So the plans have changed yet again. We awoke on the morning of Saturday, September 26th at 3:15am in anticipation of our 24+ hour commute from Brasov, Romania to Istanbul, Turkey.   We rounded up all 31 squad members, packed up our tents and were on our way to the train station. After waiting on the platform for more than two hours, following an 80 minute delay, we were en route back to Bucharest, Romania to catch our international train to Turkey. When we arrived in the capital city you can imagine our disappointment when our group was informed that the train to Istanbul had been canceled indefinitely due to the recent flooding that had occurred there. With this new information we decided to put the squad up for the night in a nearby hostel. This is where our journey took an unexpected turn.

It was around 7pm when Becky and I returned to the hostel from a stroll around the city neighborhood. We noticed several local Romanians scurrying around the construction area just outside our hostel as the sound of sirens echoed in the distance.   As we entered the hostel the first person we saw was Scottie who was standing in the doorway with blood coming down her forehead. 

"What happened?!" we frantically asked her.   Tears streamed down her face together with blood as she mumbled back two unspeakable words "Tara fell".

As we ran back out of the hostel and around the adjacent gated construction zone we noticed a curled up body in the fetal position as we rushed into the dust filled area.   As we pushed our way through the dozen or so people who had now surrounded Tara's body we realized the magnitude of what had happened.   During the commotion I glanced upward at the girl's balcony which was perched more than twenty feet over head.  Tara had fallen two stories and landed on a concrete slab in between a jagged staircase and a cement broken wall.

As the paramedics arrived they quickly worked to slide a backboard support underneath her. Tara's body was positioned on her side which remained motionless from the moment she had hit the ground. As the medical team placed Tara into the ambulance the handful of World Racers who were present circled around the vehicle to pray for her. 

Four of Tara's teammates followed her in a taxi to the nearby hospital and spent the first night with her. As our squad gathered the next morning Becky and I felt God's calling to stay back with Tara. After seeing our team members off to Turkey, we immediately headed for the hospital.   We walked into the run down emergency hospital which reeked of a combination of urine, cigarettes and mold.  There was no front desk or information area to find out where Tara's room was, but God seemed to lead the way as we climbed up two flights of stairs and were drawn directly to her.  

As we walked toward the hospital room an indescribable light seemed to be pouring out of the doorway. I have never in my life witnessed a person, who should be experiencing such immense pain and suffering, to be absolutely glowing with joy and love. Tara's smiling face greeted us as we entered the room. God has given her such an incredible servant heart. She immediately started sharing stories about what had occurred over the past twenty-four hours. The most amazing part of each and every story she shared with us was that none of it had to do with her, which in retrospect doesn't seem possible. Even though Tara must have been in a tremendous amount of pain, she never once complained or thought of anything other than the opportunity that God had put in front of her. 

She shared with us about her doctors and the neighboring patients she had met and how God had such incredible plans and purpose for their lives. When Tara first arrived at the hospital she was placed next to a man with a bandaged arm.   She sang a Romanian gypsy song in a soft voice to sooth the man as the doctors proceeded to hold him down and re-brake his arm to set it back into place.  I stood alongside Tara as they wheeled her up to the x-ray room. The area that they wheeled her into was dark and gloomy and could have doubled as the set for any number of horror movies back in the States.   I looked down at Tara's face to see how worried she was but I noticed that the only thing on her radar were the people around her. She extended her hand to an old woman nearby in a wheel chair to offer prayer for her. 

People from all over the hospital seemed to gravitate toward Tara's room as God was answering our prayer to bring light to the darkness. Tara was that light. A woman named Dede entered our room to pray with Tara on the second day. It turned out that Dede's husband was a pastor who had been involved in a terrible car accident almost two months before. Pastor George had just undergone his forth surgery and I had the opportunity to pray with him for healing so that he could finally return to his church of more than 200 members. 

Tara's attitude of joy has been so infectious. It is awesome to watch how God has used her for so much good in a place that so desperately needs Him.  The first x-ray that came back showed that Tara had a large fracture in her pelvis which would require surgery and at least six months of recovery time. After much prayer from friends and family members all over the world the second x-ray and CT scan showed that there was no longer a major fracture but rather four minor fractures and that Tara would not need surgery.  Please continue to pray for Tara's complete healing. God is the great physician and He desires health for all of his children, to walk in His image.