HiS HOUSE

Behind the scenes, HiS House itself is a busy place - a true home away from home for a very large family. Our goal for the HiS House is to be welcoming, clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy. A small team of us work together to make that happen.

A few House Moms arrive early to prepare for the influx of team members. Preparation is exciting and daunting at the same time. We make the first of many grocery runs to stock 2.5 refrigerators and 4 bathrooms with necessities. Beds all need linens and towels. 

House Moms arise very early to get a head start on the day. Feeding everyone is almost a full time job by itself. Laundry is literally non-stop, with a last load started late at night and hung out to dry first thing in the morning. 

Most of the housekeeping takes place after the team members leave in the mornings to baseball camps and other ministries. The best time to mop floors is when everyone is gone…although Murphy’s Law works in Croatia, too. As soon as the floor is mopped, you can be sure some group comes home! It’s okay as the clean is temporary anyway.

Team members are carefully assigned to beds (28) and when we run out of beds, we put the rest on mattresses on bedroom floors or in the Upper Room. We had 8 people on mattresses this year. Plus another 21 sleeping offsite next door and at Bethel Church.

Meals are a combination or Croatian and U.S. foods served buffet style. 

Breakfast is generally cold: thick slabs of fresh bread with salami and cheese or peanut butter or Nutella, boiled eggs, fruit, juice, and most importantly, coffee. 

Noon meal is the main meal in Croatia. We order from a local restaurant because it’s less expensive than we can prepare on our own. This meal is always hot, local fare: bean and sausage soup, or goulash with noodles, or meatballs, mashed potatoes and gravy, or 'fried chicken' with mashed potatoes. Always baskets of thick slabs of bread. We add a Croatian style salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, olive oil, and salt. 

Supper is generally leftovers from the main meal, thick slabs of bread with meat and cheese, any remaining salad and fruit, and whatever else isn't tied down. If leftovers are meager, we order pizzas which are very inexpensive, fresh, and much better than anything in the U.S.!

Regardless of where they sleep, everyone ate at HiS House. This year the totals ranged from 15 - 67 people. The first few meals for so many people had the House Moms a bit harried but with many hands and helpful suggestions, everyone got plenty to eat. Stas Somotov’s 15 baseball team boys happily ate everything we put in front of them - no picky eaters amongst those boys!

The House Moms work together like teeth in a zipper, smoothly and comfortably. We laugh and have fun and enjoy each others’ company while caring for such a large family.

Although the housekeeping and feeding of so many is a huge task, it is very rewarding. What we do behind the scenes keeps everyone on the front lines fed, rested, in clean clothes, and ready to face their day of ministry. It is hard work…and I, for one, will gladly do it again next year.

For His Print,

Kim, Sharon, Kem, and Brenda…plus many other helping hands