Lahaina, HI – Nov. 3-14, 2025

November’s theme seems to be “new.” Eight new long-term volunteers arrived for the month of November, and 15 two-week volunteers arrived from Arizona, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Iowa, Virginia, and Canada.

We are all very grateful for the new kitchen and new showers that the October volunteers had ready for us at the base camp.

Much to the relief of the cooks and male volunteers, air conditioning was installed in the kitchen and repaired in the men’s dorm rooms.

Volunteers came eager to work on building two homes that MDS has started for those who lost theirs in the fire. Our volunteers are keeping busy at several houses. The first house had the windows put in. (Since the trusses won’t arrive until sometime in December, the order of building has changed somewhat.) A second house is being framed. A third house had major cleanup done on the lot, and another one is ready to be framed.

This group bonded quickly. We enjoyed singing together after dinner, and most evenings you could find a group playing cards.

It’s been fun visiting various local churches, including an outdoor one by the water and the oldest church on the island, dating back to 1823! On the weekends, various tourist spots on the island were explored as well.