Watch historical video shorts, including stories from our VHS vault: youtube.com/ MDSMennonite
director ’ s letter
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) is a volunteer network of Anabaptist churches that responds in Christian love to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States. While the main focus is on cleanup, repair and rebuilding homes, this service touches lives and nurtures hope, faith and wholeness. Our programs, funded by contributions, aim to assist the most vulnerable community members, individuals and families who, without assistance, would not have the means to recover. MDS volunteers — women and men, youth and adults — provide the skills and labor needed to respond, rebuild and restore.
Thank you, all of you — donors, volunteers, friends and families — for continuing to walk with MDS during the past six months. Even as we have faced a global pandemic, a struggle with systemic racism, and a hurricane season forecasted to be extra active, we are also celebrating 70 years of MDS. As we look back on history, we are at a present moment when MDS, in many ways, is undergoing a pivotal change. Although most projects remain temporarily closed, we have, with signature MDS creativity, forged ahead with some responses. In Willow, Alaska, volunteers will be building several new homes in July for people who lost everything in the devastating McKinley Fire, which destroyed 3,288 acres and 139 buildings in August 2019. With new COVID-19 safety protocols in place, these volunteers will be able to help with a much reduced risk to their health and the health of the community. Praise God! In June, volunteers in Minneapolis helped small, minority- owned businesses clean up and repair their stores in June, in the wake of unrest. They worked alongside members of the community of many races and faith traditions. Praise God! What we see among volunteers is great resiliency, a resiliency that continues to strengthen MDS and the communities we serve. As we try to live through this current “pivotal point” in MDS history, it’s also a good time to look back at some pivotal points over the last 70 years. A couple months ago I had the honor of hearing from one of our founders, 94-year-old Marcella Diller. She lives at Schowalter Villa in Hesston, Kansas, and she still remembers attending the church picnic at which MDS was founded back in 1950. Reading her story in this issue of Behind the Hammer , you’ll see that the spirit of service has been passed down to her great-grandchildren. The great-grandchildren of that first MDS generation are becoming the next generation of trained leaders. As we continue to cope with the effects of the coronavirus, I continue to be surprised by the strength, resiliency, and fresh compassion of our volunteers. May it continue for 70 more years and beyond. Looking back on 70 years, looking forward with hope
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 the more than 5,000 annual volunteers who are the core of MDS. The stories are meant to encourage people to continue expressing the love of God through the work of MDS. Printed on recyclable paper using environmentally-friendly inks. Executive Director: Kevin King Communications Manager: Jesse Huxman Production Coordination: Christle Gehman, Judith Rempel Smucker Writers: Susan Kim, John Longhurst, Kevin King Photographs: Grace Burkholder, Kelvin Dalke, Mark Diller, Marcella Diller family, Ken Faught/Toronto Star, Duane Graham, Paul Hunt, Julie Kauffman, Dave Kroeker/Canadian Mennonite, Beth Noll Lehman, R. Wade Balzar/Mennonite Weekly Review, FEMA, Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Archives of Ontario, Mennonite Heritage Archives, MDS volunteers and archives Designer: Julie Kauffman STAY CONNECTED If you have story ideas, need subscription information, want to donate or volunteer, please contact us: MDS Binational Office 583 Airport Road, Lititz, PA 17543 USA tel: 717-735-3536 | toll-free: 800-241-8111 mdsus@mds.mennonite.net MDS Canada 200-600 Shaftesbury Blvd. Winnipeg, MB R3P 2J1 Canada tel: 204-261-1274 | toll-free: 866-261-1274 mdscanada@mds.mennonite.net
Kevin King Executive Director
mds.mennonite.net
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behind the hammer
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