CMU students spend reading week serving with MDS, bonding together

During reading week in Canada, university students are given time to study and catch up on assignments. But this year, nine students from Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg, Man. used that time not for books, but to serve others through Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS).

The nine, together with CMU Residence Director Gibo Shim, served in Elk, Washington. They were there from February 16-20, working on homes damaged or destroyed by the Gray wildfire, one of the most destructive in the state’s history.

Mattaeus Dyck, CMU student from Winnipeg, Man. on an MDS project in Elk, Washington.

Matthaeus Dyck, 21, was part of the group. “It was a positive experience,” he said.

This was the second time Dyck, a third-year math major at CMU, went on a reading week trip with MDS from the school; last year he went to Selma, Alabama and last summer he was an MDS scholarship student in Lytton, B.C.

“I may have caught the MDS bug,” he said. “I keep coming back.”

As a volunteer in Elk, Dyck, a member of Charleswood Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, did mudding and drywall on one house, while other students painted another house.

Sarah Wood, CMU student from Winnipeg, Man. sands a ceiling on an MDS project in Elk, Washington.

The trip was also the second time for Sarah Wood, 21, who is in her third year seeking to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree in humanities.

While in grade 12, Wood, who is from Rosthern, Saskatchewan, served with MDS in Princeton, B.C.

“That first experience was good, so I wanted to do it again,” she said.

It was also “good to do something physical, take a break from the academics,” she said of the reading week trip, adding that, for her, “being a Christian means doing things for others, to give back a bit . . . an important part of faith is serving others.”

One unanticipated benefit of the trip was having a chance to serve with Americans during this time of heightened political tension.

“There were some different political views,” Wood said of conversations with Americans serving with MDS at the project site. “But it was helpful to hear another side and understand how they see the world.”

Dyck agreed. “We had respectful, healthy conversations that helped to dispel stereotypes,” he said, noting it is important to separate people from a country’s policies.

“At the end of the day, we are all just people, neighbours,” said Wood, a member of Eigenheim Mennonite Church in Rosthern. “We need to be careful not to make judgements about each other.”

For Shim, who served with MDS while a student at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., it was also a good opportunity for the students to get to know each other better. “It was a bonding experience,” he said.

CMU students from Winnipeg, Man. paint a home while on an MDS project in Elk, Washington.

The students also appreciated meeting homeowners, including Native Carpino, an Indigenous woman who shared her story of being sent to a residential school as a child and being placed in 13 foster care homes.

“Her story was touching,” said Wood. “I was impressed by her perseverance in life.”

For Reynold Friesen, Executive Director of MDS Canada, the students’ experience shows an important aspect of service with MDS.

“Our mission is to get survivors of disaster back home,” he said. “But in doing so, we also create a space for conversation between people from different churches, conferences, provinces and even countries, people who have different experiences and perspectives. It’s a way for MDS to bring people together as we help others.”

The service trip was made possible with support from CMU, MDS Canada, and from the students themselves.

Read more about MDS service in Elk, Washington here.

John Longhurst, MDS Canada writer.