Penitas, TX – Feb. 16-22, 2025

Like many authors and composers whose works appear in books like Heartland Hymns, I. E. Diekenga and Fred Coblentz are without any biographical information available, at least online.  In 1906, Coblentz wrote music for the words Diekenga wrote in 1896, for the hymn “Build It Well.”  It comes up often in the selection of songs for morning devotions here in Penitas, Texas.

The lyrics are about our efforts to build our lives and especially our “Character” but we can also use the hymn to look at the efforts of our volunteers to build homes for four families in this part of South Texas.

We are building every day, In a good or evil way;

And the structure, as it grows, Will our inmost self disclose

Build it well whate’er you do;

Build it straight, and strong and true;

Build it clean, and high and broad;

Build it for the eye of God.

Most of the short-term volunteers for this past week were from Upstate New York.   Almost all have been on MDS trips before, including one who has served as a long term cook on an MDS project.  One short-term volunteer is from Steinbach, Manitoba, and is a retired plumbing contractor, whose knowledge was very helpful. The New Yorkers also came equipped with many valuable skills, and our Long-Term leaders from Ohio and Michigan were able to guide and direct the various teams to achieve an impressive amount of work that exceeded my projections for the week.  The fact they were fueled by another week of great meals at breakfast and supper certainly contributed to the energy and morale.

One of the teams worked on the first two of our four houses, and made great progress.  After laying the vinyl flooring on the first house on Monday, it was not a surprise that they were able to get the flooring for the second house installed on Thursday. Among the other jobs completed by that team were; final sanding, priming and painting of the drywall at the second house, and installation of the kitchen cabinets, interior doors and most of the trim and baseboard at the first house.

At house number 3, the rough-in electrical all tested out after a bit of head scratching was needed to find the reason an Arc Fault Circuit Breaker was tripping. Once that was found, the electrical system is now ready for an inspection from the utility company to apply permanent power.  The rough-in plumbing was tested for both the supply and drainage side of the system.  By the time those tests were completed more than half of the drywall for the house had been hung.  By the end of Friday, the filling and taping of drywall joints was underway.

At house number 4, the exterior siding progressed well on Monday and Tuesday, with those workers coming back to base with the makings of excellent winter Texas tans.  The cold weather for the remainder of the week drove them all indoors to work on insulation and rough-in of electrical and plumbing systems.  A few panels of drywall were hung while those systems still have a day or so work to wrap up next week.

Till in every arch and line         All our faults and failings shine;

It may grow a castle grand,     Or, a wreck upon the sand.

Do you ask, What building this,    That can show both pain and bliss

That can be both dark and fair?   Lo! Its name is Character.

Build it well whatever you do,

Build it straight, and strong and true;

Build it clean, and high and broad;

Build it for the eye of God!

We strive to have the four houses being built this year reveal the best possible efforts of our volunteers.  These houses may be different than the houses shown in MDS standard plans, but we build straight, strong and true.  The design may not be high and broad as some of the finer houses in the neighborhood, but the clean lines and attention to detail make them houses that our client families will be pleased to call home.

From the MDS Penitas Response in Hidalgo County, Texas

Brenda, Bernice, Joanna, Melissa, Layne, Jay, Jason, Laura and Carl