
Inside Missions
An in-depth look at the people, cultures, and countries where Maranatha is working.
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Episodes
27 episodes
Episode 27 - Marcos Paseggi - Adventist Review’s senior news correspondent on reporting on the mission around the world
As Adventist Review’s senior news correspondent, Marcos has traveled the world covering stories for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and has the unique experience of coming to the mission of Maranatha via journalism. Early in his time at Adven...
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38:00

Episode 26 - Leo Macias and Sidney Needles - Debriefing a TV production trip to India
What is it like to produce a television program in another country? Maranatha’s media production manager Leo Macias and communication specialist Sidney Needles debrief their recent trip to India. Come behind the scenes and learn how TV is produ...
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52:31

Episode 25 - Kenneth Weiss - The Mission in Communist Cuba
Maranatha’s chief operating officer talks about his earliest impressions of Cuba from the mid-90’s, how Maranatha got involved, some of the challenges of the Seventh-day Adventist Church there back then, and how Maranatha worked to construct or...
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48:20

Episode 24 - Loretta Spivey - “You’ll be in a wheelchair the rest of your life,” and leading thousands of teens on mission trips
Long-time Maranatha mission trip leader, Loretta Spivey, shares her journey to the mission field, from becoming the first Seventh-day Adventist in her family as a result of a visit from a literature evangelist, to a year-long missionary assignm...
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56:25

Episode 23 - Danny Poljak - Explosives, Escaping War, and Mission Field Construction
After serving as a Maranatha volunteer for years, Danny now works for Maranatha to ensure our buildings are constructed soundly. But his journey to Maranatha starts as a child in the former Yugoslavia, the son of a Seventh-day Adventist Church ...
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34:12

Episode 22 - Susan Woods - Air raids, riding a refugee train, mission field pregnancies/raising kids
Maranatha’s medical services coordinator grew up as a missionary kid in Asia, and later took her own family into the mission field to serve in several countries around the globe. Over her lifetime she’s experienced a wide range of danger and ha...
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52:48

Episode 21 - Lisandro Staut - Troublemaker turned ministry leader talks overcoming labels, why he left a successful career path, and a criticism of short term missions
Maranatha’s vice president for volunteers explains his unlikely path to missions, from his reputation as a teen troublemaker to pursuing ministry—much to the surprise of those around him. He reflects on the labels others put on him, and a cruci...
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58:27

Episode 20 - Dina Ramirez - From volunteer to staff member, how God uses people to answer prayers
Long-time Maranatha volunteer turned staff member talks about her transition from serving with the organization to working for it. She recounts how she first got into short term missions, how it has impacted herself and her family, and why she ...
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31:00

Episode 19 - Maranatha Volunteer Support Staff - Behind the scenes of sleepless nights, contingency plans, and the power of prayer
Three of Maranatha’s volunteer support staff join us for our first-ever panel! Maria Molleda from Peru, Alice Danla in India, and Kotesh Rao in Kenya, talk about the other side of the mission trip from what volunteers see. From booking hotels a...
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1:08:31

Episode 18 - Don Noble - Taking over Maranatha Flights International in 1983, food poisoning, car attacks, and doubters saying he was the wrong guy for the job
Maranatha’s president since the early 80’s, Don tells the story of how God called him to a small, fledgling organization called “Maranatha Flights International,” the original name for Maranatha. He shares how he listened for God’s leading in t...
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48:01

Episode 17 - Kyle Fiess - First reactions to girls escaping child marriage and female genital mutilation, and managing the six-year project to improve their school's infrastructure
Maranatha’s vice president of projects describes his first day visiting the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya, in what would become a six-year project he oversaw. He recalls his initial reactions to the plight of these Maasai ...
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51:12

Episode 16 - Mission to Kajiado: An Audio Story - How Maasai girls escaping child marriage and female genital mutilation found a home and new family
This audio story is about the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center in Kenya. It’s a haven for Maasai girls, sometimes as young as six years old, who are escaping child marriage and a dangerous ritual called female genital mutilation (FGM)...
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25:24

Episode 15 - Jason Blanchard - Growing up as a missionary kid in Malawi and returning to the same country as the CEO of Malamulo Adventist Hospital
Jason is the Executive Director of Clinic Operations at Loma Linda University Health in California, but talks about life as a missionary kid in Malawi, and his subsequent return in adulthood as the CEO of the Malamulo Adventist Hospital. He des...
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33:48

Episode 14 - Greg Hatch - Escaping the COVID shut down in Ivory Coast, food poisoning, and pre-mission trip site visits
A long-time Maranatha volunteer and leader, Greg explains how he first got into missions, influenced by his parents and uncle, Maranatha board member, Roger Hatch. He reflects on the first mission trip he led solo, how he’s improved in handling...
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52:54

Episode 13 - Nancy Davis - Growing up in a missionary family in Thailand and the challenges of being a "third culture" kid
At the age of 11, Nancy’s family moved to Bangkok, Thailand, to serve as missionaries. She reflects on what it was like to grow up as a missionary kid, how her identity came to be more Thai than American, and how she struggled to assimilate int...
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49:00

Episode 12 - Joelle Chinnock - Escaping the 2018 Camp Fire and helping in the aftermath
Currently the coordinator for the Ending Homelessness Initiative for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Joelle previously served as the Director of Disaster Recovery & Development for the Paradise Seventh-day Adve...
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1:00:07

Episode 11 - Steve Case - Why missions is important for teens and the fundamental goal of mission trips
Since 1992 Steve has run his own ministry, “Involve Youth,” speaking for youth events, conducting training seminars for youth leaders, creating youth ministry resources, and teaching youth ministry professionals. He’s an author of many books an...
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1:03:19

Episode 10 - Karen Godfrey - Curating the mission trip experience, and recruiting 1,200 volunteers to build 25 churches in 70 days
How do you curate a volunteer experience that makes people want to come back time after time? Our VP of Advancement shares how Maranatha has worked to provide mission trips that make a difference in the lives of project recipients, as well as t...
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49:36

Episode 9 - Laura Noble - From running with California's rich and famous to a mission non-profit
Laura has worked for Maranatha in Donor Relations for years, but there was a time when she never thought she’d work for such a ministry. Her early career in software sales was lucrative, allowing her to rub shoulders with California's rich and ...
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53:24

Episode 8 - Julie Lee - Marketing the mission, telling stories of need, and planning a 2,000-person event
Our VP of marketing shares her journey in telling the story of Maranatha through print, TV, and more. What’s it like to capture the essence of people in need halfway around the world? What goes through the mind of a field producer as they’re cu...
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1:00:38

Episode 7 - Christina Lloyd - Embedding with a well-drilling crew in the bush, witnessing a girl rescued from child marriage/FGM, and producing a TV show in the mission field
Go behind the camera with our director of television, who breaks down how we produce a TV program in the mission field. It’s a balance of logistics, planning, and keeping your eye open for just the right story. Christina has been filming and pr...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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59:34

Episode 6 - Luke Johnson - Language barriers, raising young kids in the second smallest country in Africa, and the heartbreak of finding no water when drilling
In our first field episode, Dustin Comm talks to our country manager for Zambia under a mango tree at the Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church, during a mission trip where Maranatha volunteers were constructing a medical clinic in October 2023.&...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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44:08

Episode 5 - Elmer Barbosa - Helping volunteers escape the COVID shutdown, working in the Amazon, and physically constructing hundreds of churches
Maranatha's country director in Peru shares how he started in the mission field as a 20-year old missionary to Mozambique. Elmer recalls how he constructed hundreds of Maranatha's One-Day Churches in both Mozambique and Brazil, and how the COVI...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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19:37

Episode 4 - Gilberto Araujo - Raising kids in the mission field, life in the Middle East, and surviving violence
Our country director for the Dominican Republic shares his lifelong journey in missions, from a missionary’s kid in the north of Brazil, to Africa and the Middle East as an administrator for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and now in the Cari...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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51:37

Episode 3 - Vinish Wilson - Meeting Mother Teresa, using explosives to find water, and Maranatha's work in India
Dustin Comm sits down with Maranatha’s country director in India, who shares his journey from a Himalayan town in northern India to becoming a Seventh-day Adventist and eventually working for Maranatha for the past 23 years.Vinish talks...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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42:58
