For two weeks in September and October, the Riverview Community Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tennessee hosted more than 90 volunteers. Twenty-three of these journeyed from across the United States, coordinated by Maranatha Volunteers International. The team helped Riverview frame a 10,000 square foot church building to replace their previous structure, which burned down in 2021.
David and Carol Phillips are members of the Riverview Church who had previously served on eight Maranatha projects. “When the Maranatha people came, we felt like it was family coming and wanting to help us rebuild,” said Carol. “And I felt very honored that the people who we had worked with were coming and helping us with our build–with our sanctuary. It felt very personal.”
Four years ago, when lightning struck their original sanctuary’s attic during a thunderstorm, David and Carol were there to witness the ensuing fire. “I had just gotten home and had gotten a call from security … so I headed back over to the church, and the fire truck was already there,” recalled David. “They couldn’t go in, so we had to sit there and watch it burn.”
Rebuilding after this tragedy was delayed by a couple of setbacks. Riverview’s original building was underinsured, requiring the congregation to fundraise. Work was also postponed for more than a year by a construction company the church originally contracted for the project. However, examples of kindness shone brighter than this cloud of uncertainty.
“The pastor from the church up the street from us, they had rented from us awhile ago while they were building their church,” recalled Carol. “Riverview had given all their rent money back to them after they had gotten their church built. So when they invited us to use their church, they would not let us pay anything.”
Riverview’s resilience was also bolstered by Maranatha volunteers’ sacrificial service. “They did the majority of the framing–the outside walls and the inside walls,” said David. “It was quite a blessing. We could see God’s fingerprints all over this.”
“It has given a huge boost,” said Carol. “Because we had been waiting for so long, we were getting to the point where we were like, ‘Are we ever going to build this?'”
“It was sort of inspirational,” recalled Riverview member Nick Laurent about volunteers’ help. “They were very peaceful, very determined, very dedicated, and very committed to the assignment. I enjoyed working with them, and they taught me some spiritual lessons. It’s just wonderful to meet a group of people like this.”
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.