MENNONITE DISASTER SERVICE / SPRING 2025
Starting to smile again
director ’ s letter
VISION: We strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those affected by disasters. MISSION: We respond to disasters, rebuild homes, and restore hope by organizing and empowering volunteers in the U.S. and Canada.
VOLUNTEER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE MDS U.S. 800-241-8111 Canada 866-261-1274 www.mds.org “ If I had the chance to do something like this again, I’d jump right into it. I gained so many friends and have also seen how these connections have made a difference in my business. I met and even hired a new employee because of it. You just never know what doors will open.” AARON BYLER VOLUNTEER AND BOARD CHAIR WITH NORTHERN OHIO ASSISTING HANDS, AN AMISH MDS VOLUNTEER GROUP THAT BUILT 10 NEW HOMES IN MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY, IN THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS
Worth mentioning again
I believe that our work as a people of faith is to show how responses of generosity can effectively alter the life of a disaster- riddled community. Now is a time more than ever to serve and model the generosity
CORE VALUES: Faith in Action Caring Relationships Working Together
of the creator God who dearly loves all creatures, great and small. As you read through this Spring issue of Behind the Hammer, I hope you will be moved as much as I was. The
Vermont bridge build. Story page 12.
SPRING 2025
Behind the Hammer is published quarterly by Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) and is available for free upon request. This magazine shares the stories of MDS work in the U.S. and Canada and of more than 5,000 annual volunteers who are the core of MDS. The stories are meant to encourage people to con- tinue expressing the love of God through the work of MDS. Printed on Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) certified paper using environmentally friendly plant- based inks. MDS Executive Director: Kevin King MDS Canada Executive Director: Ross Penner Communications Manager: Jesse Huxman Production Coordination: Jesse Huxman, Nikki Hamm Gwala Writers: Susan Kim, Nikki Hamm Gwala Photographs: Asha Belk, Caleb Gingerich, Nikki Hamm Gwala, Paul Hunt, MDS volunteers Designer: Julie Kauffman STAY CONNECTED If you have story ideas, need subscription information, want to donate or volunteer, please contact us: MDS U.S. Office 583 Airport Road, Lititz, PA 17543 USA tel: 717-735-3536 | toll-free: 800-241-8111 fax: 717-735-0809 mdsus@mds.org
following quotes and statements stood out to me: • When you serve with MDS for a year you might not have to ever hire someone to fix your house (p. 6) • Hear praises to God for the work of your hands and testimonies that sometimes disasters bring people closer to God (p .7) • Build a house that is fire resilient with net-zero standards (p. 9) • Be seen as practicing radical hospitality (p. 12) • Volunteer in a tropical setting like Puerto Rico (p.13) I also want to express my condolences to the family of Lowell Detweiler who died on March 1, 2025. Lowell served as director of MDS from 1986 to 1998. He was an influential and highly regarded member of the MDS community of leaders. His career spanned decades of service with Mennonite Central Committee and MDS. Part of his legacy is authoring the beloved book, “The Hammer Rings Hope: Photos and Stories from Fifty Years of Mennonite Disaster Service,” published in June 2000 for the 50th anniversary of MDS. May you be inspired to pray, give and go! God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. (Hebrews 6:10)
FEATURE — PLANADA, CALIFORNIA It makes me feel good 4
FLASHBACK – 15 YEARS AGO Praise God for community 7
FEATURE – LYTTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA Building back better 8
FEATURE – ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA From California ashes rises unity 10
HOMEOWNER EXPERIENCE – VERMONT Radical generosity 12 VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE – PUERTO RICO Puerto Rico blessings 13
Notes from the field 14 PLUS RECIPE: APPLE DUMPLING ROLLS
ON THE COVER: Homeowner Jose Vasquez stands in front of his house, newly repaired by MDS volunteers two years after January 2023 flooding in Planada, California. MDS work has focused on repairs and rebuilding in partnership with Habitat For Humanity. STORY ON PAGE 4. PHOTO: PAUL HUNT
MDS Canada Office 200-600 Shaftesbury Blvd. Winnipeg, MB R3P 2J1 Canada tel: 204-261-1274 toll-free within Canada: 866-261-1274 fax: 204-261-1279 mdscanada@mds.org
Kevin King Executive Director, MDS US
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“ It’s nice to work with my hands in this way for a change.” LAUREN KING VOLUNTEER
Homeowner Kaylin Bertelsen with her sister Julie Hoglan.
MDS Crew Leader Lauren King from Archbold, Ohio, repairs the home of Maria & Roberto Rior.
It makes me feel good
Many of the residents in Planada affected by the flood have, like Bertelsen, continued to live in their badly damaged homes. MDS volunteers have repaired 40 homes, working in partnership first with Catholic Charities then with Habitat for Humanity. For Bertelsen, this house is home no matter what. As Charlie trots in, settling on his small dog bed, she smiled. “I pet him every chance I get,” she said. “I know I don’t have that many years left with him.” EXPRESSIONS OF CARE MDS volunteers have been getting to know the residents of Planada and learning new skills at the same time. Lauren King, from Archbold, Ohio, works back at home as a sign language interpreter and in hospital registration.
Charlie, a 14-year-old chihuahua, was sunning himself in the front yard. His owner, Kaylin Bertelsen, led the way past him into her damaged home in Planada. In a tumble of words, she recalled the night of Jan. 9, 2023, when floodwaters overtook her home—along with more than 800 others—in the unincorporated community in California’s San Joaquin Valley. “It started raining, and at first the
two cats, and Charlie. He is my best friend.” She tried to sleep but by the wee morning hours, the sheriff was knocking on her door: they had to get out. “Then the water was up above my knees,” she said. Driving her large truck, she got her mother and her animals to safety. “By the time we got out to the highway, they had snowplows moving walls of water out of the way for lines of cars waiting to get out. After our line got through, they had to use canoes to rescue people,” said Bertelsen, who is grateful they all made it out alive. Volunteers from MDS have been repairing her home. Among other major repairs, they installed a countertop and sink so she doesn’t have to wash dishes in the bathtub anymore—something she did for more than a month.
After two long years, people of Planada, California, start to smile again.
water was just up to the curb,” she said. “I didn’t want to leave—I had my mother here, two cats, my mother’s
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“ My brother named their new house Hallelujah. My house is going to be named Freedom.” CARMALITA SYLVE HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR
FLASHBACK TO 2010
Planada homeowners Maria & Roberto Rior.
“My dad is a contractor so I do know something about construction, and it’s nice to work with my hands in this way for a change,” she said. Volunteer Tom Mosier, from Show Low, Arizona, not only enjoys meeting homeowners, but loves working with other volunteers. “I love seeing the expressions on their faces when they learn something they didn’t think they could do,” said Mosier, who worked in construction for 40 years. “I tell volunteers that if they serve with MDS for a year they’ll never have to hire someone to fix their house.”
Top: Planada homeowner Jose Vasquez. Above: MDS Crew Leader Tom Mosier installs cabinets in the home of sisters Kaylin Bertelsen and Julie Hoglan.
PRAISE GOD FOR COMMUNITY
telling my grandkids about it.” “And now my family can come back. I thought it was just like a hopeless cause and I would have to move to the city. MDS, I can’t say enough about them. I thank God for them every day.” “You know, we’re finally getting where we’re supposed to be. We were lost. But we’re going to prevail. Praise God.”
A SAFE SPACE Jose Vasquez, another Planada resident, also recalled the traumatic night the flood struck. After getting off work at a restaurant after midnight, he tried to return home, and found the roads were closed. The closer he got to Planada—the worse it became. “I saw cars were just stopped,” he said. “People didn’t know where to go. They didn’t have anywhere to go.” That was the night he realized how dangerous a flood can be. “When something like this happens, you see how valuable it is to be in a safe space,” he said. “You could feel you were very unsafe.” His home took in three feet of water. MDS volunteers have been able to install a new door, raise or replace all the flooring, rebuild part of the bathroom and kitchen, and make other repairs.
“The volunteers are so committed,” said, Vasquez, who moved to the U.S. when he was 14 years old. “The volunteers have big hearts.” When he moves into his newly repaired home, he’s going to cook up a big pot of chicken soup. “That’s very traditional in my country of Mexico because chicken is what’s available. I even bought a new pot and it’s all ready. I’m going to have my mother come and stay for a few days.” He looked around his house and smiled. “It’s small—not a lot of room—but it makes me feel good,” he said. “I’d like to have a huge house someday—and it’s okay to dream. But right now I have to say, I’m a lucky person because this is mine.”
LOUISIANA, 2010 – “Where I’m from out in Grand Bayou, we’ve been there about 300 years, our community,” said Carmalita Sylve. “And I’m excited to come back home. I miss it, you know. It’s my heritage.” “Growing up there, we were like in a world by our own. We ate shrimp just about every day. And I always thought that the outside world ate shrimp like we did. I remember working on my daddy’s boat with my brothers. We’d go trawling during the summer and we could just hang over the side and play in the water. We’d see the dolphins and we would feed them. And my dad would yell at us, ‘don’t feed those dolphins my fish!’ I was
This story is excerpted from “Many Hands,” a new MDS photo book of moments experienced by volunteers and disaster survivors over the past two decades. Available at mds.org/books
STORY: SUSAN KIM PHOTOS: PAUL HUNT
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Fire-Resilient Homes Fire-resilient construction helps prevent damage to your home and belongings, and buys valuable time for evacuation in the event of a fire. Fire-resilient homes include use of: • Non-combustible materials such as metal or asphalt roofing and cement siding • Design features such as enclosed gutters or eaves
Net Zero Homes Net Zero homes produce as much clean energy as they consume and rely on renewable energy systems such as solar panels and energy-efficient components including triple-glazed windows. Net Zero Ready homes are built to the same standards … but without a renewable energy system installed. Benefits include greater comfort and reduced costs: • Tightly built and well insulated, which quiets noise and reduces drafts • Provides power during outages • Filters air to reduce allergens such as dust, pollen and outdoor pollution • Reduces energy consumption • Lowers utility bills and protects homeowners from energy price increases • More durable due to high performance and better insulation • Improves resilience to climate events such as heat waves
SOURCE: PACIFIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CANADA
that a volunteer team would not meet the program’s requirements. But they set out to build the house as fire resilient as possible anyway. The homeowners purchased building materials based on Gessey’s research and the advice of architect Jesse Reimer, who designed an energy efficient house plan. Key materials included metal roofing and flashings, cement siding, semi- rigid mineral wool batt insulation, a heat pump, electric hot water on demand, and triple glazed windows. The house was finished by the first week of July 2024, a deadline driven by Lytton’s formidable summer heat. After construction wrapped up, the project’s energy advisor attended the home to conduct a final test. The advisor’s follow-up report indicated that the house met PacifiCan’s net zero ready standards. Rempel was “pleasantly surprised” by the news. The report and subsequent meetings with government officials were “very affirming” of the volunteers’ work. The homeowners shared Rempel’s surprise. Collings reflected on training volunteers needed to undergo to install new, fire-resilient materials. “MDS was amazingly
SOURCE: PACIFIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CANADA
Homeowners Owen Collings and Patsy Gessey, bottom left, with MDS volunteers who helped build their fire-resilient, net zero house.
Building back better “We didn’t think we were going to be eligible.” That’s what Owen Collings said of federal government grants for wildfire survivors in his village—people who had lost their homes to the Lytton Creek Fire in 2021. MDS volunteers rebuilt a house for Collings and his wife Patsy Gessey in Lytton, British Columbia, last year. It was unlike any house MDS volunteers had built in Canada before. Volunteers worked with a customized house plan and upgraded building materials to meet a new local building code and to construct the home in a “spirit of fire resiliency,” a commitment made by the couple and MDS Response Coordinators. Collings and Gessey wanted to apply for government grants through the Lytton Homeowner Resilient Rebuild Program. The couple covered building material costs for their new home. They hoped government grants would offset some of those expenses and enable them to purchase solar panels. Gessey carefully researched the grant program’s standards for fire resiliency and net zero emissions. Mark Rempel and Gerald Dyck, Lytton MDS Response Coordinators, attended online information sessions related to the grant program. After information gathering, the homeowners and Response Coordinators determined
Coletta hopes Collings and Gessey’s house will serve as an inspiration for “the highest level of wildfire resilient housing that can be constructed in the Jasper rebuild”— referring to the Alberta town’s recovery from last July’s wildfire, the largest to hit Jasper National Park in a century. Collings and Gessey received their first grant payment, approximately CAN $66,000, in mid-January. A week later, they signed a contract for solar panels to be installed in March. “It all happened so fast,” said Gessey. “Thank you, MDS … we’re really happy in our house.” “We’re a bunch of volunteers, but we actually got some really key people involved,” reflected Rempel. “[Collings and Gessey] did a lot of research… we benefitted from that, and we continue to benefit from that.” In fact, Rempel is drawing on the team’s acquired knowledge and experience for the next MDS house build in Lytton. The Coghlans, a homeowner family of four, will be encouraged to apply for the same grants. And Collings is already passing on what he and Gessey learned to their neighbors, just across the alley.
adaptable considering. And they really caught a hold of it,” he said. Because of the energy advisor’s findings, the couple applied for the Lytton Homeowner Resilient Rebuild Program after the build was complete. Government officials conducted a home visit last
“ MDS was amazingly adaptable considering. And they really caught a hold of it.” OWEN COLLINGS WILDFIRE SURVIVOR LYTTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Volunteer-built home is a model of new fire-resilient standard in Canada
October and confirmed that the house met both fire- resilient and net zero ready standards. Lucas Coletta, a project leader with Natural Resources Canada, highlighted that the house will be “one of the first fire-resilient, net zero new homes in Canada.”
STORY: NIKKI HAMM GWALA PHOTOS: MDS VOLUNTEERS
NOTE: Funding towards rebuilding a fire-resilient and Net Zero home was provided by the Lytton Homeowner Resilient Rebuild Program
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as the nondenominational The Church We Hope For. On January 7, the fire killed 17 people and destroyed 9,414 structures. It also left the three congregations—and their collective 270 members—with no place to worship until the building could be professionally cleaned. Less than two weeks later, leaders from MDS reached out to the Pasadena Mennonite Church to see how MDS could help. The MDS California Unit funded half the cost of professionally cleaning the building, and the three churches raised the rest. Now the congregations, working together, are back into their space—and helping their communities recover. Not just “rich people” In the community of Altadena—just five blocks from the church building—recovery is only just beginning. “Altadena has always been a special place,” said Sharp. “It’s diverse racially and socioeconomically in ways that aren’t found in the rest of Los Angeles County.” Sharp and others who live in Altadena realize they can’t rebuild their community exactly the way it used to be, and that there are many challenges in rebuilding,
Altadena homeowner and Pasadena Mennonite Church member Anne Tipton stands in front of her burnt down residence. She knows the community can’t be the same—too much is gone—but she wants the people who make up the heart of the community to stay and rebuild. “What I want people to know is that, here, the average family is still trying to live their lives every day,” she said.
PRAYING FOR WISDOM EVERY DAY
Juan Pablo Plaza prays for wisdom every day. As a husband, a father of two young girls, and a pastor for the Conexion Church of the Brethren in Pasadena, California, he’s trying to care for a lot of people. Plaza lost his home—a parsonage owned by the church—to the Eaton Fire in January. Since then, he and his family have been living an hour’s drive away from the church, and an hour’s drive from the girls’ elementary school. But Plaza is glad to make the drive. “Our daughters have already lost their home,” he said. “We didn’t want them to lose their school and their friends as well.” The Eaton Fire, which burned more than 9,000 structures in California’s San Gabriel Valley, has affected the entire Hispanic community, especially in the unincorporated community of Altadena, where the parsonage was located. “Fire has no social class,” Plaza said. “A lot of people from my church had jobs cleaning houses—and those houses burned, so they have no jobs now.” He has observed that people who were economically vulnerable before the fire are struggling to survive in a recovery that will take years. Two months after the fire, Plaza reflects on some deep realizations. “I have learned it’s okay to feel sad and feel a sense of peace at the same time,” he said. “The fire has also bought me closer to God.”
“ You realize in times of crisis how important it is that we work together.”
including obtaining permits in California, the ever-rising cost of building materials, and the toxic mix of ash and debris still covering the ground. Yet Sharp, who retired as a civil engineer for the Los Angeles County Department
DAN SHARP WILDFIRE SURVIVOR ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA
of Public Works, sees reasons to have hope. “We know a lot of best practices to help make homes more fire resistant,” said Sharp, who is attending MDS leadership training in mid-March. Several members of all three churches have completely lost their homes, and many families are displaced because their homes are still full of toxic smoke and ash. “It’s not just the rich people,” Sharp wants everyone to know, speaking out against stereotypes that everyone who lives in Los Angeles County is affluent. The three congregations—which before the fire had already periodically gathered for joint services—have grown even closer together, added Sharp. “You realize in times of crisis how important it is that we work together,” he said. “We want to keep the original, eclectic character of Altadena.” But he worries that people will lose hope and leave before long-term recovery can even begin. “People have so many needs—and many of them don’t know help is coming.”
Snowdrifts of ash, an acrid smell, a lung-burning toxic cocktail hanging in the air. After the Eaton Fire devastated communities in California’s San Gabriel Valley, the interior of the Pasadena Mennonite Church building was unrecognizable. “Piles and piles of ash—ash on every horizontal surface,” described church member Dan Sharp. The building, constructed in 1957, is not only home to the Pasadena Mennonite congregation but also the Spanish-speaking Conexion Church of the Brethren, as well From California ashes rises unity
In the Los Angeles County community of Altadena, recovery is just beginning.
See a video of Juan Pablo Plaza and fellow Altadena community members who endured the wildfire: youtube.com/MDSMennonite
STORY: SUSAN KIM PHOTOS: PAUL HUNT
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homeowner experience
Radical generosity
Elizabeth O’Casey of Middlesex, Vermont, and her husband, Charlie Cook, can access their home again with a new private bridge. They live in a part of Vermont devastated by flash flooding on the same day in back-to-back years – July 10 in 2023 and 2024. The most recent storm destroyed the 50-foot bridge in their driveway and cut off access to their primary roadway. They couldn’t afford the cost to replace it as it was nearly equal to the value of their home. “We have no safe way to access our house. Emergency vehicles can’t get to us. When the water is low, we can ford the brook and hike up our hill to get to our house,” O’Casey wrote when describing their situation. When the water was high it meant walking a several mile detour. MDS volunteers built three bridges in Vermont this past winter, one of which was for O’Casey and Cook. “MDS’s work and the volunteers changed our lives,” O’Casey wrote in a thank you note to MDS. “They taught us what radical generosity looks like. They showed us what it means to love your neighbor—and the love of strangers. Thank you for helping us. I will never forget it.”
volunteer experience
MDS volunteer Karen Loganbill
Karen Loganbill, who lives near Moundridge, Kansas, served with MDS in Puerto Rico in January and February 2025. The following is excerpted from her blog, “Following My Leader.” For the full blog, visit https:// followingtheleader2017.wordpress.com/2025/02/08/ puerto-rico-pleasures/ We agreed to go with MDS to Puerto Rico to help roof houses that had been damaged by Hurricane Maria over seven years ago. I went thinking that our accommodations would not be up to the standards of many in the U.S.—I was right. I thought I might regret my inability to speak Spanish—I was right. I thought perhaps the electricity would go out on us—I was right. I thought I might eat quite a bit of beans and rice and try new foods—I was right. I was hoping I would be able to find a good hiking trail or two— and I did. I did not, however, expect to be moved so by the people of Puerto Rico. Their patience, perseverance, generosity, and dedication astounded and inspired me. MDS partnered with Techos Pa Mí Gente (TPMG). They vetted the clients who were to receive new roofs, paid for the building materials, and even helped with the construction. TPMG was started by a schoolteacher who became frustrated with the lack of help given to folks after the hurricane. She soon realized a need to quit her teaching job to facilitate the process. In 2018, they Puerto Rico blessings
realized the need for a more long-term solution; the roof construction began. They have roofed over 100 homes. Even after seven and one-half years, they continue their work without any thought of giving up. Would I go back? Yes. I loved eating mofongo and tostones (both made from plantains), fresh malonga, papayas, guineos niños (baby bananas), and bread fruit. I enjoyed hiking in the rain forest, observing the huge variety of plants, watching the waves crash on the shore, walking in the warm sand on the beach in January– when temperatures in Kansas hovered around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Hearing the coquis sing at night; seeing an iguana in a tree next to a client’s house, and sharing a restroom with a tarantula were new experiences for me! However, foremost, I would go back to be with the people of Puerto Rico again, and perhaps help roof another four homes.
STORY: CHARLI LANGSTON PHOTOS: MDS VOLUNTEERS
STORY AND PHOTO: KAREN LOGANBILL
“ I did not expect to be moved so by the people of Puerto Rico.” KAREN LOGANBILL MDS VOLUNTEER FROM MOUNDRIDGE, KANSAS
This winter, MDS volunteers weathered cold, snowy conditions to build residential driveway bridges for residents of Vermont who lost theirs to flooding.
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cooking for a crowd
notes from the field
More updates at www.mds.org
MDS RV volunteer Rosie in Liberty, Texas. Disaster survivor Jose in his newly repaired home with his mother next to the quilt volunteers gifted to them.
Apple Dumpling Rolls Contributed by Kathy Rhodes, from Harrisonburg, Virginia, who baked this dessert for volunteers repairing homes in Planada, California. The recipe is from her family cookbook, “Pantry Gems.”
Kentucky in the past several months. Homeowner Charli Langston said “it felt like the world stood still in Mayfield, [after the Dec. 10, 2021 tornado].” Langston was able to celebrate Christmas of 2024 in her new home. “Meeting these amazing people showed me a kind of love and kindness that I didn’t even know existed,” she said. “I watched for months and months, them working tirelessly to build my three daughters and my forever home.”
At MDS’s 75th anniversary celebration in Wichita, Kansas, volunteers construct the walls of the home of the McMurrays, who live in Damascus, Virginia.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt
an important part of a home build like this one. “We realize it’s not the most practical way to build a home,” he said, but when he tells the story of the homeowners who will receive it, he tears up. “They were rescued,” he said of the McMurrays. “They both held on for 12 or 16 hours and thought they were gone. This house means a lot to them— but what means the most is that they still have each other today.”
KANSAS & VIRGINIA
TEXAS
2 tablespoons butter 5-8 tablespoons milk
Raising walls—and volunteer numbers
RVers turn up the heat on repairs
Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the dry ingredients, making coarse crumbs. Add the milk and stir, forming a cohesive dough. Chill for 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 24x12 inches.
RV volunteers in Liberty, Texas, worked in freezing temperatures doing major repairs on homes, including drywalling, painting, and installing closet doors and flooring. The area was hit by spring flooding in 2024. The Handley’s home was among those that received major repairs. The homeowners, having both undergone open heart surgery, were grateful for the supplies and the help. Mr. Handley said that he was ready to give up on his home because he could not afford the repairs— and then MDS showed up to help.
A house—and a lot of hope—went up at the local 4-H Hall in Wichita, Kansas. Groups of MDS volunteers, in town for a special MDS 75th anniversary celebration being held at the Ridgepoint Church, built the walls to a home that was trucked to Damascus, Virginia, for a couple who barely survived a flood. Putting together a project like this means first finding someone to lead it, explained Manny Flaud, Jr., who oversees Storm Aid, an MDS volunteer group in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. “We found two people from Storm Aid to lead this house build, and we got supplies locally in Wichita,” he said. Groups of 10 to 30 volunteers worked in two-hour shifts over two days.
5-6 grated apples ¼ cup raisins (optional) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Top the dough with the apples, then sprinkle with raisins, cinnamon and sugar. Tightly roll the dough, starting with the long side. Cut into 15 slices. Arrange in baking dish.
We celebrate the life and legacy of Lowell Detweiler (on right) who died on March 1, 2025. As director of MDS from 1986–1998, he was an influential and beloved leader with a generous spirit. When recalling his time serving with MDS, Detweiler said, “Looking at the stories, I could tell dozens of them. Those examples of being out there in service—the experiences that happen strengthen your faith, your commitment to service, your commitment to God. It’s the key to MDS and it’s the key to the memories that we have.”
For the syrup: 2 cups brown sugar 1/4 cup butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups water
KENTUCKY
“A kind of love I didn’t know existed”
Carl and Linda McMurray
Volunteers from Northern Ohio Assisting Hands, an Amish MDS volunteer group, constructed 10 new homes in Mayfield,
Combine syrup ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour syrup over slices. Bake 1 hour.
Flaud said that deep connections and relationships between volunteers are
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NON-PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID LANCASTER, PA PERMIT # 812
583 Airport Rd Lititz, PA 17543
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
VOLUNTEER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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