Members of the Alvarado Seventh-day Adventist Church in Alvarado, Texas, dedicated their brand new church building on October 5. The special Sabbath service was attended by several volunteers from Maranatha Volunteers International, who helped build the structure last fall. This new space is a significant upgrade from Alvarado’s previous building, which sustained serious structural issues as its foundation settled. “When we left the project a year ago, the church was still being framed,” said one volunteer, Edward Jensen. “It was exciting to see how the completed church turned out.”
“Compared to the old church, the ceilings are much taller. And with the light interior and open windows, the church is a very relaxing and enjoyable space,” said Jensen. “We could see that much attention was given to details such as seating and access to the stage for those with limited mobility. Thought was also given to children’s areas that made the church very comfortable.”
Alvarado’s previous building had uneven floors and even cracked walls. “The ground down here in Alvarado shifts kind of like [a] waterbed would,” explained Project Leader Ronald Davis. The church’s foundation, poured in 1976, was not strong enough to support the structure as it settled. To avoid repeated history, the new building rests on a foundation with a waffle pattern of taut cables. These strengthen it enough to withstand the region’s terrestrial shifts.
Maranatha volunteers also built a foundation of friendship with Alvarado members while working side-by-side on the project. Some congregants helped on the jobsite; others cooked meals for the construction crew. And still others offered up their homes for volunteers to stay in. It is no wonder then, why several from the Maranatha group showed up a year later to celebrate the project’s completion with the friends they had made.
Each year, Maranatha works with organizations in the United States and Canada to provide volunteer labor for various construction or renovation projects at summer camps and retreat centers, schools, and churches. Work ranges from renovations of existing buildings to new construction, and saves thousands of dollars in labor costs.