Noel Kutluması

The second weekend in December we had Christmas conference for all the cities here with teams and students.  It was the second year that our city has attended and we were able to bring 5 students with us.  We brought 3 men and 2 women.  The men are all very spiritually interested, interested in knowing more, investigating more, and researching more.  The 2 women that came were very different from each other.  One is neither interested nor disinterested. She wanted to come to spend time with us and see what Christmas was about.  The other girl is a student from Africa and she is a believer.  For her the weekend was an encouragement and it challenged her to study her bible more and share her beliefs with her classmates.  

It was encouraging for our team because we were able to see over 120 students from around this country praising God, desiring to grow closer to Him and know Him better, and wanting to spend time in a body of believers.

Its so easy to loose focus and think that what we do isn't making a difference.  But in reality, God is at work here and just this weekend is evidence of that.  He is constantly stirring in people's hearts a longing for Himself and we get the awesome privilege of sharing Truth, the amazing Love of Jesus and the beautiful Grace of God with students.  God is most certainly at work! Praise Him!

    

Noeller Mutlu

On Saturday we decided to plan our weekly meeting with a Christmas theme and then we wanted to have a small Christmas party afterward.  It was such a fun day and most of the students who decided to come were there for the discussion.  Due to timing of students showing, meeting them, and getting the talk and discussion ready we started about 45 minutes late.  At the time it didn't seem like a good thing but because it was later, everyone we invited was able to be there for the discussion.  The pastor of the local church also came and was able to participate in the discussion.  Amazingly enough there were many more girls there, which is so unusual! But for the students that came it was the first time the gospel was shared clearly and in their own language.  With some of them, we didn't know before where they were exactly with spiritual things mostly because of language barriers.  We're so thankful the pastor was there to answer questions and for the students to see a believer from this country!

We also played a game called "Pass the Parcel" in which everyone ended up with a small gift.  We decorated paper christmas trees and three people got a prize.  We iced christmas cookies, shared a meal together and ended the night singing Christmas carols.  Our friends thought the night was beautiful and we're so thankful for the opportunity for our students to clearly hear the gospel!

Update!

Much has happened in the last month. I'll be looking forward to updating this a bit more everyday for the next few days! A brief month in review: We spent time with many old and new students.  God provided amazing conversations.  We had a Central Asia dish and experienced something new of the culture.  We celebrated Thanksgiving.  We took our first VISA trip.  We took students to Pamukkale for a Christmas conference.  Many good conversations have been had.  Many questions brought up by students.

Continue to pray for God's work here! Its exciting to be here! I can't believe I get the privilege of doing what I do especially here! I thought earlier today, I have an apartment in Turkey! How did that happen? I get to tell students about Christ! How did I get so lucky?

Trick or Treat!

On Friday we celebrated Halloween with our Turkish friends! We told people to dress up and we also some goodies from the States like candy corn and the like.  There were 26 of us in the house and we had a great time just talking about life, playing games eating candy corn and roasting smore's!

About the costumes: Well as it turned out the only people in costumes were the foreigners... which included our entire team, another american with another organization here and Dave and Ros's children!  Our friends thought we were crazy but they had fun trying on parts of our costumes!

About the food: We had candy corn which our boss brought as a surprise for us.  At first they weren't so sure if they liked it because it wasn't hard candy but it wasn't jelly-like... but in the end almost all of them decided they LOVED it!  We also roasted smore's... In the guys' apartment there is a fireplace.  Our first thought was to use that and roast them, however it seems the chimney isn't open.  So after almost smoking ourselves out of the building we roasted marshmallows over the stove! The turks also LOVED the smores...

We're looking forward to more socials with our friends both fun and spiritual in content. Praise God for Friday night and a time where students saw that things can be fun without partying or having much planned!

Patience is a virtue!

Last year every time I had to wait for basically the only bus near us that would take us where we needed to go, I thought, "You really must a lack of patience in my character God."  I waited for the B24 for hours last year.  I would see all these other buses come by multiple times before the B24 would come by the first time.  This year when we were in the process of moving I always so thankful that I would not need to wait for the B24 this year, though its route still goes by our new apartment!  

Well, it seems I still need to work on patience and it seems God is once again using the Turkish bus system to show me that!  Last week I was on campus and waiting for the B44/a to come by so I could go home.  When I first got to the stop I was so happy I wasn't going to be waiting to take the B24, especially at 9pm.  Its only scheduled to come to campus once (or maybe twice) more before stopping for the night.  Much to my surprise I saw a B24 come by almost immediately.  I thought that was strange but didn't think much of it.  After about 20 min. of waiting I thought surely the B44/a would coming.  However the next bus that came was the B24...AGAIN!  I still did not get on this bus because I was certain the B44/a would be coming momentarily.  However after waiting for another 25 minutes I was wishing had gotten on that bus but my stubbornness stopped me.  I saw headlights in the distance and the  loud hum of a bus muffler and was excited that I'd finally be getting on my B44/a to go home.  But... it was the B24, AGAIN! I saw it, waved it down and climbed on board chuckling and thinking in my head, "Lord, You're funny! You have a such a sense of humor."  I thought my patience had grown some but still realizing I had much further to come.  I also thought I'd never wait for buses to the extent I did last year with the B24 but as it turns out, I'm still waiting for buses like I did last year with the B24 and the Lord sends me the B24 to get me home!  It seems I still have more to learn... but to remind myself to wait patiently, I've now written on my BuKart (bus card) cover "PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE."

Juan Pablo on the mend

After a few rough days and nights when our little kitty needed almost constant attention, he is back to his normal playful self.  He's getting into trouble, eating a lot and cuddling with us all the more! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers in regards to Juan Pablo!

Prayer point

A few days ago our little kitty began acting strange especially with going to the bathroom.  When it didn't get better and actually began getting worse, we took Juan Pablo to the vet.  Once we arrived, the vet began looking at him and sent me the pharmacy straight away.  When I arrived back she began to tell me what was wrong and how we could help.  He was given antibiotics to take and some other medicine to help with going to the bathroom.  Then we asked what was wrong and the vet told us that he had some kind of virus or bacteria.  With strays she said they usually get something but there are 3 very serious and dangerous ones for kittens.  We won't know how serious it is for the next day or two.

We are to watch him and see if he gets better or worse.  This was on Tuesday and today he seems to be like a typical kitten, playing and getting into trouble but physically he looks much worse.  Please pray for this little kitten.

Kitty!

So our little guy has decided he ALWAYS has to be around people and as close to their faces as possible! When I'm standing making my coffee in the morning he will climb up my leg, then my side or arm until he's perched on my shoulder.  When I'm working on my computer he insists on sitting on my keyboard and usually pushes some buttons or keys and closes windows, shuts it down...if he weren't so cute, it'd be annoying!

 

now it begins

This was our first week on Campus and the Lord provided so many conversations!  On the first day of campus we had a conversation our friend, *JoAnna, and her friend, *Jacob.  When he was in junior high he began to research Christianity and continued until his freshman year at university.  When he chose Islam at the time he said his friends laughed at him and were asking him why he was even interested in that.  And he also said that when he read things in the Bible, he couldn't understand certain things.  This lead to a great conversation in which we got to share the Truth about Jesus Christ.  His eyes are blinded to the truth but he's still searching and interested! We're hoping to connect him with the guys with us so they can continue this conversation with him! Pray the Lord would open His eyes.  Another cool thing about this conversation was JoAnna.  She was tracking right with us and when Jacob didn't understand something and spoke for us when we were unable to find the Turkish word or explain clearly in english through the language barrier... Praise God for her and pray through that conversation and her involvement the Gospel will become more clear!

Another day we met with *Ilanna, a student from last year.  She is our most devout friend and even covers how most modern women do here.  We began talking of superficial things at first and I was getting a little discouraged really praying the Lord would provide connections to spiritual things.  Something came up about culture so I then asked a cultural question.  This simple question led to almost 2 hours of conversation in which we were able to share the Gospel at least 4 times.  We talked of Jesus, punishment, sin, why Jesus came, the cross, what the Q'ran says, what the Bible says, baptism, the Truth of God's word, and much more! But through it all we learned more of where Ilanna stands.  She said that she is always searching, always asking why, wanting to know the Truth and what is right.  She said up til now Islam has been what she understands to be right, what she thinks is the best.  But if Ilanna were to find something different, more right and better she'd immediately switch! Praise God for her searching heart.  Pray her eyes would be open to the holes in her own beliefs and that she's meet Jesus in a real way.  As we were talking about Jesus and the cross she really began to understand the need for Jesus.  Not for herself but why we as Christ followers need Jesus.  Pray she'll see her need for Him too!

New family member

So as an apartment we adopted a new family member... It may seem weird that its a member of the male population, but I'm sure as soon as you see him, you'll understand why.  His name is Juan Pablo, but his Turkish name is Tarkan.  He has the bluest eyes and dark hair.  We're so happy we made this decision and its been fun to have him around our apartment.  :) Introducing Juan Pablo! :)

He's so tiny! He loves his kitty food, loves meowing and getting as close to the human face as possible! More updates to come as we watch our little guy grow! :)

On the Mountain

Yesterday as a team we took a trip up the mountain in our city, Uludağ (historically known as Mt. Olympus).  We wanted to go to a place where we could pray together and individually over the city and to be as high as possible to see as much as possible.  We took teleferik (a cable car) to the top and then went farther into the forest and found spots to pray along a shallow stream surrounded by large, smooth boulders.  It was a great place to meet with the Lord and begin to ask big things of the Lord for our city.  I was reminded of Ezekiel 37 when he receives the vision of the dry bones.  Only God has the power to bring to life the bones, to make them into a working body and to breath life into the lifeless form.  In the same way, in this place, only God can move in the hearts of students we've met and will surely meet.  Only God can transform their lives, give them purpose, satisfaction and life.  One of my teammates was sitting on a rock and clouds suddenly came in and enveloped her.  It grew dark and cold.  The Lord brought to mind the thought that there is great darkness here but light is coming.  Isaiah 9:2 "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of shadow and death have seen a great light." 

Someone Thought I was Turkish!

I was sitting in Starbucks spending time alone and with the Lord when an elderly gentleman interrupted me.  He asked me if I spoke English and I nodded and smiled.  He then asked if he could bother me a bit and ask me questions about the area and what he should see.  I began telling him all the places (the names of course are in Turkish and written in turkish) and wrote down all the places.  He paused, looked at me and said, "My, your English is so good.  Wherever did you learn it?" It was hard for me not to laugh so I tried my best to hold it in and said, "Well, I'm American." And he bluntly said oh, gathered his stuff and politely excused himself.  Every time I thought of that for a week it made me chuckle!

Bayram, cheese fights and moving

We have just finished experiencing Ramadan here.  Our time experiencing Ramadan was full of drummer man beating drums outside our apartment at 3am in the morning and trying not to eat in front of people during daylight hours.  But the last few days were the Bayram (called şekerli bayram).  This is where nothing happens in this country, people eat a lot of sugar and spend time with their entire family.  Before this holiday started we were wanting to find a new apartment and move.  Amazingly we did accomplish that.  The Lord provided for us a beautiful new apartment with loads of space for visitors and future teams here in this city.  We are also in walking distance to all main modes of transportation, the Eaves, and anything else we need.  Our apartment also doesn't flood from bad kitchen pipes.  We're so happy! 


We also wanted to purchase a few things before Bayram started as well.  We went to Carrefour (which is like a Target, but still doesn't have everything in one place) and we saw something I'd never thought I'd see here.  There were two families waiting in the check out line and it appeared the first family had budged.  They were saying to the second family that it was a sin for them not to let them go first because they had so few things in their cart.  The woman of the second family began yelling back that it was wrong that they budged.  Then a bystander came by and told them to be happy because it was the holiday but they pushed him out of the way and began arguing again.  So now, its the two wives of these families and one woman takes cheese from her cart, raises it above her head and begins to hit the other woman over the head with the cheese for budging.  Needless to say they both got kicked out of the store, it was quite shocking to see behavior like this at all let alone during the holiday which most resembles our christmas!


We are just finishing settling in and are happy to meet with students soon.  University begins on Monday and we've been so happy that we've been able to connect with a few students from last year that were in the city this summer but can't wait until others come back and we can begin to meet contacts made over the summer trips here!

Rejoice!

Today we began some orientation and went through the contacts of new students from the summer.  It was a lot to go through but was so exciting to see the students we will be meeting very soon! The majority part of our day was spent with the new people on our team and our team leader Dave talking to us about his heart for working here.  It was such a great reminder! He first read from Luke 10.  After Jesus sent out the 72 and they came back and reported all they'd seen they were so excited.  Jesus reminds them that they should "rejoice that their names are written in the book of life."  We were encouraged to be people who always remember that, that whatever the circumstances, whether we find ourselves wanting or lacking nothing we have so much and need nothing more when we're found in Jesus.  What a great reminder and mindset to strive for while working here, sharing the gospel with Muslim students! Praise God for a leader who desires our relationships with the Lord to be the priority and from there our ministry can stem through the work of the Holy Spirit.

waiting, waiting. waiting...

Tonight we had a great night with the Eaves (the long term family living here).  After dinner, dessert, and a game we left their home around 8:50 expecting a bus to come between 9 and 9:15....we waited...we waited and talked, told jokes, entertained each other and waited some more....we waited and thought of ridiculous things we could do, watched it start to rain...we waited and watched the minutes tick by...we waited and thought of other ways we could get home...we waited and waited and waited.  We said finally we'd wait until 10:20 and at 10:19 the bus finally came! We made it home!! We made and only after just a little bit of waiting! :)

Doors that won't open, floors that are wet!

We arrived back to our city last night from our Staff conference in Istanbul. We were excited to drop our bags off and head to the grocery store so we'd be able to eat in the morning.  Not suprising to us, we couldn't get into our apartment right away.  Usually it takes us a few trys to get our lock jimmied and opened.  But last night after 25 minutes of trying we called our apartment owner.  He was doing his prayers so our neighbors were nice enough to let us in and wait!  He arrived and let us in though as soon as he opened the door and begain talking about the apartment we knew we were seeing things that weren't there when we left!

He was explaining the family below us had called him while we were away because they were getting water in their apartment.  Well, it appears that a pipe in our apartment burst! We go into the kitchen and see that there is a bag tied to the pipe under our sink and is completely full and overflowing with water.  The floors in the kitchen and living room were drenched, people's clothes rugs, suitcases, etc. got the brunt of the flooding. 

They called someone to come in and fix it, though its not quite fixed.  We turned the water off for a while so now we only get water in the back of our apartment.  We have much to be thankful for though! Nothing was seriously damaged or destroyed, the men who came in to fix it were honest and didn't take any of our valuables that may have been sitting out and we can still stay here until we find our new apartment!

We are praying we'll find it as soon as possible and hopefully be moving within the next week! Please pray!

Ayran, Doner and drummer man!

My first few days back in country have been great! Besides being a little sleep deprived and waking up everyday at 3am with drummer man, it feels like I was only gone for a few weeks! I was shocked at how quickly everything felt normal! The buses, Oya in the grocery store, the apartment, the language.  The Lord thus far has graciously allowed me to experience life here how I remember quickly and painlessly!

Our first full day in country we got a call from a friend who then proceeded to come to our apartment Sunday for 8 hours! I've eaten Doner and drank Ayran which is one of my favorite combos of the food here.  I've been awake to be serenaded by the tapping and banging of drummer man (Since its Ramazan here every morning at 3am someone goes around neighborhoods and bangs on a drum to wake people up to eat before the sun comes up so they can fast during the rest of the day).  I feel quite at home!

Yesterday our team came to Istanbul to start our Fall conference where staff get together and we get training and important information for our year.  Its exciting to be here! There are over 7 nations present of people who are on staff serving on campuses around the country and today we shared highlights of what God did last year.  What a great way to start the year thanking and Praising God for He did and looking hopeful for what He'll do this year!

Hos Geldiniz!

Well, after many hours of traveling and waiting we finally made it! I was hoping to make it on here earlier to send an update however I forgot how things can work in this country! I seem to break the internet every where I go.  It works in our apartment until I try and sign on. Then I thought I'd enjoy a cup of coffee at a cafe while updated everything and everybody.  I'm remembering what its like to be flexible!

I'd like to share with you my travel experience here.  It was quite the trip!
First my flight left at 10:52am from Des Moines.  Another teammate and myself left from there and we were meeting the rest of our team in Chicago.  My parents and I get to the airport in plenty of time after stopping at my favorite coffee shop one last time for 10 months.  We get to Des Moines with plenty of time to spare.  However once there I find that I'm unable to check-in for my flight.  After waiting some minutes I finally caught someone's attention at the ticket counter.  After searching and calling of airlines she informs me that I was reserved on these flights but I was never issued an e-ticket.  I frantically begin calling the man who bought the tickets for our team.  Ring, ring ring.... voice mail! He wasn't there.  I thought, "What am I going to do? My flight LEAVES in less than an hour."  The woman finds the number of the travel agency and the Lord graciously put me in touch with our agent.  I proceed to tell her the situation.  All I hear is silence... She says she'll call me back as soon as she can.  Finally about 20 minutes later she calls me back and informs me that I know have been issued a ticket.  I have 30 min. to go through security and get on the plane.  Luckily its a small airport and it was a Thursday morning.  Not many travelers!  Praise God he allowed things to pan out that way and get me here.

From here we met the rest of our team in Chicago and traveled to Frankfurt Germany.  The flight was 8.5 hours which can go by quickly with 2 movies, a TV show, many snacks and my iPod.  From Frankfurt we traveled to Istanbul and safely arrived in the country around 1:15pm.  We knew from here we needed to get our city and thought a bus would be easier with all of our luggage.  We find a bus and buy our tickets only to realize we had to wait 5 hours before we could get on our bus! We passed the time by asking each other questions, playing UNO numerous times with different rules, and cards!  Our bus finally left at 8pm.  From there we were on the bus for 1.5 hours then the bus went on a ferry for about 30 min. then back on the road again for 2 hours (all the while making numerous stops to drop off and pick up other travelers).  By the time we arrived in our city it was 12:15am.  All city buses were done running for the night and we realized our city is the only city in the country that doesn't offer Service buses from the station to our final destination.  We had to take taxis! But we finally made it to our apartment a little after 1:30am and sent the men on their way to their apartment.  Once there we stuff ourselves and all our luggage into the elevator only to find at the top that we could not get our apartment door open.  We tried for 15 min. then called people in the States who lived there last year to find out the "secret trick" to get the door open.  By the time the day was over and done with and we were sleeping in bed it was after 2:30am.  Travel was about 31 hours and we slept for about 4 of those.  We were exhausted but we were safe and all our luggage miraculously made it! PRAISE GOD! Thanks for your prayers!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I'm leaving at 10:52am headed back to the Middle East! I can't believe its already time to go back! I was thinking today and I realized that I'm so excited to be going back to share Jesus with those who have never heard! What a privilege it will be to once again meet with women and share Jesus with them (most of the time, for the first time)!

There are so many things that I have to be thankful for in going back and I praise God! My support came in so I've been able to enjoy my last two weeks with friends and family; we have an apartment to go to once in country; students from last year are excited for us to return; we have 4 new people on the team who are excited to live there and share the gospel with men and women there! Praise God for His goodness, for His willingness to let us be a part of Him reaching this country for the gospel, for providing ALL our needs and more!

I do have a few prayer requests for our initial days in country.  Please pray that God would grant us safe and smooth travel.  Pray that the beginning adjustments to life there would be as smooth as possible and we have fun learning the city, culture and language (for the new people) and enjoy remembering and being a part of the city, culture, etc. (for those of us returning).  Pray the setting up period would be smooth so we can get onto campus when classes start at the end of September!

Thank you! Next post will be from the Middle East!

Nearer, nearer

The days are getting nearer for our departure! The exact date is still unknown, but at this point it seems that it can be any day! I've been slowly preparing to go, but yesterday I bought the things I need to take and will pack today! This way, any day they tell us to be ready to go, I'll be ready!

The Lord is graciously moving in my heart preparing me for yet another year there! I was walking with my mom last night and we were talking about my leaving.  I was sharing that I think God still is prepping me, moving in my heart, bringing me excitement.  She reminded me of what I'm going to do and the need that is there! I'm going to share the hope found only in Jesus Christ with 71,995,000 people who don't know that! When I think about it in those terms I'm humbled that God chooses to use people to accomplish His will but what a privilege to be a part of something like this!

Pray He would keep working in the hearts of me and my team members readying us for an amazing year seeing Him work in our lives and lives of students all around us!

Ready for another year

I will be leaving for the middle east for another year in just over a week! I can't believe that I've been home for the summer and its already time to go back again! I've had a great summer with my family and friends which makes a little more difficult to go back.  I'm excited by faith right now, but now as soon as I begin to meet with students from last year and new students I will remember why I'm excited to be there and will love it!

Heart for the Lord

Today we had our new weekly discussion group at the Kultur Evi (Culture House) which is the building the local church uses for meetings and sunday school.  We never know who will come especially with the culture here.  Our friends say they will come but don't.  They only say they will come to not hurt our feelings. 

There are 2 people though that always come! They are 2 young men who are believers.  One is 27 and the other 17.  These two are so excited and encouraged to see young college students come and discuss things of the Lord.  The 17 year old definitely has a heart for the Lord and for his people to know Him.  During one of our ice breakers we were sharing something that maybe not many people know.  He was the second person to go and chose to share his testimony! What a brave young man! Its so encouraging to see him take steps of faith and trust the Lord to use his life even among our friends! Praise God! Its good for us to see with what we're doing now and what our the Lord may do with our work in the future with our friends! 

Vision

For the past 4 days we had a group of students from the US come visit during their spring break! Its always fun to have visitors, especially Americans since we don't see very many of them besides ourselves.  Not only is it refreshing, it is always encouraging.  

For one reason or another God brings people to this country.  Sometimes its just out of curiosity, maybe a mentor or bible study leader has asked them to check it out, or maybe God has laid this 

country on their heart.  In this last group there were 3 men and 2 women.  One guy is on staff, Vince, and used to serve in Turkey for 6 years 6 years ago.  He and his son, Reed, came who is just about to start university. These two came to see what ministry looks like here especially since we're pioneering a new city.  The staff guy especially was excited to learn and understand more of what God is doing here because he as spent time serving in this country and understands the longevity of working here. The other guy, Scott, is a junior in college and he came on this trip because he heard about Turkey and just wanted to check it out.  The two girls that came are both from the U of M.  One is an intern, Elizabeth, the other a freshman, Lia.  Adrienne and Elizabeth are really good friends and it was fun for Elizabeth to see her and to see what overseas ministry looks like compared to serving on a college campus in the States.  

Lia heard about Turkey and when she was researching things to do over spring break God wouldn't let her forget Turkey.

As you can see each person came for different reason, however God did something in all of their hearts! Last night we had a sharing time and the people on the trip shared about their 4 days in our city and their time spent with students and on campus.  Scott and Reed went out by themselves and found some english speakers and they both got to have really great conversations and were able to share the gospel clearly.  Its so encouraging knowing that they might have been able to share with someone who just heard the Truth about Christ for the first time, but Lord willing they have planted a seed! Vince shared how he again was struck with the need for workers to come here and share Christ.  All of this sharing has just made me realize what a privilege it is to serve here and to be a part of what God is doing.  It also made me think about the reality of the spiritual climate in Turkey.

We live in a city of about 2 million people with somewhere around 70 known believers and almost half of those believers are workers! This is just a tiny glimpse of what its like all over this country! God knows the need and He is still working through dreams and visions to reach these people but He still chooses to use us and wants to use us, to bring us into His work! I'm so thankful to be here and for this moment, this year in my life, there's no where else I'd rather be.  The center of God's will is a good place to be! There are challenges and struggles just by living here but the comfort of being held securely in the Lord gives me more than enough strength, courage and endurance to continue to "run, with perseverance, the race marked out for me." (Hebrews 12:1)