Paradise, CA – Feb. 19-25, 2023

Anna & Ivan Martin from PA continued as our cooks, Harlan Newswanger and Keith Sensenig from OH as our crew leaders.  Mary-Ann & Pim Van Oeveren from BC joined us as assistant cook & long-term volunteer as well as Don & Rachel Horst from KS, serving as project director and office manager.  A warm welcome was given to the 13 who came from Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, BC, bringing our volunteer count this week to 21.

Beautiful sunny weather on Monday gave opportunity to paint siding boards at our base camp while others applied house wrap and roof underlayment at the Kellogg house.  Preparation for building porch steps as well as some additional roof work was done at the Reyes house. Kitchen cabinets were hung, trim and interior doors painted at the Ream house.  We were extremely happy that the weather held off long enough for the completion of shingling the roof, hanging of siding and installation of soffits at the Kellogg house.

Thursday evening Bill Kellogg came and shared his journey of surviving the fire.  Our spirits and bodies were blessed as we gathered around warm bowls of cheeseburger soup after working on Bill’s roof in chilling temperatures.  One of the fun things of being on an MDS site is the coming together of folks from other regions.  Mary-Ann served us a typical Holland meal from her Dutch background.  Another time Irvin introduced the CBC students to whoopie pies.  Friday morning, we woke up to a 16” blanket of fresh snow.   Businesses were closed and we declared it a “Snow Day” as well.  So grateful the snow held off as long as it did.

Next week we hope to finish the trim work at the Ream house; paint and finish putting up soffit at Kellogg; as well as building steps for the Loomis and Reyes houses.

Thank you, Columbia Bible College, for sharing your awesome students with us this week.  We thoroughly enjoyed their enthusiasm to learn how to use tools some had never seen before and  whole heartedly leading in devotions and singing.  It was a beautiful week of serving together.

Submitted by Rachel Horst for the Paradise team.