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| A colorful photo of Rachel and I reunited and ready to take transportation from Dalamas in Turkey to our village near the Mediterranean. |
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| First sunset I saw in Turkey |
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| Drawing I did during worship time |
I’m in Turkey now. In a town near the Mediterranean. This town is quite beautiful, and I am looking forward to not only the School of Missions, learning Turkish but also getting to know the people here.
Above is a photo of a drawing I wanted to share with you. Sometimes while worshiping God? I draw, doodle…create. This drawing makes me think of how God cannot be contained. I know personally that I have boxes I try to fit God into. God is bigger than we are, and His love is amazing. I was reading Psalm 62:3 during the worship: Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Can you imagine that? A LOVE that is BETTER than LIFE? Whoa! I want to KNOW this love more. My prayer for you reading this and for me is that we would all have a deeper revelation, a more intense knowing of God’s love for us. I think that if we knew, even a little bit about how much God ADORES us? We would each be able to love those around us better.
On Monday the Footsteps of Paul beings. I find myself reveling in how BIG God is, and that He brought me here. I’m excited about this season, and in my attempt to be transparent and completely honest? I am also struggling a little with the adjustment to a new culture, place, and people. There has been a dynamic and growing list of places and peoples and experiences that I have experienced this last year, BUT still the newness takes time to navigate. Knowing this helps, and I am trying to get ample rest while being patient with myself during this part of transition. For those of you that know me? Know I have quite large expectations of myself, and being still can be a challenge!
Today the school broke into three teams and went on a scavenger hunt:
We took local transportation (water taxis, and dolmuses (small buses/vans that drive around)
- Spent a minimal and predecided amount of money: 12 Turkish Lira (which is approximately $US6) AND
- Collected a set of predetermined experiences captured via digital camera.
I got to eat a fish sandwich, walked into a Turkish bath, and watched a teammate, Seth, pretend to kiss a dead fish! Hahaha! Our team won. AND we each got a chocolate bar as our prize. Yesterday I learned how to play a card game called “Dutch Blitz”, has anyone ever played this before? SO much fun, and a little overwhelming! I got, “smoked.” That is to say I did not win this game.
Little airplane story: Rachel and I met someone waiting for the flight from Istanbul to Dalamas. His name was Tom, and he worked as a captain of a yacht in the area. He was about 27, articulate, and had a job that people would envy which provided for him: travel, women, luxury, title.
Rachel and I talked with him for about an hour. He was asking us really great questions about our faith, and from a proclaimed atheist? He was quite curious. In fact, he asked us some questions that I couldn’t answer. I shared that I am still learning a lot about God. I did not have the answers for him, BUT I am walking in a freedom that I have not known before knowing Christ, AND that I know.
I also, after inquiring about the possibility of being frank, challenged him about something missing in his life. He has it “all”, and I could see behind his facade, and sense he knew he was missing something. There was a shallowness behind his stories. He blamed it on being tired. I’m praying for him. He is wanting evidence to support God’s existence and I’m praying his heart would be softened to receive what he needs from God.