A group of volunteers from Seniors in Action for God with Excellence wrapped up a project in the Dominican Republic on Feb. 6, 2025. They organized this project through Maranatha Volunteers International, a supporting ministry of the Adventist Church.
Team members constructed a church building for La Nueva Barquita Adventist Church's congregation. They also conducted an evangelistic series, passed out more than 500 pieces of literature, painted another church, led children’s ministry programs and saw nearly 400 patients at medical clinics. They attribute all positive outcomes to God’s intervention, which was especially obvious on multiple occasions.
SAGE volunteers working on La Nueva Barquita Church's building were dedicated to their construction goal: finishing the church walls so Maranatha’s construction crew members could add the roof before Sabbath worship in the new structure. “They worked hard and stuck with it until the expectation for each specific day was met,” recalled Valerie Serns, SAGE secretary.
“There’s always a plethora of problems and difficulties that everyone has to deal with on a trip like this. I just feel like God walked ahead of us and solved most of those problems with such accuracy. We knew that that wasn't us; it was Him,” said Valerie.
God’s guidance also shone through a woman named Vanesa, a university student from the Dominican Republic who happened to stop by one of SAGE’s medical clinics. “It was not random — it was a divine appointment,” said Rick Serns, SAGE president.
Because the medical team needed a translator, Vanesa offered her services for the rest of the day. She worked with the medical team nearly every day for the remainder of the project. She also attended the group’s evangelistic meetings and worshiped with volunteers on the last Sabbath of the trip. “As far as I know, she had no church background at all. We got word that she’s been going to church every week since we left,” remarked Rick.
SAGE is a ministry for and by those 50 years and older in Washington Conference. It’s designed to enhance the spiritual, mental, physical and social health of its members through local and international service projects, spiritual retreats and social events. “A lot of the time, people who reach retirement kind of lose contact with other people and lose the social aspect,” explained Rick.
Maranatha has helped plan SAGE’s annual international service trips since 1995. “There’s no better way to do an international trip than to partner with Maranatha. There’s the camaraderie that you build with your work group who came on the trip but also the camaraderie with the Maranatha crew members and the local church,” said Rick.
Vanesa visited SAGE's medical clinic out of curiosity but stayed to provide her services as a translator.
Volunteers work with joyful hearts to meet their construction goal.
Maranatha crew members race against rain to install the church building's roof and finish right before the downpour.
Four hundred patients receive care at the medical clinics SAGE volunteers operate.
