[3] In 1969 under the direction of John Freeman a commercial photographer, a group of Seventh-day Adventist volunteers flew to the Bahamas to build a church[4] This idea expanded to other projects involving volunteers flying their private planes to locations to build churches and was organized into Maranatha Flights International based in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Projects are classified into categories such as teen, young adult, open, group or family depending on the volunteer makeup.

In addition to actual building construction, some volunteers are typically involved in cooking and some may participate in community projects such as Vacation Bible School or medical and dental clinics.

In 2010 Maranatha is building primarily in Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, India, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Zambia and the United States.

[5][6][7] The One-Day Church was developed jointly by Adventist-laymen's Services & Industries and Maranatha in an effort to meet the demand for rapid economical construction of more buildings.

[5] The galvanized steel frame and roof of the church are manufactured at a facility in Dodge Center, Minnesota, containerized and shipped on-site where it is assembled by volunteers and local personnel in one day.

[9][10] In June 2010 Maranatha introduced the One-Day School project at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists session in Atlanta, Georgia.

[11] This project is an extension of the One-Day Church idea providing a metal frame, roof, walls, doors and windows.