Maranatha Volunteers International’s most recent open-team project took place on the eastern coast of Brazil and accomplished an important construction project for a congregation in need. In just ten days, 11 volunteers laid block walls for the Serraria Seventh-day Adventist Church’s brand new building. With no worship space of their own, this congregation scraped together rent money for years. But temporary meeting places limited the frequency and scope of the service-minded church’s community outreach efforts. And as their membership grew, so did the price of meeting spaces that could accommodate them. Volunteers on this project helped solve Serraria’s two-fold problem by constructing a spacious church building for them.
“Man, it was wonderful!” exclaimed Serraria Church elder José Luiz dos Santos, of the project. “It was an excitement, you know? We were very excited. Very, very happy … A lot of glory to God.”
The Serraria Adventist Church has been dedicated to community outreach since its formation in 2019. The group started with just a few worshippers in a community plagued with drug violence. But where most residents saw only fear and despair, Serraria members saw an opportunity for Christ’s love to shine in the darkness. Dos Santos led efforts to provide food and other resources to those in need, and by God’s grace the violence in their community lessened over time.
“The Church is not only evangelizing people with a message from Christ,” said dos Santos. “But you also arrive at a house, and the person is in need of help, in need of basic food, in need of an appointment with the doctor, right? The Adventist Church here at Serraria will try to play this role of not only carrying the Word of God, but also bringing a little affection, love, … and a little food to these people.”
Volunteers on this project not only built Serraria a spacious church of their own. They also spruced up its surroundings by picking up trash. Local members chipped in by pulling weeds. They are excited to have a cleaner place to worship, but also a more welcoming place for community members to find helpful resources. “This space is also important, because we can develop activities in the community,” explained dos Santos. “For example, we can bring a vaccine campaign to the church, right? We can bring a doctor to serve the population, a psychologist to work with the staff, serving both church members and outsiders, right?”
Maranatha has worked in Brazil numerous times throughout the organization’s history. In 2011, the organization kicked off a major effort to construct churches and schools. Through collaboration with regional Adventist leadership, Maranatha completed more than 1,000 projects. In 2019, Maranatha began to address a growing water crisis in the dry, northeastern region of the country by drilling water wells at Maranatha-built churches. So far, Maranatha has drilled more than 150 wells in the country.