Pyramids & Alper Alp!

Please pray for Alp who is going on his first missions trip with us to Cairo, Egypt!
Our prayer has always been to see Turkish missionaries reach the Muslim world. It's exciting to think that we could be a part of that.

Disappointment

God is never disappointed, because to be disappointed one has to have a certain level of ignorance! This is why we must know the character of God in our lives. When we know Him we never see disappointment but rather we see His government of grace in our lives and the lives around us. Because of grace, anyone come to Christ with a broken heart and empty hands. We watch in great amazement as a life is changed from glory to glory. Never seeing failure or shortcomings but seeing grace and truth applied and lived out in someone's life. But Satan would love for us to be ignorant of the plan of God and lacking in the understanding of the limitless possibilities of grace. Is this too much Grace? No, for where grace is, truth is right alongside of it. Grace is not grace without truth. For it would not be grace if it were cheap. But this is a gift of God paid with the highest price which makes it so holy.
The story of Jonah is full of disobedience and disappointment. Because Jonah refused to think with God and lose himself (meaning his own prejudices and lack of love for people), one could say that God was disappointed with His prophet. But I think the book of Jonah shows the entirety of God's plan of grace - not just for the people of Ninnevah but for Jonah as well!

Where the natural man sees disappointment, the spiritual man sees the eternal and is comforted.

New Beginnings in the New Church Space!

This past Sunday we had our first church services in the new church area. We moved two floors up from the small room we had before to a much bigger meeting room, with a kitchen, bathroom, and two office rooms. It is the top floor of the building so its very private, and we have an amazing view of the Bosphorus!
Please pray that we would be able to continue to afford this new space. Its a big step of faith for us, but we are all so excited and encouraged to be there!
Our first evening service we had a big "Opening Night" celebration, with music, a powerful message, and alot of food! Roger and I (who Pastor Matti's ironically refers to as the "Tabernacle Duo") sang "I will lift my eyes" and it was really annointed. It was such a great time and we had a great turn out. One of our good friends, whom Pastor Matti and all of us have been investing in, received Christ at the end of the meeting. We were all so broken and humbled by that. In Turkey especially, salvations are not common so they are not taken lightly. Its a big thing for a muslim to receive Christ, especially publicly. We are praying for his discipleship and that his entire family would follow him!


Getting ready in the morning



The kids sang the cutest song with P.Matti



Prayer



Our African brothers blessed us with a song



Fellowship on the outside deck - beautiful!

Dead is what the Master wants...

Often in the Bible we see so many dead things being used by God. For instance, the story of Lazarus in John 11, the widow's son in I Kings 17, and the ruler's daughter in Luke 8. In all of these passages we find the frailty of humanity revealed. Death comes to everyone. No one has ever found an escape from death.
Finding death in our lives is not a bad thing. In fact, this is how John felt as he stood before Jesus:
"And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." Revelations 1:17-18
But in the world we live in today, the devil is looking to steal this sense of death and guilt from each and every person. We find in Turkey a sense of fatalism that has been integrated into this culture through its religion. This makes people ok with living for today and ok with dying tomorrow. But where is the sense of reality? For there is someone we all stand and fall before, and there is a need for guilt in our life. For it is at this place that we find healing.
"Guilt admitted is guilt forgiven."
We cannot suppress reality forever. But as Jesus talked to the woman at the well: “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” (John 4:16-18) We see this woman being asked to come to grips with reality - her sin. In this story, healing comes from honesty of "guilt admitted" because there Jesus forgives.
So we find that dying with Christ is living with Christ. For when He died, we died with Him; and when He was resurrected, we rose with Him. A new life is given to those who die with the Savior. We exchange our old life for a new life, and its a life worth living! But if I hold on to my old life, as one famous author said, "Guilt never sleeps."

Team Life in Istanbul

Umid, Deborah and Roger practicing the bongos at church




The adventures of babysitting Emmanuel




P.Matti, Gulshoda, and Umid all dressed up for a wedding




At the Ladies Tea Meeting - mother and daughter

Reunited and it feels so good!

This past week or so since we've been back in Istanbul has been filled with the details of starting a life in a new place - walking for hours searching for the right apartment, dealing with the financial details of getting a new apartment, contracts, deposits, starting an electricity account, getting a phone and internet connection, cleaning the new apartment until Roger's incredibly high cleanliness standards have been met, putting up curtains, getting furniture, figuring out how to put up a shower curtain, hauling all our stuff to the apartment and up 3 flights of stairs... Needless to day, it has been mentally, physically and emotionally draining. I never thought of myself as a homebody, but I have been craving a place to call our own! So, in a way, it has been fun to be able to do all this, knowing that this will be our home in a city we feel so at home in. And in the midst of all this, we have tried to take the time to remind ourselves why we are doing all this...
Tonight I met up with two very dear friends of mine, Burcu and Evrim, (see photo) for the first time since we've been back. I have known them since around easter time when I first met them at Burger King. It was SO refreshing to spend some time with them! As I walked along the main walking street, with my two Turkish friends on each side of me, arm in arm, I was so humbled to even be in their lives. I said to myself, They are why we are here! I don't know how long it will take before they come to the realization that there is a great God who loves them each so personally that He is jealous for their souls...But I am here for them, as long as it takes. If these two girls are the only girls that I meet - they are enough for me.
Today Roger and I were discussing the future and our call here and we both agreed that it is unwise to try to plan ahead too much and it would be foolish to compare ourselves with anyone else. Christ said, "What is that to thee? You follow Me." We KNOW that God has given us a love for Turkish people - so what else can we do but love them??

New Beginnings in Istanbul