The 2025 General Conference session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church came to a close on July 12 in St. Louis Missouri, but not before Church leaders expressed gratitude for Maranatha’s impact. During the ten-day event’s closing ceremony on Sabbath afternoon, Maranatha President Don Noble and his wife, Laura, took the stage to receive recognition for Maranatha’s contribution to missions around the world. “We’re only here for one reason, and that is to say thank you to you and to Maranatha for … the work you do all around the world,” said newly-elected Secretary of the General Conference Richard McEdward to the Nobles.
McEdward presented them with a commemorative plaque, “in recognition of outstanding service in supporting global missions and fulfilling the gospel commission.” He also gave them a tool belt. “We have a little tool belt that represents the work of Maranatha around the world,” explained McEdward. “And we just want to give you this symbolic gift and say thank you for your outstanding service. We give thanks to God.”
Maranatha was the only independent ministry featured during the General Conference session in this way. The ceremony commemorated not only Don’s leadership, but those of every single Maranatha volunteer, donor, and staff member who’ve helped transform the Adventist World Church.
Prior to this display of gratitude, the program showed a special video feature on Maranatha’s work in Cuba. It described leaders’ first visit to the island in 1994 and the need there, which compelled them to help. The resulting “Christ for Cuba” initiative saw the construction or renovation of more than 200 church buildings and nearly doubled Adventist Church membership in Cuba before 1998. The video outlined Maranatha’s continued work in Cuba to the present, providing a prime example of its collaboration with and impact on the World Church.
Maranatha Volunteers International is a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that mobilizes volunteers to build churches, schools, water wells, and other urgently needed structures around the world, including North America. Since 1969, Maranatha has constructed more than 14,000 structures and more than 3,000 water wells in nearly 90 countries.