Lahaina, HI – Mar. 1-7, 2026

After a refreshing weekend of activities, the 15 young people from Pennsylvania continued their second week of energetically building houses.

The group at the Yadao house continued painting and detailing, They worked on the porch rail and built a shelter over the hot water heater. They installed baseboards and bathroom accessories. They cleaned the porch, carport and floors. They cleaned up debris and did landscaping. All is in order for the home dedication.

Part of the group worked several hours at Clint’s house, finishing up details. They caulked, installed appliances, cleaned the house, did yard work and prepared the premises for house dedication.

The group at the Ho’opai house joyfully completed the shingles on the roof. They also began and finished the siding this week. They installed windows and doors and wrapped the beams. They began painting the siding and resized the garden door frames and finished the French doors.

At the Asuncion house, they sheathed the roof, painted the soffit and rafter tails and framed the gable. They torqued plate anchors and hung four doors and three windows. They framed soffit blocks.

Three of the group stayed back at camp a couple mornings. They weed whacked and trimmed the yard, making it look beautiful in preparation for the house dedication meal on Friday.

Thursday morning, a group of six from national MDS arrived to spend a few days observing the houses and to attend and give support to the home dedications. Those attending were Don Rheinheimer, project coordinator. Brian Showalter, Regional Operations Coordinator, Paul Hunt and his wife, Julie Kauffman, from MDS media, Michelle Whiteagle, Region 4 board chair and Jenn Dorsch-Metzer from the Lititiz MDS office.

Friday was the big day. Sixty people attended the dedication meal of chickpea curry and rice, sandwiches and a huge array of desserts. Jelyn Yadao and her family, owners of the blue house, made many of the desserts for us to enjoy. We are grateful for their generosity. After lunch, we gathered at Yadao’s house (blue house) for the home dedication and later at Clint Kahahane’s home (white house) for the home dedication there. The Long Term Recovery Group headed up the program. The entire MDS group sang two songs, one of them in Hawaiian, and presented the dedication gifts.  What an extra-ordinary  opportunity to participate in these special events for the families!