Romania Day 3

On to Day 3.

Sunday morning came way too soon.

The view of the church from my room

I was fortunate enough to have the room to myself my first night. Merri, Kerri, and Tamara came the week before and stayed 2 weeks in Romania. They spent the weekend in Bucharest and didn't return until Sunday evening. Thus the reason I had the room to myself (Merri was my roommate).

the room

The bathroom

This was a blessing because I got to completely relax my first night in Braila and take all the time I needed in the shower and to get ready.

I put a little more effort into getting ready on this particular morning because we were headed to church.

Me sitting in the window

We did not need to be at breakfast until 10 AM.

I had planned on sleeping in until 9:30 but I woke up at 8:30 and just relaxed in bed.

It was a wonderful feeling to not be rushed and I actually felt energized.

Mike did the morning devotional while we ate a wonderful breakfast prepared by Liliana and the other amazing ladies in the kitchen.

After breakfast we walked to the other half of the Diaconia Clinic that is still unfinished. We all gathered and Gene told us about how a couple of years ago they stood in the part of the building we work in now before it was finished.

It is amazing to me that a 2 million dollar building only has around 130,000 more dollars needed to be fully funded by donations. Amazing!

After the tour, we walked (2 buildings over) to the Holy Trinity Baptist Church that works with the Diaconia Clinic.

As we entered we were greeted by the beautiful singing of the choir. This is by far one of the best parts of each trip every year. There is something magical about hearing music in a different language.

There was a guest pastor speaking at church this day. After Pastor Joseph passed away 3 months ago they started looking for a new one.

Pastor Joseph was an amazing man and I had the privilege to meet with him twice. He had an amazing testimony. He fought with all his being to have a church that people could come to and worship at during communism.

Dr. Tom speaking in church

After church we split into small groups to eat lunch at different homes.

Mark, Peggy, and I got to eat at Sonia and her Mother's home.

The food was AMAZING and we had the pleasure of listening to Sonia and her brother play piano.

Sonia is in 8th grade and is an amazing pianist

After lunch all the groups met back at the clinic to set up for the week.

Nicole setting up!

Each team brings a lot of supplies with them. This is great, but finding everything you need for the week can be a challenge.

Marcella and Dora have a nice system this year. Every cabinet was labeled with a number and there was a list with items and which cabinet they were in.

A blessing!

Dora and I

The last 2 years I had assisted Dr. Debbie Sullivan. We had Sami, Teodora, and Cristi as our translators.

This year I had the pleasure to work with Dr. Dan Bush (who was my grandparents' dentist) and Becki. It was great to have another assistant this year. Having Becki around made working a lot easier and more relaxing this year. Our translator was Diana. Diana is a 4th year medical student! Another young lady who helped us out a lot was Magda. She is in her last year (6th) of medical school. She helped juggle the patients around and get them in the place they needed to be.

So yes, back to setting up.

Dr. Dan, Becki, and I set up our area all afternoon.

That evening we had dinner in the clinic.

I don't mean in the actual clinic.

The Diaconia building has 4 floors and basement. The first floor is the Medical Clinic, the second floor is the Dental Clinic, the third floor is where we sleep, the fourth floor is where the kitchen is and where we eat, and the basement has all the x-ray equipment.

After dinner we all took a walk along the Danube River.

It was nice to get out into the fresh air and enjoy a nice stroll. There were a lot of mosquitos, but lucky for me, I only got bit once!

Me with the Danube River in the background

landmark fountain

Every year I see this sign and get my pic with it

it never gets old

Later that evening, we all gathered in the main area around our rooms and chatted.

the main area

Merri, Kerri, and Tamara made it back from Bucharest. I finally got to meet my roommate, Merri. Kerri and Tamara have been on the past 2 trips with me and I met one of Kerri's sisters, Terri, my first year. This was Merri's, Kerri's other sister, first trip.

By the time they had arrived...it was pretty much bed time.

I was fine all day, but around 4 PM the exhaustion has set in.

I did skype my parents (I did just about every night).

...and then passed out!