Red Lake, MN – June 9-15, 2024

It was a joyous week with ten young ladies from Pennsylvania and couples from Ohio and North Dakota, contributing their building, singing, soccer, and volleyball skills.  We were a full house with a combined 25 weekly and long-term volunteers with us most of the week.  We all fit elbow to elbow around the breakfast and supper tables.

Teams worked at Michelle’s, Ruthann’s, Billy’s and had a start on Jamie’s house.   The outside of Michelle’s house is completed, only needing some final fasteners to complete it.  Ruthann’s house is a few days away from completion—inside trim will finish. And Billy’s, right on the shore of Red Lake is progressing well.  All the damaged siding has been removed from Jamie’s house.    With only a few showers stopping work for a short time, and abundant sunshine for the remainer, a lot of good full days of progress were recorded.  Next week the hope is to complete at Ruthann’s and continue at Billy’s and Jamie’s.

Like the 5 loaves and fishes were multiplied, so did the soccer and volleyball games.  Local residents joined in the games.  At the end of the week, a Red Lake Nation College employee who manages the fields where the games were held, brought us two additional soccer balls and more tennis balls than could be juggled. Eugene Standing Cloud, co-director of Oshkii programs had dinner with us and talked about the nation’s history.    Oshkii (Oshkiimaajitahdah) provides several services to residents, including food assistance, training in trades, GED, childcare, and several other services.  As in the past, at least one of our crew saw a bear somewhere on the travel between MDS sites, Menards, and the local transit station.

A special thanks to Janis Ott, a year-long Christliche Dienste volunteer assigned to MDS , who will be leaving this week for his final three weeks of service in Florida, before returning home to Germany. And thanks to our office manager (Thaine) who returns to his home in Minneapolis (Mitch for the rest of the team!)

Thaine Dirks for the Red Lake team.