No running water. But what about no home?

My last post was a complaint, dressed up a bit, about our water and sewer problem. So at church today, I mentioned this to the woman next to me in choir. I found out that she doesn't have running water and uses a porta-pot even on a good day. She has a well outside the house, so she can get fresh water, but she can't shower in her house.

But she does have a place to live, and she is keeping somewhat warm. I guess we are past the cold spell; it is 11.6 degrees F right now at 5:00 pm.

My husband visited a church in a very small city about 2 weeks ago for the ELCA's orientation to the new hymnal. He said that church, the musicians, the organ, all were wonderful. He told me that in the fellowship hall, there were six cloth-sided booths along one wall where they have places for six homeless people every night. That sounds like a wonderful commitment to social service. But then I think about this: those people have to be "put out on the street" every day. How can that be done in this bitter weather we've been having?

Aside: he picked up a copy of that church's annual report. They have a monthly mortgage payment of $15,000. I found this astonishing because I know that many churches would barely have twice that to pay an employee for a year. Clearly this congregation has people who make commitments.