Please pray for those impacted by Hurricane Isaias.
Please pray for those impacted by Hurricane Isaias.
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Lake Amisk at Denare Beach, Sask. Volunteer photo
Seeing progress on homes. Walking with homeowners. Learning local history. As Hanna Bussemeier served as office manager from Aug. 24-Sept. 19 in Denare Beach, Sask., she not only handled paperwork and administration—but was also part of bringing hope.
Denare Beach was devastated by the Wolf Fire in June 2025, which destroyed over 200 homes—roughly 60% of the community’s residences—and forced widespread evacuations.
Hanna watched and joined volunteers as they not only worked hard but also played games and went fishing. From a fish fry to a historic walking tour of the town of Flin Flon, to ice cream excursions, Hanna found “hard work, conversation, music, laughter and lasting friendships.”
But meeting the homeowners was perhaps what gave her the deepest joy.
“Even though it was the end of the project, it seemed to me that they still could not really believe that this happened to them and that all these volunteers came to just help them,” said Hanna. “They were so grateful and I reassured them that we are as much blessed by doing this as they are.”
The homeowners’ stories are of course not the same—but in some ways they have common threads.
“They all had that dramatic life-changing experience of losing everything, not only a house but a home, a safe place, memories and also neighbours because some of the neighbours decided not to come back,” she said. “So a whole community has changed.”
Steven, one of the homeowners, is a volunteer firefighter who was part of the last group to be evacuated once the fires could no longer be contained. He later learned that his house was lost, a home that he had inherited from his grandparents. “He did not say [it] but I could feel the deep grief,” said Hanna.
MDS volunteers built a home for another family who experienced additional losses as the project went on, including a cancer diagnosis for one family member. “I was so thankful to God that at least they did not need to worry where they can live!” said Hanna, who also reflected on the stresses she witnessed in the wider community as the rebuilding journey took many forms for residents.
“There is a lot of anger as well and building community after that must not be easy,” said Hanna. “So by MDS coming in with all these volunteers and helping them to have a home again, a safe place, is very healing and their trust in humanity can slowly be built up again.”
Hanna remains grateful that God led her to MDS, to help people in their loss. “I am thankful that we can show them God’s love,” she said.
By Susan Kim
Hanna Bussemeier (front right), her husband Thomas Bussemeier (second from right) and other MDS volunteers watch a Flin Flon Bombers hockey game during down time in September. Volunteer photo
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