After three years of work, Maranatha Volunteers International has completed renovations of the Binjipali Adventist School in eastern India. The old campus was a group of dingy structures. They had peeling paint, cracked floors, and not enough room for Binjipali’s growing enrollment. Students had to sit through classes on the floor. “Sometimes we used to also sit on the ground under the trees or in the … hot sun,” recalled one student, Sunaina Tigga. They also had to share small beds in cramped dormitories. “It is very crowded. No place to keep their things,” explained the girls’ dean, Evenlyn Suen.
But thanks to the dedication of generous donors, volunteer teams, and local crews, students now enjoy bright places of learning, spacious dormitories, upgraded restrooms, beautiful landscaping, and a modern kitchen and dining hall. Binjipali staff are also thankful for new apartments and a boundary wall to increase campus security.
“Before we had to sit in the classrooms on the ground and now we got all benches with blackboards and it’s very, very nice. All with the windows, everything. It’s–it feels very happy,” shared Tigga.
“We are so happy … We hope that we’ll be able to provide for the children a better place to study, and they’ll be better human beings in this school over here as they study,” said Principal Sudhir Tigga.
For nearly eight decades, the Binjipali Adventist School has been sharing the light of the gospel with its campus community and beyond. The school was established in a poor agricultural town around 1946 when an Adventist community member donated two acres of land. But the school didn’t formally open until a principal was appointed in 1997. In 2016, Binjipali only accepted students through grade five. There was a significant need for further education, so the school hired more teachers and added classes up to tenth grade.
Binjipali provides a stellar education and a strong spiritual atmosphere. “As the children are growing up, they’re coming to know about the true God,” explained Principal Tigga. “And we have many children who are non Adventist, non-Christians. And they would like to accept Jesus. And at many times, as we have the meetings and all, they stand up to give their hearts to Jesus.”
Maranatha has had a continuous presence in India since 1998, building places of worship and education throughout the country. In 2019, Maranatha started drilling water wells in areas in need of clean water. Maranatha has constructed more than 3,000 structures in India.