Building faith, one project at a time.
Maranatha Volunteers International is a Seventh-day Adventist-affiliated nonprofit, founded in 1969, that mobilizes short-term volunteers to build churches, schools, and clean-water wells in developing countries around the world.
Since its founding, Maranatha has completed more than 14,000 building projects and drilled thousands of water wells, relying on volunteers who fund their own travel so that donated dollars go directly toward materials and construction.
Where many holiday gifts are used up or worn out within a year, a gift to Maranatha typically becomes a physical structure — a church, a classroom, a well — that a community continues to use for decades.
That tangible, lasting-impact model has made it a natural fit for donors who want a holiday gift with a concrete, visible outcome.
Maranatha's model relies heavily on volunteer labor: churches, schools, and families join short-term mission trips to do the physical construction, while donated funds cover materials, equipment, and skilled local labor.
Its well-drilling program has brought clean water to schools, churches, and communities that previously relied on unsafe or distant water sources, often making an immediate difference in daily life well before a new building is finished.
Your gift can help fund the construction of a church, school, or water well for a community in need.