Greetings!
Time and time again, I hear people refer to “the new normal” as they consider resuming some aspects of their lives amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For MDS, embarking on our own “new normal” means scheduling volunteers for the fall season of October through December with equal measures of hope and caution.
With hope, we have just opened weekly volunteer scheduling for projects in Marianna, FL; Pollocksville, NC; and an RV project in Coastal Bend, TX. And Early Response Teams are at work in Iowa. Our caution is knowing plans could change at a moment’s notice.
We begin these projects in light of the uncertainties that COVID-19 has brought to the rest of the world. For MDS volunteers, that means following new protocols and precautions to work as safely as possible.
The continued closing of the Canada-U.S. border, and the inability of Canadians to get health insurance for COVID-19, means our Canadian sisters and brothers can’t join us in volunteering in the U.S. We look forward to the day when they can once again go south! In the meantime, we ask them to support us with their prayers and donations.
Although this has been a challenging time, I continue to be inspired by the grassroots efforts of many MDS volunteers who have been able to work safely and creatively to help people in need despite all the challenges.
At a time like this, I like the Spanish word “esperanza.” It has the meaning of active waiting with a sense of hope. That’s what we are doing at MDS: Actively waiting on the situation with the pandemic and on God as we move forward together with hope.
