Seventeen Maranatha volunteers from across Canada and the United States joined local volunteers in Truro, N.S., to work on a building project at the Truro Seventh-day Adventist Church. The volunteers had a really positive can-do attitude. Volunteers skilled in framing, roofing, plumbing, installing doors and windows, exterior siding, and of course cooking, helped to make this project become a reality!
The spirit of sacrifice and commitment was one thing that really impressed us. The Maranatha volunteers worked six days a week for almost three weeks, and not every volunteer was in perfect health. One volunteer, a skilled contractor, was still recovering from the side effects of his cancer treatments during the previous year, and sometimes had to stop for a short nap in the afternoon to regain his strength. Another volunteer had a broken ankle and was still wearing a cast, so after doing as much as she could to help with the building project, she spent the rest of the day helping cut out a new set of Betty Lucas felts to be used in the new children’s division.
During the building blitz one volunteer from Florida received reports about the devastating effects of hurricane Irma and was concerned about potential damage to her home. We asked her if she needed to go home, and she responded, “God brought me here to work on this project in Truro, so He will take care of my home in Florida.” She praised God afterward that her home received only minor damage from the hurricane!
The purpose of this building project is two-fold. First, the Truro Church has struggled for many years to meet the needs of families with young children, primarily because of a lack of facilities in the children’s divisions. The larger addition will house two new Sabbath School classrooms and a mother’s room. We believe God wants us to make children a priority by providing excellent Sabbath school classes and other programs to help young people grow spiritually, especially since we do not have an Adventist church school in Truro.
The second purpose is to improve the exterior appearance of the church facility so everyone in the community recognizes this as a church. We’ve met people in the community who have lived in Truro for many years but didn’t realize it was a church. Once this project is finished, it will be much easier to advertise special programs for the community by simply telling them, “It’s at the church across from Walmart!”
We believe this expanded church facility will help us provide for the needs of people of all ages, including young families with children, and give character to the work of sharing the good news of the second coming of Jesus with people in our community!
If you have questions about this project, please contact Dave Hamilton at ac.kniltsae@notlimah.d (cell: 902/759-0008), or David Streifling at moc.liamg@dgnilfierts (cell: 902/577-7000). To see more photographs of this project as it progresses, please visit our website at trurons.adventistchurch.org and click “Church Building Project” on the menu bar at the top of the page.