Volunteers Build a Place of Worship and Outreach in Brazil

Maranatha Volunteers International’s most recent open-team project took place on the eastern coast of Brazil, where in just ten days, 11 volunteers laid block walls for the Serraria Seventh-day Adventist Church’s brand-new building. This construction project was an important accomplishment for a congregation in need.

With no worship space of their own, the congregation, located in the state of Pernambuco, 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 cost of meeting spaces that could accommodate them. Volunteers on this project helped solve the Serraria church’s two-fold problem by constructing a spacious church building for them.

“Man, it was wonderful!” exclaimed Serraria church elder José Luiz dos Santos, regarding the project. “We were very excited. Very, very happy … A lot of glory to God.”

The Serraria 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 has lessened over time.

“The church is not only evangelizing people with a message from Christ,” dos Santos said. “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.”

The volunteers not only built the Serraria congregation a spacious church of their own but 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, as well as a more welcoming environment for community members seeking helpful resources. “This space is also important, because we can develop activities in the community,” dos Santos said. “For example, we can bring a vaccination campaign to the church. We can bring a doctor to serve the population, a psychologist to work with the staff, serving both church members and outsiders.”

Maranatha has worked in Brazil many 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.

The original version of this story was posted by Maranatha Volunteers International. Maranatha is a nonprofit supporting ministry and is not operated by the corporate Seventh-day Adventist Church.