After several years of building churches and schools, and drilling water wells across the African nation of Côte d’Ivoire, Maranatha Volunteers International is wrapping up its work in this country. One of the highlight projects that recently came to completion was the brand new campus for the Niangon Adventist Secondary School. In a ceremony attended by officials of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Central Africa, Maranatha leadership handed over the keys to the campus.
Complete with seven classrooms, two science labs, bathrooms, and administrative offices, Niangon is now well-equipped to spread God’s love in a mostly non-Christian area. Enrollment is expected to be high, as Adventist education has a great reputation in Côte d’Ivoire, and it will be the only high school in the area.
“We were glad to finish and provide potential for growth for the Adventist Church in a community where the majority of people are not Christian,” said Maranatha’s country director for Côte d’Ivoire, Gilberto Araujo. “The Church enjoys a great educational reputation in the country—we are sure that over the next two years, the school will be full, and the Church will be able to reach out to the community with what we consider one of the best tools to grow the Church in Côte d’Ivoire.”
In 2019, Maranatha began working in Côte d’Ivoire (also known as Ivory Coast) to provide churches and schools in the country. The commitment was in response to a request from the Adventist Church in West Central Africa. Maranatha first focused on projects in Abidjan, the country’s largest city and headquarters for the Adventist Church in West Central Africa, before moving into outlying areas. In November 2020, Maranatha launched a water program in Côte d’Ivoire, drilling wells at Adventist churches.
