Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders and lay people from around the world met at the Maranatha Volunteers International Convention to discuss recent evangelism efforts in India and the Dominican Republic. More than 400 people attended the annual event, which was held at the Mt. Vernon Hill Adventist Church in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, United States, June 28 to 30.

The meetings focused on the growth of the Adventist Church in India and the Dominican Republic, and the need for church buildings to accommodate the increasing membership.

Ron Watts, president of the church in India, reiterated the cultural implications of a church building, which provides permanence and establishes Christianity in a village. Currently, more than 3,000 congregations need a church. Global Mission and Maranatha are establishing 100 new churches in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, a state of 170 million people.

Rapidly expanding church membership in the Dominican Republic is also creating an urgent need for new churches. Cesario Acevedo, president of the church in the region, reported that tremendous results came out of a Maranatha initiative in the early 1990s. Following the construction of 25 churches in 1992, not only did membership increase, but tithe and offerings also grew considerably. Estimates show that the church in the Dominican Republic needs more than 400 churches to accommodate the rising membership. Maranatha plans to construct 50 churches and 10 large schools in the country.

Prior to the weekend meetings, 140 Maranatha volunteers, coming from as far away as Brazil, worked on a campus renovation project at Mt. Vernon Adventist Academy.

Maranatha Volunteers International, founded in 1969, is a non-profit Christian organization committed to promoting volunteerism, and to constructing urgently needed buildings. More than 45,000 people have volunteered for Maranatha projects in 61 countries.