Merced, CA – Feb. 2-8, 2025

The week of February 3-7, 2025, in Merced, California, flew by as usual.  The Burnell Hoover group consisted of 6 young men with great work ethic and skills.  Some learned new skills, but all worked hard and mixed well with the Silvanus Martin group of 7 older men.  The Martin group is faithful in doing a week of work with Bob and Sandy Martin – each year bringing some new faces to introduce them to MDS’s work.  With his Harley on the bed of his truck, Michael (Gerry) Hughes drove from Manitoba, Canada to work 2 weeks with our crew leader, his brother, Ralph Hughes.

These 3 groups were lively, fun and not hesitant to share their love for their Lord.  There was much laughter, and Iong-term friendships were established. Four jobs were completed and two are just one day away.  One kitchen was half-way installed when the owner asked them to stop as she didn’t want that one.  Bless her heart, she kept saying in her limited English, “Am I bad?”  While the workers were disappointed that they couldn’t finish that day, they kindly waited and readjusted while the leadership discusses the situation with Habitat for Humanity.

There were 5 crews out some days.  A common theme was tearing out, trimming and replacing doors, and painting. Drywall, tearing out and replacing flooring, installing door locks, building shelves in the warehouse, some plumbing and some rain gutters and toilets were installed.  Often these jobs required moving furniture as the flooring progressed.  One garage needed to be cleaned out before work could begin.  Most houses have residents, but one is uninhabited while we work.  Restoring healthy situations and bringing people home is fulfilling and encouraging to us.

Highlights each week are the generous people!  This culture loves to feed us!  All day long!  This week, a local store owner took orders and made burritos to order for every crew member to eat at her store where she had picnic tables set up.  The men at one home commented that they were fed all day long. Several times, clients whose work is finished have sent large pots of soup or dessert to the base for us to enjoy. We are the minority in this area, but we feel very accepted…and spoiled!

We look forward to returning to complete several of these jobs next week, begin new ones, and host about 600 students from town as they come with their teachers and principal to place their handprints on the warehouse outside walls on Tuesday.