As members of your congregations are sharing their concerns with you regarding those who are enduring these massive hurricanes hitting our country last week and this week, please keep Mennonite Disaster Service in mind.  MDS is soliciting prayers and receiving donations for responding to these disasters.  Please be thinking about who in your congregations may be available to respond immediately as well as what groups from your churches may be available to volunteer in response during the coming year. Below is the latest Update from MDS.

Please contact me if I can be of any assistance to you and your congregation regarding interest in or questions about Mennonite Disaster Service.

I am also attaching an open invitation to our churches in Illinois to participate in the Region 2 meeting of MDS, which Illinois is hosting this year.  First Mennonite Church of Morton will be the host congregation for the meeting.  Please publicize this gathering in your churches as well.

Click here to view invitation Click here for registration form

 

Click here for hotel listing

Shalom,
Ronn Frantz,
MDS Illinois Unit Chair

 

Prayer Concerns

Please continue praying for survivors impacted by Hurricane Harvey and those in the path of Hurricane Irma, which is currently threatening the U.S.

MDS is closely monitoring the situation and has activated an investigation team in preparation.

Work in Texas began earlier this week in Bloomington, a rural community in Victoria County about 40 miles from the state’s southeast coast. Volunteers began cleaning up and cutting trees as part of the early response effort to Hurricane Harvey.

Remember and pray for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey as well as those being threatened by Hurricane Irma. Pray also for those affected by the wildfires in the western U.S. Dozens of fires are burning across eight western states, including the largest ever recorded in the Los Angeles area.

Urgent Need for Early Response Leaders in Texas

MDS is looking for Early Response volunteers to serve as leaders for weekly crews. We are asking leaders to volunteer four weeks or more. You can fill out the volunteer form online or you can contact Josh Carson at (800) 241-8111 or jcarson@mds.mennonite.net if interested.

Volunteers Needed in the MDS Lititz Office for Monday, September 11

Volunteers are needed for Monday (September 11) in the Lititz office from 4:30 am through midnight. We’re looking for volunteers to work in 4-hour blocks to help answer phones and process donations. The local Central PA ABC station will be partnering with MDS for an all day telethon with the proceeds going towards the work in Texas. If interested in volunteering, please call the office at (717) 735-3536. Our address is 583 Airport Rd, Lititz, PA 17543.

Weekly Project Crew Opportunities:

Greenbrier, W.Va.

• October 8-14: up to 12 people

• October 22-28: up to 6 people

• November 5-11: up to 5 people

• November 12-18: up to 15 people

• November 19-25: up to 13 people

• November 26-Dec 2: up to 13 people • December 3-9: up to 4 people

Lafayette, LA.

• November 12-18: up to 7 people • November 19-25: up to 5 people • December 10-16: up to 3 people

Lake County, Calif.

• October 22-28: up to 14 people

• October 29-Nov 4: up to 11 people

• November 5-11: up to 3 people

• November 12-18: up to 3 people

• November 19-25: up to 15 people

• November 26-Dec 2: up to 14 people • December 3-9: up to 15 people

• December 10-16: up to 14 people

Pine Ridge, S.D.

• October 8-14: up to 11 people

• October 15-21: up to 7 people

• October 22-28: up to 15 people

• October 29-Nov 4: up to 11 people

• November 5-11: up to 11 people

• November 12-18: up to 15 people

• November 19-25: up to 15 people

• November 26-Dec 2: up to 15 people • December 3-9: up to 15 people

• December 10-16: up to 15 people

Princeville, N.C.

• Sept 3-9: up to 6 people

• Sept 10-16: up to 15 people (bring a cook with you) • Sept 17-23: up to 15 people (bring a cook with you) • Sept 24-30: up to 15 people (bring a cook with you)

San Marcos, Texas

• Framing crew for 1-2 weeks end of September or beginning of October to jumpstart RV program

West Virginia Bridges

• November 19-25: up to 4 people (each person must be able to lift 50-100lbs) • Dec 3-9: up to 6 people (each person must be able to lift 50-100lbs)

To schedule any of the listings please click ‘apply now,’ or if you’d like more information or to apply by phone, please call Darin Bontrager at 800-241-8111 or email dbontrager@mds.mennonite.net.

Apply Now

RV Opportunities:

Volunteers in the RV project serve for a minimum of 4 weeks, stay in their self- contained RV, cook their meals, work 6 hours a day and four days a week. Suggested five-week blocks are:

San Marcos, Texas

• October 7-November 9 (room for two more RVs; couples or individuals) • October 7-November 2 (room for one more RV; couple or individual)

For more information or to serve call:

U.S. residents – Josh Carson at 800-241-8111 or

email jcarson@mds.mennonite.net.

Canadian residents – Evelyn Peters-Rojas at 866-261-1274 or email epetersrojas@mds.mennonite.net.

Project Leadership Opportunities:

West Virginia Bridges

• Office Manager – November 30-December 16 • Crew Leader – December 2-December 16

Greenbrier, W.Va.

• Crew Leader – October 7-November 5

• Crew Leaders – November 4-December 16

Pine Ridge, S.D.

• Crew Leaders – October 4-November 11

• Crew Leaders – November 11-December 16

Lake County, Calif.

• Head Cook & Assistant Cook – November 19-December 16 (due to accommodations needs to be a couple or 2 singles willing to share a room) • Crew Leaders – October 18-November 18

• Crew Leaders – November 18-December 16

MDS project leaders available to serve for one of the listings, please contact: U.S. residents – Josh Carson at 800-241-8111 or

email jcarson@mds.mennonite.net.

Canadian residents – Evelyn Peters-Rojas at 866-261-1274 or

email epetersrojas@mds.mennonite.net.

Monthly giving now available to U.S. donors online

The outpouring of generosity in the wake of Hurricane Harvey has been humbling. We are grateful for the trust donors put in hard-working MDS volunteers to respond, rebuild and restore after a disaster.

Now, on the heels of Hurricane Harvey comes the potential of another major storm making U.S. landfall with Hurricane Irma. Meanwhile, wildfires are burning in the west. Please pray for those in harm’s way.

In the face of so many disasters, monthly donations support recovery efforts throughout the U.S. and Canada. MDS recently upgraded its online donation form for U.S. donors and it is now possible to sign up to become a monthly donor with a credit card (the Canadian donation form already had this ability). Monthly gifts are used where most needed and help MDS volunteers be positioned to respond, rebuild and restore, whenever and wherever disaster strikes. Consider becoming a monthly donor to partner with MDS in recovery year-round.

Director’s Blueprint

Given the news of Hurricane Harvey and as I write this Hurricane Irma is growing into a Category 5 storm I will let the words of I John 3:18 speak for me:

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth.”

Kevin King,

MDS Executive Director

Learn more about MDS:

Hurricane Harvey Update – MDS volunteers to Bloomington, Texas Hurricane Harvey update – MDS team in Texas

From disaster on the street to tiny homes

MDS experience leads to more volunteer work

You could do this, too