The Big Build Mission

Since 2012, Big Build Volunteers has been organizing impactful mission trips across Southeast Asia, including Thailand and the Philippines. Every two years, volunteers are invited to join short-term mission trips, typically lasting 10-14 days. These trips focus on construction projects, where volunteers help build and renovate structures, while also engaging in community service activities such as street feeding and educational programs.

Volunteers fund their own travel and accommodation, but the experience is truly life-changing. In addition to the hands-on work, participants are immersed in local cultures, fostering spiritual growth and a deeper understanding of global needs. The transformative nature of these trips leaves volunteers with a renewed sense of purpose and a desire to make a positive impact in their own communities. Each Big Build mission trip provides a unique opportunity to serve, connect, and grow.

BIG BUILD PALAWAN (8-21 Jan 2025) will be held at Faith Adventist Academy, located just 10 minutes from Taytay on Palawan Island in the Philippines. It has been a thriving school community for over 20 years, offering a varied curriculum to students aged 12 to 18. The 2018-2019 school year saw a record enrollment of 270 students. However, by early 2019, many parents were informed that their children could not be accommodated due to a lack of funds to repair the deteriorating girls’ dormitory. Issues include moisture and mould buildup during the wet season, as well as an inadequate sewerage system creating unsanitary conditions.

Despite these challenges, parents continue to send their children to Faith Adventist Academy, drawn by the unique education offered and the lack of space in local schools, where some have over 3,000 students. Currently, over 30 girls are housed in the dormitory.

The school also faces significant water and infrastructure problems. During the dry season, the water tanks are insufficient, forcing the school to pump water from a nearby stagnant waterhole. There are no footpaths between the dormitories and classrooms, leading to dusty conditions in the dry season and mud during the wet season. Many areas of the school are in desperate need of repair and repainting.

In 2025, Big Build Volunteers plans to:

• Construct six 100,000 litre water tanks that will supply water to the whole school

• Install a concrete septic tank

• Construct concrete footpaths between the dormitories and the classrooms

• Concrete the road in the school

• Concrete the back of the girls’ dormitory

• Replace the classroom roofs and the church roof;

• Replace electrical cables around the school

• Paint the classrooms.

THE GOOD NEWS IS…

• We already have some volunteers from New Zealand who will be excavating an area for the new water tanks at the school site!

• During Big Build Palawan, the students will take time off school to be a part of our team to help with the concreting and painting.

The Big Build will also tackle the issues arising from the wet and dry seasons which are dust and mud as there are no footpaths for the students to walk on from their dormitories to their classrooms. Constructing the footpaths will be one of the biggest jobs of Big Build Palawan.

The 2025 Big Build Phillipines will be held on 8th - 21st January 2025. It will take place at the Faith Adventist Academy which is in the town of Taytay on the island of Palawan.

Everyone involved is preparing and praying for the success of the project that it will bless the people of Taytay. 

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10