Building a barn, cementing a friendship

Using their blessings in the spirit of thanksgiving

It is a blessing to give.

It is a blessing to receive.

At times one is on the receiving end, and at other times, the giving.

The giving and the receiving completes the circle of a relationship.

That continuous cycle seals a connection between people that is one aspect of the spirit of thanksgiving.

A little over a year ago – on Sunday, November 2, 2014, Peter and Mary Zook of Delft lost the barn on their farmsite to a fire.

Fast forward one year, and, this Thanksgiving, the Zooks have a new barn ready for pigs and calves and a couple of dairy cows and other livestock – thanks to the support and work of a bevy of volunteers.

The Zooks are new to the area, having only lived near Delft for a little over a year-and-a-half. They are part of a group who have decided to call themselves the Delft Christian Community. Members resettled in-and-around Delft, making the small Cottonwood County village their home.

In just a couple of days (Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14), neighbors, acquaintances – along with people who were initially strangers – built a barn, and cemented a friendship. Volunteers for the barn-raising included local folks from the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), along with members from the Elemendorf Hutterite Colony in Mountain Lake and the Altoona Hutterite Colony from Altoona, Iowa, in addition to workers from the Delft Christian Community.

 By gathering to cooperate on such a project, lives were touched and hope, faith and wholeness were nurtured.

Blessings all around.

Because, it is not what we say about our blessings – but how we use them – that is the true measure of our thanksgiving.

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POURING CEMENT AT the Peter Zook farm on Monday, November 2, 2015 for a new barn; a new beginning – one year after the original barn burned to the ground. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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A BARN-RAISING. And so it begins, the two-day barn-building project. The first day of construction work was on Friday, November 13. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

The barn floor was poured on November 2. Today Mds provided six workers. Elmendorf and Altoona colonies provided equipment and about 15 workers. The Zook and Etter families all worked too. It was a good day.
ON THAT FRIDAY, the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) provided six workers, while the Elmendorf Hutterite Colony of Mountain Lake and the Altoona Hutterite Colony of Altoona, Iowa, provided equipment and about 15 workers. Members of the Zook and Etter families of the Delft Christian Community completed the volunteer construction crew. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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LAUREN HARDER OF Mountain Lake gave of his time and skills to help rebuild the barn as a friend and as part of MDS. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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JERRY LIHUE NAILING a girder on the Zook barn. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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BOB EWERT OF Bingham Lake, left and Vern Goering of Mountain Lake, right, cutting purlins. Both volunteered under the auspices of the MDS.

 

 

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BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON, the truces for the barn were being set. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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BY DUSK, ALL of the new barn’s rafters were set and the barn was ready for the Saturday, November 14 work of placing the steel siding. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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THE FIRST ROOM on the left will be the work room and is insulated and will be heated. Several rooms at back will be used as pens for calves, pigs etc. The milking will be done on the right and the hayloft will store hay and bedding. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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AT WORK ON two tasks – adding the wrap and placing the metal roofing. (Photo courtesy of Elaine Kroeker)

 

 

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VOLUNTEERS AT THE ready. Nailing a girt in the hayloft is Wes Kroeker of Bingham Lake, neighbor to the Zooks and MDS volunteer. (Photo courtesy of Elaine Kroeker)

 

 

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MOUNTAIN LAKE’S GORDON Krause was at work on the barn on Saturday helping to add the steel siding. Krause volunteered in assistance through the MDS. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

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HAVING LUNCH LATE Saturday afternoon. The new barn is nearly enclosed. About 20 volunteers worked on the project on Saturday, including nine MDS personnel, with the remainder of workers connected to a Hutterite colony. According to neighbor and MDS volunteer Wes Kroeker, “It was amazing how much was done in two days. Most of the inside work was done as well as the outside. The hayloft floor is in, as are windows and a walk-in door. All that was left to do yet that night was the east door and a small door on the west end. The Zooks are very close to be able to use the new barn for milking, etc. They have two cows they milk by hand each day and make cheese and other milk products.” At front is MDS volunteer David Harder of Butterfield. (Photo courtesy of Wes Kroeker)

 

 

 

 

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