“If I never come back here again, it’s going to be too soon.” Peter Goertzen, who has volunteered at more than 26 different MDS sites, remembers uttering these words back in 2007—the first time he ever served as a long-term volunteer in the...
Refined by Location:Mississippi & Louisiana X
Closing down the longstanding MDS response in Jennings, Louisiana, wasn’t easy. MDS Project Director Rollin Ulrich had the tough job—both logistically and emotionally—of moving MDS volunteers and equipment out of the Jennings Church of Christ...
The wall of signatures and blessings. Freida Platt’s cooking. Meals, jokes, and prayers with Pastor Roy Platt, at the Jennings Church of Christ. All the ways the church and the whole community of Jennings, Louisiana, opened their hearts to MDS...
Phil Helmuth was beating the bushes to find a reasonably-priced electrician. It was early 2023, when MDS was rebuilding and repairing homes in the wake of hurricanes Laura and Delta in southwest Louisiana, Helmuth, an MDS project coordinator,...
The Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference is a partner with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). The following reflection was written by Stanley Green, executive conference minister for the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference. He recently toured...
Claude and Loria Adams and their adult son survived a June 19, 2023 tornado in downtown Moss Point, Mississippi, by huddling in their bathroom. When the storm passed, only two walls were left standing in the entire house—and they were the bathroom...
Two churches have happily become one in Jennings, Louisiana. And one of the bridges between them took the form of more than 2,000 MDS volunteers who have helped the community recover from hurricanes Laura and Delta, which struck in 2020. Pastor...
Judy Schmidt likes to cook—even for 20 or more people at a time. That’s what the 66-year-old retired banker was doing in March, where she served as head cook for a month with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in Jennings, Lousiana. For Schmidt,...
After assessing needs in many communities in the wake of spring tornadoes, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) will focus on long-term response in the midwest and south. Though MDS is not deploying Early Response Teams to the tornado-damaged areas,...
Building a better world together.
Sign up to learn how you can help support MDS and receive the latest updates on our work.