This morning started off at Grace Christian School with English language classes for the 3, 3, 5 and 6 year old children.  At noon we ate lunch and then headed over to Grace Baptist Church (GBC) to meet Gabi, one of my translators, and Brother Ionel at 1:00pm to depart for Bucharest.  On our way to GBC Brother Ionel called Gabi and told her that he would meet us at 1:30pm.  He then called and said that he actually hadn't left Timisoara until a little after 1:00pm and that he should be there within an hour.  We ended up not leaving Lugoj until about 2:15pm.  We drove through the southern part of Romania and saw the beautiful countryside and landscapes.  The Danube River was magnificent and twice as big as normal due to excessive rain and snow.  We were cruising along at a pretty good clip and had just left a town that was undergoing some major construction when we developed a flat tire.  I don't think Brother Ionel has AAA because he changed the tire himself while I directed traffic.  I told him that I wanted to take pictures of him changing the tire because nobody would ever believe that he actually worked or performed manual labor.  He was very accommodating and said, "Sister Daphne, make sure you take pictures of my dirty hands".

I was a Girl Scout and have always operated under the motto of, "Always be prepared".  I always take hand wipes and "TP" when I'm traveling... even on a road trip.  When we arrived at the tire repair shop I thought it might be wise to make visit the WC (water closet).  Gabi agreed, but I warned her that since this was an auto shop and we only saw a man there that she shouldn't be surprised if the restroom didn't meet her minimum expectation... after all we'd seen and used toilets without seats and ones that hadn't been cleaned well/recently...  The gentleman was very accommodating but asked us to wait a moment.  He promptly returned with a new roll of toilet paper and told us that the water wasn't running.  We thought well that's okay we both have hand wipes.  Then I opened the door and stepped in only to find there was no toilet at all, but rather a porcelain hole in the ground!  I share this only to say we take so much for granted!!!!!  We should be thankful for the little things... the infinite blessings and provision the Lord has graciously given us.  

Unfortunately with the unexpected delay of changing a tire on a busy two lane highway and then finding a tire repair shop to buy two new tires, we did not make the meeting at the Baptist Union and in fact didn't make it to Bucharest until very late.  They did however provide accommodations for us at the Baptist Union.  Noapte Buna!  Good Night!