Charlie, a 14-year-old chihuahua, was sunning himself in the front yard. His owner, Kaylin Bertelsen, led the way past him into her damaged home in Planada. In a tumble of words, she recalled the night of Jan. 9, 2023, when floodwaters overtook her...
Juan Pablo Plaza prays for wisdom every day. As a husband, a father of two young girls, and a pastor for the Conexion Church of the Brethren in Pasadena, California, he’s trying to care for a lot of people. Plaza lost his home—a parsonage...
Snowdrifts of ash, an acrid smell, a lung-burning toxic cocktail hanging in the air. After the Eaton Fire devastated communities in California’s San Gabriel Valley, the interior of the Pasadena Mennonite Church building was unrecognizable...
Anne Tipton was pointing out normal, everyday parts of her home. “I sat in that chair and did a puzzle. There was the ironing board. Those were our camp chairs.” But her home is now made up of ashes, and her belongings so burnt they’re...
A group of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers arrived in Planada—a small community in California’s San Joaquin Valley—on Jan. 5, bringing with them a sense of service and hearts full of hope. They are aiming to repair 182 flood-...
Southern California fires have destroyed thousands of homes and other structures, and over 300,000 people have been evacuated, with many being sheltered in churches and in pop-up shelters throughout the area. Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS)...
Even as the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) family currently prays for and reaches out with care to fire survivors in Los Angeles, MDS volunteers are also helping fire survivors in Maui, Hawaii, by building safe housing and bringing a spirit of...
Several wildfires actively burned in the Los Angeles area on January 9, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) was in close contact with its local partners. MDS is monitoring the unfolding disaster and will offer support, in cooperation with other faith-...
It’s been four long years since Christine Harper saw the 2020 CZU lightning fire take her 80-year-old home, plus her greenhouse and hay barn on the 20-acre organic farm she and her husband had created in the Santa Cruz mountains. Recently widowed,...
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