Gains in Grangeville

By Sidney Needles

Maranatha Volunteers International communication specialist

A whirlwind of activity ensued in early September when 25 volunteers and one crane gathered in rural northcentral Idaho to build a 5,700 square-foot addition onto the Grangeville Seventh-day Adventist Church building. Interior and exterior walls needed to be raised, trusses secured, plywood sheathing attached, and windows and doors installed. Volunteers tackled this imposing to-do list with the drive of a linebacker on Superbowl Sunday. When the sawdust settled two weeks later, a beautiful new sanctuary and various smaller rooms stood attached to the original church building. 

The Grangeville Adventist church had worshiped in the same, too-small building for more than 25 years. It included several small rooms and a fellowship hall that was multipurpose, to say the least. As the only room large enough to fit the full congregation, it housed Sabbath School classes, worship services, sermons, and potlucks.

“You had to do a lot of things in the fellowship hall that you’d normally want to do in a sanctuary,” said Pastor Steve Rogers.

Tired of Sabbaths spent constantly repurposing their space, the congregation needed more square-footage, more specifically a sanctuary where they could hold full-congregation worship services comfortably. Additionally, rising church attendance–while delightful–had exacerbated the decades-old dilemma. But the high price of materials, equipment, and labor continued to put a pin in all plans for expansion. Through it all, church members remained hopeful that their situation would one day change. 

September 3, 2023, was that day. A group of volunteers, organized by Adventist non-profit Maranatha Volunteers International, arrived to start building the addition. With the Grangeville Church covering material costs and volunteers serving as free labor, the addition’s price tag was finally realistic. 

During the project, church members worked alongside volunteers on the construction site, cooked meals, and opened their homes for volunteers to stay in.

“They [the congregation] seemed to go out of their way to take care of us,” said Maranatha’s project leader, Edward Jensen. “Just the fact that we were there, you know? They were very thankful for what we were doing.”

Today, the Grangeville church building addition stands as a physical reminder of the incredible power of prayer. “It means everything because they’re an answer to our prayers,” said Rogers. “The people are the miracle on this project. They sacrificed their time, resources, expertise, and equipment. It’s meant the world because we could not have done it without them; so we’re eternally grateful for Maranatha.”

Maranatha Volunteers International mobilizes volunteers to build churches, schools, water wells, and other urgently needed structures around the world. Each year, Maranatha works with organizations in the United States and Canada to provide volunteer labor for various construction or renovation projects at summer camps and retreat centers, schools, and churches. Work ranges from renovations of existing buildings to new construction, and saves thousands of dollars in labor costs.