After their first assignment in 1991, Jerry and Doreen Klassen accumulated more than 1,500 days of voluntary service with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) over 14 years — simply by responding to a call when asked. In 1990, Jerry had resigned from a...
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) has partnered to service a Canadian Red Cross reception centre for wildfire evacuees in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since last Friday, MDS volunteers have welcomed evacuees to the centre, at 770 Leila Avenue, round-the-clock...
On May 28, the Government of Manitoba declared a provincewide state of emergency as wildfires intensified, threatening communities in northern and eastern Manitoba. Evacuation orders have been issued for the city of Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation...
“It was his orientation. He was always helping.” Gord Friesen reflected on his father Cornelius (C.N.) Friesen’s volunteer history with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), a commitment that spanned more than a half-century. C.N.’s personal...
We arrived late Sunday, July 9th in the afternoon to serve at the Red Lake Nation. It was hit by a tornado in 2021, which brought with it heavy amounts of baseball sized hail and damaged siding and broke windows. We worked on a total of four houses,...
As a project director with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada, Jim Reimer knows it can be stressful for a homeowner to cope with the loss of their house. He just never expected to experience it first-hand. That’s what happened July 6 when,...
For some youth at The Meeting Place, a Mennonite Brethren church in Winnipeg, 2020 was going to be a big year—they were going to do a spring overseas service trip. But then the pandemic hit. “We had done a lot of fundraising and planning, but...
This summer, 46 congregations in Canada received money from the MDS Canada Spirit of MDS Fund to help them serve their communities during the pandemic. Funds were used for things like food, rent, personal protective equipment, to help seniors...
For Wes Reimer, a carpenter in Plum Coulee, Man. service with Mennonite Disaster Service is a way to “use my God-given gifts. It’s something I can do.” Wes and his wife, Ashley, were in Texas with MDS in February with their three young boys....
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