MDS “Saved My Life” Three homes dedicated near Ottawa January 23; 97 volunteers from Ontario gave 515 days of service COUNTY OF RENFREW, Ont. — “I wanted to crawl into a cave and never come out again.” That’s how Bill Overton, 66,...
Standing near the La Plata Mennonite Church in Puerto Rico, Eileen Rolon’s joy over the newly built Children’s Church is eclipsed by her concern for the hundreds of people sleeping outdoors as earthquakes and aftershocks continue to rock the...
When Hurricane Harvey finally swirled away from the Texas coast in August 2017, Pete Villarreal went to inspect his mobile home in Victoria. He recalls the painful sight: “Large branches from some big trees fell on the roof and punctured it. Then...
Sometimes, when Roxy Sanchez pulls into her driveway, she pauses: “I just sit there and look at my home. I’m finally home,” she says. In Bloomington, Texas, the road to get there has been long, and it has forever changed her faith in God. When...
For people in Marianna, Florida, MDS volunteers are the biggest Christmas gift of all. As 20-year-old Chris Whitehead worked alongside the MDS crew removing shingles from his grandmother’s house, he shared his harrowing storm story. Whitehead and...
For some people, doing service means going far away—maybe to Mexico or Africa on a service trip with their church. But for Mike and Sheila Davis of Trail, B.C, this past summer it meant driving just over an hour away to help people affected by 2018...
When Canadians think of natural disasters—the kinds Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) responds to—they typically think of the southern U.S. or California. That’s not surprising says Nick Hamm, who coordinates MDS Canada’s efforts in...
Lynn Lavictoire-Johnson wasn’t home when the water started rising on the Ottawa River last spring. The 62-year-old widow was visiting her sister in B.C. when she heard her house was in danger. Friends and neighbours, including members of the nearby...
“I have hands. I can work. I can help my neighbours.” That’s what Kevin Shantz, a roofing contractor from Drayton, Ont. says about why he serves with Mennonite Disaster Service every winter when work at home is slow. For him, the idea of...
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