During the holiday season of 2024, 38 volunteers joined Maranatha’s annual Christmas Family Project in Zambia. Their main task was building classrooms for the Sala Primary School, located in southern Zambia. The Sala school provides more than 1,300 kids with a Seventh-day Adventist education. But enrollment far surpasses what their current buildings can hold, and Maranatha is fulfilling a request to provide more space on campus. In addition to construction work, volunteers participated in several community outreach efforts, such as the organization of medical clinics, distributing school supplies, and sharing the true meaning of the holidays: Christ’s love.
Medical Clinics
Several healthcare professionals in the group led a medical clinic, which included triage, physical exam, dental, pharmacy, and spiritual care stations, for the campus and surrounding community. “The team was greeted with a group of patients already waiting for the clinic,” said Maranatha’s Medical Services Coordinator and project leader Susan Woods. In total, the medical team treated 510 patients during the two and a half day clinic.
Children’s Ministry
Another team of volunteers put on children’s programs throughout the project, with up to 300 kids in attendance. Bible skits, games, songs, and crafts held the children’s attention.
Day Camp
Younger volunteers, ages nine to 16, participated in the Family Project’s day camp. They met a nearby village chief and visited a farm, where they learned about local agricultural practices, and helped to plow a field with oxen. They also planted trees on the Sala campus, helped lead VBS programs, and prepared gifts for students.
School Supplies
On Christmas Eve, volunteers present nearly 1,000 students with colorful backpacks filled with school supplies like pencils, erasers, notebooks, rulers, scissors, and more. Generous donors gave $4,500 for these supplies, while another family donated the backpacks. Still another family donated Bibles for students and teachers. “This was a real high for the volunteers—sharing the Christmas gifts,” said Woods. Teachers were presented with educational supplies, including chairs, chalk, erasers, notebooks, and more. Several suitcases of books were also donated to start a school library.
Christmas
Volunteers’ celebration of Christmas was centered around the true meaning of the holiday. “Christmas carols, group games, prepping for our school supply giveaways, and VBS all bonded us as family, more and more each day to bring us the true meaning of Christmas,” said Woods. “We also made gift boxes of Christmas cookies and other small items for the hotel workers and the Maranatha workers on the job site.”
Maranatha worked in Zambia from 2009-2015, completing hundreds of projects. In 2018, Maranatha returned to Zambia in response to a request for more churches, schools, and water wells. The Sala Primary School is a top priority of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in southern Zambia, and they asked Maranatha to help with desperately-needed classrooms. So far in-country crew members and volunteer teams have constructed two 4-classroom blocks, a church building at Sala and will soon begin working on staff housing units.