Twice a year, Maranatha Volunteers International offers international mission opportunities designed specifically for families. The latest such project was recently completed in Pucallpa, Peru.

The 125 volunteers on the trip spent ten days constructing a Seventh-day Adventist Church building and a Sabbath School room. They also painted two other Adventist churches, held two Vacation Christian School programs, and served 1,931 patients at medical clinics in four different locations.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said project volunteer Alyson Pratt. “It’s so wonderful. I wish I had more to offer than just giving my time like this. To be tired at the end of the day and not be serving myself or someone else who just doesn’t appreciate that this is available to them. There’s nothing like it.”

One way the Family Project serves a diverse age group is through a special day camp for volunteers' children up to age 12. "You can't work eight days on a project if you're a kid," said coordinator Steve Case, who helped develop the concept for Maranatha's Family Project.

“We came up with the idea of ​​day camp, where you have one- or two-hour blocks of work, play, some kind of cultural experience and some kind of service activity. And that made a difference in getting families to come,” Case explained.

During the trip, the day camp children spent time working alongside adults at church facilities. They also learned to cook, visited a farmers market and flew with Peru Projects, an Adventist mission organization that works in the region.

In this way, family members have bonded with each other as they work to make a positive difference, as well as made new friends with volunteers they’ve never met before. Catherine Adap, 16, who has participated in two Family Projects with her family, believes the project creates a special environment that sparks this kind of connection. “It’s amazing. I feel so comfortable just going up to [other volunteers] and asking, ‘Hey, how was work? How was your day? What did you do? What was the craziest story of your day?’ … It’s so much fun,” she says.

Adap feels the experience has helped her become more outgoing and open to new people and perspectives. Her mother, Chris Guarin-Adap, feels it’s more than that. She’s seen the trips have a spiritual impact on her family. “I’ve noticed a difference. The reason mission trips are so important to us is that my husband and I want to raise our children to have the heart of Christ and the character of Christ. And we firmly believe that a life of selfless service and mission gives us a better glimpse of what Christ is like, because He Himself embodied a life of selfless service. And so when we go on missions, we find that it brings us back to what’s important,” she says.

Years ago, Maranatha leadership examined the demographics of its volunteer groups and noticed a major gap. Teenagers were serving on the Ultimate Workout, an annual trip geared toward them. And many retired volunteers filled the rosters for projects throughout the year. However, the number of younger adults who could have families had dwindled. So the first Family Project was launched in 1998 and was an instant success. Since then, the project has continued to gain popularity as an opportunity for families to build faith and community through the act of building.

The original article was published on the South American Division Portuguese website.