Monte Lake, B.C. August 7-13, 2022

This week we had the privilege having Natalie Kehler with us for the second week. She’s been a very willing, able and capable volunteer these past two weeks and we wish her all the best in the next week, which is her 3^rd week here.

Joining us this week as weekly volunteers were Noah Wall of Rosthern, SK, Grant and Joan Kowalenko of Agassiz, B.C., Clarence Kruschel of Kelowna, B.C., Sam Walther of La Salle, MB, Luke Ens of La Salle, MB, Savanna Schlichting of Sanford, MB, Robbie Friesen of La Salle, MB, and Oliver Neufeld of Kleefeld, MB.

We were privileged to have Ross Penner from MDS Winnipeg office join in with the construction fun on Monday and Tuesday. John Longhurst, also from the Winnipeg office, visited the project on Tuesday as well, they were making the stop on their way to the Princeton Project for a home dedication on Thursday.

The houses have seen progress over this past week:

• At the Eager house, the rafters are up and sheeting the roof has begun. The plumber was in on Friday.
• At Hal and Linda’s house, Gyproc is all up and the mudding is well under way. Natalie thinks she likes to do the mudding. We’ll see what she thinks after next week of the same! The siding has been delivered so there is work for next week.
• At Rob & Michelle’s, the septic system has been installed and the soffit is started.
• At the Peden house, a trench has been dug to bury the electrical supply to the house.

In Saskatchewan, we talk about the weather a lot. So I have to inform you that we have had some hot and some cooler days this week, with the evenings becoming quite cool. On the hot days the tradition of jumping into the lake after a good day’s work has carried on this week!

Since Ross Penner (Director of MDS Canadian Operations) was with us this week, we asked him to speak to us on Tuesday evening about MDS. He spoke of the beginnings of MDS and also of the process of how homeowners applied and were chosen to be helped by MDS.

A special thank you goes to Hannah Cober, our assistant cook, and to Ike (Project Director) & Priscilla (Office Manager) Epp who are leaving the project this weekend. We wish blessings on those filling the roles next—Bonnie Isaak (Assistant Cook), John (Project Director and Coordinator) and Linda (Office Manager) Sawatzky.

Long term Volunteers this week were: Connie Goertzen, Nathan Bartel, Abram Reimer, Sofia Epp, Brianna Wiebe, Hannah Cober, Ike & Priscilla Epp.

Reporting: Priscilla Epp