Maranatha Completes Church and School Complex in Zambia After 2022 Storm Destroyed Bethsaida Adventist Church

The Bethsaida Seventh-day Adventist Memorial Church and Primary School in Zambia has been completed, Maranatha Volunteers International announced. The new church and school complex replaces the Bethsaida Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was destroyed in a storm in January 2022. The storm killed five people and injured many others.

After the storm, the Adventist Church in Zambia asked Maranatha for help. The request led to the construction of the new memorial church and primary school.

Over the past eighteen months, Maranatha volunteers and local crews built a large sanctuary that can seat up to 500 worshippers. The campus also includes six Sabbath School classrooms, which are used as classrooms for a new elementary school during the week. Other facilities include restrooms, a water well and infrastructure that supports the community’s well-being.

David Woods, Maranatha’s country director for Zambia, described the need in the area. “The nearest primary school has 1,204 students in five classrooms, running two shifts a day,” Woods said. He said the new school would help provide Christian education to children in the vicinity.

A dedication ceremony was held last summer. It was attended by Maranatha leaders, donors, regional officials of the Adventist Church in Zambia and members of the community. The source reports that church members were amazed and grateful for the project, which it describes as a new chapter in the community’s resilience and growth. Volunteers and local builders working to restore a community after such a loss reflect generosity in practice (Hebrews 13:16).

Maranatha’s work in Zambia is not new. The organization worked in the country from 2009 to 2015 and completed hundreds of projects there. It returned in 2018 at the request of the local church to carry out further infrastructure work, including churches, schools and water wells.

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