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?
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
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!
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!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
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."
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!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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!
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!
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