The Volunteer Issue 4 2021

the

VOLUNTEER A Publication of Maranatha Volunteers International

I S SUE 4, 2021

ULTIMATE WORKOUT

Emerging into Connection Through Service

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 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.

ICA, PERU Joan Taffe smiles while laying block during her very first Maranatha project, where she helped build the La Tinguiña Adventist School in Peru. Joan lives in rural Canada, where she is somewhat isolated already—but the isolation intensified during the pandemic. After years of watching Maranatha Mission Stories and yearning for community, she decided to go on a mission trip.

She had a wonderful experience, and said she loved being around like-minded people and worshipping together.

Joan was part of a team that built two out of the eight

classrooms in the Education and Evangelism Center in La Tinguiña.

The Seventh-day Adventist community in this town has been praying for a school since they started their church in 1975.

However, they struggled to raise the money and continued to suffer many disappointments over the years. Then, in 2019, Maranatha agreed to build them a school. The project was put on hold for over a year due to a COVID lockdown in Peru, but as projects are ramping back up there is good progress being made on the building.

Photo by Rebekah Shephard

About the Cover: Ultimate Workout volunteers soak in the spectacular beauty of the Navajo National Monument state park, near Kayenta, Arizona. Teens spent two weeks in the Navajo Nation, building a school and doing outreach.

Photo by Clay Kruse.

SHARING THE

Mission

AUTHENTIC GRATITUDE

By Kenneth Weiss

As the year draws to a close we recall our blessings and give thanks to God. What language do we use? When we feel a deep gratitude, how do we express it? The word “gratitude” may be traced to the Sanskrit word gnarti, meaning “sings, praises, announces”—a beautiful connection that includes the expression of gratitude, the need to tell, to respond.

During dinner a fragrance captures everyone’s attention, bringing to mind a variety of emotions and memories before their thoughts can be captured and directed to the source—a woman lavishing her devotion on her Savior.

Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume (John 12:3).

The story of Mary Magdalene can be uncomfortable, yet it epitomizes our humanity as chronically sinning creatures and the authentic gratitude we feel when Someone does something so generous that it changes our lives forever. It also epitomizes why Maranatha exists: allowing us to say “thank you” to God by sharing His grace and love with others.

As Jesus explained to Simon following Mary’s gift, forgiveness yields gratitude. How can we say “thank you” for salvation? We, like Simon, have the www.maranatha.org

choice of how to respond, whether we choose gratitude.

Globally, the poorest of the poor exemplify the most incredible gratitude.

In Kenya, those who cannot provide a goat or calf fulfill the ancient meaning of gratitude by singing and praising God for their generous blessings. In India, a light bulb is brought as a thank you gift for their new church–leaving an empty socket as an expression of a full heart.

Sometimes volunteers have their feet washed in gratitude and neither washer nor washed leaves the same.

The gift of churches and schools changes lives permanently. A church leader in India writes, “Things have not been easy for our region in the past. We faced major issues like the closing of churches and lands being encroached by land grabbers. However, when we look at it today, we could not have even dreamed of having tripled the growth of the church here. I would like to thank Maranatha on behalf of my members for helping to introduce JESUS to them.”

Maranatha constructed 37 churches in this area, and 96 new congregations were birthed. The grateful members make their gratitude contagious.

Mary’s gift was the authentic outpouring of her heart, a public expression of gratitude. As Jesus promised, “Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in

memory of her.” Mary’s story echoes today. A gift is given—a church or a school or a well—a place where people find generous grace, learn about Jesus, or drink water. The hundreds and thousands of moms, children, grandmas, in turn tell others about it, and their gift, the perfume of gratitude, continues to influence and change the world.

Faith that is real actively shows an authentic gratitude for what it cost our Savior to save us. Every project Maranatha agrees to build is taken on by faith. Every gift that comes to Maranatha is prompted by Jesus’ touch on the givers’ hearts. The gifts are precious; they are never taken for granted, and they have a meaning far beyond actual money. Each gift becomes a means for others to hear about Jesus, and our gratitude is contagious and permeates the world around us.

Thank you for allowing your gratitude to prompt generosity and in turn become infectious gratitude.

—Kenneth Weiss is the chief operating officer of Maranatha Volunteers International T H E V O L U N T E E R ISSUE 4, 2021 | 3

AROUND THE

World

A snapshot of volunteers and projects in the mission field.

UNITED STATES Volunteers helped to frame a new sanctuary for the Fulton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Missouri.

CÔTE D’IVOIRE Members of the Toumodi Seventh-day Adventist Church gather under their new One-Day Church.

PERU After Maranatha built their church structure, the La Alborada congregation took it to completion with a number of pleasant finishings.

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KENYA Maranatha’s in-country crew has continued to make progress on a large building for the Advent Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church, which will hold up to 425 worshippers when complete.

KENYA Volunteer Ray Sample is all smiles while constructing a new school building at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center.

UNITED STATES Volunteers cut wood paneling to be installed in the ceiling of the Meadow Vista Seventh-day Adventist Church in California—just one part of the complete remodel volunteers assisted with.

INDIA Fresh, clean water will now be available at the Kariyavattom Adventist School. www.maranatha.org

CÔTE D’IVOIRE Community members gather around a new Maranatha well at the Ogoudou Seventh-day Adventist Church, where the clean water is free to all.

ZAMBIA Maranatha’s in-country crew in Zambia is constructing six staff housing duplexes at the Emmanuel Adventist Secondary School, providing adequate, convenient living spaces for staff who currently walk for miles each day to get to school.

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

Elementary students wave in front of the Abbebroukoi Seventh-day Adventist Church and school, where enrollment has rapidly increased since Maranatha completed work on the property.

QUICK GROWTH AT ABBEBROUKOI

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n 2020, Maranatha Volunteers International completed a sanctuary and school for the Abbebroukoi Seventh-day Adventist Church in Côte d’Ivoire. During its first year in operation, the school offered kindergarten, attracting 37 children to attend. This year, kindergarten enrollment increased to 45 kids, and the school also expanded up to third grade. Fifty-nine students are now in grades 1-3, bringing the total enrollment to 104. The school’s growth is providing a high quality education to many more children and additional evangelistic opportunities for the church, as many of the families in the neighborhood are not Adventist.

Maranatha’s country director for Côte d’Ivoire, Gilberto Araujo, knows that what is learned during the

school day does not stay inside the classrooms, but is transferred to the home. “So once the children come to learn here, they not only learn math and science, they learn about God and also about how to serve God and how to serve others,” said Araujo.

“And once they go home—this is the beauty—they start teaching the parents. They become teachers, they become missionaries there.”

“School is a powerful factor of evangelism,” said Charles Assandé, Education Director for the Adventist Church in Côte d’Ivoire. “Because education and redemption are one and the same. When you have a school with six classrooms, you have six churches.

So the more classrooms we have, the more churches we have. And it will boost our missionary work. That’s why

it is extremely important to have many schools here in Côte d’Ivoire.”

In 2019, Maranatha began working in Côte d’Ivoire to provide churches and schools in the country. The commitment was in response to a request from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Central Africa. To start, Maranatha has focused on projects in Abidjan, the country’s largest city and headquarters for the Adventist Church in West Central Africa. In November 2020, Maranatha launched a water program in Côte d’Ivoire, drilling wells at Adventist churches.

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BRAZIL

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aranatha Volunteers International continues drilling for water in the desert region of Brazil. Residents here must either purchase water they cannot afford or collect dirty water from nearby ponds. Crews recently drilled three new wells—one at the Campestre Seventh-day Adventist Church, another at the Boqueirão Church, and a third at the Amaro Church, bringing the total number of wells here to 37 for this year.

But it’s not just the newest wells drilled in 2021 that are making an impact right now.

In 2020, Maranatha drilled a well at Sítio Curral de Baixo Church. There was another well in the area, operated by the city, but since then, that well has gone dry. City officials then asked the local Adventist church if residents could use the Maranatha well instead.

Now, hundreds more people are coming to the Adventist church each day to collect water.

Last year, Maranatha also drilled a

well at the Várzea da Caatinga Church.

Previously, the only source of water was a brown, dirty river. Since that time, the river has also gone dry. Now, the Maranatha well is the only source of water in the entire area, and hundreds of people make a daily trip to the Adventist church for this precious resource.

All of the wells Maranatha drills are free for the entire community to use. Each day in neighborhoods across Brazil, people arrive at the local Adventist church for water, creating

new relationships and evangelistic opportunities.

Through collaboration with local Adventist leadership, in 2011, Maranatha began working in Brazil and eventually completed more than 1,000 church and school projects. In 2019, Maranatha began to address a growing water crisis in the dry, northeastern region of the country by drilling water wells at Maranatha-built churches. So far, Maranatha has drilled more than 100 wells in the country.

served here during the previous two projects this spring and last fall. They are enthusiastic about all the progress they’ve seen and been a part of.

Twenty-two volunteers are brand new to Maranatha projects and are thoroughly enjoying this service opportunity.”

The hard work of the volunteers was not lost on Trevor Schlisner, youth director for the Seventh-day Adventist

Church in Northern New England, and Camp Lawroweld Director. “Every day I have to pinch myself that people would give up their time, energy, and money to give for the cause of Christ and children,” said Schlisner. “It’s surreal. The volunteers have made a huge difference here.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN MAINE

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aranatha wrapped its latest project at Camp Lawroweld in Maine, where 62 volunteers between the ages of seven and 78 completed a wide variety of tasks. One of the main projects was the gutting and renovation of the camp’s medical building, including electrical and plumbing. Volunteers also worked on repairing decks and boardwalks, pouring concrete foundations, and splitting and stacking firewood.

“The volunteers’ determination, energy, and commitment to tackle any task inspires me every day,” said project coordinator and Maranatha’s medical services coordinator, Susan Woods.

“We have about 20 volunteers who www.maranatha.org

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Ultimate Workout

Emerging into Connection in Kayenta

By Julie Z. Lee

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“What you did here is making a really big impact for generations to come.”

aranatha was in a bit of a panic. The 2021 Ultimate Workout, a mission trip for teens, needed a project. After having to cancel the mission trip last year, due to COVID, Maranatha was eager to start up again. But this year’s hope to go to Peru was shaky, as the country was still dealing with repercussions from COVID. “We felt it was unwise to continue planning a project in a country where we didn’t know the future of whether or not we’d be able to take the teens there,” says Rebekah Shephard, international volunteer manager. “We began to look at different opportunities where we could hold the project here in the United States.”

But where? It was at this juncture that the prayers of Maranatha began to intersect with the prayers of another mission organization.

About 900 miles from Maranatha’s headquarters in Northern California, Nancy Crosby, the Native ministries coordinator for the Nevada Utah Conference, had been waiting for an answer for her own prayer. After the devastating closure of Monument Valley Mission School in the 1990s—a place that had been a center of Seventh-day Adventist influence in the northern part of the Navajo Nation—Crosby had long dreamed of opening a new school. About 25 miles south, there was plenty of room at the Kayenta Adventist Church property, and she had chatted with Maranatha previously about helping, but the conference never had the money for construction, and Maranatha does not fundraise for projects in North America.

But in early 2021, as Maranatha was searching for an Ultimate Workout site, Kayenta came up as a possibility. After all, it was located in the Navajo Nation, a remote area with a distinctive culture and a variety of needs in the community. “It really is more of an international feel than some of those other locations that we were looking at. It provided a lot of opportunities for outreach, Vacation Bible School, construction, and a lot of elements we try to bring in for an Ultimate Workout,” says Shephard.

The problem was, still, the funding. Then, in what was a miracle, a donor stepped in to offer funding for the school and to provide a service opportunity for the youth.

Suddenly, Ultimate Workout had a project and Kayenta was getting a school.

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On this year’s Ultimate Workout, service consisted of four teams, through which all volunteers had the opportunity to rotate. The first team focused on the construction of the new school, which will be the only Adventist school in the region. Lorayne Whitehorse, who is a member of the Kayenta church, believes it will be an important part of sharing the Gospel in the area.

“When I was growing up, I never had the opportunity to learn about God. I never had the opportunity to appreciate that part of knowledge.

And I was introduced to Christianity after high school,” says Whitehorse. “So there are people like me that are ready to accept God, but we don’t know about Him. We don’t know He’s there for us. And I think the people here, even though they don’t speak English, even though they never knew about Jesus, somehow they are ready to learn.

They are ready to embrace Jesus Christ and what www.maranatha.org

He has done for us.”

Along with church construction, the teams also helped with three additional outreach tracks. One team offered healthy living seminars at a booth outside the supermarket and at the flea market.

There was also the Vacation Bible School team, which organized and ran a weeklong program for the local children. And finally a third team visited community homes to complete difficult physical tasks such as weeding, gardening, clearing the yard, painting, and helping with other maintenance.

Whitehorse, who had the volunteers help her with yardwork, said to the young people, “Your work, your effort, what you did here is making a really big impact for generations to come. Know that we appreciate all the effort that you put into this community, and we just love you to pieces.”

In total, during the project, the volunteers built 29 portions of exterior and interior walls for the new school, erected a greenhouse structure for

TEEN MISSION:

In July, 77 volunteers gathered in Kayenta, Arizona, to work on the construction of a school and various forms of community outreach.

PHOTO: CLAY KRUSE

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“The worships have been like nothing I’ve ever experienced... you feel the Holy Spirit there.”

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the church, completed outreach at 13 community homes, ran six days of Vacation Bible School, saw 215 people through the health program, and gave out 96 pairs of glasses. Plus, the kitchen crew served 2,588 meals.

It’s a long list of accomplishments for one project—ten days of transformation and hope.

“After Maranatha was here, the church members were just so—I could see they were excited again. It’s like they have that excitement that there is going to be a future,” says Crosby. “This is really like a new chapter and a new future that is very exciting.”

But no doubt, the greatest transformation took place in the volunteers themselves. Seventy‑seven people emerged from the most isolating experience in modern history and submerged themselves into service, community, and worship. It’s something that the leadership had doubts about. After 18 months of a pandemic and isolation, would teens still know how to connect?

“We kind of talked about it in our staff sessions before the teenagers got here.

What is going to be the impact or difference in this Ultimate Workout because of COVID and the pandemic?” says Dan Klein, a longtime volunteer leader for Ultimate Workout who managed construction on the project. “There was mixed feedback on what would happen, but I think most thought there was going to be an intensity of one direction or the other—it would either be more inclusive or more reclusive.”

It turned out there was nothing to worry about. On July 15, 2021, teens from all over the world arrived at the Phoenix airport. And from the moment they were picked up and loaded into vans, the volunteers chatted nonstop during their four‑hour drive to Kayenta, playing games and getting to know each other. The enthusiasm continued throughout the week.

Says Shephard, “This year, it just seems different. Even from the first night, the kids were singing in worship at the top of their lungs—like we’ve been here already a week and they’re already familiar with one another. They loved the icebreaker activities. They’re getting involved in worship. And that level of involvement, we don’t often see until, like, three or four or five days in. And here we’re seeing it from day one.”

Shephard thinks the intense camaraderie could be linked to the pandemic.

“One of the reasons that we think it might be is because of COVID and the

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effects that it’s had on teeagers and the isolation many of them have faced. And now they’re in a relatively safe group, because of the measures that we took, where they can really just interact and have fun with people their own age and see people from around the world and just get to be with their peers.”

It’d be one thing if the volunteers were hungry for only social interaction. But in this situation, they wanted something deeper; they were starving for connection with a spiritual community. Says Isabella Guerrero, a volunteer from Belgium, “Coming this year [to Ultimate Workout], especially after not going to church for a year and a half because it was shut down, I really hope to grow spiritually with God and reconnect with Him.” By the middle of the week, it was obvious that Guerrero wasn’t the only one seeking a faith community. Every night, the teens lingered long after worship, continuing to sing while preaching sermonettes at each other between songs. The energy was electric.

“I think what makes the Ultimate Workout thing so unique is because of how you can tell how genuinely everyone here wants to make a difference in the world, not only in their spiritual life, but in other people’s lives as well,” says Ella Kim, a first-time volunteer.

“The worships have been like nothing I’ve ever experienced… every night is like—you feel the Holy Spirit there. You know that God is in that place. You can feel His presence and the music, the speaking, just the whole atmosphere and the way that everyone has come together.

It’s amazing,” says Kayelynn Welty, another w w w . m a r a n a t h a . o r g

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first-time volunteer.

Brandon Westgate is one of the leaders and the pastor for Ultimate Workout, and as a pastor and longtime youth director, he has a special talent for connecting with young people. Westgate’s approach is that he won’t offer them solely feel‑good sermons about “fluffy bunnies” but real issues that will challenge minds and hearts. This year was no exception.

“So our theme this year is ‘Unity in Diversity,’ and while you could probably go a few different directions with that theme, we’ve decided to take a very direct approach because we recognized that a lot of our churches have suffered from division on numerous fronts—some caused by racial tension, some caused by political divisions and concerns over coronavirus,” says Westgate.

“We decided to really talk about real issues so that our young people will be able to have a safe place to talk about those things and work through those things.”

“Our World Church is divided on many fronts, and yet there is one thing that unites us, and it’s Christ and it’s the mission that Christ has just given us. And so just trying to refocus our young people back to a sense of commonality, back to a sense of unity, so that they can recognize that, hey, we may think differently about this, that, or the other, but ultimately in Christ, we’re united.”

The idea of this unity is woven throughout the mission trip. Teenagers have come from all walks of life, places, and cultures. There are volunteers from overseas, rural areas, big cities, public schools, academies, and homeschools. There are first-time volunteers and those on their last Ultimate Workout experience. There are young

SERVICE WITH A SMILE:

1 Ella Kim, on her first Ultimate Workout, builds a fence on a church member’s property as a member of the outreach team.

2 Volunteers assist with the construction of a greenhouse on the Kayenta Adventist Church property.

The food grown will provide food for the church’s community outreach projects.

3 Lorayne Whitehorse (center, white shirt) poses with the volunteers who spent hours on cleaning up her yard and garden.

4 Cameron Ray builds garden boxes for a family in Monument Valley.

PHOTOS: (1) DINA RAMIREZ (2) CLAY KRUSE (3-4) REBEKAH SHEPHARD

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“There is one thing that unites us, and it’s Christ, and it’s the mission that Christ has given us.”

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people sitting on top of the world with their life plans neatly set out before them.

And there are others who are on break from a messy homelife and an uncertain future. The differences are gaping. Vast.

But on Ultimate Workout, everyone’s the same. No one is judging differences.

If you were to peek into any of the daily worships, you would see people standing with their arms hooked over their neighbor’s shoulders, swaying to the music, everyone relishing the joy of service, communion, and God. They are a church, the way church should be—could be—full of diversity, vulnerability, strength, pain, joy, and ultimately, real connection.

Says Westgate, “I think when you’ve got young people together, all in one place, and you can create a safe space for them, then they are willing to be open. They are willing to be vulnerable. And they are willing to actually have discussions that they probably would never have at home, in their church or in their school or anywhere else.”

On the last Sabbath of the project, the volunteers met with the Kayenta congregation for worship in a tent that had been set up outdoors. On the first Sabbath, the volunteers led the service. This time, the Navajo members shared their testimonies and gave gratitude for the volunteers.

After church, everyone piled into a caravan of white vans to drive an hour north to Mexican Hat, Utah. It was there, in the warm, muddy San Juan River, that 17 teenagers committed their hearts to Jesus. There were so many kids that the pastor had them come into the river in small clusters. And when the very last person rose from the water, everyone cheered. The rest of her group welcomed her into their open arms as they hugged and jumped up and down.

The zeal was both jarring and profoundly moving—to see young people so excited for Jesus. It’s not the way you’d imagine teenagers to act after a baptism.

But it’s exactly the way you would imagine the reaction in heaven.

Watch a Maranatha Mission Stories episode about this project at maranatha.org/uwkayenta

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MONUMENTAL WORK:

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1 Wyatt Watson builds headers for the walls of the new school in Kayenta.

2 Brianna Pierson (orange crown) exudes joy with her VBS students and fellow volunteers.

This was her first project, and she loved how “it’s cool to be a Christian here.”

3 Nathaniel Clifton shows off his skills with a hammer on the construction site at the Kayenta Adventist Church.

4 Leela Cooper (left) and Martha Maranga haul bags of trash that they collected from a property that they helped to clean up as members of the outreach team.

5 The VBS location was isolated but stood against the grand backdrop of the iconic Monument Valley sandstone buttes. The team welcomed up to a dozen children each day.

6 Samuel MonteiroGomes was one of 17 teens who got baptized or rebaptized on the project. He said his fellow volunteers are “so caring and it’s amazing to be around such type of people.”

7 On the last Friday of the project, volunteers welcomed the Sabbath with an Agape Feast, followed by worship, communion, and foot washing ceremony.

PHOTOS: (1-4) JULIE LEE (5) CLAY KRUSE (6) REBEKAH SHEPHARD (7) JULIE LEE

A PATCH OF Hope How Maranatha’s work at a center for at-risk youth has sustained an important ministry for decades

By Dustin Comm

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“These buildings enable this institution to perform a great ministry, and our volunteers being a piece of that is huge.”

s a teenager, Christina Baxter had a habit of getting into trouble. A lot of trouble.

“There’s a lot of trauma from my childhood that led to my pre-teens…

I was skipping school, I got really into drugs, mostly pills and smoking,” said Christina Baxter. “There were a lot of issues I was having.”

Her mother, Jodie Baxter, tried to intervene, but Christina’s behavior continued until she was eventually kicked out of school. Jodie felt like there weren’t many other options—she needed help. Then, someone recommended Project Patch, a therapeutic residential treatment center for at-risk teens in the mountains of Idaho. Jodie decided to give it a try. She enrolled her daughter, and Christina spent a year on the campus, going to school and receiving counseling. It was an experience that not only led to her graduation from high school but a healthier approach to life. Christina was one of Project Patch’s many success stories.

“If you meet our kids, they are good kids,” says Project Patch CEO Chuck Hagele.

“The reality though is that a lot of good kids don’t have the skills to deal with life.

They’ve been faced with circumstances. Some of our kids have trauma. You know, they didn’t choose the place that they’re in and a lot of them just don’t have the skills to be able to navigate at that point. And so a lot of our kids are great kids that have turned to some really dark ways of dealing with their pain, self-harm, depression, anxiety, addictions. So they’re kids that need help, they need hope, finding a way to get out of that place that they’re in. They come here and hopefully during that time here, they get a spark of life. They get some skills on how to live, and they get an understanding that God’s got a plan for them.”

Since 1984, Project Patch has served thousands of struggling young people and their families, providing support, counseling, and 1 academics for kids who may not have many options left.

Beginning in the early 1990s, led by late Maranatha board member Ken Casper, Maranatha helped Project Patch with infrastructure, constructing many of the buildings on campus.

That partnership continues today, with volunteers recently completing the re-siding of several buildings over the course of two projects between July and October.

Among their number: Christina and Jodie, this time as a volunteer and a staff member, respectively. Christina’s time living at Patch yielded new perspective on life and a desire to give back. Jodie’s exposure to the ministry ended up leading to a new job working with kids just like her daughter.

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“Maranatha being here, volunteering all their time and making improvements, shows myself, the staff and our kids, our residents, that people care—they really care. It’s not just a bad, cold world full of just bad, selfish, cold people.

People genuinely want to help and I know in my personal life, my daughter, who’s currently living in Washington, she wanted to come and see me here. And I told her, ‘I can’t take time off because we have Maranatha here, and they’re working on our campus.’ And she said, ‘That’s all right. How about if I volunteer and I give back with them?’”

Christina joined a passionate group of Maranatha volunteers who not only replaced old siding, but also applied fresh paint in the boys and girls dorms, and completed other miscellaneous tasks like pressure washing, staining wood, cleaning, and re-organizing.

Maranatha’s Director of North America Projects David Woods led the construction side of the first project, and he knows that the goals of the renovation go well beyond simply providing a new exterior. “If you’re trying to help a kid get their life in order, with the chaos that they may have come from, when the buildings are tidy and in good condition, that has an impact on the psyche of those who live here and work here,” said Woods. “Our volunteers aren’t just here installing new siding—these buildings enable this institution to perform a great ministry, and our volunteers being a piece of that is huge.”

The labor Maranatha volunteers give also www.maranatha.org

provides a lift for Patch’s staff. Caring for and guiding young people is a time-intensive job, and although the staff see the facilities in need of repair or updates, realistically, they don’t have the time to do anything about it. Volunteers take that weight off their shoulders, driven by the knowledge that they are helping to support a ministry that is changing kids’ lives.

“I think once someone comes here and they see our kids, they see what’s happening for kids, there’s a lot of Maranatha people that feel a lot of pain for children that they feel are lost,” said Hagele. “Whether it’s their own children that are struggling or they see kids in their church that they’ve lost hope for. And so I think part of why they come back year after year as a partnership is that this feels like, maybe they can’t serve that kid that’s struggling, but they can do something about it. It’s been a partnership where I think they’re in it as much as we are for the kids’ sake—they just express it through hammers and saws and hard work, not necessarily through the counseling and those kinds of things, but [it’s] the same level of care.”

Watch a Maranatha Mission Stories episode about this project at maranatha.org/patch2021

RENEWED:

1 Jodie Baxter’s daughter, Christina (left), struggled through her teen years, leading Jodie to take her to Project Patch.

2 Project Patch CEO Chuck Hagele is thankful for the partnership with Maranatha that has spanned three decades and provided much of the ministry’s infrastructure.

3 Ron Miller came all the way from Guam to volunteer, but he’s no stranger to Project Patch—he worked here for more than 15 years.

He was there as a staff member for Maranatha’s first projects at Patch in the early 1990s.

4 The primary focus of recent projects at Patch has been to replace worn siding on several of the buildings on the property. Volunteers also applied fresh paint in the dorms, cleaned, stained wood, and other miscellaneous tasks.

PHOTOS: (1-2) LEO MACIAS, (3-4) DUSTIN COMM

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THE ROUGH ROAD TO MISSIONS How one volunteer found purpose and family with Maranatha

By Dustin Comm

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n July 2021, volunteer Keenan Putansu hitchhiked from the Oregon coast to Garden Valley, Idaho, where Maranatha was be re‑siding several buildings at a center for at-risk teens called Project Patch. This wasn’t Putansu’s first time hitchhiking, and it wouldn’t be his last. Over his lifetime, Putansu hasn’t always traveled the easy road. He’s had to navigate childhood pain, adolescent miscues, and adult addictions. Along the way, he’s been left without a home, shipwrecked at sea, and incarcerated.

Born as the last child in a family of four kids, Putansu’s family moved to Eureka, California, when he was one year old. It would be in this foggy coastal town where his spiritual foundation was laid, largely by his grandmother. “Every Sunday, religiously, we would go to church.

She would pick all four of us up, we’d go to Calvary Lutheran Church, go get bubble gum ice cream [afterward], and then go watch a Walt Disney movie.”

Putansu’s father was a fisherman and an alcoholic. He has memories of driving to the local bar in the family station wagon so his mother could remove a part from his father’s parked car, rendering it useless. Each summer, starting at age seven, Putansu’s mother sent him to a different relative in Oregon or Washington to shield him from his father’s alcohol problem. “I was segregated out from the other kids—they were older...I don’t know why I was the fortunate one to

“I was making bad choices,

hanging out with the wrong people.

[There was] peer pressure, rebellion, a torn family—and it continued all the way to adulthood.”

go away every summer, but I look back and feel like maybe it was so that I didn’t see the problems.”

When Putansu was in fifth grade, his parents divorced. In seventh grade he began experimenting with illegal substances, eventually selling them.

In ninth grade, he was kicked out of school. In tenth grade, Putansu ended up in juvenile hall. As he progressed through his teen years, the faith of his childhood waned. “I was making bad choices, hanging out with the wrong people. [There was] peer pressure, rebellion, a torn family—and it continued all the way to adulthood.”

As a young man, Putansu pursued the occupation of his father as a fisherman.

Connections to his father’s coworkers landed him a job in the very same waters where his dad had worked before retiring. Putansu was good at it—he was known as one of the best deckhands and cooks in the region. But his drug addiction often got in the way, hindering his ability to work, and making him do things that eventually led to multiple stints in prison.

In 2017, after struggling with the effects of his addiction for nearly 30 years, Putansu decided to make a change. “I had a drug problem, I was living in somebody’s garage—I was going nowhere. And finally, I just packed a bag, stuck my thumb out [to hitchhike], and got out.” Putansu spent time in Astoria, Oregon, but he didn’t have identification, making it hard to find new employment. In the meantime, he earned money by collecting cans to be recycled.

Later he moved down the coast to Lincoln City, where he found daily refuge in a local resource center. “If it’s 40 degrees or less, they let you sleep inside. You can wash your clothes, have lunch, and take a nap.” Over time, one of the staff there

16 | THE VOLUNTEER I S S U E 4, 2021 w w w . m a r a n a t h a . o r g

helped Putansu secure a new ID, allowing him to apply for jobs more easily. During this time, every day after lunch, he helped clean up the resource center by clearing tables and putting chairs away.

On January 3, 2018, he found himself there again with a woman named Brenda, who he’d cleaned with many times. Brenda had a personal connection to someone who offered an opportunity. She asked Putansu if he would like to live on six acres of land, stay in a 25-foot trailer, and cut firewood for his rent. He thought he might cry.

That night, he took a bus to Waldport, Oregon, and met the property owner, Lyle Beard. It was true—Beard would allow him to live on his property and pay his rent by working on a variety of projects. “He brought me to paradise.”

Beard was a Seventh-day Adventist, and a Maranatha volunteer. In 2019, when Beard heard of Maranatha’s effort to construct storage sheds for fire survivors in Paradise, California, he tried recruiting people to come along, without success.

Putansu volunteered, figuring he’d be helping to build possibly a dozen sheds. Over the course of three Maranatha projects, Putansu ended up helping to construct 452 sheds for the residents of Paradise, finding purpose and joy in the work along the way.

The satisfaction he found at Paradise—helping others, using his skills, and working hard alongside others—was exciting. Putansu discovered something new on these Maranatha projects—a community who seemed to care for him and a new outlook on life. “You go to [a] Maranatha [project], it’s crazy—everybody is happy to stop and take time to talk to you, take time out to tell their story, nobody’s in that big of a hurry, other than trying to get something done. It’s pretty enlightening to be a part of something like this.”

From taking in wisdom from those with more experience, to picking up carpentry tricks, to listening to spiritual advice from fellow volunteers, Putansu is eating up his Maranatha experience, and he’s excited for the future. With each project since Paradise, the relationships have deepened, and Putansu’s sense of belonging grows stronger.

“Every episode [in life], I’ve been by myself, but all of a sudden, here’s another episode in life with a whole bunch of people I know. I know these people—there’s over a dozen people here that were in Paradise.”

Serving at Project Patch was especially gratifying for Putansu, knowing that the recipients of his labor are young people dealing with similar challenges he had growing up. Toward the end of his time at Patch, Putansu had the opportunity to www.maranatha.org

1

2

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speak to the resident boys. He talked about his own teen years, his decisions, his time in prison, and rehabilitation from his addiction. He challenged them to live differently, to learn from past mistakes, and to use them to move forward, just as he has.

“I know God’s not done with me. People think I’m old at 58—I’m not old, I ride a bike all the time, I’m healthy...God has a plan. And Maranatha, meeting Lyle Beard—[there’s] all of these stepping stones to get [where I’m at]. I didn’t know I was getting here. I’m thankful for all of the hardships that I did have or otherwise I would have never found this.”

When the project in Idaho ended, Putansu anticipated his travel to the next one at the Cañon City Seventh-day Adventist Church in Colorado.

He didn’t know how exactly he’d get there or who he’d travel with, but no matter what, he knew God would bring him through, just as he had before.

He’s committed to serving with Maranatha like his life depends on it.

“When I stuck my thumb out, I knew God had a reason for me to live. [Maranatha] has given me a foundation. Something to believe in. Something to work for, something to look forward to.”

GIVING BACK:

1 Keenan Putansu measures and cuts siding at Project Patch in Idaho in August 2021.

2 Though his life hasn’t always been easy, Putansu is thankful for where God has placed him now: serving wherever he can with Maranatha.

3 Once alone, Putansu now feels a strong sense of community through the Maranatha volunteers he works alongside.

PHOTOS: (1,3) DUSTIN COMM, (2) LEO MACIAS

T H E V O L U N T E E R ISSUE 4, 2021 | 1 7

Caravan with a Mission Photo by Sam Kinuthia

I

n October, a Maranatha crew started a five day journey across the length of Kenya, including desert stretches with no roads or lodging. The mission? To bring water to the Daasanach tribe in northern Kenya. This is an isolated people group who have been suffering through years of drought. They are desperate for clean water, but the logistics of drilling in this area, called Ileret, are difficult because of its remote location. After hearing of the Daasanach’s plight, Maranatha spent years coordinating a plan that included bringing along all the fuel, food, and other supplies the crew would need to make the long trip there and back. God was with them, and they successfully drilled five new wells during the project.

HOW YOU’VE

Helped

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

KAMELIL, KENYA

BEFORE Members of the Inyambo Seventh-day Adventist Church worshipped under this tree.

BUILDING YOUR

AFTER A new One-Day Church from Maranatha has provided the congregation with a sturdy frame and roof, where they can worship protected from the elements.

Legacy

In June 1973, Larry and Shirley Panasuk flew in a private plane to Northwest Territories, Canada, to participate in Maranatha’s earliest flagship project constructing the Yellowknife Seventh-day Adventist Church. Over the course of three weeks, the two labored through 8-hour shifts during the long summer days. The project garnered attention from the global Church, and left an indelible mark on the Panasuks.

In retirement, the two began regularly volunteering with Maranatha; they were especially drawn to projects overseas—the couple spent 18 years abroad working for the US government in foreign service. “When you serve with Maranatha, you see the purpose for why we go and do what we do,” says Shirley. “Everyone is of the same mind, no one is fighting, everyone is doing what they’re supposed to do, and the camaraderie is fantastic. And to see the joy on the people’s faces,” Shirley tears up. “They can’t thank you enough...I think it will be what heaven is like.”

Seeing the results of their hard work and donations over the years prompted the Panasuks to make a significant gift last

year. As a CD was coming due, they reminisced on the higher interest rates of years past.

“Money has no value now,” says Larry. “In the mid-80s when interest rates were so high, you could earn 16% interest on a CD. [Last year we had a] CD coming due, and I said, ‘Let’s just write a check to Maranatha.’”

“Soon the money won’t be worth anything anyway,” says Shirley. “We need to see that His work goes on. Some of these people are worshipping under trees. We are sitting in these big churches where there is heat on and a roof over our heads—we need to get out of our comfort zone...Giving brings joy. You know what is going to happen with your money [through Maranatha]. Maybe we will even see people in the Kingdom because we have given money for projects. Whether you find out in heaven or here on earth, it’s a joy to give.”

PROJECTS THAT NEED YOUR HELP

This year, Maranatha is working in 10 countries to provide churches, schools, and water wells to communities in need. Here are a few programs that urgently need your prayers and financial support.

PERU CHURCHES

After a pause in construction due to COVID, Maranatha crews have been working diligently to build churches in Peru. Volunteers have also started serving in the country once more, and Maranatha is scheduled to welcome multiple mission trips to build churches in 2022. However, some of these projects still need funding. Peru’s membership is passionate about sharing the Gospel, and the work is resulting in a need for more churches! Call Maranatha to learn about the cost of sponsoring a church in Peru.

KENYA ONE-DAY CHURCHES

As the Good News continues to be shared in the remote corners of Kenya, the need for One-Day Churches continues to grow. This year, Maranatha is on track to build 125 One-Day Churches in Kenya.

One-Day Churches have a galvanized metal frame and roof, providing a place of worship in the most desolate areas, where traditional construction is nearly impossible. A One-Day Church is $7,500 for full sponsorship, and you can also sponsor a share for $1,500. Or you can make a general donation in any amount for Kenya One-Day Churches.

INDIA CHURCHES

Churches have been a significant part of Maranatha’s work in India for more than 20 years, and the emphasis isn’t changing now! Christianity is only growing in India, and many of the congregations need a place of worship. Help us to continue this good work with donations for churches in India. Churches in India are $30,000, and they include a foundation, walls, windows, doors, roof, and portico. You can fund an entire church or you can make a donation in any amount for India churches. www.maranatha.org

Countries

I N 202 1

Here’s where Maranatha is working this year.

BOLIVIA BRAZIL CANADA CÔTE D’IVOIRE CUBA INDIA KENYA PERU UNITED STATES ZAMBIA

CHURCHES SCHOOLS WATER WELLS CAMPS

P ROJ ECT

Check out our upcoming opportunities here or go to maranatha.org for the most updated list.

Please note, projects are subject to schedule adjustments due to restrictions or complications that may arise from COVID.

Calendar

DATE

PROJECT NAME

PLACE

LEADERS

SCOPE

Mar. 10 - 22, 2022

Kenya Project

KAJIADO, KENYA

Loretta Spivey, Terry Dewitt

School construction

Apr. 17 - 28, 2022

Camp Yavapines Project

ARIZONA, USA

Carolyn Houghton, Charley Chavez

Camp renovations

May 18 - Jun. 2, 2022

Project Patch Project

IDAHO, USA

Doug and Melody Wheeler, Jon Yarlott

Painting, renovations

May 26 - Jun. 7, 2022

Kenya Project

KAJIADO, KENYA

Loretta Spivey

School construction

Jun. 16 - 26, 2022

Family Project Peru

AREQUIPA, PERU

Steve Case, Danny Poljak

Church construction

Jun. 22 - July 6, 2022

Upper Columbia Academy Project

WASHINGTON, USA

Cathie Clark, Jon Yarlott

Painting, renovations

July, 2022

Young Adult Project

ICA, PERU

TBD

School painting, outreach

Jul. 20 - 31, 2022

Ultimate Workout 32

TACNA, PERU

Rebekah Shephard, Loretta Spivey

Church construction, outreach

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 October through December.

KENYA | SAGE Team | Washington

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CALIFORNIA, USA Dina Ramirez concentrates on cutting cedar boards for the new ceiling at the Meadow Vista Seventh‑day Adventist Church. She was one of the 26 volunteers who helped with the renovation of the sanctuary in October. The team helped to not only install a new ceiling, they also constructed housing for new HVAC ducts and started building the new church platform.

Meadow Vista is one of 20 projects that took place in the United States this year. Work included renovations at camp and retreat centers, churches, and school campuses with a couple of projects involving construction of entirely new structures from the ground up. www.maranatha.org

Photo by Lisandro Staut T H E V O L U N T E E R ISSUE 4, 2021 | 2 3

Non-Profit U.S. Postage

PAID

Roseville, CA Permit No. 111

990 Reserve Drive, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95678

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

HOW TO WATCH BROADCAST CHANNELS (all times PT)

You’re invited to an inspiring Sabbath event, celebrating the power of service and its impact around the world. Featuring stories of hope from the mission field, volunteer testimonies, and music from The Aeolians, the award-winning choir of Oakwood University.

Come celebrate missions and learn how you can be part of this amazing work to share the Gospel through service.

GO MARANATHA! March 26, 2022 2:30-5:00 p.m.

ICCM Theater & Event Center 6425 Lee Hwy Chattanooga, Tennessee

Admission is free. maranatha.org/gomaranatha

3ABN Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, 2:00 p.m.

Hope Channel Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.

Friday, 8:30 a.m.

Sunday, 8:30 p.m.

ON DEMAND

The Maranatha Channel App Download our app at the App Store and Google Play. watch.maranatha.org View all episodes online at Maranatha’s video website. Find segments by using our “Search” function.

Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV Download The Maranatha Channel to watch all current and archived episodes and other videos on demand.

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