Weekly Report for Anahuac

Chambers County, Texas has been under a burn ban warning for two months. The grass and thick brush have been extremely dry, and lack of rain caused postponement in the planting of many backyard gardens here in Anahuac. The soil is in great need of cleaning from the salt (water) brought inland from the Gulf by Hurricane Ike. The continuous gentle rain finally came on Thursday afternoon, and shortened the MDS work day. We are grateful only three hours of work was lost over two months due to the weather, especially during the time that is normally the rainy season here in southeast Texas. The local folks are truly excited about the much needed cleansing rain. The brown fields are now a bright green.

Two teams arrived on Sunday, one from Hesston College, Hesston Kansas, and the other from Frederick Mennonite Church in Telford, PA. Members of the Frederick Mennonite Church (Grant and Diane) were traveling nearby on Highway 10 in their tractor-trailer and decided to make a stop, and work and serve with their home church family.

Work started on the Louise’s kitchen, in the nearby town of Winnie, Texas. Aged kitchen cabinets and a decayed portion of kitchen floor were removed. New floor, cabinets, counters, sink and plumbing was installed by a team that took the time to listen to the family stories told by homeowner Louise. The team finished working on the kitchen and moved over to the home of Lillian. Work had already started on the roof, and the attached garage needed to have the moldy, rotten wood and insulation removed. While one team was on the roof, the other team was in the garage. Once the garage was properly sprayed with a bleach mixture and dry, the work began on restoring the garage to a healthier, safer structure. While the two teams worked in Winnie, the third team remained in Anahuac finishing the roof on the home belonging to Roy. This team did a great job installing shingles on damaged roof with many valleys and other construction challenges.

During the week several of the volunteers went to the home of Genevieve to assist in removing decades of family history. Her home was scheduled for demolition, and time was running short. The volunteers used the morning hours to carefully remove numerous family items under the gentle instructions of Genevieve who knew exactly what was in every corner, drawer, and box.

With the work done in Winnie, the teams moved back to Anahuac to start removing the shingles from the homes of Anita and Virginia. Both homes are now properly prepared for new shingles, and waiting for a new team of volunteers. Late Friday afternoon the heavy rains started, after the crews were back at camp.

“And of some have compassion, making a difference.” Jude 1:22

Gordon, Iva, Tina, Margret, Anieta, Henry, Jarad, and Mike