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"If my shower could be as warm as my soda and my soda as cold as my shower." (Quote from youth pastor John Reuter [shown in the lower right picture during an arm wrestling match] after taking a shower.) We stayed at the Regional Ministry Center (RMC) in Brovary which is really set up for office space and administrative needs. But it was transformed into a home for missionaries during our
two week stay. Normally, their one shower and four bathrooms would be more than adequate for the staff at There were a few other rooms that were set up for several people each, with mattresses for everyone. [A side note - many times we wondered who, in Brovary, was sleeping on the floor for two weeks while they loaned us their mattresses. They treated us like family.] It was cozy, but comfortable. But to get back to the shower situation, the one shower was dedicated to the girls with the standard shower being 4 minutes in
length. And it had a heater above the shower head to make the water warm. It was manual - you just had to turn the heater on whe n you The guy's shower was even more fun. I t was a simple garden hose on the grass outside the RMC building in your bathing suit. Someone would turn the water on and hose you off (very quickly, please) enough so you could soap up. Then a quick (please) rinse and, if you could stand it, do it again to wash your hair. The water was really cold; not freezing to be sure, but maybe 55 degrees. Very brisk. John Reuter was the most fun to watch because he had some great shivering moves and noises while he was being hosed off. And was probably the best sp ort. But Pastor John Aker really did it with style. He was inspirational to watch. The food was great, but the drinks (orange soda, Sprite and Coke) they served were always warm (and we had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!) We didnīt have ice and they donīt spend money refrigerating sodas so they were always room temperature. The thing that we found truly amazing was that the water in the hose was always so cold and the sodas were always so warm. |
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the RMC, but add 46 more people and a tight schedule and you end up with chaos. \par Just think of how you might house 46 people in one building and you have a
idea of the complexities that a small hotel might run into. The first thing is where to sleep everyone. The formal meeting room of the RMC was divided in half with sheets to form two "rooms" for
about thirty of the younger ones; one for the boys and one for the girls. Mattresses were arranged on the floor so there was a tiny walkway for the girls, but the guys (including Pastor John Aker)
had no real walkway around their mattresses. In fact, Pastor John said there would be a short memorial service for the one that kept walking on top of him during the night once he found out
who it was! (Pastor John was strategically positioned by the doorway - presumably for a fast getaway in case of a pillow fight or a "group hug".) 
started your shower and turn it off before it got too hot, then turn it back on again before it got too cold. Any delays and you were either got a short cold
shower or a short hot shower. That was for the girls!