As people gathered for a special reception for Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) at “Follow Jesus 25,” the Mennonite Church USA convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, they received an update — and words of inspiration—from MDS Executive Director Kevin King.
Many of them had volunteered in some capacity for MDS — from building or repairing homes, to creating wall-hangings, to serving as drivers, donors, and even cabinet-makers.
“My shoulders get heavy-laden with all the affirmation I get — and all the letters I receive — when I travel across the country,” said King, who turned the thanks to MDS’s many volunteers, both present and far away.
King described speaking with homeowners who lost everything to disasters — and struggling with the right words to say. Often, the best words are: “We’ll have a crew there tomorrow.”
He also noted that MDS does not work alone, but has some 74 national partners throughout the U.S., many of them part of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster coalition. This enables MDS to be nimble and learn about local needs quickly.
“Right now, as we speak, if you can hear it, chainsaws are running — there are three carloads of Mennonites in Texas,” he said, referring to a response to the recent tragic flooding in Texas that has killed at least 120 people, with another 150 still missing as of June 10. “As we do often, in this case, we will muck out, we will clean up—we go right down the street working with local emergency management agencies,” said King.
After that — sometimes months after — the core of MDS’s work will begin: long-term recovery that involves repairing and rebuilding homes.
King also offered an update on some current and future MDS responses, including to the Los Angeles fires in January 2025, Hurricane Helene in September 2024, and wildfires in Hawaii in 2023.
“As I often say, 20 years ago there was a disaster about every 80 days,” said King. “Now there is a disaster every 18 days. That’s the most challenging thing for me, is how do you manage those constraints? That’s one of the hardest things about the job.”
He stressed MDS’s need to train more leadership volunteers—people who can spend a month or more coordinating MDS volunteers at projects.
As King closed the special reception, he prayed for volunteers responding to so many difficult situations. “May they be the hands and feet of Jesus, and provide a vision of hope and healing,” he said. “May hope abound.”
Written by Susan Kim for MDS.
“Curious about the possibilities”
As he attended the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) reception on July 9 at “Follow Jesus 25,” the Mennonite Church USA convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, John D. Roth, shared that he was ready to learn more about MDS.
A historian who taught at Goshen College for 37 years, in 2022, Roth began serving as project director for a study Bible for MennoMedia’s “Anabaptism at 500” project.
Now retiring, he is looking for what’s next. He recalled volunteering for MDS when he was 14 years old, in 1974, when a tornado struck Xenia, Ohio. “My church — the Millersburg Mennonite Church — sent a team of MDS volunteers,” he said. “I got out of school and everything!”
Even though he has not volunteered for MDS since, his MDS service left a lingering impression on him. “I felt part of something bigger than me,” he said. “These were men in the church I didn’t necessarily connect with that much before, but when we worked together, there were friendships that formed.”
As he thinks about what to do next, MDS has stayed on his mind. “I’m curious about the possibilities,” he said. “There is something so powerful about the direct connectedness.”