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By Christine Weerts
Special to The Selma Times-Journal

While children may soon be looking for Santa Claus on the rooftop, a family in east Selma saw other rooftop visitors this week bringing them an early Christmas present.

Homeowner Salister Hope welcomed a group of young volunteers from an Old Order Mennonite community in Lancaster County, Penn., to her home to replace her roof that had been damaged by the Jan. 12, 2023 tornado.

“This is such a blessing,” said Hope, wearing a shirt that said ‘Power of Prayer.’ “They are such good people. I thank the Lord for them.”

Ten young men and women of the Old Order Mennonite community in New Holland traveled nearly 1,000 miles to bring Christmas early; they serve with Mennonite Disaster Service, in its second year of helping rebuild Selma. In addition to shingling the roof, they repaired inside the home where rain water had damaged walls.

“We’ve built four homes, replaced 40 roofs, and repaired 50-60 homes,” said Don Yoder, Selma project manager for the disaster relief agency, which has sent volunteer groups to Selma in 2023 and 2024. Most of the homes have been built and repaired in east Selma. They will finish their service in March 2025, he said, when funding for building supplies runs out. The Mennonites are one of several church-related disaster relief groups that have helped Selma recover from the devastating tornado that tore apart hundreds of homes, businesses and churches Jan 12, 2023.

Church Street Methodist Church has provided free housing for the volunteers in its old parsonage and Fellowship Hall, where Mennonites built nine bunk rooms to expand the space.  They also have rented rooms at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Gamble House.

“The Methodists have been so generous to us and we are grateful,” Yoder said. When tools were stolen from a volunteer team van the night they arrived, the church replaced them, he said.

Yoder said volunteers come from all over the U.S. to serve mostly in one-week projects; last week several Amish men from Nappannee Indiana repaired two old homes in east Selma neighborhood that suffered tornado damage and subsequent water damage. The crews can work from the group up, replacing joists, flooring, walls and roofs and also doing electrical and plumbing work, Yoder said.
The disaster relief group, which has been in service for 75 years, is also working in storm-damaged Florida, North and South.Carolina. They were invited to Selma by the Long Term Recovery Group, which works locally to help select homeowners whose homes qualify for repairs. They work alongside the local director for the United Methodist Committee on Relief U.S. Disaster Response (UMCOR) to coordinate the many project details from housing and feeding volunteers to listing houses to be repaired.  United Way buys the materials and UMCOR also received a donation of eight semitrailers of shingles.

Donated shingles were a blessing to Salister and her husband, Clinton, copastors at Second Baptist Church, who had been watching the news  Jan. 12, 2023 when she heard  “the sound of a train” and knew the tornado was near. They sheltered in the bathroom while a tree crashed through the roof and cracked several windows. Her husband covered the holes with tarps, but there were still leaks.

“We were just relieved it wasn’t worse,” Salister said.

On a beautiful spring-like day earlier this week, Martha and Lisa, both 22, sat on the roof, taking a short break from shingling. They both had volunteered on several service trips and had learned how to shingle roofs. They enjoy getting to travel to new communities and meet new people, they said.

“We believe in helping people in need,” Lisa said.

Old Order Mennonites dress modestly in long, ankle length dress made of plain material and covered with an apron. Long hair is traditionally tied in a bun with a bonnet covering her head. The young women also wore tennis shoes to handle the roof incline.  And while they do not own cameras (cars or cellphones), they do allow photographs, unlike the more strict Amish community.

After a long nine-hour day on the roofs, the young men and women set up a volleyball net in the Methodist yard and lights and played for several hours.

“We play volleyball every weekend at home,” Martha said.

In addition to home repairs, Mennonite Disaster Relief volunteers likes to get to know the community; they have shared Wednesday night meals at Cornerstone Presbyterian church, enjoyed visits to several churches, brought in speakers and pastors to talk about the community and have visited local museums.

Yoder, who has volunteered in communities that have suffered tornados and hurricanes in several states, says they are uplifted and given hope from the victims they serve.

“When we meet the homeowners, we hear the stories of devastation and trauma,” he said. “And there is is always in that story a “But God” moment when they thank the Lord for his protection and help.

“Our hope is revived by the faith we see in others,” he said.