Inside Missions

Three of Maranatha’s volunteer support staff join us for our first-ever panel! Maria Molleda from Peru, Alice Danla in India, and Kotesh Rao in Kenya, talk about the other side of the mission trip from what volunteers see. From booking hotels and excursions, to orchestrating outreach opportunities like medical clinics or Vacation Bible School, these people go to great lengths to make sure everything is ready for our volunteers when they arrive. 

They talk about the lack of sleep during projects, the importance of prayer, back-up plans, and the ways they try to influence a project spiritually. Over the years, our volunteer support staff have formed deep bonds with volunteers, who have inspired them in return. Maria, Kotesh, and Alice also share how they have seen Maranatha mission trips transform volunteers and reflect on how they’ve grown closer to God through all of their missions experience.

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Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

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As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

Maranatha’s president since the early 80’s, Don tells the story of how God called him to a small, fledgling organization called “Maranatha Flights International,” the original name for Maranatha. He shares how he listened for God’s leading in that initial decision, and how he has stayed attuned to God’s direction in every decision for Maranatha since. He explains how Maranatha interacts with the Adventist World Church, from the division level down, to respond to official requests for help through the construction of churches, schools, and water wells.

Don describes one of the most dicey non-volunteer projects he experienced while in Afghanistan in the early 2000’s. On this trip he got severely sick, to the point that a General Conference vice president stayed up with him through the night because he thought Don might die. He recounts a car attack in Haiti, and explains why there are certain countries that Maranatha will not send volunteers if it’s not safe. 

Without a construction background, Don remembers early doubters saying he was the wrong man for the job. He talks about his initial commission by Maranatha’s board to “make it fly,” and how it’s his same job description today. After merging with an organization called “Volunteers International” in 1989, “Maranatha Volunteers International” took on a watershed project in the Dominican Republic where Maranatha constructed 25 churches in 70 days. This showed Maranatha and the Church that the organization was capable of more. Don also considers what he’s learned about God, and about himself over four decades of service through Maranatha.

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

Maranatha’s vice president of projects describes his first day visiting the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya, in what would become a six-year project he oversaw. He recalls his initial reactions to the plight of these Maasai girls who ran away from their homes to escape female genital mutilation and child marriage. The guys discuss what it’s like for these girls as they escape, not knowing where they’re going, and somehow end up at the Kajiado center. It becomes their new home as they are not welcome back in their village. 

Kyle explains how Maranatha’s scope of work started by simply providing adequate sleeping and bathing arrangements with new dorms. Over time, it grew to include much more infrastructure, including a high school. He also recounts a critical moment in the project, where campus water was needed, but geological reports indicated it was unlikely to be found. One of the special aspects of this long-term project was the hundreds of volunteers who came, sometimes on multiple mission trips, to help build the campus. These visits allowed opportunities for volunteers to serve as positive role models, providing advice and perspectives on endless possibilities for the girls’ bright new futures. 

Television episodes about the Kajiado School:
Transformation at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/maranatha-mission-stories/videos/mms11e50-1

A Refuge of Hope: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms907

New Life at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms910

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

This audio story is about the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya. It’s a haven for Maasai girls, sometimes as young as six years old, who are escaping child marriage and a dangerous ritual called female genital mutilation (FGM). Maranatha dedicated the campus in July 2024 after six years of completely transforming the property, but in this story you'll hear what life was like at Kajiado closer to the beginning of Maranatha’s involvement. You'll also take in the depth of the connections formed between Maranatha volunteers and Kajiado students—a microcosm of the hundreds of volunteers that would end up serving on this project over the years.

Television episodes about the Kajiado School:
Transformation at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/maranatha-mission-stories/videos/mms11e50-1

A Refuge of Hope: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms907

New Life at Kajiado: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms910

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

Jason is the Executive Director of Clinic Operations at Loma Linda University Health in California, but talks about life as a missionary kid in Malawi, and his subsequent return in adulthood as the CEO of the Malamulo Adventist Hospital. He describes his journey in-between and how volunteering on short-term mission trips ignited a passion to help facilitate medical care for others as a career. He reflects on his first Maranatha project in Zimbabwe and the second in Malawi, where God confirmed his path back “home.” 

Jason talks about his family’s transition to living in Malawi, including his kids, who were around the same age as he was when he lived there in childhood. He also describes his experience at the Malamulo Hospital and how it benefited him in his future work in healthcare in the United States. He closes with advice for people considering coming on a Maranatha project.

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

A long-time Maranatha volunteer and leader, Greg explains how he first got into missions, influenced by his parents and uncle, Maranatha board member, Roger Hatch. He reflects on the first mission trip he led solo, how he’s improved in handling interpersonal conflicts on a project, how he’s become more efficient in anticipating needs on the construction site, and how he delegates leadership tasks amongst his team. Greg shares how crucial the pre-mission trip site visits are, why it’s important for volunteers to understand who they’re serving on a project, and how he prepares them to return to normal life back home.

Greg recounts his experience serving in Côte d’Ivoire in March 2020 as the world shut down due to COVID, as well as one of his most challenging projects he’s ever led, which took place in Ecuador in 2007. He gives advice to aspiring mission trip leaders and explains why he always uses Maranatha to facilitate his mission trips.

Watch the television episode that includes Greg’s group getting out of Côte d’Ivoire as the world shut down due to COVID: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e02

Clarification: Dustin couldn’t remember exactly, but speculated that Maranatha might have constructed around 180 houses in Dominica in 1980. The correct number is 110. Later, Maranatha built 160 houses in the Dominican Republic.

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

At the age of 11, Nancy’s family moved to Bangkok, Thailand, to serve as missionaries. She reflects on what it was like to grow up as a missionary kid, how her identity came to be more Thai than American, and how she struggled to assimilate into American culture as a young adult in the United States. Thinking she was more Asian than American, she signed up to be a student missionary in Hong Kong, only to realize that she didn’t really fit into Asia how she thought she could either. This started a decade-long process of coming to terms with being a “third culture” kid, in which the different cultures one is raised in shape a person in a unique way. 

After retiring from a career in education, Nancy was invited to serve on a Maranatha volunteer project in the United States, and got hooked. Over the course of two years she’s served on 14 projects in North America and has even stepped into leadership roles on different projects. She describes this community as her “church” and says interacting with volunteers is her favorite part of the work. Nancy also talks about how she’s growing into the spiritual nurturer role while leading Maranatha projects.

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

Currently the coordinator for the Ending Homelessness Initiative for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Joelle previously served as the Director of Disaster Recovery & Development for the Paradise Seventh-day Adventist Church in California. She worked closely with Maranatha after the Camp Fire of 2018, which at the time was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history, and the most expensive natural disaster in the world in 2018 as far as insured losses. Over the course of several projects in Paradise, Maranatha constructed 452 storage sheds for survivors of the fire, who were living on their burnt properties with no place to store their belongings.

Joelle recounts the day of the fire, November 8, 2018, what it was like escaping the flames with her family, and the subsequent aftermath. She recalls the moment when she felt called to do more to help her community and how she grew into her role with the Paradise Church despite no disaster recovery experience. She talks about the inspiration for the Maranatha shed project and how she helped to coordinate hundreds of volunteers across multiple projects. She also discusses how she’s had to redefine the term “missions” since her community outreach work began, understanding that a person can serve locally without having to travel internationally.

Watch two episodes of our television program, “Maranatha Mission Stories,” on the Paradise Shed Projects: 
https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms10e07
https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e03 

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

Since 1992 Steve has run his own ministry, “Involve Youth,” speaking for youth events, conducting training seminars for youth leaders, creating youth ministry resources, and teaching youth ministry professionals. He’s an author of many books and coordinates the Intergenerational Church cohort for Andrews University’s Doctor of Ministry program. He’s been instrumental in helping to craft the experience for Maranatha’s annual mission trip for high schoolers, Ultimate Workout (UW), and helped to start Maranatha’s collegiate and annual Family Projects.

Steve reflects on how he first got into youth ministry, how much he and his youth changed in serving on those first mission trips, and at a fundamental level, what the goal of missions is. He describes his first UW experience, which was actually the third UW, and how the program was almost shut down. He reflects on how the tragic death of volunteer Alex Williams was a galvanizing force for UW as a movement; in the first couple of years, there were 20-30 volunteers, but the next year there were 70 kids who applied, many citing the legacy of Alex and wanting to make a real difference in the world. 

Steve explains why the mission trip environment, with new people and new places, is the perfect setting for teens to discover more about their identity, and how the world around teens has changed in his decades of ministry. He discusses how leaders can approach volunteers who may cause problems for others, and how he begins to prepare a group for a return home from the mountaintop experience of a mission trip. Steve talks about why he eventually felt the need to step away from UW and how he tackled the challenge of leading new age groups when he was asked to create a collegiate and family project mission trips for Maranatha.

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.  

How do you curate a volunteer experience that makes people want to come back time after time? Our VP of Advancement shares how Maranatha has worked to provide mission trips that make a difference in the lives of project recipients, as well as the volunteers doing the work. Karen’s journey with Maranatha started in 1989 in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and in this episode she shares what projects were like in those early days and how they’ve evolved. She recounts the first large-scale project for Maranatha in 1992, when they recruited 1,200 volunteers in just five months to construct 25 churches over 70 days in the Dominican Republic. She also reflects on just how impactful these mission trips have been to volunteers, even those who are rediscovering their faith.

Karen talks about how Maranatha has intentionally shaped its projects to provide participants with the space to reflect on their experience, connect with each other, and how making accommodations more comfortable at times has removed barriers to participation for some people. She explains how anyone, no matter their skillset, age, or experience, can be an effective volunteer on a Maranatha project, and why she believes people continue to return year after year.

Karen references a testimony from Sondra Godfrey in which she shares how anyone can serve on a Maranatha mission trip. You can watch that testimony here: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/cv23b-godfrey

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.

Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.

Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!

As 2026 comes to a close, we’re asking for you to give to the mission so we can continue making a difference around the world, constructing churches, schools, and water wells. 

Whether you give $50, $500, or $5,000–every dollar makes an impact on the mission to share the gospel through construction! Thank you in advance for your generosity all the way through December 31. Make a gift at maranatha.org/give2026 or give us a call at 800-467-6384.