Spartanburg, SC – Mar. 22-28, 2026

Sixteen volunteers joined the existing crew leaders led by Project Director Don Lichti in Spartanburg this week. The majority of the group was a multiage contingent from Walnut Creek Mennonite Church in Ohio. In addition, from Harrisonburg VA, Marg Mast job shadowed Office Manager Jan Lehman and her husband Alan Ferguson job shadowed each of the crew leaders (Carl, Jim and Ed). Ruthie and Marlene kept everyone well fed and worked at starting to clean out the leftovers as they prepare for the final week at this location.

This group was blessed to be able to participate in the house blessing for Ms Mary. A large gathering of approximately 50+ were able to join Ms Mary in celebrating the beautiful new home which will provide safety and shelter for years to come. This experience was a highlight for this group. It’s not every week that weekly volunteers have an opportunity to witness such a meaningful and joyful experience. It truly illustrated the life transformative work of MDS.

Three crews worked on house renovations during the week

• At the Patterson house, there was a lot of painting, drywalling and plumbing. Carl’s crew installed a new water heater, built a beautiful back deck and provided doors where once there were none.
• Jim’s crew began working on Mr. Allen’s house in hopes of restoring both the kitchen and bathroom. Their work included demo, framing, electrical, and installing new porch steps. For years, this house struggled with water leakage so much of the foundation needed to be addressed before the improvements could be added. The center beam holding the house up had completely rotted over the years leaving only the knot of the interior of the wood to precariously support the existing house. This crew was under the house problem solving and restoring what was a truly unsafe situation for the homeowner.
• The Lambert house has a completely new refreshed look. Ed led his crew into creating a beautiful space with freshly painted walls, new kitchen cabinets and countertops, and beautiful new luxury vinyl plank flooring.

A highlight from this week was working with a family that brought 3 generations to serve!  Jonathan and Nicole Troyer brought their entire family (Noah, William, Ohlen, Katherine and Nicole’s father Paul to volunteer this week. And serve they did! This family worked hard! Ohlen and Katherine designed, dug the holes and built a deck. William, Jonathan, and Noah installed TONS of flooring. Nicole is the queen of drywall and can now mud and sand with the best of them.  Her jeans proudly display the evidence of her new drywall expertise. Paul was a trooper with one of the dirtiest and difficult jobs doing foundation work under Mr. Allen’s house. Everyone one of them did an amazing job. Nicole wrote on her final evaluation, “Loved serving with my kids and seeing them work hard and get to know some new people. I just really enjoyed having this opportunity to serve.” We were all so blessed to have had an opportunity to work with such a lovely family.