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.