Maranatha Has Summer Project at Mount Pisgah Academy
Three years ago, Mount Pisgah Academy (MPA), Candler, N.C., sent an application to Maranatha requesting help with the girls’ dorm renovations. The project was scheduled for this past summer, June 2-23, 2021. Having a welcoming, comfortable environment, and excellent food, resulted in some happy volunteers. The volunteers became like a warm and loving family who worked well together. As one of the volunteers said, “We were all here to do God’s work.” It was a joy to have them on campus, and the MPA family wants to thank all the volunteers and the Maranatha organization for their hard work.
Ernie and Jeanice Riles, from Sylva, N.C., have been volunteering with Maranatha for more than seven years. The school was blessed to have an experienced and knowledgeable project manager and volunteer coordinator assigned to the project. Maranatha had 68 volunteers helping with the painting, electrical upgrades, new flooring, reinstalling curtains, and debris removal. Some of the volunteers worked with Kristen James, cafeteria assistant director; and, Laurie Worth, former cafeteria assistant director, returned to help James provide delicious meals for the volunteers and staff.
Maranatha volunteers travel from all over the world to help others. Some volunteers participate in two or three projects each summer. A few of the volunteers brought their RVs, but most slept in the boys’ dorm. Dean Boyd and Nancy Parra worked with Jeanice Riles, volunteer coordinator, to ensure they all had what they needed and got a good night’s rest. The daily worships were given by the volunteers, offering their testimony with inspirational stories. They also had special guest speakers, including Leslie Louis, Carolina Conference president.
Cutting in and prep work are essential steps and not for the faint of heart. Ann and Tom Wedel were volunteers from Charleston, S.C. Tom Wedel came back after the volunteers left and helped with some other upgrades. Mary Johnson, from Antioch, Calif., spray and roller painted rooms. Johnson is a Spanish teacher and usually volunteers for two Maranatha projects each summer. One of the most unexpected blessings came from two of the Maranatha volunteers, David and Denise Scroggs, from Buchanan, Mich. This amazing couple not only volunteered for the entire time, but came back with their RV to help MPA during this school year. Denise is a retired registered nurse, now serving as MPA’s school nurse, and David helps with landscaping and other duties.
MPA thanks the Maranatha volunteers, local volunteers, staff, and the many donors who made this transformation of new, beautiful, and comfortable rooms for the girls happen. They praise God for the group that came this past summer. They were such a blessing!
Carolina | November 2021
