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. Luke’s career started in India’s corporate world, but the toll it took on him prompted a change. Working in construction for Maranatha offered him the chance to travel and take photos, one of his passions. Luke started off working as a construction supervisor in southern India. Later, he took his young family to live in the second-smallest country in Africa, the island-nation of São Tomé and Príncipe as Maranatha’s country director there. He talks about the challenges of transitioning to a new place far from home with a foreign language. He describes the first steps Maranatha takes when establishing itself in a country, before volunteers have come for mission trips. He also shares how he and his wife, who were not Seventh-day Adventist, began to diligently study with the conference president in São Tomé, who baptized them in the ocean.Eventually Luke took his family to mainland Africa where he currently manages Maranatha’s operations in Zambia. He talks about some of the needs there, like clean water and basic health care. He reflects on how difficult it is when, from time to time, the well-drilling team doesn’t hit water, including the heartbreak of facing a village to tell them the news. Luke also shares some of the current projects Maranatha is working on in Zambia, including the Sala and Mwami Adventist Schools, and the Bethel clinic project.Thanks for listening! Please like, comment, and subscribe.Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!On September 19, 2026, join us in Sacramento, California, for our annual convention, Mission: Maranatha. You’ll be inspired by volunteer testimonies, stories from the mission field, and updates from Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders around the globe. Plus, be blessed by Oakwood University's award-winning choir, The Aeolians.Learn more at https://maranatha.org/media-events/maranatha-convention/