Maranatha Volunteers International has committed to building a new place of worship for the Bethsaida Seventh-day Adventist Church, in northeastern Zambia, to replace the church that collapsed during a heavy rainstorm earlier this year.

On the afternoon of January 8, 2022, a severe storm broke out in Kasama, the city where Bethsaida is located. As Sabbath services wrapped up, some members decided to shelter in the church to wait out the weather. However, the rain and wind intensified, causing the church to collapse onto those inside. Five people died and 16 were badly injured.

Local officials attributed the collapse of the church, which was constructed by members in 2020, to the quality of construction. “After assessment of the building, it is clear that the building material used was of poor quality,” said firefighter Hoseo Mbao to Daily Nation, a Zambian news outlet.

Soon after, Samuel Sinyangwe, president of the Adventist Church in Northern Zambia, requested Maranatha’s assistance in rebuilding the church as soon as possible, as “members have nowhere to worship and it is the rainy season,” said Sinyangwe. The new place of worship will be on a larger property that can accommodate a church designed for Bethsaida’s 500 congregants. Maranatha will also provide six Sabbath School classrooms for the church’s 180 children, bathrooms, and a water well for the community.

Fundraising efforts are underway, and Maranatha hopes to start construction on the church later this year.

Zambia is one of the countries where Maranatha has had a presence to build churches, schools, and water wells since 2009. Last year, Maranatha completed 82 churches, 2 schools, and 232 wells in Zambia. In 2022, the goal is to provide 120 One-Day Churches, 1 school campus, and 250 water wells, along with a maintenance program for existing wells.

In 2019, God laid it on the hearts of Gideon Rescue Company (GRC) to pray for one million GLOW tracts to hand out on their missionary trips.

GRC offers help and hope in the wake of disasters. They have responded to the earthquake in Haiti, hurricanes and tornadoes in the U.S., the explosion in Lebanon, and many other disasters. In the years following 2019, the prayer was consistent. “Lord, give us one million GLOW tracts.”

Then, war broke out in Ukraine, and more than 1.5 million refugees fled.

A group of missionaries from GRC immediately went to bring assistance to the people of Ukraine. GRC partnered with Build and Restore International (BRI) to plan and pray. Within a few days they sent a team to Poland in hopes of entering Ukraine.

The GRC team, along with local Ukrainian Seventh-day Adventist churches, have been able to transport goods from Poland to Ukraine in buses and then fill buses with refugees to return to Poland. Miraculously, this mass exodus out of Ukraine opened up an opportunity to share hope-filled literature.

Missionaries from Gideon Rescue sometimes handed out more than 7,000 pieces of literature in a few hours.

Just at this time a donor decided to sponsor Ukrainian GLOW tracts. When asked how many tracts he wanted to sponsor, the response was quick, “one million!” Their prayers had been answered!

BRI is organizing an unprecedented number of mission trips to Ukraine. The first team has gone and come back, the second team is there now, and a third team will leave next week. The missionaries spend their nights in basements with sirens over head. They pass the time by singing and praying with the locals.

A missionary named Kory said, “We asked God to give us literature in Ukrainian as an indication of His leading, then the literature was confirmed.” God has answered their prayers.

In Desire of Ages p. 330 we read: “Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.”

The coming of our Lord is eminent, there will be an increase in wars, catastrophes, and disasters. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day we can share with our neighbor the love of God.

Please continue your prayers for the people of Ukraine.

“I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” Isaiah 42:6 >.