Team retreat

This past weekend we went on a Team retreat to Iznik which is modern day Nicea.  It was a great weekend to energize our batteries for the first week of classes, gain vision and focus, and continue to build each other up in our team.

Leaving the city to go to Iznik!

Iznik Lake which has buried the castle in which the first Council of Nicea met.

It was beautiful with spring like weather and we were blessed with good health on our team for a successful weekend.

The Girls! My roommates, teammates and friends!

The whole team!

Of the things discussed, the main focus was our desire to sow more broadly.  Last semester we did a great job at meeting consistently with friends which we perceived as being open.  But what we didn't do was evaluate these students on where they were at spiritually and if they were truly seeking or only wanting to practice English.  It was challenging to think of doing things a bit different this semester, but we're excited for God will do and we're so excited to be a part of it!

Enjoy some pictures from the weekend! :)

This man who was demonstrating the history of the styles of Iznik Ceramics

This became one of the team dogs for the day.. her name was Betty.. she liked to play dead.. 

Team Building continued throughout the day without any programming or activity planned.. even while exploring ancient ruins!

 

Double Karamel Magnum bars!
Great after exploring ancient ruins!

Creative work

There are only a few days left until classes begin again for the semester and I'm trying to get as much done in the down time as possible.  There are a few things we're working on and wanting to get a good start on before things begin to get really busy.  One is having a night of watching the Magdalena Film, which is like the Jesus Film but told from a woman's perspective. We're inviting many friends to our apartment for a fun Girl's Night where we'll paint nails, eat popcorn and chocolate, chat and watch a movie!

Another exciting project is re-working some of the Solarium photos.  Solarium is a resource we use to get into spiritual and gospel conversations.  They are just images and students pick out three pictures that best answer a particular question.  For example, "Which three images best describe your life right now?"

My project is going through the current images, understanding the concept of the image and seeing if it can be copied but with a Turkish twist.  Students often wonder where the pictures were taken, but if they were able to see the same concepts of love, fear, hard work, failure in images related to Turkey, how much more would the photographs make an impact! It is a joy to be able to serve the Lord through this way!

Praise and Affirmation

Every Wednesday we have a team prayer time and every other week a team time afterwards! Today we opened our Praise Boxes we started at the beginning of the semester.  We put praises in there in terms of ministry, things happening in our friends lives, things happening with our friends and families back in the states, and anything else we praised God for!  It was such a blessing to open up the boxes and read through everything we praised God for throughout the semester, the big things and small things! 

We also spent our team reading and article about biblical affirmation and how we can do a better job with that to each other as a team and what that would like if our friends and students we meet with saw us affirming each other.  It is such a different idea for our friends to think about affirming and building up rather than tearing down.  Pray God would grow us and teach us how He wants us to affirm and who His love in that to our friends!

Friend til the End

Cube came to our house on Saturday afternoon and we attempted making doughnuts.  While we were in the kitchen making the dough and "watching it rise" Cube was just asking lots of questions about things I wanted in my life and where I saw myself in 5 and 10 years.  She then shared the same things with me.  The conversation was great! Afterwards, we were sitting at the dinning room table and she looked at me and said, "Dana, if you stay in Bursa I think we will be friends... til the end."  It was such a sweet comment and I know that God is at work in her life and she sees Jesus in all of us girls. Please pray for her, that she would continue to want to spend time with us and that she would come to know Jesus as her savior!

Reality

The other day I was thinking about our city, about the students we know and about the believing students who spend time with us.  I realized that there are 3 believing students we spend time with on a semi-regular basis.  There are 5 Starbucks in this city.  We have more Starbucks in our city than we do believers in a movement.  Through this realization, thought, I was reminded that God is the God of this city and this will not always be norm. Praise God! Please pray for the believing students.  Pray we would get to spend time with them, that they'd learn how to talk about their faith and have a desire to share Christ with their classmates and families! Pray that students we meet with now would come to know Christ and that they'd grow and share their faith! God is a Big God, a God in whom we can ask Big things!

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."  Matthew 4:16-17

  

Back and ready!

January 20th I left for our Mid-year conference in Spain with other STINTers from around Europe, Russia and North African, Middle Eastern and the -stan countries (NAMEstan).  It was a week long conference filled with plenty of time to spend with the Lord and encourage one another in what God has been doing in this part of the world.

For me it was a joy to be in a country where I can understand whatever anyone tells and I can communicated what I want to communicate.  It was such a blessing and a bit of a break from the daily struggle language can be for me here.  Also, my time with the Lord in prayer and in His Word was refreshing and deep.  The main speaker at our conference spoke on next steps in life with the main purpose of our lives to be used and spent for the glory of God.  How perfect the timing of these talks when I'm in the process of figuring out what is next! I was encouraged that no matter where I go or what I do, if I'm seeking the Lord my life won't be wasted.  God has His people everywhere! It doesn't matter if I continue to do full-time ministry, or go back to school, or whatever else, if I'm seeking the Lord and desiring to share Christ with others, His name will be glorified.  I spent much time on the beach thinking and praying about this and asking the Lord for guidance. Would you join in me in praying for what God has next in my life and that He would should me and I'd wait patiently to see?

We took a day trip to Gibraltar as well.  To sum it up I can say three words: wet, cold, monkeys.  Here are some pictures of the day with some fellow laborers.  Enjoy!