OAA Students Build Church in Peru
GENTRY, ARK. – Student volunteers from Ozark Adventist Academy (OAA) went on a mission trip with Maranatha Volunteers International during spring break this year. The team laid the block walls of a church building for the Maravillas congregation in Juliaca, Peru.
A congregation of roughly 50 faithful worshipers was meeting in a cramped building with major cracks in its walls. To make matters worse, the local government announced plans to build a road right where their old structure rested. But Maranatha International agreed to build Maravillas a new church structure.
This was OAA’s first mission trip since the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was an air of excitement among student volunteers. They were thrilled to experience a different part of the world and bring about change for the Maravillas church. Project Coordinator Marklynn Bazzy shared her students’ enthusiasm, but she and the other adult sponsors secretly wondered if they would be able to meet their construction goal. “That was one of our biggest fears,” she recalled, “that we would not finish the walls within the time we had. But God blessed the volunteers with willing spirits, enabling them to complete their task. “In the week that we were there—along with help from some of the Marantha workers—we managed to complete the walls all the way to the top,” said Bazzy. “And it looked really nice. They did a great job.”
In addition to building a church structure, Ozark volunteers led a five-day Vacation Bible School program for children in the local community. The students from OAA and the children from the local community bonded while singing songs, doing crafts and learning about Jesus. “I think that when they look back on this, they are going to have some really good memories,” remarked Bazzy.
Juliaca’s altitude is more than 12,500 feet above sea level—a bit of a jump from Arkansas’ mere 650 feet. This elevation, combined with days full of manual labor, caused a few problems, and two of our Ozark students wound up in a local clinic with elevation sickness. But by God’s grace, they were soon cleared to return to work. Bazzy believes that even the trip’s trials contributed to a beautifully impactful experience. “The experience, no matter good or bad, is always worth it,” she says. “All my short-term mission trips have all been worth it; it really does broaden your horizons.”
Maranatha mobilizes volunteers to build churches, schools, water wells and other urgently needed structures around the world. Since 1969, Maranatha has constructed more than 14,000 structures and more than 3,000 water wells in nearly 90 countries.
By Sidney Needles
