Phoenix church members build home after fire.
Reprinted with permission from The Mennonite, July 2012 edition
The Wallow Fire in Arizona last year-one of the largest in the state’s history-forced thousands of individuals to evacuate. The human-caused fire began on May 29, 2011.
A year later, individuals still suffer losses. Individuals such as Jim and Kat Brennan, not only had to leave their home in Nutrioso, Ariz., but lost it in the fire.
Through Mennonite Disaster Service, Trinity Mennonite in Phoenix decided to respond to the fire by building a new home for the Brennans.
On May 25-28, a group of 15 from Trinity and six other individuals from Phoenix traveled east to Nutrioso. They were hosted by Jesus First Community Church in Eager, Ariz.
Cory Axness, a member of Trinity who lives in Glendale, led the MDS group. He said he hopes for the house to be finished by the beginning of July.
During the May weekend, they built walls, moved the generator sheds and more, according to Axness. The next weekend some of the group returned to finish the framing and closets. They planned to work on the siding and roof in the coming weekends.
Volunteer
MDS volunteers are known for repairing and rebuilding homes damaged by disasters. But it takes more than construction skills to serve with MDS. During the time that you serve as a volunteer, you will learn that MDS also restores lives.
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Your contribution will help to connect volunteers with disaster survivors who need assistance on their path to recovery. MDS depends on the support of people who believe that disaster response is an important part of helping those who are in need.
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