May at Gautier May 2

It is May already and my time here as manager is half over. We had another highlight today as we got our propane tank and it was hooked up to our commercial stove and water heater. So the oven was "christened" today when she baked something in it.

The week has been a bit cooler so there is a group doing a roof. Today 4 ladies also tore down a ceiling which they weren't sure they could do. But once they started they enjoyed doing some demolition. It is very dirty work but it's a way to take out your frustrations. Showers always feel good in the late afternoon but today the men had been complaining that the water was cold but the ladies had warm water. They thought the propane tank was empty but it wasn't. We discovered that the burner didn't come on when the men turned on the water. These are instant-on-demand heaters for the showers. There are separate burners for the ladies and men's showers. They did something and they had hot water tonite. I think it hasn't worked right for a while. Many just showered regardless the temperature of the water.

It is very different having only 18 in the village this week but one person left today and one leaves tomorrow. But next week I should have about 45. Two of the people here are commissioned lay pastors who serve churches in their areas, both in PA. Churches are short pastors so they have become commissioned after they retired from other jobs. I think there has been at least one pastor in the groups every week.

We changed our schedule this week to having devotions at 7 pm, meeting with the job leaders about 7:45 pm so I get done a little earlier in the evening. But that may change again, depending on the groups and the number of volunteers. Some days it takes a while to get thru the line to get everyone fed.

Good night y'all. Tis cool this evening so will be nice sleeping weather. Blessings to you.

Phyllis