Unity in mission—all church members working together toward the same goals—is a foundational value of the Seventh-day Adventist Church around the world, said participants in a special satellite event coordinated by lay Adventist organization, Maranatha Volunteers International.

The October 20 program was part of Maranatha’s annual convention, a three-day line-up of presentations focused on Christian mission and volunteerism. “One of the things we wanted to accomplish here is to show the unity that exists between the laity and church leadership; how we must pull together to accomplish the task before us,” said Don Noble, president of Maranatha.

Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, was a guest on the program, telling viewers, “I am very firmly convinced that we are only going to accomplish our mission as a church as we work together. There is no point in trying to divide it into segments—you go into your corner and work, and I’ll stay in my corner. No. The Lord wants us to work together—laity and ministry. We need to think together, plan together, act together.”

Maranatha’s role in providing church buildings and other facilities around the world is vital, said Paulsen. “Growth is more than just simply running an evangelistic campaign, as valuable as that is,” he explained. “What do you do when you’ve baptized new believers and you’ve brought them into the church? You have to give them a home. You have to provide them with a place for meeting and worshipping.”

An average of 2,400 new members join the Adventist Church each day, often in areas of the world least able to finance church building projects. Paulsen said failure to provide new believers with a church home leads many to fall away from their faith in the months following an evangelistic outreach program.

The Santa Fe event was Maranatha’s 24th annual convention, says Kyle Fiess, director of marketing for the Sacramento-based organization. The conference, which began October 19, brought together some 350 participants, including volunteers from previous Maranatha projects and those interested in hearing more about Maranatha’s mission and the volunteer opportunities it offers. A number of presentations were broadcast live by Three Angels Broadcasting Network, a lay Adventist television network. These programs will be rebroadcast early November by Adventist Television Network, the church’s international satellite network.

Since it was established in 1969, Maranatha has built more than 1,600 churches, 150 education and evangelistic centers, and has mobilized 50,000 volunteers to 61 countries. More than half of Maranatha’s volunteers are under 20 years of age. For more information about Maranatha, go to www.maranatha.org.