara said the congregation began looking for a property on which to build, and searched for 5-6 years before finding a plot, just a few blocks from the current rented space.

They managed to purchase the land with the conference’s help, but it left them no money with which to build a temple. Then, Maranatha announced its fifth effort in the country, and La Caleta 4 made the list of congregations to receive a building.

“I am very grateful to God for Maranatha,

MULTIPLYING CHURCHES: 1 The original La Caleta Adventist Church, built during Santo Domingo �92, is still thriving and full on a Sabbath morning.

2 Alessandra Montero de Alcántara is one of the founders of La Caleta 4, which grew out of La Caleta 3 when it became too large.

3 Members of La Caleta 4 meet here in a rented store. It is small and the design isn’t conducive to serving as a place of worship.

4 La Caleta 5 church was constructed in January and utilizes a new design. There are three church sizes being offered in the Dominican Republic, and this is the largest one, seating about 150 people.

PHOTOS: JULIE Z. LEE

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“Maranatha... is a group of volunteers who work to build the kingdom of God.”

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for the dream come true that you have made in our lives,” says Alcántara.

With multiple efforts and more than 200 Maranatha churches constructed in the country, La Caleta isn’t the only story of church multiplication. Most congregations in the Dominican Republic end up planting daughter churches.

More than an hour’s drive away from the cluster of La Caleta churches, the Agape Adventist Church is also rejoicing in Maranatha’s arrival in the Dominican Republic. Agape started 12 years ago, born from an existing congregation. Five families took on the effort to plant a church in this new area, where there was zero Adventist presence, and they started meeting in a school classroom. After the group outgrew the space, they bounced from rental to rental, before finally purchasing a plot of land. But like so many other groups, the membership had no money to build, so they improvised with whatever they could afford.

Today they meet on the property under a tarp. They’ve moved pews and chairs onto the land and created spaces for small groups under the sparse shade of trees. What’s been difficult for this group is security. Despite their best efforts to build a corrugated metal fence, they are still wary of thieves. Plastic chairs are tied up with thick metal chains. Sound systems are stored at a neighbor’s house.

Other items have to be hauled back and forth from member homes.

No matter the challenges, members are finding joy in their community. “It’s a matter of faith. People really want to come and worship, and we feel joyful here because we know that we have a vision, and it is to preach the Gospel to every creature,” says Juan Martinez, Agape church member.

In the meantime, they kept fundraising and praying for a church. Then, they heard about Maranatha. “We began to pray and look for a way to contact Maranatha,” says Martinez. Finally, their local pastor got in touch with Paulino, who facilitated a conversation with Maranatha. Now, they are slated to receive a new church.

“It is our desire to make a temple for the glory of God, and we are grateful to

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Maranatha for reaching out to us,” says Martinez. “[We want] this church to be a light in this world where we are, in this sector where we are, and everyone is welcome to come. We thank God that Maranatha has at last noticed us and that they have given us the opportunity to be part of the history of Maranatha with the construction of this blessing, of this temple.”

La Caleta 4 and Agape are just two of nearly 40 projects that Maranatha has committed to completing over the next few years. These are just two of the dozens of stories that share a legacy of Maranatha churches past and a deep passion for sharing the Gospel. And just as others have in the past, these projects will blossom into more, over and over again, as the new churches invigorate and empower members to share hope and faith with its communities. It is the challenge of working in the Dominican Republic, where one project can grow into six, immediately creating more need. It’s a blessed challenge to have and one that Paulino is ready to take on with Maranatha. Already he’s worked as a volunteer on a project, and he’s eager to join another. For him, his spiritual experience has come full circle. He discovered Maranatha as a kid, soon after becoming an Adventist. Now, he is part of the top leadership team for the Adventist Church in the Dominican Republic,

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and he’s back to where he started–fully immersed and fully blessed by the mission of Maranatha.

“As a child, when I started hearing about Maranatha, I thought that Maranatha was a person. I came to discover that Maranatha, more than a person, is a group of people. It is a group of volunteers who work to build the kingdom of God,” says Paulino. “I never thought that I would work together with the volunteers, and I feel that God has given me the greatest privilege that a human being can have–to work together in a ministry that loves the cause of God, that loves the house of God, and that makes it possible for the house of God to be built.”

Maranatha is building multiple churches in the Dominican Republic and a large school campus (see page 25). These projects are in need of funding. If you are interested in helping a project in the Dominican Republic, please send a donation in the envelope provided, give online at maranatha.org, or call (916) 774-7700

WAITING FOR A CHURCH 1 Youth with the Agape Adventist Church have to meet under a banana tree because they have no actual church building.

2 Members of Refugio Celestial meet in an existing patio that they scrimped and saved to buy. But they now have no money to build a real church.

3 Members of Trinitarios 2 pray for God’s leading in their need for a church.

They currently rent a space that is too small for the 60 people who attend.

4 Members of the Luz de Sión church meet in this tiny, nondescript house that doesn’t even have a sign in the front.

PHOTOS: JULIE Z. LEE

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Delayed Connections THE STORY OF A HIGH SCHOOL’S THREE-YEAR JOURNEY TO KENYA

By Julie Z. Lee

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he clock was ticking, metaphorically and literally speaking. For nearly a year, Heather Denton, principal of Pacific Union College Preparatory School (Prep) in Angwin, California, and Matthew Lee, her colleague, had been planning a Maranatha mission trip to Kenya. They were scheduled to build classrooms for a Samburu tribe in Chumviere. Approximately 35 volunteers had signed up, including students, parents, and teachers, and all year the group had been preparing for the event–from organizing fundraising events to making hygiene packets for Kenyan girls. It had been years since Prep had gone on a mission trip, and the entire community was invested. But as the departure date drew near, the threat of a pandemic was percolating in the background.

“We were so excited. The students were so excited,” remembers Denton. “I remember we were having our last meeting with the volunteers on the night that we started to see places shut down. The next morning, Matt came into my classroom and said, ‘What do you want to do?

Are we canceling?’”

In that moment, Denton had paused, flipping through the information in her head. Finally she replied, somber, “I see the potential for us

“We want them to be open to a world that is larger.”

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getting stuck.”

As the crushing reality stared them in the face, they knew what they had to do. “Matt and I were in tears, just the two of us in that room,” she says.

That evening, the school had a parent meeting to share the news. As parents debated the matter, some asking that they keep pushing forward while others were happy to see it canceled, President Trump announced a travel restriction that shut down the conversation altogether.

That was March 11, 2020, just seven days before they were scheduled to leave. As the dejected crowd emptied out of the auditorium, Prep promised they would try again that summer.

But it wasn’t long before it became clear that a rescheduled project would not be taking place that summer. Nor the next spring. Eventually, the school pulled from storage all the outreach supplies that they had painstakingly purchased and made and asked Maranatha to distribute them to a community in need. Students began using up their flight vouchers, as they were expiring. The months ticked by with students moving through various stages of the pandemic—from online classes to vaccines and tests to masked interactions.

But even throughout the pandemic delay, the staff at Prep had never lost sight of their mission trip. First of all, the students had raised $20,000 for their 2020 trip–gifts Denton still wanted to honor. Second, the school had a goal to show

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their students the world; it was a crucial learning outcome of their educational experience.

“Prep is located in a small, rural town, and there are a lot of benefits that come from that tight-knit community. But we’ve been very concerned that our students know that our world is bigger than Angwin. We want them to be open to a world that is larger and a Christian community that is larger, and frankly to experience being the minority somewhere, I feel is really important for our kids,” says Denton.

Then, in 2022, Kenya appeared on the horizon once more. Prep reopened the discussion with Maranatha. With the Chumviere classrooms already completed by local crews, Maranatha assigned Prep to build staff housing at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center.

And on a rainy morning in March 2023, 35 volunteers loaded up the Prep school vans and headed toward San Francisco International Airport. They were finally on their way to Kenya.

On the bus ride to Kajiado, students noted the activity on the roads, architectural details, the

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various flora and fauna, and the terrain; already their world was getting bigger by the mile. More revelations came once they arrived on campus, where the Kajiado kids flooded around them–a reaction that initially had the group of Americans bewildered but soon opened their eyes to pure love. It was a love that only continued to grow throughout the week, as volunteers worked on construction and Vacation Bible School programs throughout the community. In between work, the volunteers played games with the kids, sang songs, and read books together.

“The immediate connections our students made with the students at Kajiado and the relationships they formed so quickly–I think it surprised them in a way. You think it’s going to be a lot harder to make connections, and you go and find that it’s really not that difficult,” says Denton. “Connections come quickly and you have more in common than you think.”

Denton herself found a connection with the principal of Kajiado, Sophia Nyasani.

“I asked to sit with her and kind of just asked, ‘I see all that you’re doing. How are you?

Is there any way we can support you?’” asked

CONNECTIONS

1 Charlotte Fenk, having received the gift of a Maasai blanket, poses with students after the dedication of the new staff housing building that she and her classmates helped to build.

2 Oliver Sweet (left) and William Collins have fun with their new friends. Between construction and VBS, the volunteers spent much time playing with the kids on campus.

3 Amy Park gets to know the Kajiado girls.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PUC PREPARATORY SCHOOL

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Denton, one female principal to another.

The question cracked open a long conversation about the gifts and the challenges of leading a school, the delicate nature of working with young girls who have come from trauma, and the pressure of rescuing them from tradition, family, poverty, and more. Nyasani handed Denton a thick binder labeled “Rescue File.” It was filled with pages and pages of girls’ profiles who were in need of sponsorship.

There were photos, dates of rescue, where the girls came from, who helped them escape–moms, aunts, teachers, police.

“I was trying not to cry as she was talking to me because I saw girls we had met and their names. You saw all these stories, and I started thinking about the weight this principal carries. I look at my own students, and I think about all their needs. But what she experiences is way more than anything that I face…I reached a whole new level of empathy,” says Denton. “That moment of sitting with a colleague and just being there as support and seeing what she dedicated her life to–that moment changed me. I will not forget that.”

Listening to the unique struggles of Nyasani’s

“They saw the reflection of what they had done in Kenya, right here in their home community.”

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job put Denton’s own challenges into perspective.

“I think as a principal or anyone who works at a school, you carry the weight of your students’ needs,” and hers is at an extraordinary level,” she says.

Denton also realized the commonalities of their situations. Back at home, Denton and her staff were dealing with students who had depression. Food insecurity. Instability at home.

Loneliness. A hunger for unconditional love.

Whether in the United States or Kenya, schools are a mission field, and she and Nyasani were both missionaries. It was a revelation that was inspiring.

“I felt rejuvenated and encouraged that I was not alone. I’m in awe of those around the world who are doing such great work, and you feel privileged to partner with them,” says Denton.

“And my hope is that we inspired Madame Sophia as well, and we helped her to feel that she wasn’t alone.”

Afterwards, Denton shared what she had learned about the need at Kajiado with her students. Immediately, they insisted that they apply Prep’s remaining $4,000 in funds be put toward the sponsorship of five girls. Some of the students started planning fundraisers for when they returned home with the goal of helping more girls–one bake sale could equal help for one more girl! As their eyes were opened to the needs,

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they wanted to do more.

“They were asking, ‘I see this need. Can we ask the principal? Is that something they would like or use?’” says Denton. “The fact that they could see ways to partner with the good that was already happening there was great. I think seeing people in Kenya working really hard for their people and providing such a safe space, inspired them for ways to help.”

But it wasn’t until the volunteers returned home that Denton saw the full impact of the experience on her students.

Just a couple weeks after returning from Kenya, a group of Prep students, most of whom were on the Kenya project, helped coordinate a Week of Prayer program at the local Adventist elementary school. Each day, the students provided song service, led activities, and gave a worship talk. On the last day, after the Prep students gave their last worship and started to drive away, some of the elementary kids followed them, waving and shouting. There was such

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jubilance and love, not unlike the first time they had met the students at Kajiado, and not unlike the moment they had left the rescue center, when the girls had also ran after the vans, waving at their farewell. They had made a connection here, a mission field that was just minutes from home.

As they peered out the window of the car, watching the children say goodbye, one of the students who had been on the project said, “See, we can serve right here. We don’t have to go to Kenya to make an impact.”

“That was so profound. They saw the reflection of what they had done in Kenya, right here in their home community,” says Denton.

After all these years, that small moment was the big difference she had been waiting and hoping for.

BIGGER WORLD 1 Volunteers lead song service during worship with the Kajiado kids.

2 (L-R) Gian Peñaflorida, Oliver Henry, Joseph Lee, and Lachlan Snook mix mortar for their blocks.

3 The PUC Preparatory School team arrives in Kenya, after a threeyear delay on their mission trip.

4 Heather Denton (left), principal of Prep, and Sophia Nyasani, principal of Kajiado, found connection in the shared concerns and hopes they have for their students.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PUC PREPARATORY SCHOOL

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Opening Ceremony

SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Photo by Julie Z. Lee 22 | THE VOLUNTEER I S S U E 2, 2023

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Volunteers and church members get ready to cut the ribbon on the new Luz de Nuevo Amanecer Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Dominican Republic! About two weeks prior, in March 2023, Phil Becker (blue shirt) and 21 volunteers with the Chehalis Church and Friends Team, from Washington, had arrived at the work site, uncertain of whether such a small group could complete the large building. But with the help of the Maranatha crew, local church members, and a can-do attitude, the team not only completed the blockwork but also installed the roof on the last workday of the mission trip.

The next morning, the community and volunteers gathered to celebrate and worship in the church for the first time.

Becker, whose first Maranatha project was during Santo Domingo ’92, has led and been on more than 40 mission trips. He’s seen many churches constructed and dedicated in his volunteer experience. He says, “It never gets old. This is what it’s all about… It’s all about God and what He does in people’s lives.” www.maranatha.org

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HOW YOU’VE

Helped

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

PUCALLPA , PERU

BEFORE The right wall of the Los Jardines Seventh-day Adventist Church leaned precariously away from the structure.

LEAVING YOUR

AFTER Church members no longer worship in fear that the building will collapse from rain soaked wood and termite damage.

Legacy

For nearly 30 years, the Detroit Lakes Adventist Christian School in Minnesota has hosted a bike-a-thon for charity. This past school year, after watching a “Maranatha Mission Stories” television episode on the need for clean water, principal Sandra Daniels suggested that they raise money for Maranatha’s water well program. She shared Maranatha video clips of the challenge that people around the world have with collecting water and asked them to imagine being in that situation. Kids were in disbelief about the condition of the water, as well as the distances people had to walk to get to it.

“You could tell the kids were excited about doing something collectively as a group,” said Daniels. Students worked to secure sponsorships before the event, and some parents and grandparents even got involved by engaging their workplaces. In all, the school raised nearly $2,000 for clean water. Daniels knows this effort is not only making a difference for those in need of clean water, it’s impacting her students as well. “It makes them aware of what some people have to do for water, and they’re grateful for what we do have. Maybe someday they’ll want to be a missionary or contribute to similar projects. They felt really proud of themselves for doing this, and to be a part of something bigger, they were excited about it.”

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www.maranatha.org

PROJECTS THAT NEED YOUR HELP

This year, we urgently need more funding for churches. Please look at the ways you can help with this specific need!

CIUDAD DEL CIELO

In the Dominican Republic, we’re building a large campus that will serve an area with more than 80 Seventh-day Adventist Churches but no Christian schools! The impact is going to be significant in this area as there is a large and growing population. The plan is to have a large Education and Evangelism Center, a building with multiple classrooms, offices, bathrooms, and auditorium, plus additional classroom buildings, and a large church that holds 500 people. The school will honor the memory of Darrell Hardy, Maranatha’s late vice president of construction, who passed away last November. The budget for this campus is $2.5 million. Generous donors are challenging the Maranatha membership to donate $1.25 million, which they will match dollar for dollar! Make a gift today toward this special project, and see your gift be doubled!

ONE-DAY CHURCH

As Maranatha continues working in more rural areas, the demand for One-Day Churches is increasing. This innovative program provides a steel frame and roof, and congregations finish the walls with local materials.

It is efficient in a number of ways and meets a very real need. However, we urgently need more funding. You can give any amount for the program or sponsor a share for $1,500 or sponsor an entire structure. Sponsorship cost varies by project.

WATER WELLS

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Countries

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Here’s where Maranatha is working this year.

BRAZIL CANADA CUBA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC INDIA KENYA PERU UNITED STATES ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

Water is still a major focus for the mission of Maranatha, and the program needs more funding in 2023. Please make a donation or sponsor a well, starting at $10,000; sponsorship cost varies by project.

CHURCHES

Give online at maranatha.org/donate or call (916) 774-7700 to speak to a representative or to make a donation.

WATER WELLS

SCHOOLS

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P R OJECT

Calendar

Anyone can join a Maranatha mission trip! Check out our upcoming opportunities here or go to maranatha.org for the most updated list.

DATE

PROJECT NAME

PLACE

LEADERS

SCOPE

Sep 24-Oct 6 2023

Camp Lawroweld Project

MAINE, USA

Glenda and Lee Davidson

Renovations

Oct 19-31, 2023

Zambia Project

CHIPATA, ZAMBIA

Jason Blanchard, Susan & David Woods

Clinic construction

Dec 22, 2023-Jan 1, 2024

Family Project: Peru

TBD, PERU

Christina Lloyd

Church construction

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 The following Group Project Teams served during the months of April through June.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Bermuda Institute Team | Bermuda Brazil Team | Brazil Corona Adventist Church Team | California

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KENYA

PUC Service Learning Team | California

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PUCALLPA, PERU Glendy Franco de Gomez is a leader of La Selva Seventh-day Adventist Church, where the congregation is made up of indigenous people from the Shipibo tribe. The Shipibos are matriarchal, so women help guide society in many ways. Women are also integral to a church’s stability and future growth. Franco de Gomez dreams of growing her congregation but is held back by the rickety church structure they meet in. Heavy jungle rain has damaged the wooden walls and trusses, and floods the floor. It’s deafeningly loud on the metal roof that is unbearably hot in the sun—it blew away in a storm recently. But all of this is changing for La Selva. Maranatha is building a strong new church structure for La Selva that will last for generations, and allow them the stability to grow the Kingdom in Pucallpa.

Non-Profit U.S. Postage

PAID

Rancho Cordova, CA Permit No. 361

990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678

Annual Convention September 23, 2023 Trinity Life Center 5225 Hillsdale Blvd.

Sacramento, California

HOW TO WATCH

Celebrate the power of service and how you can get involved in the mission of Maranatha, featuring music by Wintley Phipps.

BROADCAST CHANNELS (all times PT)

3ABN Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, 2:00 p.m.

Schedule DOORS OPEN 9:15 a.m.

MORNING PROGRAM* 9:45 a.m.

LUNCH (free with registration) 12:30 p.m.

AFTERNOON PROGRAM 2 - 4 p.m., with mini concert

by Wintley Phipps *Broadcast will begin at 10 a.m.

Children’s Program included in the morning from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Free registration: maranatha.org/convention Also, watch online on The Maranatha Channel App, 3ABN, and Hope Channel.

Broadcast begins at 10 a.m.

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Hope Channel Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.

Friday, 8:30 a.m.

Sunday, 8:30 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.

QR Code maranatha.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.

916.774.7700