For Abe Wiebe of Winkler, Manitoba, service with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in Cape Breton was a way to honour his father. “My dad was a servant of the Lord all his life,” he said of his father, also named Abe. The senior Wiebe was a...
“It’s so good to have the light again.” That’s what Polly Lussier of the Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota said about getting windows back in her house with help from Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers. Lussier’s house was...
What’s early response? Shirk: Early response, which begins when search-and-rescue is complete, can be removing trees, tarping houses, or mucking out houses after a flood. If a roof is partially blown off, we may tarp that roof to mitigate...
Eddie Gillespie can finally rest. For weeks—which stretched into months—Eddie, his wife Nicole, and his two children, Jacob and Edward, tried to sleep on the second floor of a house so flood-damaged it almost became a deathtrap. Their...
Elisa Humphreys was sitting on her couch in her home in Carstairs, Alberta when she got the emergency alert about the tornado. It was July 1 and Humphreys, 63, who manages Clothing for a Cause—a ministry that recycles clothing and household...
By Matt Troyer-Miller An old grocery store near Red Lake, Minnesota, has been transformed into a “marketplace” of MDS service. On Sept. 5, the Red Lake Nation held an open house at the old store—now the Red Lake MDS volunteer...
One way Peace Church on 52nd in Vancouver serves its local community is by hosting community dinners that are free and open to all. One thing the church, which is part of Mennonite Church B.C., has noticed is the growing number of people who come to...
“You brought a good spirit to Red Lake. All of our people are happy with the work you have done.” With those words, Kelly Iceman, a member of the Red Lake Nation, opened the September 22 closing celebration and feast at the Oshkiimaajitahdah...
For the Wiens family of Winnipegosis, Man., service with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in Cape Breton was an important part of their five-week long vacation experience to Canada’s east coast. “We wanted to see Atlantic Canada, but we also...
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