Participants:
Series Code: MMS
Program Code: MMS011022S
|
00:01 Hi, I'm Dustin Comm with the Maranatha Minute.
00:03 Before the pandemic, 00:05 Maranatha had big goals for Kenya in 2020. 00:08 We planned on building 100 One-Day Churches, 00:10 drilling 10 water wells and building school campuses. 00:14 When COVID-19 brought the world to a halt, 00:16 our team in Kenya briefly paused as well. 00:19 When restrictions started to lift, 00:21 Maranatha looked to a remote region 00:23 in central Kenya 00:24 called Ukambani. 00:26 There is little Seventh-day Adventist presence here 00:28 as it is a new mission field for the church. 00:30 And the needs are great. 00:32 Throughout the rest of this year, 00:34 our One-Day Church crew working in Ukambani and other areas 00:37 was able to reach the 100-church mark. 00:40 Our drilling team also focused in this area 00:43 and has drilled a total of 37 wells 00:45 surpassing the original goal. 00:47 We've also continued constructing school buildings 00:50 at Kiutine, Kajiado and [inaudible]. 00:53 Watch videos of Maranatha's work in Kenya 00:55 and around the world 00:56 by downloading our app, the Maranatha Channel. 01:20 March, Maranatha's busiest time of year for volunteers. 01:28 Each year during the spring, 01:30 hundreds of Maranatha volunteers 01:32 pour into the mission field, 01:34 it makes up half of Maranatha's total number of volunteers 01:38 for the year. 01:41 March 2020 was supposed to be the same. 01:45 Maranatha had recently started working 01:47 in the country of Peru 01:48 and expected hundreds of volunteers 01:50 to serve there as well as other locations. 01:55 But an extraordinary event was developing 01:57 that would soon ground Maranatha volunteers 02:00 and the rest of the world. 02:03 A novel coronavirus eventually known as COVID-19 02:07 had begun to spread around the globe 02:09 infecting significant portions of the population. 02:15 This virus would soon bring travel, 02:17 commerce and life itself to a standstill. 02:23 Chris Webb is a high school English teacher in Texas 02:26 who was preparing to lead a group 02:27 of more than 70 volunteers from Burton Adventist Academy 02:31 on a mission trip to Peru. 02:35 I think pretty early on, 02:37 no one really knew 02:39 how big of a deal this would be. 02:41 No one really knew that 02:42 this was gonna like stop the world, 02:43 stop our country. 02:45 The week leading up to the trip 02:47 was a really interesting one for us. 02:50 We weren't really sure that 02:51 we were going to be able to pull it off or not. 02:53 There was some political concerns, 02:56 there was some nervousness 02:58 I think from our school board justifiably so, 03:01 that we could leave the country that we could get back safely. 03:05 You know there was issues of, 03:07 if we were to get stranded, what that would look like. 03:10 After carefully weighing the risks, 03:12 The Burton Group decided to move forward 03:14 with their mission trip and safely departed for Peru. 03:18 As time went on, 03:19 the global response to COVID-19 was beginning to tighten. 03:23 By mid-march, 03:25 things were changing on a day-to-day basis. 03:27 On March 11, 03:29 the President had a press conference, 03:30 in which he restricted travel for people 03:33 coming from Europe to the United States 03:36 and that really was a change point for us in that. 03:40 It started to make everybody in the United States think, 03:43 okay, something's really big and different happening here 03:46 and it's going to shift whether or not we're able to travel 03:49 and so people started, 03:50 our group leaders started to re-evaluate, 03:52 whether they should go out. 03:55 It's really important to us 03:56 that we make sure that our trips are safe as possible 03:59 for all our volunteers and so, 04:02 as we were looking at mission trips 04:05 happening in the lead up to COVID, 04:08 we also evaluated, are these trips safe? 04:11 Are we putting anybody at a necessary risk? 04:16 And we use a number of different ways 04:18 to do that, 04:19 but it was paramount then 04:20 as it is for every mission trip. 04:23 We monitor a lot of information 04:25 that comes from safety organizations, 04:28 from risk management companies around the world, 04:31 international travel type organizations 04:35 and we also rely on our eyes and ears on the ground, 04:38 so our employees, 04:40 all of our contacts within the church 04:43 that are getting information 04:45 in a real-time basis on the ground 04:46 are sources for us 04:48 as we determine whether a project is safe or not 04:50 and we used all of that information 04:52 as much as we could get to evaluate things 04:55 as we were moving through March, 04:57 it related to COVID. 04:59 Groups were really starting to wonder 05:01 if they were going to be able to go 05:03 on their mission trip or not. 05:04 And by mid-march, 05:06 many of our trips had either cancelled or postponed. 05:11 Greg Hatch is a veteran mission trip leader, 05:13 having led more than 30 Maranatha projects 05:16 over the years. 05:17 In March 2020, 05:19 he was evaluating whether his group 05:20 from the West Houston Seventh-day Adventist Church 05:23 should continue with their mission trip 05:25 to the African nation of Cote d'Ivoire. 05:28 The night before we were supposed to leave, 05:31 we were leaving on a Thursday kind of midday 05:34 and getting there Friday night. 05:38 My wife and I were watching something 05:40 and you know everything is done. 05:42 we're just ready to go all packed ready to go, 05:44 and my phone just started blowing up with text messages 05:47 from my niece, my dad, everybody on the trip 05:50 like have you heard the news? 05:51 You've seen the news? No, I haven't seen any news. 05:53 I'm watching a game or something 05:55 and that was the night 05:56 that President Trump came out with his proclamation 05:59 that nobody can fly from Europe to the United States 06:02 which was a big problem for us 06:04 because we were flying through Europe 06:08 to get to Cote d'Ivoire 06:09 and then returning through Europe 06:11 when we were done with the trip. 06:14 So there was about a four-hour period, 06:15 where Lisandro and myself were calling 06:18 literally everybody we knew, 06:19 trying to figure out what this meant. 06:21 Did this mean we couldn't go on the trip? 06:23 And fortunately later that night, 06:27 you know it came out that 06:29 yes, if you're a US citizen 06:30 or if you're in the country legally, 06:32 you can get back in through one of the 13 airports. 06:35 But that was a little tense four hours. 06:40 So at that point we then, 06:42 you know, we had to ask a group, 06:44 "Hey do you all still want to go?" 06:48 And all through the night, the replies kept coming, 06:51 I'm in, I'm in. 06:53 We're going. Let's do this. 06:54 And we had 31 of the 39 who ended up deciding to go, 06:59 so that was great. 07:01 When we come back, 07:02 The West Houston Group travels to Africa, 07:04 while other Maranatha groups make hard decisions, 07:07 as the world continues to tighten due to COVID-19. 07:24 Are you wondering 07:26 what is happening in the world of missions 07:27 during these unique times. 07:29 Watch Mission Maranatha 07:31 for a comprehensive look at how God has been 07:33 and continues to open doors 07:35 for the mission of Maranatha in 2020. 07:39 Visit Maranatha.org 07:40 to watch the program in its entirety 07:43 or pick an individual segment 07:45 to watch and share with a friend. 07:48 You can also watch this mission event 07:50 on Maranatha's YouTube channel, 07:51 at youtube.com/missionstories. 07:55 Bring the mission field to your living room 07:57 by watching Mission Maranatha 07:59 on the Maranatha channel for Roku, 08:01 Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV... 08:08 or download the Maranatha channel 08:09 on your iOS or android device. 08:13 Stay connected to the mission. 08:24 As the West Houston Group 08:26 safely made it to Cote d'Ivoire, 08:28 travel restrictions continued to mount 08:30 and other Maranatha groups 08:31 were forced to make tough choices. 08:36 A group from the Gracepoint Adventist Church in California 08:38 decided to travel to Kenya, 08:40 but ended up turning around before they made it. 08:45 Another group of volunteers was already in Kenya 08:48 serving at the Kajiado Adventist School 08:50 and Rescue Center. 08:52 As airlines around the globe 08:54 began to announce cuts in service, 08:56 some of the group moved up their flights 08:57 to leave early. 09:00 The rest of the volunteers departed a few days later. 09:06 Back in Peru, 09:08 Chris Webb's group was safe 09:09 in the midst of a successful project 09:11 constructing a new building 09:12 for the Huaycan Ate Seventh-day Adventist Church. 09:17 I think that our mission trip went amazingly well. 09:21 We built the church 09:22 and no one got hurt other than sunburns. 09:26 I think we were able to see 1300 patients. 09:29 Our medical people were able to see that, 09:31 you know, see some surgeries, 09:33 we had people handing out 09:34 glasses and we had eye doctors 09:36 who were doing, you know, checks and all that. 09:40 We were able to take care of like 09:43 a number of different locations 09:45 as far as like doing VBS programming. 09:47 And meanwhile my wife and I were 09:49 as we were running the trip, 09:50 we would kind of be traveling 09:52 between the different work sites 09:53 and uploading pictures 09:54 and you know you pull your phone out 09:56 and you start seeing stuff like, okay, well 09:58 you know, there, 09:59 this school is now being shut down indefinitely. 10:04 These airports you know it doesn't, 10:06 it doesn't look like you're going to be able to like travel 10:07 through this certain airport 10:09 or you know certain countries and stuff like that 10:12 or you know the number of cases in Texas 10:15 and the number of cases in Peru, 10:17 and you know Peru is a really big country 10:19 and so, you know, so yeah, it's area was calculus, 10:22 it's all those pieces together kind of coming into my head 10:27 and just kind of like thinking like okay, well, 10:30 how do we deal with this? 10:31 Is this something where we need to bail out? 10:32 Or is this something that we're still doing well? 10:34 And I feel like throughout that entire process, 10:37 we were always very, very safe, very safe. 10:40 Well, everybody worked so hard over the course of that week 10:43 and so our reward portion, 10:45 our adventure that after 10:47 we were done with all the stuff, 10:48 was to get in a plane and fly from Lima to Cusco 10:52 and then make our way up the mountain 10:54 in this really high elevation and make it to Machu Picchu. 10:57 We were just so just at the top of the world 11:00 like literally was the coolest experience 11:03 on such a beautiful way to kind of cap off the trip. 11:08 Yeah, we were literally on top of the mountain 11:10 and we got our way back to the hotel 11:12 and as we were preparing to kind of eat and relax, 11:15 then we hear the news. 11:18 What we found out was that 11:19 Peru was going to be shutting down their airspace 11:21 Monday evening in a little less than 24 hours 11:24 and unfortunately our flight leaving from Lima 11:27 back to the United states via Mexico City 11:30 was going to be leaving on Tuesday morning, 11:32 very early on Tuesday morning like at 4 am. 11:35 Also, in Peru, hearing the same news 11:38 was a group of 38 volunteers from Alaska 11:40 with Amazing Grace Academy. 11:42 They had been serving in the town of Ika 11:44 to construct a large school building. 11:47 Twenty members travelled to Cusco 11:48 in order to see Machu Picchu, 11:50 unfortunately 11:51 they had to cancel their excursion. 11:53 However, as a smaller group 11:55 they were able to quickly find flights out of Peru 11:58 through Bolivia before the midnight deadline. 12:01 The Burton Group was still two hours away 12:03 from the Cusco airport 12:04 and with rumors that the roads might soon be shut down 12:07 or curfews enforced, 12:09 the sooner that they could get to Cusco 12:10 and catch a flight to Lima the better. 12:15 Because of Burton's large group of 72 volunteers, 12:18 even once they got there, 12:20 commercial flights would be difficult to find. 12:23 I've travelled enough in my own life 12:26 that if I'm on a trip by myself 12:30 or with my family 12:32 and they shut the borders down, 12:35 cool like that's we'll deal with it, 12:38 it's a cool opportunity 12:40 to have a crazy experience, right? 12:42 When you're there with 50 something high school kids 12:47 and I looked at each one of those 12:49 of their parents in the eyes 12:50 and I said I'm gonna bring your kid home. 12:53 The scariest thing is when we find out that 12:56 something's about to go down like I kept... 13:00 To me I just kept coming back 13:01 to how I'm going to get these kids back 13:03 like that's the promise I made. 13:06 Things kind of progressed along the trip 13:08 and their kind of starts to become this like dark cloud 13:11 of like, you know, COVID 13:13 and then you know, 13:15 are they going to shut our airport down 13:17 and everything, 13:18 and it was very easy for me personally 13:20 to get into kind of a dark place 13:21 and to really feel you know, 13:23 down and discouraged and scared and just wondering, 13:25 okay, what's next? 13:27 What's next? 13:28 And the kids were absolutely my inspiration. 13:31 They were unbelievable. 13:33 Literally almost got a tear just thinking about like 13:36 the number of kids that would like come up to me 13:38 and they'd be like Mr. Webb, 13:40 we appreciate you doing a great job and like 13:42 I could be like I don't know we're getting home. 13:43 They're like, it's cool man, we're just having bread, 13:47 like we're good, we're having a good time 13:48 like you're doing your best. 13:51 So we sit around the airport, 13:53 basically all day and try to come up with a plan for, 13:57 okay, once we get to Lima, 13:59 then how do we get out of Lima? 14:01 And there's a couple different plans 14:02 that were in place 14:03 and thankfully we had some people 14:06 from our church, 14:07 who stepped up and arranged for a flight 14:12 to take us from Lima back to the United States 14:17 as long as we could get out 14:19 before midnight on Monday. 14:22 Strangely enough I think our flight was delayed 14:24 like 30 or 45 minutes, 14:25 but I feel like we got to Lima on time. 14:30 We had to still get our luggage 14:32 that had been left at the university 14:33 and make our way through customs and check in 14:36 and we have to make our way through security and everything 14:39 and everything and everything. 14:41 We get everybody into this big, gigantic airplane 14:45 and I remember looking at my watch 14:47 and it was 11:58 pm. 14:50 The airspace was gonna shut down at midnight. 14:54 I've never been on a flight before, 14:55 where the plane starts moving, when people aren't seated, 15:00 somebody almost fell over 15:02 because they were just trying to get out, 15:04 tried to get out I don't know, 15:05 if there could have possibly been another plane 15:07 that left after us. 15:08 I feel like we were the last ones out. 15:10 I mean I keep coming back 15:12 to just how much of a God thing this trip was? 15:16 I really do truthfully feel that 15:19 we were constantly in this position 15:21 of being challenged to this level 15:23 that I could not possibly deal with myself. 15:26 I couldn't write plans fast enough, 15:29 I couldn't make decisions fast enough 15:33 and it took a pretty incredible level 15:37 of just kind of letting it go, 15:39 having faith in God, having faith in my team, 15:42 having faith in Maranatha 15:45 and just kind of like recognizing like, 15:47 we're gonna be taken care of. 15:49 When we come back, 15:50 see how the worldwide shutdown would impact 15:52 the West Houston Volunteer Group 15:54 in Cote d'Ivoire. 16:07 The work of Maranatha relies on your support. 16:09 And so far this year, 16:11 you've been incredibly generous in supporting the mission. 16:14 Thank you to everyone who has made donations 16:16 to build churches, schools and water wells 16:19 around the world. 16:20 Now you can ensure that this mission continues to grow 16:23 even after your lifetime. 16:25 The Maranatha Volunteers International Foundation 16:28 is here to help you with your plan giving needs. 16:31 Our expert consultant will talk you 16:33 through the best options for you and your loved ones. 16:36 We can also offer ways 16:37 you might choose to leave a lasting legacy 16:40 for the mission of Maranatha. 16:42 We even have a service to help you create a will for free. 16:46 All you have to do is go online and fill out a simple form. 16:49 Or you can call us 16:50 and we'll assist you in filling it out. 16:53 These services are free with no obligations. 16:56 It's our way of saying thank you 16:57 for supporting Maranatha. 16:59 To talk to us call the number on our screen 17:01 or go to maranatha.org/plannedgiving 17:04 to learn more. 17:10 Some companies spend millions of dollars 17:12 to bring you these sounds and images. 17:15 I made it. 17:18 These sounds and images 17:19 are created from the dollars you give to Maranatha. 17:24 Your support of our well drilling efforts 17:26 is bringing clean accessible water 17:28 to communities in Africa, 17:29 India and Brazil 17:31 because while this sells soda, 17:34 this saves lives. 17:40 With all volunteers out of Peru 17:42 and the last volunteers departing Kenya, 17:44 the only remaining Maranatha volunteers in the field 17:47 were Greg Hatch's group, in Cote d'Ivoire. 17:51 Cote d'Ivoire was a great trip 17:54 and to a person everybody was very excited 17:57 about our time there 17:59 Coronavirus aside. 18:02 I mean it started that Sabbath morning 18:04 because we got in Friday night 18:06 and Sabbath morning, we went to church 18:09 at the church 18:10 that had been built by a previous group. 18:12 Pastor and the first elder 18:15 both of them said through a translator 18:18 of course because I don't speak French, 18:21 they said thank you for coming 18:24 and that we've been praying for you 18:27 and that the whole church in the entire country 18:29 has been praying for you over the last week 18:33 and because they've heard 18:36 what's going on with the Coronavirus and all 18:38 that said we're just praying that 18:39 you would still come to serve, 18:41 and that was very empowering 18:44 even before we started the work. 18:46 I was working on the roof 18:48 getting the roof on 18:49 and I noticed a crowd of people gathering over there 18:51 you know where the bus is usually parked in. 18:53 I called, you know, Gilbert, where I said, 18:55 "Why is everybody lined up over there?" 18:59 Oh, he said, 19:01 "They're here for the evangelism." 19:02 I said, "Evangelism?" 19:04 And I thought to myself at the time 19:06 when he said that I thought, 19:07 well, the first elder has been, 19:09 he had a chair every day and he would sit there 19:12 and he would talk to everybody. 19:14 I thought oh, he's preaching to him. 19:17 I came down, I said well where's the evangelist? 19:19 He said, "You brother, you're the evangelist." 19:22 He said, "People came to watch you guys work 19:24 and this is evangelism." 19:26 And so that was, 19:27 that was also a nice way to end, 19:29 we kind of, you know, 19:30 sandwich between everybody praying for us 19:32 to get there the fact that they thought 19:34 what we were doing was evangelism. 19:36 Every morning throughout the week, 19:38 I not by choice, 19:40 I was waking up earlier and earlier 19:42 and had my devotion 19:43 and then I would read 19:45 what's going on throughout the world 19:47 and that was always a bad idea, 19:49 but it would let us know what's going on 19:52 and I would have to put it out of my mind 19:55 while I'm on the job site though. 19:57 Number one, for a safety reason. 19:58 You got to be, you gotta 20:00 you know watch what you're doing 20:01 but two, you know we wanted to be very present 20:04 and be there for why we were there, 20:06 but it was hard, you know, yeah, during lunch, 20:08 you look at your phone and you see what's going on, 20:10 but you just have to put it out of your mind 20:12 and there was time for that in the evening 20:14 to spend time on the phone with airlines 20:18 and with Lisandro and with others, 20:20 but during the day, 20:22 I would do my best to put it out of there. 20:25 So as soon as we got there, Claude, Al 20:26 and I realized as of Sunday, you know, 20:30 the world is continuing to send into chaos around us. 20:33 We were fine, we were in good shape 20:35 but getting home was going to be a challenge. 20:37 We were originally supposed to be there 20:39 through Tuesday of the following week 20:41 with a very nice excursion on the beach, 20:43 it was going to be great. 20:44 We made the decision on Sunday you know, 20:47 two days after we got there 20:48 like we got to get out as soon as the work's done. 20:51 When it was time to leave, 20:52 half of the group departed successfully 20:54 with the help of an airline manager 20:56 for seven countries in West Africa named Jean-Luc. 21:00 He's a problem solver. 21:02 So, we continue the conversation 21:03 while our guys make it through security. 21:05 We weren't going to leave until they were through. 21:08 And, so he and Gilberto strike a conversation 21:11 and more information 21:13 and as we're leaving, we get his card 21:14 because Gilberto thinks oh, you know, at some point, 21:18 I might need him, right? 21:19 I might need another group, might have a problem, 21:22 so we get his information. 21:25 And so we leave and we go back to the hotel 21:27 and we're ready for the next day 21:29 and our group makes it out no problems, 21:31 they get through and they get home. 21:34 The second half of the group's flight was cancelled. 21:37 To make matters worse, 21:39 Jean-Luc told Greg that 21:40 Cote d'Ivoire would be closing its airport and borders 21:43 the following night. 21:46 They had already purchased backup tickets. 21:48 So the next day 21:49 the group arrived at the airport, 21:51 but were denied boarding 21:52 because they had transferred through Europe the week before. 21:55 They would miss the deadline. 21:58 For Hatch, an organized veteran mission trip leader, 22:01 the realization set in 22:02 that all of his planning was exhausted. 22:07 With commercial flights off the table, 22:09 Hatch began to look into alternative options. 22:13 Hatch reached out to the US embassy 22:15 and researched an expensive charter flight. 22:18 Maranatha worked through 22:20 the Adventist Church World Headquarters 22:21 to contact the US Department of State 22:24 and Senators from the States 22:25 where the remaining volunteers lived. 22:28 There was talk of an evacuation flight 22:30 for US citizens later in the week. 22:35 I get a voice message over WhatsApp 22:37 from the embassy lady. 22:38 She says, 22:40 "I think I've got an option. 22:41 I'm going to be sending you information 22:43 that you need to fill out for your group." 22:44 And she said, "Your group needs to pray that this works." 22:49 A government employee telling me to pray. 22:52 Okay. I'm going to listen. 22:54 And so we brought everybody together 22:56 and said guys, 22:57 we're going to have a prayer meeting right now 23:01 because it's been, 23:03 we should have done this before 23:04 but it's being asked of us and so we're going to do it. 23:06 And so we laid it all out there, 23:08 and that was the first time 23:10 where I finally truly let it go. 23:13 Up until then, 23:15 I've been trying to use all of my training, 23:18 all of the experience to work through the problem 23:22 and that was finally when I just said, 23:23 "God, take it, go ahead and You run with it." 23:28 So, we had an amazing prayer session 23:31 and, you know, 23:34 about a half hour after we finished a prayer session, 23:37 I get a call from Jean-Luc. 23:39 He calls me rather than just email. 23:41 He says, "I have seats, I have four seats. 23:44 Who do you want on it?" 23:45 Twenty minutes later, he calls me again and he says, 23:47 well, he says, 23:50 "What would you think if I got all 13 on that flight?" 23:52 I said, "I would think that 23:53 you're a direct answer to prayer 23:55 is what I would think." 23:56 And he started going through all the information 23:59 taking the credit card and getting us booked. 24:01 So he said you need to be at the airport at six. 24:04 So, within three and a half hours 24:07 of that prayer session, 24:08 we were booked, ticketed at the airport, 24:12 and that was the most amazing direct answer to prayer 24:15 that any of us have ever seen. 24:17 I thought, I knew what prayer was 24:19 until we had our prayer session. 24:21 Right, we were praying the entire week 24:23 but we weren't, I'll put, I'll speak for myself, 24:28 I won't speak for everybody else. 24:29 I hadn't truly handed it over to God, right? 24:33 And that was a mistake 24:34 and one that I hope I don't make again. 24:37 The second was faith, 24:38 that we needed to have faith 24:40 that God was gonna, 24:41 He brought us to this challenge, 24:43 He's gonna get us through the challenge. 24:46 On March 23rd, after days fraught with drama, 24:50 the group arrived back in the United States. 24:54 You know, it felt great. 24:57 There's no question about that. 24:59 I told you know, customs and border patrol, 25:01 he said, "Welcome America." 25:03 I said, "You have no idea how welcome I am." 25:05 And so one of the biggest takeaways is 25:06 as I think God was just, 25:08 He was just kind of sitting behind me, 25:09 you know, just watching 25:11 and finally when it was time 25:13 He just kind of tapped me on the shoulder 25:14 and said, "Are you ready for me to take it now? 25:18 Good, you gave it up. 25:19 I've got it now. Let's get this done." 25:21 You know, two days of worrying about, 25:24 ten days of worrying and planning for me, 25:27 He got it done in three and a half hours. 25:30 So that that's the biggest learning for me. 25:33 By March 24th, 25:35 all Maranatha volunteers had made it home 25:38 whether it was disrupting travel 25:40 or postponing volunteer projects, 25:42 COVID-19 had a significant impact 25:45 on Maranatha during March 2020, 25:48 but it could not crush the spirit of Maranatha. 25:53 I was really taken 25:55 by how every single group leader 25:57 that we were working with, mission trip leader, 26:00 was so focused on wanting to get their volunteers out 26:04 into the mission field, 26:05 and they were really focused and really 26:09 it was really important to them that they fulfilled the mission 26:12 that they had started. 26:13 Many of them had taken site visits 26:15 ahead of time and felt like 26:16 they made a commitment to the host community 26:18 that they were going to visit. 26:19 And so that, for them it was almost personal 26:21 that they might not be able to go 26:23 and so, almost to a person these leaders were feeling that 26:29 if God wanted them to go that He would make the, 26:33 He would open the doors for them 26:34 and make it possible, 26:35 if not He would shut the doors. 26:37 And until the door is shut, 26:38 they were going to push as hard as possible 26:40 and that was really inspiring. 26:43 March 2020 was a trying time for the world, 26:47 but in the following weeks and months, 26:49 Maranatha began to push forward. 26:54 Our local crews, sheltering in place 26:56 started to safely work in countries like India, 27:01 Zambia and Kenya. 27:11 The mission was interrupted, but not stopped. 27:18 Months later 27:19 volunteers would again serve on projects 27:22 starting in the United States. 27:28 Despite seemingly insurmountable odds, 27:31 Maranatha would continue to advance the mission 27:34 with the same unrelenting passion 27:36 displayed by our volunteers. |
Revised 2020-12-27