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Maranatha’s medical services coordinator grew up as a missionary kid in Asia, and later took her own family into the mission field to serve in several countries around the globe. Over her lifetime she’s experienced a wide range of danger and harrowing situations, from wartime air raids to local violence, and even attempted break-ins and muggings. But she’s also seen how God has been faithful to her and her family as they have worked to expand God’s kingdom. There are three themes she’s found to be true in her life of service, and in this episode she talks about them. 1) “God keeps you safe wherever you are.” 2) “The mission is wherever God puts you.” 3) God equips you for what he calls you for.”
Susan shares her life journey through childhood living in Asia, having her first baby in Africa, losing a baby to a rare heart defect, and having two more kids that spent time in the mission field. She also reflects on how God gave her family the desires of their hearts when things didn’t make sense initially, and how she processed difficult moments over the years. She explains her current work for Maranatha as a medical services coordinator, and how a request for a medical clinic turned into a memorial to their late daughter.
“Rachelle’s Place of Healing” segment: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e39-1 (go to 15:00 to watch that segment only)
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Maranatha’s vice president for volunteers explains his unlikely path to missions, from his reputation as a teen troublemaker to pursuing ministry—much to the surprise of those around him. He reflects on the labels others put on him, and a crucial moment where he tested God with his future. Lisandro went on to study theology and journalism in Brazil, working in marketing for his academy alma mater, his university alma mater, a local conference, and eventually, Adventist media giant Novo Tempo. His career trajectory was set to the highest levels of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church, but Lisandro chose a different path that ultimately led him to short term missions with Maranatha.
The guys talk about how his denominational experience helped him in his current role serving volunteers, what his goal is for each volunteer that serves with Maranatha, and how he sees himself in the teen volunteers that come on Ultimate Workout, our annual teens-only mission trip. Lisandro lays out why short term missions are valuable, addresses a criticism of short term missions, and how volunteers come alongside communities to be a part of what God is already doing there.
Watch the story of the Serraria Seventh-day Adventist Church, the congregation served by a volunteer group that Lisandro led: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e48-1 The segment on Serraria starts around 19:00.
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Fehlende Folgen?
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Long-time Maranatha volunteer turned staff member talks about her transition from serving with the organization to working for it. She recounts how she first got into short term missions, how it has impacted herself and her family, and why she has a passion for using service to reach youth. She describes Maranatha’s 2024 high school mission trip to the Andes mountains of Peru, Ultimate Workout, including an extraordinary story of answered prayer. You can watch Ultimate Workout volunteer, Mary Arrick, tell her testimony that Dina references here: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/cv24b-arrick
Dina talks about how she’s grown closer to God through Maranatha, and why mission trips seem to put people in just the right place to connect with God in new ways. She shares her most recent project in the Dominican Republic, working on the Ciudad del Cielo School, dedicated to the memory of Maranatha’s late vice president of projects, Darrell Hardy.
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Three of Maranatha’s volunteer support staff join us for our first-ever panel! Maria Molleda from Peru, Alice Danla in India, and Kotesh Rao in Kenya, talk about the other side of the mission trip from what volunteers see. From booking hotels and excursions, to orchestrating outreach opportunities like medical clinics or Vacation Bible School, these people go to great lengths to make sure everything is ready for our volunteers when they arrive.
They talk about the lack of sleep during projects, the importance of prayer, back-up plans, and the ways they try to influence a project spiritually. Over the years, our volunteer support staff have formed deep bonds with volunteers, who have inspired them in return. Maria, Kotesh, and Alice also share how they have seen Maranatha mission trips transform volunteers and reflect on how they’ve grown closer to God through all of their missions experience.
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Maranatha’s president since the early 80’s, Don tells the story of how God called him to a small, fledgling organization called “Maranatha Flights International,” the original name for Maranatha. He shares how he listened for God’s leading in that initial decision, and how he has stayed attuned to God’s direction in every decision for Maranatha since. He explains how Maranatha interacts with the Adventist World Church, from the division level down, to respond to official requests for help through the construction of churches, schools, and water wells.
Don describes one of the most dicey non-volunteer projects he experienced while in Afghanistan in the early 2000’s. On this trip he got severely sick, to the point that a General Conference vice president stayed up with him through the night because he thought Don might die. He recounts a car attack in Haiti, and explains why there are certain countries that Maranatha will not send volunteers if it’s not safe.
Without a construction background, Don remembers early doubters saying he was the wrong man for the job. He talks about his initial commission by Maranatha’s board to “make it fly,” and how it’s his same job description today. After merging with an organization called “Volunteers International” in 1989, “Maranatha Volunteers International” took on a watershed project in the Dominican Republic where Maranatha constructed 25 churches in 70 days. This showed Maranatha and the Church that the organization was capable of more. Don also considers what he’s learned about God, and about himself over four decades of service through Maranatha.
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Maranatha’s vice president of projects describes his first day visiting the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya, in what would become a six-year project he oversaw. He recalls his initial reactions to the plight of these Maasai girls who ran away from their homes to escape female genital mutilation and child marriage. The guys discuss what it’s like for these girls as they escape, not knowing where they’re going, and somehow end up at the Kajiado center. It becomes their new home as they are not welcome back in their village.
Kyle explains how Maranatha’s scope of work started by simply providing adequate sleeping and bathing arrangements with new dorms. Over time, it grew to include much more infrastructure, including a high school. He also recounts a critical moment in the project, where campus water was needed, but geological reports indicated it was unlikely to be found. One of the special aspects of this long-term project was the hundreds of volunteers who came, sometimes on multiple mission trips, to help build the campus. These visits allowed opportunities for volunteers to serve as positive role models, providing advice and perspectives on endless possibilities for the girls’ bright new futures.
Television episodes about the Kajiado School:
Transformation at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/maranatha-mission-stories/videos/mms11e50-1
A Refuge of Hope: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms907
New Life at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms910
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This audio story is about the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya. It’s a haven for Maasai girls, sometimes as young as six years old, who are escaping child marriage and a dangerous ritual called female genital mutilation (FGM). Maranatha dedicated the campus in July 2024 after six years of completely transforming the property, but in this story you'll hear what life was like at Kajiado closer to the beginning of Maranatha’s involvement. You'll also take in the depth of the connections formed between Maranatha volunteers and Kajiado students—a microcosm of the hundreds of volunteers that would end up serving on this project over the years.
Television episodes about the Kajiado School:
Transformation at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/maranatha-mission-stories/videos/mms11e50-1
A Refuge of Hope: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms907
New Life at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms910Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!
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Jason is the Executive Director of Clinic Operations at Loma Linda University Health in California, but talks about life as a missionary kid in Malawi, and his subsequent return in adulthood as the CEO of the Malamulo Adventist Hospital. He describes his journey in-between and how volunteering on short-term mission trips ignited a passion to help facilitate medical care for others as a career. He reflects on his first Maranatha project in Zimbabwe and the second in Malawi, where God confirmed his path back “home.”
Jason talks about his family’s transition to living in Malawi, including his kids, who were around the same age as he was when he lived there in childhood. He also describes his experience at the Malamulo Hospital and how it benefited him in his future work in healthcare in the United States. He closes with advice for people considering coming on a Maranatha project.
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A long-time Maranatha volunteer and leader, Greg explains how he first got into missions, influenced by his parents and uncle, Maranatha board member, Roger Hatch. He reflects on the first mission trip he led solo, how he’s improved in handling interpersonal conflicts on a project, how he’s become more efficient in anticipating needs on the construction site, and how he delegates leadership tasks amongst his team. Greg shares how crucial the pre-mission trip site visits are, why it’s important for volunteers to understand who they’re serving on a project, and how he prepares them to return to normal life back home.
Greg recounts his experience serving in Côte d’Ivoire in March 2020 as the world shut down due to COVID, as well as one of his most challenging projects he’s ever led, which took place in Ecuador in 2007. He gives advice to aspiring mission trip leaders and explains why he always uses Maranatha to facilitate his mission trips.
Watch the television episode that includes Greg’s group getting out of Côte d’Ivoire as the world shut down due to COVID: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e02
Clarification: Dustin couldn’t remember exactly, but speculated that Maranatha might have constructed around 180 houses in Dominica in 1980. The correct number is 110. Later, Maranatha built 160 houses in the Dominican Republic.
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At the age of 11, Nancy’s family moved to Bangkok, Thailand, to serve as missionaries. She reflects on what it was like to grow up as a missionary kid, how her identity came to be more Thai than American, and how she struggled to assimilate into American culture as a young adult in the United States. Thinking she was more Asian than American, she signed up to be a student missionary in Hong Kong, only to realize that she didn’t really fit into Asia how she thought she could either. This started a decade-long process of coming to terms with being a “third culture” kid, in which the different cultures one is raised in shape a person in a unique way.
After retiring from a career in education, Nancy was invited to serve on a Maranatha volunteer project in the United States, and got hooked. Over the course of two years she’s served on 14 projects in North America and has even stepped into leadership roles on different projects. She describes this community as her “church” and says interacting with volunteers is her favorite part of the work. Nancy also talks about how she’s growing into the spiritual nurturer role while leading Maranatha projects.
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Currently the coordinator for the Ending Homelessness Initiative for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Joelle previously served as the Director of Disaster Recovery & Development for the Paradise Seventh-day Adventist Church in California. She worked closely with Maranatha after the Camp Fire of 2018, which at the time was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history, and the most expensive natural disaster in the world in 2018 as far as insured losses. Over the course of several projects in Paradise, Maranatha constructed 452 storage sheds for survivors of the fire, who were living on their burnt properties with no place to store their belongings.
Joelle recounts the day of the fire, November 8, 2018, what it was like escaping the flames with her family, and the subsequent aftermath. She recalls the moment when she felt called to do more to help her community and how she grew into her role with the Paradise Church despite no disaster recovery experience. She talks about the inspiration for the Maranatha shed project and how she helped to coordinate hundreds of volunteers across multiple projects. She also discusses how she’s had to redefine the term “missions” since her community outreach work began, understanding that a person can serve locally without having to travel internationally.
Watch two episodes of our television program, “Maranatha Mission Stories,” on the Paradise Shed Projects:
https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms10e07
https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e03
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Since 1992 Steve has run his own ministry, “Involve Youth,” speaking for youth events, conducting training seminars for youth leaders, creating youth ministry resources, and teaching youth ministry professionals. He’s an author of many books and coordinates the Intergenerational Church cohort for Andrews University’s Doctor of Ministry program. He’s been instrumental in helping to craft the experience for Maranatha’s annual mission trip for high schoolers, Ultimate Workout (UW), and helped to start Maranatha’s collegiate and annual Family Projects.
Steve reflects on how he first got into youth ministry, how much he and his youth changed in serving on those first mission trips, and at a fundamental level, what the goal of missions is. He describes his first UW experience, which was actually the third UW, and how the program was almost shut down. He reflects on how the tragic death of volunteer Alex Williams was a galvanizing force for UW as a movement; in the first couple of years, there were 20-30 volunteers, but the next year there were 70 kids who applied, many citing the legacy of Alex and wanting to make a real difference in the world.
Steve explains why the mission trip environment, with new people and new places, is the perfect setting for teens to discover more about their identity, and how the world around teens has changed in his decades of ministry. He discusses how leaders can approach volunteers who may cause problems for others, and how he begins to prepare a group for a return home from the mountaintop experience of a mission trip. Steve talks about why he eventually felt the need to step away from UW and how he tackled the challenge of leading new age groups when he was asked to create a collegiate and family project mission trips for Maranatha.
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How do you curate a volunteer experience that makes people want to come back time after time? Our VP of Advancement shares how Maranatha has worked to provide mission trips that make a difference in the lives of project recipients, as well as the volunteers doing the work. Karen’s journey with Maranatha started in 1989 in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and in this episode she shares what projects were like in those early days and how they’ve evolved. She recounts the first large-scale project for Maranatha in 1992, when they recruited 1,200 volunteers in just five months to construct 25 churches over 70 days in the Dominican Republic. She also reflects on just how impactful these mission trips have been to volunteers, even those who are rediscovering their faith.
Karen talks about how Maranatha has intentionally shaped its projects to provide participants with the space to reflect on their experience, connect with each other, and how making accommodations more comfortable at times has removed barriers to participation for some people. She explains how anyone, no matter their skillset, age, or experience, can be an effective volunteer on a Maranatha project, and why she believes people continue to return year after year.
Karen references a testimony from Sondra Godfrey in which she shares how anyone can serve on a Maranatha mission trip. You can watch that testimony here: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/cv23b-godfrey
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Laura has worked for Maranatha in Donor Relations for years, but there was a time when she never thought she’d work for such a ministry. Her early career in software sales was lucrative, allowing her to rub shoulders with California's rich and famous. Yet, she wasn’t happy. Her job lacked purpose, she couldn’t find meaningful connections in her relationships, and the faith of her youth was a faded memory. In a low point, she was reminded of an influential figure from earlier in life, Don Noble (Maranatha’s President). She reached out, in what would be the start of a transformational journey that would see her travel around the globe with Maranatha, find love, renew her faith, and connect with countless people also changed by the mission.
Laura talks about her journey outside the church and how a trip to Cuba started the process of bringing her back. She shares what it’s been like to visit potential project sites Maranatha is considering, including when we have to say “no” to a project request. She reflects on some of the unique settings, people, and places she’s experienced over the years. The conversation closes with her recent mission trip to the Dominican Republic to help construct a large school building in the neighborhood of “Ciudad del Cielo.”
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Our VP of marketing shares her journey in telling the story of Maranatha through print, TV, and more. What’s it like to capture the essence of people in need halfway around the world? What goes through the mind of a field producer as they’re curating a story for television? Julie shares her experience in navigating delicate topics and intentionally writing to help broaden her readers’ worldview, as well as some of the most impactful stories she’s worked on and how all of these experiences have shaped her as a person.
Julie’s storytelling extends beyond traditional communication mediums, to a large convention she plans each year called “Mission: Maranatha,” which has attracted up to 2,000 attendees or more. She explains what goes on behind the scenes to pull off a successful and meaningful event of this size.
Julie also describes how she was touched on a recent trip to India at the Binjipali Adventist School, where the living conditions for students are horrid. She relates that knowing just how different things will be once Maranatha is finished on a project like this gives her a sense of anticipatory joy.
Read Julie’s magazine story about Karl Schwinn and Maranatha’s work in Afghanistan here: https://maranatha.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Mission-Pilot-Karl-Schwinn-CORRECT.pdf
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Go behind the camera with our director of television, who breaks down how we produce a TV program in the mission field. It’s a balance of logistics, planning, and keeping your eye open for just the right story. Christina has been filming and producing programming for Maranatha since the early 2000’s and has experienced it all, from embedding with a well-drilling crew in the bush of Mozambique, to rescuing a Maasai girl in Kenya from female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage.
She shares how important the producer’s role is in creating a story from scratch, knitting the components of visual footage, character interviews, and overall story arc into a final product. Christina also explains the other types of media she collects on a trip outside of the episode she’s producing, the post-production process for TV after the trip is over, and how being a part of these stories has impacted her life.
Here’s the two TV episodes of “Maranatha Mission Stories” that highlight the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya:
https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms910
https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms907
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In our first field episode, Dustin Comm talks to our country manager for Zambia under a mango tree at the Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church, during a mission trip where Maranatha volunteers were constructing a medical clinic in October 2023.
Luke’s career started in India’s corporate world, but the toll it took on him prompted a change. Working in construction for Maranatha offered him the chance to travel and take photos, one of his passions. Luke started off working as a construction supervisor in southern India. Later, he took his young family to live in the second-smallest country in Africa, the island-nation of São Tomé and Príncipe as Maranatha’s country director there. He talks about the challenges of transitioning to a new place far from home with a foreign language. He describes the first steps Maranatha takes when establishing itself in a country, before volunteers have come for mission trips. He also shares how he and his wife, who were not Seventh-day Adventist, began to diligently study with the conference president in São Tomé, who baptized them in the ocean.
Eventually Luke took his family to mainland Africa where he currently manages Maranatha’s operations in Zambia. He talks about some of the needs there, like clean water and basic health care. He reflects on how difficult it is when, from time to time, the well-drilling team doesn’t hit water, including the heartbreak of facing a village to tell them the news. Luke also shares some of the current projects Maranatha is working on in Zambia, including the Sala and Mwami Adventist Schools, and the Bethel clinic project.
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Maranatha's country director in Peru shares how he started in the mission field as a 20-year old missionary to Mozambique. Elmer recalls how he constructed hundreds of Maranatha's One-Day Churches in both Mozambique and Brazil, and how the COVID pandemic affected the work in Peru, including dramatic escapes by two Maranatha volunteer groups before the country shut down in March 2020. He also talks about the exciting work Maranatha is beginning in the Amazon jungle of Peru, where, without roads, materials must be shipped on a river barge on a seven-day journey to reach congregations waiting for help. Unfortunately we were short on time for this episode, and look forward to the next opportunity to hear much more of Elmer's story!
To watch the TV episode about the initial COVID pandemic shutdowns in Peru and elsewhere, and how they affected Maranatha volunteer groups, click here: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e02
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Our country director for the Dominican Republic shares his lifelong journey in missions, from a missionary’s kid in the north of Brazil, to Africa and the Middle East as an administrator for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and now in the Caribbean for Maranatha. Gilberto talks about the advantages and challenges of raising kids in the mission field, the unique blessings and difficulties it presents, and the lessons he’s learned from a full career of service abroad.
Gilberto also reflects on how he grew as a leader without an abundance of mentorship and why some of his fondest memories are actually the places where he faced the most challenges. He recalls how he first connected to Maranatha as a liaison from the Church, just how difficult the work is in the Middle East, and what it was like surviving violence in Togo.
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Dustin Comm sits down with Maranatha’s country director in India, who shares his journey from a Himalayan town in northern India to becoming a Seventh-day Adventist and eventually working for Maranatha for the past 23 years.
Vinish talks about his initial experience with Maranatha as a translator for a large project called “India 2000,” working as a volunteer support person thereafter, and the big-picture impact Maranatha has had across the country since then.
The guys discuss the recent work in the mountainous state of Manipur where transportation is difficult, the variety of ways that Maranatha has provided clean water across India over the years, and how the COVID pandemic was particularly difficult for our in-country crews there.
Vinish also talks about the current work at the Binjipali Adventist School, and the extraordinary story of the Jingshai Mihngi Adventist School which sat directly next to an open sewer line.
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