In March 2024, a group of 26 volunteers from Palisades Christian Academy did construction work on a project in Peru with Maranatha Volunteers International, a supporting ministry of the Adventist Church. The volunteer team laid the block walls of a church building for the Villa Jesus Adventist congregation in the city of Pucallpa.
Having formed in 2011, this church family endured years of worshiping in cramped homes and nearly dissolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. The congregation’s current 85 members will soon have a brand new, spacious church building, thanks to Maranatha and its volunteers.
The team from Palisades Academy, located in Spokane, Washington, included 13 students and 12 adults. Their passion for service bridged the age gap, blending members into a cohesive and efficient unit. The group worked so well together that they finished the church building’s walls a couple of days early — just in time to meet another important need.
For the duration of the trip, several team members led a Vacation Bible School program, which proved very popular among local children. “On the very day the building team finished the church, the VBS team returned, wondering how they could properly provide for more children, as 100 had joined by day six,” recalled Ruth Lenz, PCA teacher and Peru project coordinator.
The construction team provided the extra hands necessary to accommodate more than 120 kids on the second to last VBS day and more than 140 on the final day. “The children responded exceptionally well to our VBS team,” said Lenz. “They loved our students and adults so much that many children and parents arrived an hour early so they could spend more time socializing.”
The VBS program also made a special impact on Audrey Staben, Palisades freshman. “While I was working on the VBS site, I was pretty shy at first because I’m not super good with new people, and there was also a huge language barrier,” recalled Staben.
Staben was able to step out of her comfort zone and form strong connections with the local children. “As we started to become closer and closer to the end of the trip, I definitely grew a lot. I wasn't feeling as shy with them,” Staben said. “On the last day, it was sad because I was going to miss the kids a lot. I wish we could visit them again.”
Maranatha mobilizes volunteers to build churches, schools, water wells and other urgently needed structures around the world. In addition to projects open to the public, Maranatha helps church and school groups organize their own mission trips at no additional cost. Since 1969, Maranatha volunteers and crews have constructed more than 14,000 structures and more than 3,000 water wells in nearly 90 countries.
PCA students help Maranatha build a church for a congregation in Pucallpa, Peru.
Credit: Richard Davis
PCA students celebrate with their new friends in Peru.
Credit: Richard Davis
PCA students travelled to Peru to assist with a Maranatha project.
Credit: Richard Davis
PCA students pose for a photo in front of Villa Jesus Pucallpa Church in Peru.
Credit: Richard Davis
