“When bad things happen, good people show up and get you back on your feet.” That’s what Sylvia Starr, 70, said on behalf of herself, her husband Jeff, 67, and their two adult sons on January 13 at the dedication of their new house in Libau,...
From an idea to a thriving program. Don and Marilyn Buller, from their home in Fresno, took time to recall how they founded the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) RV Program. The MDS RV Program comprises a 55+ crowd of close-knit volunteers who get a...
As John Nice drove volunteers to and from the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) job sites in Elk, Washington, he safely navigated snow, ice, and freezing temperatures—and he enjoyed it all. After retiring as a semi-truck driver in 2022, he has been...
In summer of 2024 John Henry and Judith Yoder of Lakeville, Ohio lost their home in a house fire. The family contacted Gid Yoder from Disaster Aid Ohio asking if they might consider building a house for someone who did not attend Church. Gid...
Rollin Ulrich just celebrated a year of service. For him, that means 52 weeks on the job with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS)—weeks that have been split into one- or two-month stints as an MDS project director. An MDS project director is...
In 2022, New Mexico experienced the largest and most destructive wildfire in the history of the state. It burned 341,471 acres of ground. And if you know anything about wildfires, you know that they are only the first of many successive disasters....
What if we come together for the Kingdom of God? In Georgia, here’s what that looks like. North Ohio Assisting Hands (NOAH), an Amish group that works collaboratively with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), has been framing homes in Douglas...
“It hasn’t been good,” said Dwayne Stewart as he described his long rebuilding journey after losing his home to the Barrington Lake wildfire of May 2023. As the fire, which burned over 23,000 hectares and was one of the largest in Nova Scotia...
Fifty hours on a train—and nearly the same number of hours per week volunteering for Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS)! Twenty-year-old Jolene Hoover, from a Mennonite community in the Finger Lakes region of New York, rode the train with other...
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