Crisfield, MD – July 2-8, 2023

After an adventurous bus and uber trip from Illinois, Anita Schrock and Sovilla Plank arrived to serve as our cooks for the month of July.  David King drove from VA to serve as crew leader and Don and Rachel Horst came from KS to serve as Project Director and Office Manager.  Fourteen weekly volunteers from Mifflinburg and Lewisburg, PA arrived Sunday evening, bringing our volunteers this week to a total of 19 and on some days, Maynard Hostetler was also here.

Several from the team worked on the punch list for the Bennett house’s final inspection.  At the Beachy house the under-house dirt was spread out, subfloor finished, exterior and interior walls set, hurricane straps installed, concrete piers for the front porch completed, porch posts installed, trusses set, blocking, strapping and roof sheeted.  Vinyl siding was also begun at the Welch house.

We started the week off with a “bang”, watching the Crisfield fireworks from the pier at the end of Main Street.  Going crabbing and dashing to the little beach that is within walking distance from camp were favorite activities in the evenings.  Maynard and Mary Hostetler came for supper Thursday evening and shared first-hand about the ways storms over the years have affected Crisfield.  Another highlight was the ice packed coolers full of Gatorade a community gentleman brought to the job site to express his thanks in having MDS here.

Next week we hope to get shingles on the Beachy house and possibly get it closed in.

Once again God came through at our time of need. Some very high tree branches needed trimmed in order to place the trusses at the Beachy house.  With no leads from the persons we are to go to for help, Don randomly spoke with some fellows that were doing yard work and they recommended Stevens.   Within 30 minutes of talking with him, he was on the job and completed the task.  The timing of this was huge in keeping us moving ahead.  Moments as these keep the joy in serving, fresh on our minds.

Rachel for the Crisfield team