Maranatha Volunteers International
Encyclopedia
Maranatha Volunteers International (Maranatha) is a non-profit Christian
organization founded in 1969 and is based in Sacramento, California
USA with offices in Canada
, Latin America
, India
and Mozambique
.
It is a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
with the primary focus of organizing volunteers
to build churches and schools in developing nations.
This idea expanded to other projects involving volunteers flying their private planes to locations to build churches and was organized into Maranatha Flights International based in Berrien Springs, Michigan
.
In 1989 Maranatha Flights International merged with Volunteers International under the new name of Maranatha Volunteers International and moved the headquarters to Sacramento, California.
In its 40 year history more than 60,000 volunteers have built churches, schools, orphanages, hospitals and community buildings in 67 countries.
Maranatha has requests for 100,000 buildings pending.
The majority of the volunteers are from the United States and Canada but participants come from all over the world.
They generally pay for their transportation as well as a participation fee which covers meals
, lodging
, in-country transportation and insurance
while on the project.
Most projects are approximately two weeks duration.
The funding for the buildings is primarily furnished by Maranatha via donors as well as participation by Adventist-laymen's Services & Industries (ASI).
The local church provides the land and final labor and materials.
Projects are classified into categories such as teen, young adult, open, group or family depending on the volunteer makeup.
While the teen Ultimate Workout and young adult groups which are age limited, other projects have widely varying age volunteers.
A number of volunteers participate in multiple trips, often on an annual basis.
Not all volunteers are skilled in the construction trades.
In addition to actual building construction, some volunteers are typically involved in cooking and some may participate in community projects such as Vacation Bible School
or medical and dental clinics
.
In 2010 Maranatha is building primarily in Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, India, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Zambia and the United States.
In 2009, 507 churches were built of which 428 of the structures were "One-Day Churches" built in 25 countries.
following the January 2010 earthquake
.
140 "One-Day Churches" are currently being built in Haiti to be used as churches, schools, medical triage and temporary shelters.
The galvanized steel frame and roof of the church are manufactured at a facility in Dodge Center, Minnesota
, containerized
and shipped
on-site where it is assembled
by volunteers and local personnel in one day.
The walls and floors are built of local materials and vary according to local practices.
Floors are most often poured concrete
.
As of March 2009 over 1,000 structures had been manufactured and as of July 2010 more than 800 had been constructed in 10 countries.
session in Atlanta, Georgia
.
This project is an extension of the One-Day Church idea providing a metal frame, roof, walls, doors and windows.
The project launch involves 1,000 classrooms with the first One-Day School to be built in Zimbabwe
.
These projects are generally in Latin America
and may involve up to 200 volunteers.
In July 2010 the Ultimate Workout project celebrated it's 20 year anniversary with a reunion project in Chiapas, Mexico.
Now a weekly program, it is hosted by Dick Duerksen and has surpassed 100 episodes.
It is shown on 3ABN
and Hope Channel.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
organization founded in 1969 and is based in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
USA with offices in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
.
It is a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
with the primary focus of organizing volunteers
Volunteering
Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be...
to build churches and schools in developing nations.
History
In 1969 under the direction of John Freeman a commercial photographer, a group of Seventh-day Adventist volunteers flew to the Bahamas to build a churchThis idea expanded to other projects involving volunteers flying their private planes to locations to build churches and was organized into Maranatha Flights International based in Berrien Springs, Michigan
Berrien Springs, Michigan
Berrien Springs is a village in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,862 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Oronoko Charter Township. Berrien Springs is best known for its Seventh-day Adventist community and Andrews University...
.
In 1989 Maranatha Flights International merged with Volunteers International under the new name of Maranatha Volunteers International and moved the headquarters to Sacramento, California.
In its 40 year history more than 60,000 volunteers have built churches, schools, orphanages, hospitals and community buildings in 67 countries.
Maranatha has requests for 100,000 buildings pending.
Volunteers
An average of 3,000 volunteers participate in projects each year.The majority of the volunteers are from the United States and Canada but participants come from all over the world.
They generally pay for their transportation as well as a participation fee which covers meals
Meal
A meal is an instance of eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes specific, prepared food.Meals occur primarily at homes, restaurants, and cafeterias, but may occur anywhere. Regular meals occur on a daily basis, typically several times a day...
, lodging
Lodging
Lodging is a type of residential accommodation. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, safety, shelter from cold temperatures or rain, storage of luggage and access to common household functions.Lodgings may be self catering in which case no...
, in-country transportation and insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
while on the project.
Most projects are approximately two weeks duration.
The funding for the buildings is primarily furnished by Maranatha via donors as well as participation by Adventist-laymen's Services & Industries (ASI).
The local church provides the land and final labor and materials.
Projects are classified into categories such as teen, young adult, open, group or family depending on the volunteer makeup.
While the teen Ultimate Workout and young adult groups which are age limited, other projects have widely varying age volunteers.
A number of volunteers participate in multiple trips, often on an annual basis.
Not all volunteers are skilled in the construction trades.
In addition to actual building construction, some volunteers are typically involved in cooking and some may participate in community projects such as Vacation Bible School
Vacation Bible School
Vacation Bible School is a specialized form of religious education which focuses on children. Churches usually hold the week long events during the summer, though the lengths of such programs may vary, and they are sometimes held during other times of the year.-History:The origins of Vacation...
or medical and dental clinics
Clinic
A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
.
Active projects
Maranatha concentrates their building activities in certain countries which change from time to time.In 2010 Maranatha is building primarily in Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, India, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Zambia and the United States.
In 2009, 507 churches were built of which 428 of the structures were "One-Day Churches" built in 25 countries.
Haiti
In 2010 Maranatha provided assistance to HaitiHaiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
following the January 2010 earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
.
140 "One-Day Churches" are currently being built in Haiti to be used as churches, schools, medical triage and temporary shelters.
One-Day Church
The One-Day Church was developed jointly by Adventist-laymen's Services & Industries and Maranatha in an effort to meet the demand for rapid economical construction of more buildings.The galvanized steel frame and roof of the church are manufactured at a facility in Dodge Center, Minnesota
Dodge Center, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,226 people, 824 households, and 588 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,173.8 people per square mile . There were 859 housing units at an average density of 452.9 per square mile...
, containerized
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
and shipped
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
on-site where it is assembled
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
by volunteers and local personnel in one day.
The walls and floors are built of local materials and vary according to local practices.
Floors are most often poured concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
.
As of March 2009 over 1,000 structures had been manufactured and as of July 2010 more than 800 had been constructed in 10 countries.
One-Day School
In June 2010 Maranatha introduced the One-Day School project at the General Conference of Seventh-day AdventistsGeneral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, where it moved in 1989...
session in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
.
This project is an extension of the One-Day Church idea providing a metal frame, roof, walls, doors and windows.
The project launch involves 1,000 classrooms with the first One-Day School to be built in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.
Ultimate Workout
The Ultimate Workout is a volunteer two-week mission program for high school age teenagers.These projects are generally in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and may involve up to 200 volunteers.
In July 2010 the Ultimate Workout project celebrated it's 20 year anniversary with a reunion project in Chiapas, Mexico.
Publications
Maranatha has a quarterly magazine named The Volunteer that is mailed to volunteers and donors.Maranatha Mission Stories
Since 2003 Maranatha has produced a 30-minute television program named Maranatha Mission Stories which documents various building projects.Now a weekly program, it is hosted by Dick Duerksen and has surpassed 100 episodes.
It is shown on 3ABN
3ABN
Three Angels Broadcasting Network, or 3ABN for short, is a nonprofit, 24-hour television and radio network that primarily focuses on Christian and health-oriented programming...
and Hope Channel.