Ironton, LA – Mar. 1-7, 2026

The weekly volunteers were:  Janelle, Verna, Suetta, Matthew, Harlan, Earl, Wilson, Titus and Jason – all from Pennsylvania.

This upcoming weekend will be a time of significant personnel change.  The three crew leaders – Jay, Jason and Luke- will be returning to a much cooler Pennsylvania. They return with many tales of the fish they had caught. My wife Valerie (Head Cook) and I (Wayne – Office Manager) will be returning to a cold Alberta where there is still snow on our property.  Replacement Cooks, Steven and Cathy, will be arriving from Virginia to replace Valerie and Lisa.  The replacement Crew Leaders – Mary Joyce, William and Robert will be arriving from NY, PA and CA respectively.

Emma Varner, an MDS employee from Lititz, came to visit the Point au Chien Project and the Ironton Project.  This is part of her new employee orientation.  We had no hesitation in putting her to work and getting her clothing dirty.

The exterior of all three houses is complete.  The houses passed the initial electrical, HVAC, plumbing and framing inspections. Insulation and drywall installation is complete on all three.  Painting is complete on one home, nearly complete on another. Mudding and taping are complete on the third.  Flooring has been installed in one home, and they are currently installing the kitchen cabinets in that home.

In one of the photos below, it looks like I am being attacked by an aggressive paint roller. I was able to draw on my 35 years’ experience as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to fend off this apparent attack.  No paint rollers were harmed in this altercation (LOL).

I would like to make some comments about my service with MDS this past month.  Valerie and I started to serve with MDS in January 2012 – all except the last two were with the RV program.  Because of the difficulty with travelling, in the dead of winter, 4000km to RV sites in January and February we transitioned to the Traditional program.  This has been a wonderful change.  The energy and enthusiasm of the (mostly) younger volunteers both inspires and exhausts us. We cannot understand how they can wake up early, work hard all day and still stay up late playing volleyball or games.

There were no injuries on site this month.  Our gracious Lord walks before us.  We ordered a air Nailer from Amazon.  They delivered it to the wrong address.  But it was delivered to the neighbor of the Secretary for the church we call home in Belle Chasse.  They put 2 and 2 together and I was able to retrieve the errant package.  Coincidence? I think not!

My only regret is the fact that Val and I will not be here to see the finished products.  I await the opportunity to see pictures in future reports.