8:45 (Tom) Again the lights came on in Antioch too early even though they let us sleep an extra fifteen minutes. Getting to sleep was a bit difficult with all of the noise. The bunk rooms are to be quiet after 10:00 p.m.; however, the curfew does not apply to the dining hall or hallways, areas from which we are separated only by a hanging curtain.

For breakfast we were blessed with French toast on either white or wheat bread. It is so hot that coffee is becoming less interesting. Certainly, helps to explain why Seattle is such a coffee center. We arrived at our house around 8:00 a.m. The roofers were also there already hard at it. Joining the roofers mostly folks from churches near Princeton, NJ was the Breuer family from Milwaukee who decided to spend their family vacation helping out down here. We had met them the night before at dinner. Their daughter, Emilie, to be a freshman in high school, was up on roof looking real busy.

We hopped right in with our multitasks for the day. After a quick run to Lowe’s in Bob’s truck, we had the materials to fix the spray painter, do ceiling repair and lots more paint. We were flying hither and yon, cleaning, prepping, spackling, sanding, and painting. The hole was patched in the laundry room; the ceiling finished being painted; and a lot of progress obvious everywhere one looked. It was still a bit hotter today, so we consumed tons of water and Gatorade. The hardest part of the morning was sharing of only three ladders! Lunches were consumed with vigor. Same fare: we make lunches of sandwiches (ham, roast beef or peanut butter and jelly), chips or cheeto’s, and cookies. Plus today we had donuts from the TatoNut. Even Leena inhaled one in 15 seconds – a task that usually takes a half-hour.

Millie saw me in the early afternoon and said “Did you hear about the fire?” So she told me the story. She had ventured out with her neighbor, Kenneth, who is supervising the roof crew. They made a run for roofing materials and were driving back when the material stacked in the flatbed trailer they were towing started burning. Flames were shooting out when a passerby stopped to help with a fire extinguisher. Only the Lord knows why the fire started but it certainly makes for another interesting story. We have heard many.

We had to wrap up at 3:00 p.m. from the house because we had dinner duty at 4:00 p.m. It was really nice to have a shower without waiting in line. The food was delivered to our relief at 4:59 p.m. so that we had food to serve at 5:00 p.m. After a little cleanup we were finally free by 6:45 p.m. Off to the movies tonight for some relaxation. Tomorrow we are planning to venture to the big easy, New Orleans, after we finish our job. More to come on that later.

Grace to you all,
Your mission team