One-Day Church in great demand
As word spreads throughout the world that the One-Day Church is a practical, cost-effective answer to the need for church buildings in remote areas, requests come in that cannot always be filled.
Wladimir Gonçalves de Souza, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor from the northern state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, recently wrote to the ASI office:
"Two of my churches are 300 kilometers at the end of [the Salinas] district in a poor region of Brazil. I've been reading the magazine Adventist World and learned of the 'Church in a Day' idea of Brother Garwin McNeilus, and I would like information about the kit to build churches. I need three units sent to our members in a small town in my pastoral district. A few families have land donated by the local government. However, the members are very poor and cannot build a church. They would like to build a small church for 40 people. As of June 1, I will do volunteer missionary work by the River Pardo where 60 families reside and an Adventist family has been giving Bible studies to 13 people. We urgently need to build a small church for 50 people by the riverbank. This site is 17 kilometers away from the nearest Adventist church, and the road is in bad traffic conditions."
ASI shared with Pastor de Souza that One-Day Churches must be shipped in containers that hold 30 to 40 kits. Currently, individual church kits cannot be shipped. The One-Day Church Project now has requests for 100,000 churches to be built and shipped to various countries.
Brazil is the largest country in South America and the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by population and geography. As of 2007, there were 2,393,000 residents in the Brazilian Federal District, with a population density of 410.9 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Maranatha Volunteers International is already responding to requests for One-Day Churches in Brazil. Local church leaders have prioritized the northeast part of the country, where incredible growth is taking place.
"The One-Day Churches are being used as part of an intentional plan to reach cities in that territory that currently have no Adventist presence," says Dick Duerksen, assistant to the president and "storyteller" for Maranatha. The Brazil Union is working with Maranatha to iron out paperwork and customs issues inherent to the process.
Gail Bosarge, administrative assistant for ASI, replied to Pastor de Souza, "Our hearts go out to you and your very real need for church buildings. God has promised to supply all your needs. We can count on His promise, for His Word never fails. Continue to pray, as will we, and we will watch Him do miracles."
Visit the One-Day Church website.