|
Hello Jesse,
2022 was a busy year for MDS Canada! After the inactivity of 2020-21, due to the pandemic, hundreds of volunteers were busy responding to many needs across the country.
Through Hay West, farmers in Ontario who had good crops supported farmers in Saskatchewan who were threatened with the loss of their herds due to severe drought. “I want to thank you,” said Saskatchewan cattle farmer Curtis Mattson. “I was really up against it. It gave me some optimism to know there are people out there trying to help us.”
In August 2021, the White Rock Lake Wildfire in Monte Lake, B.C. ravaged that community near Kamloops. MDS volunteers built four new homes in that community in 2022. “The words don’t come for how grateful we feel towards MDS,” said Robert Hugh, who received a new home in Monte Lake.
Following the devastating November 2021 flood in B.C., volunteers responded in Princeton and the Fraser Valley in B.C. Altogether, volunteers repaired 45 homes in both locations this year. “I can honestly say we wouldn’t be where we are today without your help,” said Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne. “You will never be forgotten. You will always be a part of our community.”
In Barry’s Bay, Ontario, MDS volunteers worked with the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus to help a family with a severely disabled child who needed special accommodation. “God brought us together in an act of love,” said Carole, the mother, grateful to be reunited with the rest of her family after living apart from them with her disabled child for about two years.
MDS volunteers also responded to Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada. Volunteers did 179 jobs cutting up and removing fallen trees in Glace Bay and Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and did 28 roof repair/rebuild jobs in Glace Bay. Homeowners were grateful. “It’s really beautiful what they did,” said Edith Ball of the volunteers who cleaned up trees on her yard. Added Johnny Parson: “People here appreciate what MDS is doing.”
At the same time, the Spirit of MDS Fund was active. Since starting in 2020 as a temporary response during the pandemic, the now permanent program of MDS Canada has made 164 grants worth over $354,000 to congregations across the country to help them serve people in their communities.
For MDS Canada, it was a privilege to be the hands and feet of Jesus for our neighbours across Canada in 2022 in these and other ways. Thanks for your support!
| 
