Conroe, TX – Aug. 10-16, 2025

We have sent off another year-long volunteer, Maik Hinz from Germany, who has completed his year of service with Mennonite Disaster Service. Maik has blessed us all in many ways – his excellent construction skills, installing flooring with great speed, his love of playing volleyball, and piano, and games! We pray God’s blessings on him as he returns to Germany.

We only had three volunteers this week, a dad and two sons from Minnesota, but good progress was made.

Work has been completed at the Springfield house with over 1,200 volunteer work hours! It was a pleasure to have Springfield and her niece join us for supper Thursday evening and hear their story. A tree came through their roof, and it was a year to the day when MDS began repairs.

Challenging electrical work was completed at the El-Ali house. They are finally finishing up the mudding and sanding, and painting has begun.  The 20 feet high walls and ceiling of the foyer were definitely a challenge.

Furniture was moved, carpet was removed, and flooring installed in two more rooms at the La Faitey house  All the touch-up painting and odd jobs are done, and this project is coming to completion. Isabella continued to be very interested in the work being done and if there was anything she could learn. The crew leader has enjoyed good conversations with Isbella and her mother as they asked questions about MDS and Mennonites.

We were privileged to have Nicole Black and her family join us for supper on Friday. She serves as Community Liaison for Hope Disaster Recovery and is the first point of contact for people calling to request assistance after a disaster. She has a compassionate heart as she listens to people’s experiences and hears about their situations. Nicole is definitely the right person for her job!

On behalf of the Conroe, TX team, Cindy Steiner