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?