Hello everyone! If you don’t know yet we made it home safely. It’s the 1st full week back from Turkey. I still feel a little weird being back in the states but I don’t mind the air conditioning and the long bed I get to sleep in. I don’t if I’m experiencing very much cultural shock (or maybe I am but I just can’t tell) but I am doing a lot of internal processing from the trip and within my spirit. I hope everyone’s summer is going well.
This blog post will consist of an update of the last week and a half of our trip. Sorry it’s a little late but we didn’t have much Internet opportunities near the end of the trip.
7/11/07 Wednesday
So today was another Sabbath day and we had decided to go see a movie late afternoon. So with some free time in the morning all the young people (excluding Esther and Kristin…you’re young…just not as young) decided to go to the weekly market in Antalya. I had been craving cherries ever since I got to Turkey. And even though they give me about the worst gas anyone could ever imagine I had to get some. So we went to the market aka pazar and marveled at the mountains of fresh fruits and vegetables. I found my cherries first and bought one kilo for only $1.50!! We meandered around for a while gawking at the amazing fresh fruit and veggies. I was in heaven. So after the Market we partook in our weekly Wednesday PB and J lunch. The bread, the ingredients, and the Coca Cola cost a total of 4 dollars to feed 6 hungry teenagers. It’s so beautiful and tasty. Then because I guess we were craving something American we went and watched Die Hard 4. It was your classic action movie with the good guys winning at the end and Over the Top action sequences. It was entertaining and totally worth the 3 dollars we paid to see it. We were the only Americans in the theater and the only ones laughing we people were being injured or beat up. Everyone else was probably thinking…crazy, loud Americans. That movie was about all the Americaness I could handle for the whole trip. It was a restful day though. As I look back at our trip I can remember specific moments where I felt tired and ready to be done. And then within hours or the next morning I would feel re-energized and rested. I love how Jesus is always lifting us up and keeping us going. How great is He!
Ps. On the way back from the movie and bird pooped on my hand…I don’t know how but it did. And it’s good luck if a bird poops on you in Turkey so I was on half annoyed.
7/12/07 Thursday
I don’t really remember what happened today. I guess I took too long of a break from the blog. I’m sure I had breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also probably spoke some English and Turkish. Those are the only for sure things. See ya tomorrow! Oh yeah, we had a discussion on Holidays in a café that overlooked Akdeniz (the white sea aka the Mediterranean).
7/13/07 Friday
So today we met our Turkish friends and our Balkan friends at St. Paul’s Cultural Center and watched Spiderman. This is one of the more popular movies in Turkey. It was entertaining and afterwards we split off with separate language partners. I was paired off with one of our worker friends in Antalya and with one of our Turkish friends and we went to a café that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. It was very beautiful but even more beautiful was the story that our friend Deniz shared with us. She is a believer but was struggling with different things such as school, friends, and mostly family. She told us that there was a big hole in her life/soul and that she couldn’t be happy until it was filled. She told us that in her previous years she felt fear but with Jesus she feels peace, safety, and hope. We prayed together and it’s really encouraging to continue to see how Jesus works in everyone and gives us peace and hope when we really seek him.
7/14/07 Saturday
So today was the last day that we would be able to hang out with all of our friends at one. Today we had our Culture exchange of dance, music, and food. So I guess our team decided it would be fun to prepare for the exchange the day of. I sincerely apologize for the next few sentences in how us Americans tried to share our culture. So we did the food first and that went wonderful. We made macaroni and tacos/burritos and also had Romanian food/Turkish food. That part went well. Now comes the part where we exchanged our different culture’s dances. The Turks showed us their ceremonial bridal dance and group dancing in a circle. The Albanian and Romanian dances were very similar and had their own exotic taste of dancing. Now it was our turn. So yes…we decided the best way to share our American Dance culture would be experienced through the YMCA song and the Macarena (provided by my iPod). As ashamed as I am to admit it they loved it. We did look goofy standing up front dancing and doing the YMCA but then everyone else joined in and it was great. We danced for over an hour and had various desserts from the different countries. Romanian dessert is sooooooo good.
7/15/07 Sunday
Today we went to the international church again (which means they speak English). I think I’m more of a fan of the Turkish worship but it was good to experience both. Pastor Bultema had also asked a couple of us to read scripture at the beginning of the service that related to his message. So Erin, Lauren, Ashley, and I volunteered to read. It went well but we sat up front and so many people kept filing into the church. There were several different visiting groups from England, India, Netherlands, etc…It was truly a visual beauty to see different cultures coming together to worship God. After the service we went to the beach and played volleyball and hung out with all of our friends. We had to say goodbye to some because it would be their last day with us. And others we had to say goodbye the next day (since it was the last day of the program). But my team won 4 volleyball games in a row and despite threats from other teams we persevered. I think I’m really missing the beauty of the Turkish landscape. The sea, the cliffs, the beach, the coast, just amazing.
7/16/07 Monday
Today was the last day of our program. We went to a place called Olimpos. It was about an hours drive from Antalya and when we got there it looked like a scene taken directly out of Lord of The Rings. There was forest everywhere and ruins placed all throughout the area. The sea was connected to a fresh water river and the water was a bright light blue. Breathtaking…and when we went exploring through the forest I felt like Aragorn (he’s a Lord of the Rings character if you didn’t know). God’s creation is so amazing when you stop to look. But the day consisted of hanging out, eating really good homemade Turkish meals and saying our good byes. Our two closest friends, Atakan and Ertan, promised that we would hang out the next day. It was a sad time but also a time of rejoicing because we made really great friends and we knew that they had taken important lessons away from the experience just like we did.
7/17/07 Tuesday
Today consisted of packing, trying to find souvenirs, and just preparing for the journeys ahead after leaving Antalya. The Balkan students were leaving the same time we were (at night) so we hung out with them at the Pansiyon until we left. Atakan and Ertan also came so we could get our last second good byes in. We gave Salim an Arizona shirt and he put it on about 5 seconds later and said it was good luck to wear it! We became friends with Atakan, Ertan, and Salim and God really became a central part of those relationships. The girls (some of them…not naming names) cried when we finally had to leave but it was a great goodbye. I had been in Antalya for a month, befriended Turkish people, and got to know a couple really well. I was so excited for them, sad that we had to leave, but so excited because I knew that when we were driving away that night Jesus was staying behind.
7/18/07 – 7/23/07
***We took a night bus to Cappadocia (central Turkey where a lot of underground churches were created 2000 years ago) and the next couple days we rampaged around cappadocia and also had a great time of debriefing our trip. Spending time in prayer, worship, and just thinking about what God had done in our lives the past month. I know he did a work in me and really challenged all of us, on our specific campuses, to reach out for those needing God’s love. After cappadocia we took a night bus to Istanbul and met my sister, Chelsea Scott, and Jessica Wright (all u of a’ers) for a day. We had great travels back home and it took me about 6 days to totally get my body clock back on schedule.
Turkey has a lot of biblical history and God’s presence is still there even in the darkest of places. For those of you reading this ask us questions (the team). I know you didn’t experience what we did and sometimes it’s hard for us to really explain what happened but ask us. It was absolutely incredible. I know my life and how I live it changed over that month in Turkey. As we head back to our campuses pray that we will be able to apply what we learned in turkey to our classmates, friends, and campus in general. School starts for both UofA and ASU on the 20th of August. Building true relationships based in Jesus and letting love speak for itself. God is good and he’s up to something. We get to come along for the ride. What else could you want? Thank you all for reading this blog, praying for us, supporting us, and loving us. We couldn’t have done it without your support. Thank you all!!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
WE'RE HOME!!
Hey there, I just wanted to quickly tell everyone that we made it home safely with very few glitches, PRAISE JESUS! I'm already experiencing a little culture shock just being around hoards of people that speak English and using a computer where I understand all the little buttons and links at the top of this page; no chance of me deleting a blog now! I will be posting a blog soon in order to give a quick recap/what-I-learned/God-is-cool thing. Please pray that we all would have a smooth and healthy transition coming home, thank you all SO MUCH for being faithful in praying for us and being a part of our journey in this way. It means a lot to me that you all have been so supportive and interested in my adventure. Turkey is an amazing treasure that I feel I have only just begun to discover. Much love to you all, I'll be posting my fairwell address soon!
Love and blessings,
Erin Leigh
Love and blessings,
Erin Leigh
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Another Update
Hello friends and family...So we have 2 more days in Antalya...4 more days in Cappadocia...and 1.5 in Istanbul/London...This time has gone by so incredibly fast. But for this post I'm just going to share some cool stuff and in a couple days I will update the blog with day to day adventures...
So God has just been doing really crazy awesome things since we've been in Turkey (and if you didn't know that I would encourage you to read the rest of this blog). But I just wanted to share some amazing stories/prayer requests for the Turkish people...
First, while I was talking with my language partner about a week ago we got into a discussion about religion and God. Jesus was really with us during that time and the only thing I really remember from the discussion what this one phrase that my friend said: "We are waiting for a leader." This question came from me asking him what he saw/felt for the youth/young adults of Turkey. It totally blew me away when he said that. So one thing we can/should/must pray for is that they (the Turkish people) would find their leader...and that he would be Jesus!
Second, I was talking with another Turkish friend we have made and she shared about different struggles she was having with family, life, etc...She believes in Jesus but still feels like she is not totally happy and that there is a big hole in her life. She doesn't know why or what is causing it. She is searching (like many young people are). She also said that she sees love, peace, happiness with Jesus. So pray for her and for all others who are needing that "hole" filled in their lives (whether they be turkish, you, or your friends).
And pray that our team will stay healthy as well! Kristin, Erin, and Esther had their share of a stomach bug...but are better now. Also pray as we wind down that we will continue to seek Him and stay safe and enjoy/love/etc Turkey...
Thanks for reading this blog (Mimi/Mom) and I want to end this blog with another song. This is definately a secular band but I really feel like their lyrics are soaked with Gods character/love/etc...Sorry if it doesn't make any sense but enjoy...
Angels and Airwaves - "The Adventure"
I want to have the same last dream again. The one where I wake up and I'm alive. Just as the four walls close me witnin my eyes are opened up with pure sunlight. I'm the first to know my dearest friends even if your hope has burned with time...anything that's cut shall be regrown and your vicious pain your warning. You will be fine. Hey Look, here I am and here we go; life's waiting to begin. Any type of love it will be showed; like every single tree reach for the sky. If you're gonna fall I'll let you know that I will pick you up like you for I. I felt this thing I can't replace where everyone was working for this goal. Where all the children left without a trace only to come back as pure as gold. I cannot live, I can't breathe unless you do this with me...
God is Good! Can't wait to see all of you when we get back. Blessings.
Seth Knox
So God has just been doing really crazy awesome things since we've been in Turkey (and if you didn't know that I would encourage you to read the rest of this blog). But I just wanted to share some amazing stories/prayer requests for the Turkish people...
First, while I was talking with my language partner about a week ago we got into a discussion about religion and God. Jesus was really with us during that time and the only thing I really remember from the discussion what this one phrase that my friend said: "We are waiting for a leader." This question came from me asking him what he saw/felt for the youth/young adults of Turkey. It totally blew me away when he said that. So one thing we can/should/must pray for is that they (the Turkish people) would find their leader...and that he would be Jesus!
Second, I was talking with another Turkish friend we have made and she shared about different struggles she was having with family, life, etc...She believes in Jesus but still feels like she is not totally happy and that there is a big hole in her life. She doesn't know why or what is causing it. She is searching (like many young people are). She also said that she sees love, peace, happiness with Jesus. So pray for her and for all others who are needing that "hole" filled in their lives (whether they be turkish, you, or your friends).
And pray that our team will stay healthy as well! Kristin, Erin, and Esther had their share of a stomach bug...but are better now. Also pray as we wind down that we will continue to seek Him and stay safe and enjoy/love/etc Turkey...
Thanks for reading this blog (Mimi/Mom) and I want to end this blog with another song. This is definately a secular band but I really feel like their lyrics are soaked with Gods character/love/etc...Sorry if it doesn't make any sense but enjoy...
Angels and Airwaves - "The Adventure"
I want to have the same last dream again. The one where I wake up and I'm alive. Just as the four walls close me witnin my eyes are opened up with pure sunlight. I'm the first to know my dearest friends even if your hope has burned with time...anything that's cut shall be regrown and your vicious pain your warning. You will be fine. Hey Look, here I am and here we go; life's waiting to begin. Any type of love it will be showed; like every single tree reach for the sky. If you're gonna fall I'll let you know that I will pick you up like you for I. I felt this thing I can't replace where everyone was working for this goal. Where all the children left without a trace only to come back as pure as gold. I cannot live, I can't breathe unless you do this with me...
God is Good! Can't wait to see all of you when we get back. Blessings.
Seth Knox
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Seth Knox Reportıng
Another Update!!!
First I would just like to say that I do have feelings and do share them in my blog entries. In contrast to what Erin tried to say, I like to let everyone know what’s going on in Turkey and share my feelings at the same. I even cry a tear or two while typing it. But here we go. One week of updates is coming your way. Hope you enjoy. Mimi thanks for being one of the first people to read it (or atleast comment). I love you all.
PS… I made friends with the guy who Works in the internet. And even though we have no idea what we are both saying he gives me a back massage each time I come in. I love Turks!!!!
PSS or PPS or whatever…I might miss a lot of information for each day because I’m just going off the top of my head so just a heads up if this update seems thin…
7/3/07 Tuesday
So today we had a chill morning studying scripture and worshipping. Theo and I split off into prayer partners and had a truly amazing time praying…maybe not for him but for me it was a very real and truthful discussion on things going on in our heads and lives. But after we were done he read a couple verses in Psalms 97. I want to share them with you: Verses 1-6: “The lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The MOUNTAINS melt like WAX before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.” How great is the God we serve?!!! This verse just gives me the willies everytime I read it. God is So powerful, yet loving and beautiful at the same time! ----- In the afternoon we went to the beach and hung out with our Turkish friends. The previous day we had a discussion about sports and one of the topics that came up was camel fighting. Yeah, I had the same reaction! I want to see camels fight! How cool would that be?! But sadly, as we asked our turkish friends what it was we found out it was the equivelent to chicken fighting in the U.S. where one friend will jump onto the shoulders of another friend and then proceed to violently attack another “chicken” or “camel”. Usually, for safety reasons, the game is played in water. So since today we were at the beach we decided to camel fight. Two of our friends, Atakan and Ertan, decided that they should be the base of the two fighting camels and that Theo and Randon should be the head. But Theo and Atakan were not in deep enough water so in a series of hilarious events Atakan was able to get Theo up on his shoulders while in total disregard for Theo’s crotch region. Theo was half laughing/half crying while trying to ward off the attacks of the other charging camel. It was great. I don’t remember much else from that day but it’s a good one for spiritual learning and also for laughing.
7/4/07 Wednesday
Mother/Mom/Big Momma/Momma Fats/Tracy and whatever names you’ve accumulated over the years…HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope it was a good one. I love so very much.
Before I start on the days adventures I just want to warn you that this paragraph contains very immature language and dialogue but does help you understand the full experience we are having in Turkey. So from July 1st in the morning to the morning of July 3rd (that’s 3 whole days) I didn’t have one single poop, bowel movement, dropping the kids off at the pool, whatever you want to call it. (Mom forgive me, I know you are rolling your eyes right now. Daniel and Mike…I have great poop stories to tell you when I get back that can’t be shared here.) So anyways, after eating atleast 8 or 9 meals I finally was able to relieve myself. I guess I’ve been eating too much bread? I don’t know…and sorry for those of you who read this and are now utterly disgusted. Please don’t think any less of me. Now to my day.
As I have said earlier, Wednesday is our “sabbath” day where we can just relax, read our bibles, worship, sleep, hang out and do whatever. So I dedided that today I would finish my Testimony that I would share on Friday at the Turkish Young Adults service. What I spoke on/talked about is in my previous blog update if you are curious about what I said. I think it sounds ok. But during this time of reflection and such (and actually throughout the whole trip) I’ve been listening to music a lot. And I feel like the lyrics of whatever song I listen to seem to make more sense, or that I actually listen to them instead of zoning out. But there have been several songs, christian and secular, that have really spoke truth about my life and about God. I’ve been noticing more and more on this trip how Jesus is not only in those who believe but also those who don’t know him. It’s amazing to see that people can’t help to exude the characteristics of Jesus in how they live…being kind, hospitable, loving, serving, etc…But I just find lyrics to songs very intriguing. I’m sure many of you know the song “Time After Time” by Cindy Lauper of all people. This song was redone by a band called quietdrive but a couple lines from this song really caught my attention. (and other songs as well)
“Time After Time” – You say go slow; I fall behind. If you’re lost you can look and you find me…Time after time. If you fall, I will catch you. I will be waiting…Time after Time.”
But yeah it may seem a little crazy to you but I think Jesus likes to reveal himself in unconventional ways just like he did when he was alive…Hanging out with the outcasts, the sick, the poor. I really love when he says “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” He loves going against the grain and getting his hands dirty and I think he’s been challenging me to step out in faith and do the same. ------ Back to my day…So today was July 4th so another american friend invited us to her house for some Bar B Que and american food! It was a great suprise and we met some other American University students who were also there teaching english for the summer. It was great to celebrate with other natives and after we ate we got to light of 8 roman candles and run around in the streets like crazy tourists as the Turks in near by buildings stared at us. Hooray for independence day!
7/5/07 Thursday
So today we were originally supposed to go to a place called Side (pronounced seeday) which had some ancient ruins and such but because it has been so hot we decided to go rafting down a fresh water river! It was about an hours drive east of Antalya and we were there for about 6 hours. The water was ice cold but so refreshing. We had about 8 people in 3 different rafts so we had raft wars with splashing and everything. I’m pretty sure everyone got some type of sunburn. Erin and I got it really bad on the thighs and had trouble even squatting the next day. We took some photos of it…so painful but totally worth it. This river was really beautiful. It winded between two different mountain ranges in the wilderness of Turkey. I’ve seen nothing like it. I also love that God can reveal his beauty, awe, and power through nature, in the trees, animals, rivers, flowers, everything. But this took up the majority of our day and when we got back we were totally exhausted. It was great fun and our relationships with our friends continue to improve. While we were at dinner Kristin really challenged us try and take a leap of faith and pursue a deeper relationship with our language/turkish partners. I remember thinking to myself…Gosh I’m so tired right now. I don’t want to deal with this. I’ll sleep and try to deal with it in the morning. So the next day…you’ll get to read how God really honors those who step/leap out in faith…because when we step he will always, always, always light our path and when we leap he will always catch us!!
7/6/07 Friday
So this day includes some very awesome spirtual encounters and also some humor. So praise Jesus for being awesome! So we were at breakfast and Kristin/Esther (aka Krestor) thought it would be cool to have the guys and girls have separate times of worship and scripture studying. But when this was mentioned Theo or Randon said “Secret Boy Time”. Esther then followed by singing “secret boy time” to the tune of Silver Bells. So before I split off with Theo and Randon I felt compelled to write a little song about Secret Boy Time. These lyrics really dive into the depth of manhood and what boys really do when alone. Females, this is only a brief glimpe into the male psychie (sp?) but I hope you enjoy it. I’m the only one who knows how to sing it to the tune of Silver Bells, but you’re welcome to try…and welcome to ask me to sing it if you see me in person. Enjoy…
“Secret Boy Time” – Seth Knox
*Secret boy time, Secret boy time, Secret boy time is here. * We must go and seclude ourselves from all girls. * Toys and meat, guns and cars are just a few things we love. * so get away all you girls cuz you’re icky. * Secret boy time, Secret boy time, Secret boy time is here. * We like to burp and pass gas for fun. * Lighting fires, GI Joes, and dirt clods are cool.* Sol et us go to our secret boy time!
But after Theo, Randon, and I spent time together at the Pansiyon we decided it would be a good experience to go and prayer at the mosque near our pansiyon. We went there and prayed for about 10 mins and it was just a humbling/amazing/different experience. But God had just started working. We watched National Treasure with our language partners and afterwards we split up into one on one groups with our friends. They took us to their favorite cafe and we had questions about the movie. Randon and I were with Atakan. And just how Jesus likes to move in crazy awesome ways, we were able to have a really great discussion about Religion, what we each believed, Christianity, Islam, God, everything. It was really a giant lead in our friendship with him. God really did honor our lead of faith. And even more, our friends Ertan and Atakan came again to the Youth Service. Ashely, Esther, and I all shared our testimony/story about how Jesus impacted our lives. It went well and afterwards our friends talked with one of the workers there for 30 mins. We (our team of 8) really felt like God’s spirit was really evident that night. It was so crazy awesome. I got the willies again. It really gave us an energy boost that we needed because the sun and everything had been draining us. And Theo seems to be fully healed! Amen and God is good! I pray that me, you, and everyone will continue to take those leaps of faith that he is calling us to take! God Bless!
7/7/07 Saturday
So today we had another great discussion with our language partners on Current Issues such as gun laws, obesity, immigration, etc…It went really well and it seems that everyday we spend with our friends it becomes easier to communicate with them and to them. God has really been challenging me to really seek what it means to love others, whether it be turks or my team or friends and family back home. He continues to reveal what that means to me and it’s just exciting to experience his presence in Turkey. I love that God is international, not just Amercian, Turkish, Albanian, German, or Brazilian. I think I’m slowly getting beter at Backgammon (i’ve been able to be turks finally). We also went to a restaurant for dinner and our friends are still amazed at how much bread Randon and I eat. We also learned the turkish word for fart and they learned it in english so that gets good laughs everytime. And our Balkan friends made it safely! Nikki, Micky, Remi, Christy, and Lore! One is Albanian, one 3 are Romanian, and one is Bulgarian.
7/8/07 Sunday
So today we went to the International service. It was nice to hear a sermon in English again but I still think I like the Turkish worship better. The sermon really hit home on a lot of things that God has been challenging me with. The idea that God is a flowing river and that all we have to do is jump in is so encouraging. Water in general is awesome. I apologize for previous, current, and future incomplete thoughts on this blog. I just get really excited sometimes. Anyways the service was great and we had lunch afterwards. Later in the afternoon we went to the beach and played sand Volleyball. My team won twice in a row so were had to let other people play. But somehow Theo, who was on my team, thought that Deli meant Team. So we named our team, Deli Uzun Adam, which we thought meant Team Tall Man. (reffering to me) But later we found out that deli meant crazy in Turkish…so everytime Theo would shout “Deli Uzun Adam!” the Turks would point at me and laugh and we cheer too because we were winning and didn’t realize they were laughing because we kept yelling “Crazy Tall Man!!!”. Oh how languages are fun. Now I will share with you why guys are guys are girls are girls. So about 2 weeks ago Randon captured a snail and named him sisko (pronounced shishko). He likes to crawl everywhere in our bathroom. And Saturday night and a couple days before I caught a cockroach in our bathroom. We decided to keep him in a huge Coke bottle. We then after much Turkish/English translation and mispronounciation named him Mr. Bojangles. And then Sunday Morning I found another cockroach near my suit case so I caught him to and named him/her Mrs. Bojangles. I guess they decided to mate since they were married. So Mr. And Mrs. Bojangles were happily married and living a quite roomy coke bottle. Then later that night (still Sunday) Theo captured a huge beetle type thing. This thing was huge and it had wings. But before we put the bug in with the married couple we found out that Mr. Bojangles was about to lay eggs or something so we’re pretty sure Mr. Bojangles is a woman and Mrs. Bojangles is a man. But we named the big bug Trogdor and he wasn’t very nice to the roaches. As my little brother likes to say, Trogdor “smacked those roachies”. Mrs. Bojangles (who is male) died in like 5 mins by somehow drowning in the water and beef jerky we provided them. Mr. Bojangles (his fighting name is Nubs cuz he has only 5 legs) and Trogdor duked it out throughout the night and when Theo and I woke up the next morning both were dead. But little did Trogdor know that Mr. And Mrs. Bojangles had a son…
7/9/09 Monday
This morning we had a corporate worhsip and prayer time with our Balkan friends. It was really cool. I got to pray with Remi and Mickey. Remi is a Turkish woman who lives in Bulgaria so she prayed in Bulgarian and Mickey is Romanian and she prayed in Romanian. It was one of the most amazing things. Even though I had no idea what they were saying I loved it. I love even though we may not understand everything God does. He speaks and listens in all languages. Hooray for different Cultures and people who love Jesus!!!! Today we went back to the beach and had a great discussion time about weddings. We acted out Turkish, American, and Romanian weddings. It was so hilarious and great to see everyone laughing histerically the whole time. Erin and Theo were “married” Turkish style. I don’t remember much else from today but God is still really present here. Even though everyday we are exhausted from walking, the heat, and translating language He continues to revitalize us and purify us. We are so full right now and God hasn’t even done half of what he has planned for us!
7/10/07 Tuesday
Thank goodness for being caught up with blogging. I have now become about as good as most Turks at backgammon. I’m still learning the small tricks but I got it down. This morning we had scripture study in Manuscript form. It was a refreshing change and good for when Erin and I and others go back to our Chapters for college. We read the parable about the men who lowered their paralyzed friend down through the roof. I really feel like God is challenging me to step out even further in faith with him. To rip a whole in the roof of my life and lower all of me down to him. I so excited and scared for what God has in store! We also prayed over each other afterwards and Theo (who continues to amaze me with his depth and insight of the Spirit) said a prayer over me that really uplifted my spirit. He read from scripture Joshua 1:6-9 which for me was the first passage in my life where God reaveled himself to me. It was really awesome to have God (through Theo) speak to me words of truth and encouragement to step out boldy in faith. It says: “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these peole to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; mediatate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU? BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS. DO NOT BE TERRIFEIED; DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED, FOR THE LORD YOU GOD WILL BE WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.” (getting the willies again)
After this time we split with the females and hung out with our turkish male friends. We heard that Turks give really good haircuts so Theo got his haircut. It was entertaining and they use some type of flaming q tip to burn ear/nose hair off. Our friends says he looks more Turkish now. We had another great discussion about male/female roles in our socities and had a great dinner. And we found another roach that looks strikingly similar to Mr. And Mrs. Bojangles so we named him Bojangles Jr. We are currently looking for a friend for him or her. We will see. Tomorrow is our sabbath and I’m looking forward to rest. God is good. Thanks for reading, keeping us in your prayers, and God Bless!
- Seth
First I would just like to say that I do have feelings and do share them in my blog entries. In contrast to what Erin tried to say, I like to let everyone know what’s going on in Turkey and share my feelings at the same. I even cry a tear or two while typing it. But here we go. One week of updates is coming your way. Hope you enjoy. Mimi thanks for being one of the first people to read it (or atleast comment). I love you all.
PS… I made friends with the guy who Works in the internet. And even though we have no idea what we are both saying he gives me a back massage each time I come in. I love Turks!!!!
PSS or PPS or whatever…I might miss a lot of information for each day because I’m just going off the top of my head so just a heads up if this update seems thin…
7/3/07 Tuesday
So today we had a chill morning studying scripture and worshipping. Theo and I split off into prayer partners and had a truly amazing time praying…maybe not for him but for me it was a very real and truthful discussion on things going on in our heads and lives. But after we were done he read a couple verses in Psalms 97. I want to share them with you: Verses 1-6: “The lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The MOUNTAINS melt like WAX before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.” How great is the God we serve?!!! This verse just gives me the willies everytime I read it. God is So powerful, yet loving and beautiful at the same time! ----- In the afternoon we went to the beach and hung out with our Turkish friends. The previous day we had a discussion about sports and one of the topics that came up was camel fighting. Yeah, I had the same reaction! I want to see camels fight! How cool would that be?! But sadly, as we asked our turkish friends what it was we found out it was the equivelent to chicken fighting in the U.S. where one friend will jump onto the shoulders of another friend and then proceed to violently attack another “chicken” or “camel”. Usually, for safety reasons, the game is played in water. So since today we were at the beach we decided to camel fight. Two of our friends, Atakan and Ertan, decided that they should be the base of the two fighting camels and that Theo and Randon should be the head. But Theo and Atakan were not in deep enough water so in a series of hilarious events Atakan was able to get Theo up on his shoulders while in total disregard for Theo’s crotch region. Theo was half laughing/half crying while trying to ward off the attacks of the other charging camel. It was great. I don’t remember much else from that day but it’s a good one for spiritual learning and also for laughing.
7/4/07 Wednesday
Mother/Mom/Big Momma/Momma Fats/Tracy and whatever names you’ve accumulated over the years…HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope it was a good one. I love so very much.
Before I start on the days adventures I just want to warn you that this paragraph contains very immature language and dialogue but does help you understand the full experience we are having in Turkey. So from July 1st in the morning to the morning of July 3rd (that’s 3 whole days) I didn’t have one single poop, bowel movement, dropping the kids off at the pool, whatever you want to call it. (Mom forgive me, I know you are rolling your eyes right now. Daniel and Mike…I have great poop stories to tell you when I get back that can’t be shared here.) So anyways, after eating atleast 8 or 9 meals I finally was able to relieve myself. I guess I’ve been eating too much bread? I don’t know…and sorry for those of you who read this and are now utterly disgusted. Please don’t think any less of me. Now to my day.
As I have said earlier, Wednesday is our “sabbath” day where we can just relax, read our bibles, worship, sleep, hang out and do whatever. So I dedided that today I would finish my Testimony that I would share on Friday at the Turkish Young Adults service. What I spoke on/talked about is in my previous blog update if you are curious about what I said. I think it sounds ok. But during this time of reflection and such (and actually throughout the whole trip) I’ve been listening to music a lot. And I feel like the lyrics of whatever song I listen to seem to make more sense, or that I actually listen to them instead of zoning out. But there have been several songs, christian and secular, that have really spoke truth about my life and about God. I’ve been noticing more and more on this trip how Jesus is not only in those who believe but also those who don’t know him. It’s amazing to see that people can’t help to exude the characteristics of Jesus in how they live…being kind, hospitable, loving, serving, etc…But I just find lyrics to songs very intriguing. I’m sure many of you know the song “Time After Time” by Cindy Lauper of all people. This song was redone by a band called quietdrive but a couple lines from this song really caught my attention. (and other songs as well)
“Time After Time” – You say go slow; I fall behind. If you’re lost you can look and you find me…Time after time. If you fall, I will catch you. I will be waiting…Time after Time.”
But yeah it may seem a little crazy to you but I think Jesus likes to reveal himself in unconventional ways just like he did when he was alive…Hanging out with the outcasts, the sick, the poor. I really love when he says “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” He loves going against the grain and getting his hands dirty and I think he’s been challenging me to step out in faith and do the same. ------ Back to my day…So today was July 4th so another american friend invited us to her house for some Bar B Que and american food! It was a great suprise and we met some other American University students who were also there teaching english for the summer. It was great to celebrate with other natives and after we ate we got to light of 8 roman candles and run around in the streets like crazy tourists as the Turks in near by buildings stared at us. Hooray for independence day!
7/5/07 Thursday
So today we were originally supposed to go to a place called Side (pronounced seeday) which had some ancient ruins and such but because it has been so hot we decided to go rafting down a fresh water river! It was about an hours drive east of Antalya and we were there for about 6 hours. The water was ice cold but so refreshing. We had about 8 people in 3 different rafts so we had raft wars with splashing and everything. I’m pretty sure everyone got some type of sunburn. Erin and I got it really bad on the thighs and had trouble even squatting the next day. We took some photos of it…so painful but totally worth it. This river was really beautiful. It winded between two different mountain ranges in the wilderness of Turkey. I’ve seen nothing like it. I also love that God can reveal his beauty, awe, and power through nature, in the trees, animals, rivers, flowers, everything. But this took up the majority of our day and when we got back we were totally exhausted. It was great fun and our relationships with our friends continue to improve. While we were at dinner Kristin really challenged us try and take a leap of faith and pursue a deeper relationship with our language/turkish partners. I remember thinking to myself…Gosh I’m so tired right now. I don’t want to deal with this. I’ll sleep and try to deal with it in the morning. So the next day…you’ll get to read how God really honors those who step/leap out in faith…because when we step he will always, always, always light our path and when we leap he will always catch us!!
7/6/07 Friday
So this day includes some very awesome spirtual encounters and also some humor. So praise Jesus for being awesome! So we were at breakfast and Kristin/Esther (aka Krestor) thought it would be cool to have the guys and girls have separate times of worship and scripture studying. But when this was mentioned Theo or Randon said “Secret Boy Time”. Esther then followed by singing “secret boy time” to the tune of Silver Bells. So before I split off with Theo and Randon I felt compelled to write a little song about Secret Boy Time. These lyrics really dive into the depth of manhood and what boys really do when alone. Females, this is only a brief glimpe into the male psychie (sp?) but I hope you enjoy it. I’m the only one who knows how to sing it to the tune of Silver Bells, but you’re welcome to try…and welcome to ask me to sing it if you see me in person. Enjoy…
“Secret Boy Time” – Seth Knox
*Secret boy time, Secret boy time, Secret boy time is here. * We must go and seclude ourselves from all girls. * Toys and meat, guns and cars are just a few things we love. * so get away all you girls cuz you’re icky. * Secret boy time, Secret boy time, Secret boy time is here. * We like to burp and pass gas for fun. * Lighting fires, GI Joes, and dirt clods are cool.* Sol et us go to our secret boy time!
But after Theo, Randon, and I spent time together at the Pansiyon we decided it would be a good experience to go and prayer at the mosque near our pansiyon. We went there and prayed for about 10 mins and it was just a humbling/amazing/different experience. But God had just started working. We watched National Treasure with our language partners and afterwards we split up into one on one groups with our friends. They took us to their favorite cafe and we had questions about the movie. Randon and I were with Atakan. And just how Jesus likes to move in crazy awesome ways, we were able to have a really great discussion about Religion, what we each believed, Christianity, Islam, God, everything. It was really a giant lead in our friendship with him. God really did honor our lead of faith. And even more, our friends Ertan and Atakan came again to the Youth Service. Ashely, Esther, and I all shared our testimony/story about how Jesus impacted our lives. It went well and afterwards our friends talked with one of the workers there for 30 mins. We (our team of 8) really felt like God’s spirit was really evident that night. It was so crazy awesome. I got the willies again. It really gave us an energy boost that we needed because the sun and everything had been draining us. And Theo seems to be fully healed! Amen and God is good! I pray that me, you, and everyone will continue to take those leaps of faith that he is calling us to take! God Bless!
7/7/07 Saturday
So today we had another great discussion with our language partners on Current Issues such as gun laws, obesity, immigration, etc…It went really well and it seems that everyday we spend with our friends it becomes easier to communicate with them and to them. God has really been challenging me to really seek what it means to love others, whether it be turks or my team or friends and family back home. He continues to reveal what that means to me and it’s just exciting to experience his presence in Turkey. I love that God is international, not just Amercian, Turkish, Albanian, German, or Brazilian. I think I’m slowly getting beter at Backgammon (i’ve been able to be turks finally). We also went to a restaurant for dinner and our friends are still amazed at how much bread Randon and I eat. We also learned the turkish word for fart and they learned it in english so that gets good laughs everytime. And our Balkan friends made it safely! Nikki, Micky, Remi, Christy, and Lore! One is Albanian, one 3 are Romanian, and one is Bulgarian.
7/8/07 Sunday
So today we went to the International service. It was nice to hear a sermon in English again but I still think I like the Turkish worship better. The sermon really hit home on a lot of things that God has been challenging me with. The idea that God is a flowing river and that all we have to do is jump in is so encouraging. Water in general is awesome. I apologize for previous, current, and future incomplete thoughts on this blog. I just get really excited sometimes. Anyways the service was great and we had lunch afterwards. Later in the afternoon we went to the beach and played sand Volleyball. My team won twice in a row so were had to let other people play. But somehow Theo, who was on my team, thought that Deli meant Team. So we named our team, Deli Uzun Adam, which we thought meant Team Tall Man. (reffering to me) But later we found out that deli meant crazy in Turkish…so everytime Theo would shout “Deli Uzun Adam!” the Turks would point at me and laugh and we cheer too because we were winning and didn’t realize they were laughing because we kept yelling “Crazy Tall Man!!!”. Oh how languages are fun. Now I will share with you why guys are guys are girls are girls. So about 2 weeks ago Randon captured a snail and named him sisko (pronounced shishko). He likes to crawl everywhere in our bathroom. And Saturday night and a couple days before I caught a cockroach in our bathroom. We decided to keep him in a huge Coke bottle. We then after much Turkish/English translation and mispronounciation named him Mr. Bojangles. And then Sunday Morning I found another cockroach near my suit case so I caught him to and named him/her Mrs. Bojangles. I guess they decided to mate since they were married. So Mr. And Mrs. Bojangles were happily married and living a quite roomy coke bottle. Then later that night (still Sunday) Theo captured a huge beetle type thing. This thing was huge and it had wings. But before we put the bug in with the married couple we found out that Mr. Bojangles was about to lay eggs or something so we’re pretty sure Mr. Bojangles is a woman and Mrs. Bojangles is a man. But we named the big bug Trogdor and he wasn’t very nice to the roaches. As my little brother likes to say, Trogdor “smacked those roachies”. Mrs. Bojangles (who is male) died in like 5 mins by somehow drowning in the water and beef jerky we provided them. Mr. Bojangles (his fighting name is Nubs cuz he has only 5 legs) and Trogdor duked it out throughout the night and when Theo and I woke up the next morning both were dead. But little did Trogdor know that Mr. And Mrs. Bojangles had a son…
7/9/09 Monday
This morning we had a corporate worhsip and prayer time with our Balkan friends. It was really cool. I got to pray with Remi and Mickey. Remi is a Turkish woman who lives in Bulgaria so she prayed in Bulgarian and Mickey is Romanian and she prayed in Romanian. It was one of the most amazing things. Even though I had no idea what they were saying I loved it. I love even though we may not understand everything God does. He speaks and listens in all languages. Hooray for different Cultures and people who love Jesus!!!! Today we went back to the beach and had a great discussion time about weddings. We acted out Turkish, American, and Romanian weddings. It was so hilarious and great to see everyone laughing histerically the whole time. Erin and Theo were “married” Turkish style. I don’t remember much else from today but God is still really present here. Even though everyday we are exhausted from walking, the heat, and translating language He continues to revitalize us and purify us. We are so full right now and God hasn’t even done half of what he has planned for us!
7/10/07 Tuesday
Thank goodness for being caught up with blogging. I have now become about as good as most Turks at backgammon. I’m still learning the small tricks but I got it down. This morning we had scripture study in Manuscript form. It was a refreshing change and good for when Erin and I and others go back to our Chapters for college. We read the parable about the men who lowered their paralyzed friend down through the roof. I really feel like God is challenging me to step out even further in faith with him. To rip a whole in the roof of my life and lower all of me down to him. I so excited and scared for what God has in store! We also prayed over each other afterwards and Theo (who continues to amaze me with his depth and insight of the Spirit) said a prayer over me that really uplifted my spirit. He read from scripture Joshua 1:6-9 which for me was the first passage in my life where God reaveled himself to me. It was really awesome to have God (through Theo) speak to me words of truth and encouragement to step out boldy in faith. It says: “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these peole to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; mediatate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU? BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS. DO NOT BE TERRIFEIED; DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED, FOR THE LORD YOU GOD WILL BE WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.” (getting the willies again)
After this time we split with the females and hung out with our turkish male friends. We heard that Turks give really good haircuts so Theo got his haircut. It was entertaining and they use some type of flaming q tip to burn ear/nose hair off. Our friends says he looks more Turkish now. We had another great discussion about male/female roles in our socities and had a great dinner. And we found another roach that looks strikingly similar to Mr. And Mrs. Bojangles so we named him Bojangles Jr. We are currently looking for a friend for him or her. We will see. Tomorrow is our sabbath and I’m looking forward to rest. God is good. Thanks for reading, keeping us in your prayers, and God Bless!
- Seth
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Merhabalar! I am sorry it has been so long since I updated! I have been so tired lately and forcing myself to sift through the last week or so is not my idea of relaxing or restful. Praise Jesus that Seth has a much different blogging style than me, otherwise you would never hear about our trip at all! I'm sorry. BUT Seth tells all the details and I tell everything that I'm feeling; so you get the true male and female perspective, facts and then feelings!
So very much has been happening like I said that it really has been difficult to process everything, but what I do know is that Jesus IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely, positively, perfectly amazing. Our Turkish friends decided to join us at Young Adult Church last night again when Seth, Ashley and Esther were sharing. My job was to intercede in prayer and MAN did Jesus put me to work! It was really cool and a great experience to serve my team and my new Turkish friends in this way. We are forming some really great friendships and Jesus is providing us with indescribable joy at the end of every day, even if it has been a horribly exhausting day. I am noticing that even our friends leave us with a joy that I didn't really see in them when we first met. I have a quick summation of praises.
PRAISE JESUS for: water (even though its always warm...it is affordable and makes me appreciate home); singing in the streets with my new Turkish family; for curing Theo of amoebic dissentary and saving everyone else on the team of runny, green pooh; for clean laundry and even for the hard work to get it that way; for rest and hours and hours of laughter (I'm going to have hardcore abs!); for brother/sister-hood; for the beautiful hearts of Turkish people; for joy in abundance and spiritual renewal; for making Turkish a living and lovely language to me; for an open future and endless possibility; for shattering all expectation; for spontaneous prayer in the Spirit that lasts; for Gods assurance that my prayers are heard and that He is moving in huge ways before the words even leave my mouth; for curious friends who, to most people, don't belong in the house of the Lord; for the fact that those friends will always belong and are wanted and loved; and last,but not least, for Jesus' abundant love that is seen in His word, my believing comrades, my Turkish family and felt deep within me.
I seriously almost deleted this entire thing because all of the computer junk is in Turkish...can you imagine?!?!? I barely had stuff up already but I wouldn't even have had this up! Praise Jesus that I saved it right before I accidentally hit some silly button. Thank you all for your continuous prayers, I am getting somewhat homesick but praise God we are staying so busy that I dont have a lot of time to really think about it. I hope you all are enjoying our updates, I will try to do better :-) I love you all and may God's blessings shower you all and may your hearts be as filled with his joy as ours are.
With all of the love in my heart,
Erin Leigh
PS A few different Scriptures we have been exploring are Psalm 67, 139, 145; Philippians; 2 Corinthians and much more I just cant think right now. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
So very much has been happening like I said that it really has been difficult to process everything, but what I do know is that Jesus IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely, positively, perfectly amazing. Our Turkish friends decided to join us at Young Adult Church last night again when Seth, Ashley and Esther were sharing. My job was to intercede in prayer and MAN did Jesus put me to work! It was really cool and a great experience to serve my team and my new Turkish friends in this way. We are forming some really great friendships and Jesus is providing us with indescribable joy at the end of every day, even if it has been a horribly exhausting day. I am noticing that even our friends leave us with a joy that I didn't really see in them when we first met. I have a quick summation of praises.
PRAISE JESUS for: water (even though its always warm...it is affordable and makes me appreciate home); singing in the streets with my new Turkish family; for curing Theo of amoebic dissentary and saving everyone else on the team of runny, green pooh; for clean laundry and even for the hard work to get it that way; for rest and hours and hours of laughter (I'm going to have hardcore abs!); for brother/sister-hood; for the beautiful hearts of Turkish people; for joy in abundance and spiritual renewal; for making Turkish a living and lovely language to me; for an open future and endless possibility; for shattering all expectation; for spontaneous prayer in the Spirit that lasts; for Gods assurance that my prayers are heard and that He is moving in huge ways before the words even leave my mouth; for curious friends who, to most people, don't belong in the house of the Lord; for the fact that those friends will always belong and are wanted and loved; and last,but not least, for Jesus' abundant love that is seen in His word, my believing comrades, my Turkish family and felt deep within me.
I seriously almost deleted this entire thing because all of the computer junk is in Turkish...can you imagine?!?!? I barely had stuff up already but I wouldn't even have had this up! Praise Jesus that I saved it right before I accidentally hit some silly button. Thank you all for your continuous prayers, I am getting somewhat homesick but praise God we are staying so busy that I dont have a lot of time to really think about it. I hope you all are enjoying our updates, I will try to do better :-) I love you all and may God's blessings shower you all and may your hearts be as filled with his joy as ours are.
With all of the love in my heart,
Erin Leigh
PS A few different Scriptures we have been exploring are Psalm 67, 139, 145; Philippians; 2 Corinthians and much more I just cant think right now. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Hey People...God is Good! (just in case you didn't know)
Hello everyone...I'm going to wait a few more days until I post more about what is happening in everyday life while in Turkey. But first...I want to say happy birthday to my big Momma, and for those of you who are still confused, my mom, Tracy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I will be sharing my story/testimony/whatever you want to call it at the Turkish Youth Group Service on friday. I just wanted to share with you as well (it's still a rough draft and could be atleast 50 more pages but I can only speak for 6 mins.) So here you go and continue to pray for me as I talk at the service, and as our whole team continues to serve the people of Turkey. Jesus is freaking awesome! God Bless
**
I wanted to share about how Jesus has changed my life and is still changing it. I grew up in a Christian home and my father was the pastor of the church. Almost every morning until I left for University we would read scripture and pray. I knew that God existed and that Jesus was his son. However, I hadn’t fully accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. But as my friend Theo likes to say, “God is Good!” And at University I found Jesus and he became my best friend! As we’re talking about our identity tonight, I look back at my life before I knew Jesus and realized I had put my identity, who I am, in everything but him. I put my identity in my friends, my relationships, my possessions, my happiness, and even my sins. My happiness and complacency with life identified me. I thought I could be happy without Jesus. I thought I could do it by myself. But I have to say again, God is Good. He fills me with inexpressible joy, love, peace, and comfort. My grandmother likes to say that Jesus was always in me. He was like a seed and one day he sprouted... And he continues to grow. He continues to reveal himself to me. He is not the complacent, distant God I knew before. He is always changing me. Always loving me. I like to picture him as a mighty river, always flowing, always changing, always powerful, and always beautiful. He is always with us. Psalm 139 Verses 7-10 says: “Where can I go from you spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” He is always present. If we put our trust in him he will love and protect us. He cotinues to amaze me. Even since I’ve been in Turkey he has provided. He has loved. He has forgiven. I just pray that I can forever be in his presence. As I said earlier, my identity used to be in earthly things. But now I put my identity, my trust, my life in Jesus. He’s just really awesome. Thanks for listening.
**
I wanted to share about how Jesus has changed my life and is still changing it. I grew up in a Christian home and my father was the pastor of the church. Almost every morning until I left for University we would read scripture and pray. I knew that God existed and that Jesus was his son. However, I hadn’t fully accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. But as my friend Theo likes to say, “God is Good!” And at University I found Jesus and he became my best friend! As we’re talking about our identity tonight, I look back at my life before I knew Jesus and realized I had put my identity, who I am, in everything but him. I put my identity in my friends, my relationships, my possessions, my happiness, and even my sins. My happiness and complacency with life identified me. I thought I could be happy without Jesus. I thought I could do it by myself. But I have to say again, God is Good. He fills me with inexpressible joy, love, peace, and comfort. My grandmother likes to say that Jesus was always in me. He was like a seed and one day he sprouted... And he continues to grow. He continues to reveal himself to me. He is not the complacent, distant God I knew before. He is always changing me. Always loving me. I like to picture him as a mighty river, always flowing, always changing, always powerful, and always beautiful. He is always with us. Psalm 139 Verses 7-10 says: “Where can I go from you spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” He is always present. If we put our trust in him he will love and protect us. He cotinues to amaze me. Even since I’ve been in Turkey he has provided. He has loved. He has forgiven. I just pray that I can forever be in his presence. As I said earlier, my identity used to be in earthly things. But now I put my identity, my trust, my life in Jesus. He’s just really awesome. Thanks for listening.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Even More Updates...Enjoy!
6/27/07 Wednesday
Today is our sabbath/day of rest. But instead of resting, Me, Theo, Erin, and Randon (improper grammer...i know...) went swimming and rock jumping in the Mediterranean Sea. The water was refreshing and we have some great pictures to put up on Facebook. Dan and Mike you would've had so much fun! Theo and Randon ended up swallowing some water and gagged/threw up. Our feet were a little cut up but it was worth it. I really want to swim to the beach which is about 1.5 km away but Kristin says that death on a GP is not an option. But we're pretty sure Theo got sun poisoning and an amoeba that is messing with his stomach. The next couple days he had to rest and recover but keep praying for him. After our adventure we went to a friend's house, prayed for the Turkish Church. There verses were given to us (and you) to guide our prayers for the church. Ephesians 1:17-19, Ephesians 3:16-19, Phillipians 1:9-11, Colosians 1:9-11, and Romans 15:5-6,13. Then we had great food, bread, watermelon and the host of the house loves 24! He also paraglides! But kristin still says death is not an option on this trip. I have to agree with her...sadly.
6/28/07 Thursday
Today was the first day of our actual linguistics program. It went great. Eight University students joined us and we chatted about college life. One of my friends, Ertan, knows the same amount of NBA trivia as me! He would be a suns fan except for he lost a bet in their favor. Atakan, Ertan, Deniz, Ece, Mustafa, Melahat, Turker, Leyla, Mari, and Selin. They area all great fun. We also did a scavenger hunt around Antalya and had various tasks. One of them caused me to lose my wallet. I didn't realize it until about 10 mins later when a random turkish boy came up with my drivers license and wallet. Thank goodness! But the first day went very well and the weather has officially switched to dripping wet humid!
6/29/07 Friday
Today we went with our Turkish friends to Duden falls. They were beautiful! There were a lot of tunnels and I felt like an oversized hobbit. Everyone still gets a kick out of calling me uzun adam (tall man). But today we had really good conversations about popculture, movies, tv, music, and celebrities in both the US and Turkey. I found out that one of our friends likes spongebob (and after I sang the theme song) so we're going to hopefully watch cartoons together. And all you harry potter fans will be happy to know that Turks are just as excited! After Duden falls we went to the young adult's service at Ch. and two of our friends came with us for the first time. They were curious and we had a great time.
6/30/07 Saturday
Nana and Grandaddy Happy 50th Anneversiary!
Today was very chill. We went to lunch and found a very good restaurrant that serves doner in a pita type bread. It's so good. We met our friends at 4 pm and went on a boat ride along the coast. I can't get over how beautiful the landscape is. And the water is a perfect teal blue color. A couple people became ill but sadly no throw up. We ate dinner after that and the Turks are amazed at how much bread Randon and I eat. I can live off bread and fruit (and doner). We also went to a Turku bar which had very good live Turkish music. We even danced with totally random people in the bar. It was really fun, really hot, and really smoky. But god has been good. We have made healthy friendships and for the most part we're healthy. Theo is steadily getting better. We all have so many stories to tell when we get back.
7/1/07 Sunday
Today we went to church and had a great time. Afterwards we went to the beach and played volleyball with about 20 turkish friends. It was really fun and the games were really competitive. And the beach we went to had perfect skipping rocks. It was every little boy's dream come true. My arm is a little sore but it was worth all the skipping. Afterwards we went to a cafe and hung out, played pool, and talked about school, sports, and all sorts of stuff. And I found out tonight that some of our friends like to play basketball so Randon and I are going tomorrow to play!!!! I've been waiting for this day to come!
7/2/07 Monday
So today had to have been my favorite day so far in Turkey. The morning was relaxing. We had a great time of worship (lauren and randon are amazing guitarists) and studied 1 John 5. After that we took a bus to another cool hangout spot in Antalya and had another question led discussion with our language partners on sports. Soccer is insanely huge here as well as Basketball. It was a great time and everyone was talking constantly. But afterwards we were able to go to the downstairs game room and play games. Pool, ping pong, foozeball etc. Mike and Dan some of the Turks I played were pretty crazy at Ping Pong. Even though I beat them 21 17 and 21 15 they put some funkadelic spin on the ball. I wish you guys were here to show them how the knox bros. play. So you better be practicing for when I get back. But after some intense ping pong matches most of the group went back to a restaurant near our pansiyon but Randon and I stayed to meet up with a couple buddies to go play basketball. One of our friends, Bulent, is probably the craziest drivers i've ever seen. Randon asked if there were speed limits and he looks over at us and says, "Speed limit? Yes, but it is not important." We were in his work truck so two of his friends were in the back without seat belts. So when Bulent failed to see the speed bump ahead of him, until we were about 5 feet away, he slammed the breaks and one of his friends went flying across the truck bed. It was so hilarious/painful at the same time. But now to the good part. We got to play basketball at the local Akdeniz University. We played 3 on 3 and my team one both games to 21. It felt good to be able to shoot a ball again. Our friends are not very tall but they are crafty and great passers. After playing for about 2 hours they took us to dinner. Now people, you haven't had real food until you've stuffed yourself full of Turkish food. I have never eaten so much in my life. First we had unlimited bread, then salad, lettuce wraps, then a Turkish style pizza (each indv serving was the size of a medium pizza in the US) and theeeeen we had about 2 kabobs each...while eating more bread and then we had dessert. Yes I am a fatty and just trying to keep my rep up in Turkey and the US. So this day was really awesome. And tomorrow we get to hang out with our friends at the beach playing volleyball, swimming, and Ultimate Frisbee! I"m so glad Jesus lets us enjoy life and have fun loving him.
But before I go I just wanted to share something that spoke truth and encouragement into my life since I've been in Turkey. The lyrics are from the band Cool Hand Luke. I hope they are encouraging to you as well. God Bless!
One Time: "Let me tell you what he dıd for me. I cried to my Father at the end of all hope. Show me the road, which way to go. He took away my worries. He picked me up and put me on his shoulders. I could see for miles. He showed me that the mountain I'm climbing is not a mountain at all but a gentle slope leading home. There are mountains towering ahead...He says to me: 'These are mine'. Hold my hand and you'll be fine. The mountains are mine...The mountains are mine...The mountains are mine." - Cool Hand Luke
Today is our sabbath/day of rest. But instead of resting, Me, Theo, Erin, and Randon (improper grammer...i know...) went swimming and rock jumping in the Mediterranean Sea. The water was refreshing and we have some great pictures to put up on Facebook. Dan and Mike you would've had so much fun! Theo and Randon ended up swallowing some water and gagged/threw up. Our feet were a little cut up but it was worth it. I really want to swim to the beach which is about 1.5 km away but Kristin says that death on a GP is not an option. But we're pretty sure Theo got sun poisoning and an amoeba that is messing with his stomach. The next couple days he had to rest and recover but keep praying for him. After our adventure we went to a friend's house, prayed for the Turkish Church. There verses were given to us (and you) to guide our prayers for the church. Ephesians 1:17-19, Ephesians 3:16-19, Phillipians 1:9-11, Colosians 1:9-11, and Romans 15:5-6,13. Then we had great food, bread, watermelon and the host of the house loves 24! He also paraglides! But kristin still says death is not an option on this trip. I have to agree with her...sadly.
6/28/07 Thursday
Today was the first day of our actual linguistics program. It went great. Eight University students joined us and we chatted about college life. One of my friends, Ertan, knows the same amount of NBA trivia as me! He would be a suns fan except for he lost a bet in their favor. Atakan, Ertan, Deniz, Ece, Mustafa, Melahat, Turker, Leyla, Mari, and Selin. They area all great fun. We also did a scavenger hunt around Antalya and had various tasks. One of them caused me to lose my wallet. I didn't realize it until about 10 mins later when a random turkish boy came up with my drivers license and wallet. Thank goodness! But the first day went very well and the weather has officially switched to dripping wet humid!
6/29/07 Friday
Today we went with our Turkish friends to Duden falls. They were beautiful! There were a lot of tunnels and I felt like an oversized hobbit. Everyone still gets a kick out of calling me uzun adam (tall man). But today we had really good conversations about popculture, movies, tv, music, and celebrities in both the US and Turkey. I found out that one of our friends likes spongebob (and after I sang the theme song) so we're going to hopefully watch cartoons together. And all you harry potter fans will be happy to know that Turks are just as excited! After Duden falls we went to the young adult's service at Ch. and two of our friends came with us for the first time. They were curious and we had a great time.
6/30/07 Saturday
Nana and Grandaddy Happy 50th Anneversiary!
Today was very chill. We went to lunch and found a very good restaurrant that serves doner in a pita type bread. It's so good. We met our friends at 4 pm and went on a boat ride along the coast. I can't get over how beautiful the landscape is. And the water is a perfect teal blue color. A couple people became ill but sadly no throw up. We ate dinner after that and the Turks are amazed at how much bread Randon and I eat. I can live off bread and fruit (and doner). We also went to a Turku bar which had very good live Turkish music. We even danced with totally random people in the bar. It was really fun, really hot, and really smoky. But god has been good. We have made healthy friendships and for the most part we're healthy. Theo is steadily getting better. We all have so many stories to tell when we get back.
7/1/07 Sunday
Today we went to church and had a great time. Afterwards we went to the beach and played volleyball with about 20 turkish friends. It was really fun and the games were really competitive. And the beach we went to had perfect skipping rocks. It was every little boy's dream come true. My arm is a little sore but it was worth all the skipping. Afterwards we went to a cafe and hung out, played pool, and talked about school, sports, and all sorts of stuff. And I found out tonight that some of our friends like to play basketball so Randon and I are going tomorrow to play!!!! I've been waiting for this day to come!
7/2/07 Monday
So today had to have been my favorite day so far in Turkey. The morning was relaxing. We had a great time of worship (lauren and randon are amazing guitarists) and studied 1 John 5. After that we took a bus to another cool hangout spot in Antalya and had another question led discussion with our language partners on sports. Soccer is insanely huge here as well as Basketball. It was a great time and everyone was talking constantly. But afterwards we were able to go to the downstairs game room and play games. Pool, ping pong, foozeball etc. Mike and Dan some of the Turks I played were pretty crazy at Ping Pong. Even though I beat them 21 17 and 21 15 they put some funkadelic spin on the ball. I wish you guys were here to show them how the knox bros. play. So you better be practicing for when I get back. But after some intense ping pong matches most of the group went back to a restaurant near our pansiyon but Randon and I stayed to meet up with a couple buddies to go play basketball. One of our friends, Bulent, is probably the craziest drivers i've ever seen. Randon asked if there were speed limits and he looks over at us and says, "Speed limit? Yes, but it is not important." We were in his work truck so two of his friends were in the back without seat belts. So when Bulent failed to see the speed bump ahead of him, until we were about 5 feet away, he slammed the breaks and one of his friends went flying across the truck bed. It was so hilarious/painful at the same time. But now to the good part. We got to play basketball at the local Akdeniz University. We played 3 on 3 and my team one both games to 21. It felt good to be able to shoot a ball again. Our friends are not very tall but they are crafty and great passers. After playing for about 2 hours they took us to dinner. Now people, you haven't had real food until you've stuffed yourself full of Turkish food. I have never eaten so much in my life. First we had unlimited bread, then salad, lettuce wraps, then a Turkish style pizza (each indv serving was the size of a medium pizza in the US) and theeeeen we had about 2 kabobs each...while eating more bread and then we had dessert. Yes I am a fatty and just trying to keep my rep up in Turkey and the US. So this day was really awesome. And tomorrow we get to hang out with our friends at the beach playing volleyball, swimming, and Ultimate Frisbee! I"m so glad Jesus lets us enjoy life and have fun loving him.
But before I go I just wanted to share something that spoke truth and encouragement into my life since I've been in Turkey. The lyrics are from the band Cool Hand Luke. I hope they are encouraging to you as well. God Bless!
One Time: "Let me tell you what he dıd for me. I cried to my Father at the end of all hope. Show me the road, which way to go. He took away my worries. He picked me up and put me on his shoulders. I could see for miles. He showed me that the mountain I'm climbing is not a mountain at all but a gentle slope leading home. There are mountains towering ahead...He says to me: 'These are mine'. Hold my hand and you'll be fine. The mountains are mine...The mountains are mine...The mountains are mine." - Cool Hand Luke
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Here is one picture close to where we are staying. The computer we're on doesn't like us downloading pictures so we'll see if we can get one that does. But enjoy this one for now...and if you have facebook seth'll be putting a couple albums up. Peace out and keep it real in your hood home dawgs.
From Seth and Erin
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Jesus is really amazing
The last two days have been really really really fun. I don't know if I can emphasize the fun enough to you all! Yesterday (Wednesday) my cuts from our last swimming excursion had healed enough to the point where I felt adventurous enough to go get some more haha. SO all the boys and I decided to climb all of the rocks we could this time...we even found a secret underwater tunnel that we swam through (DON'T WORRY IT WASN'T DANGEROUS AT ALL!!) although I kicked a little too hard and got a new cut...my bad! I felt so adventurous, one of the boys trying out new things in a foreign country. It was great...I don't have much more time, I'm so exhausted from today so I will have to expand on our adventures later...or just leave it to Seth haha. He's better at remembering the details.
We started our language speaking program today and met our best friends for the next 3 weeks. They fit in PERFECTLY with our group!!!! It is such an answer to prayer, there were hardly any moments where we were lost for words; it was SO great. I have only known them for 6 hours but I already love them and I can't wait to see them again tomorrow. There are 3 in particular that I got to spend more time with today because they were in my speaking group and we went out to a cafe after dinner; there names are Ertan, Atakan, and Malahat (I'm guessing on the spelling). Ertan and Atakan are boys that are 21 years old and no joke, if they went to the U of A, they would be friends with everyone in our chapter. EVERYONE would LOVE them. They are goofy and are constantly trying to make jokes. They laugh and smile all the time and they are really good at asking good questions. The third person is a girl and she, from the moment we met, was HILARIOUS and I knew that her and I were going to be good friends. She said that Ashley, Lauren, herself and I are the Tellytubbies HAHAHAHA She just wanted a fun, colorful group name to call us. It was tiring but so great. Thank you for your continued prayers, it means a lot and I know they are the reason we are still alive and well.
Although for the most part we are all well, Theo has been somewhat ill the past two days and he didn't get to participate today. We'd appreciate prayers for his health, thank you! That is all I can say for now because Seth is being obnoxious and telling me to move it so we can put up pictures. I love you all, Thanks for being here in spirit!
Blessings to all,
Erin Leigh
We started our language speaking program today and met our best friends for the next 3 weeks. They fit in PERFECTLY with our group!!!! It is such an answer to prayer, there were hardly any moments where we were lost for words; it was SO great. I have only known them for 6 hours but I already love them and I can't wait to see them again tomorrow. There are 3 in particular that I got to spend more time with today because they were in my speaking group and we went out to a cafe after dinner; there names are Ertan, Atakan, and Malahat (I'm guessing on the spelling). Ertan and Atakan are boys that are 21 years old and no joke, if they went to the U of A, they would be friends with everyone in our chapter. EVERYONE would LOVE them. They are goofy and are constantly trying to make jokes. They laugh and smile all the time and they are really good at asking good questions. The third person is a girl and she, from the moment we met, was HILARIOUS and I knew that her and I were going to be good friends. She said that Ashley, Lauren, herself and I are the Tellytubbies HAHAHAHA She just wanted a fun, colorful group name to call us. It was tiring but so great. Thank you for your continued prayers, it means a lot and I know they are the reason we are still alive and well.
Although for the most part we are all well, Theo has been somewhat ill the past two days and he didn't get to participate today. We'd appreciate prayers for his health, thank you! That is all I can say for now because Seth is being obnoxious and telling me to move it so we can put up pictures. I love you all, Thanks for being here in spirit!
Blessings to all,
Erin Leigh
More Updates from the Land of Turkey!
For 6/23/07
I don't remember much from saturday but are American friends put a scavenger hunt together for us so we could get more familiar with the city and asking Turks where things were. We had to drink Turka cola, which tastes wonderful, and we also had to find a drink called shalgom or shalgam which turned out to be turnip juice. Probably one of the nastiest drinks ever! Even the turks say they don't like it. It's a red juice and it's very very salty. Theo Randon and I are still in our little competition but it seems we're losing count. I can't remember much else from that day except our ice cream friend Mehmet is always happy to see us. Everytime he sees us he yells "oh my god...you guys!" (but he pronounces god - gahhh) It's great.
For 6/24/07 (Sunday)
Chruch started at 1 pm so Theo, Randon, and I went swimming in the Mediterannean. It was amazing! The water was clear and perfectly refreshing. Some of our turkish friends went swimming with us but decided underwear was the best way to go. There was also a german guy in a red speedo near us so I felt right at home (just kidding). There were some rocks we swam out to and we jumped off them. We then went to church. It was the Turkish service so we had worship in Turkish and so was the sermon (we got to wear cool head phones and a little person inside of them would translate in english) I haven't been able to find the little person who talks in our headphones but I will before we leave. Ja Ja Ja Ja...(that's my new turkish laugh. everyone else thinks it's annoying but i don't care.) And mimi, you'll be happy to know that I remembered the word şöyleböyle, (turkish for so so). It has now become my favorite turkish word to say and everyone rolls their eyes at me when I say it. (i use for many different things). Our friend Salim, who works at the pansiyon, thinks I'm weird because I use it out of context. He still calls me tall man. But back to church. Salim actually came with us for the first time in his life!! It was great and he talked with the pastor at the end of the service. His brother also came to hang out afterwards! Pray for him...it's really exciting and he is always happy to help us with turkish as long as we teach him some new english words. I met an Anmerican from Oregon who was engaged to a Turkish woman. After the service we hung out in the garden area, had some Turkish pizza (pide), played some backgammon (tavlav), listened to Story Box, and met some really awesome turkish believers. I also got to meet a team from Texas! Some were UT fans and some, sadly, were going to A&M. But they were fun to be around and were leaving the next day. It was hot so the whole team went swimming. Somehow all the girls ended up with cuts on their bodies. Erin's got a cut on her leg that swelled up a little bit but it's better now.
For 6/25/07 Monday
Every Morning we've been studying great scripture from II Corinthians to Philippians to John. We went to the American Culture Center today and we got to talk with Turkish students that ranged from middle school age to adult working age. Esther and I got to talk with two men. One was a general practice doctor, who said I could visit him for free if i got sick while in Antalya, and the other was getting his master's in marine biology. It was really cool to get a perspective on that side of Turkish Society. We also hung out at the Cafe and chatted with some students. We hung out the rest of the day and since the weather has been so hot a lot of people use AC so the electricity goes out in the whole city for a couple mins at a time. We also had pastchio ice cream for dessert. Very ta ta ta tasty tastaay.
For 6/26/07
Our small group, which consists on Me, Erin, Esther, and Ashley prepared a little sermon, talk, testimony thing structured around Psalm 139 and the theme of identity. We are going to share with the turkish young adult group next friday. The other small group is going this week so keep them in your prayers as they do that. So after putting some time into that our small group went back to the american culture center (an english school) and we hung out in the cafe for about 1.5 hours. I got to talk to a man named Ohan about some really interesting topics like politics, our differences in culture, sports, everything...it was really awesome until erin came over and whispered into my ear "seth you need to come up to the counter with me...this guy is a little weird". She was ordering some food for us and a turkish guy kept asking if she wanted to practice english with him somewhere else. Erin said he was pretty persistent until I came over and he didn't seem as interested. Apparently he was late for class. It was great fun, for me atleast. After that We participated in a nightly english speaking club. We basically ran the whole thing for about an hour and a half. There were about 16 older students, most of them working. We talked to them about University Life, Movies(they love Nicholaus Cage for some reason), Work life, and other interesting topics. My group had fairly good speaking skills but were a little shy until they found out I had been to Turkey before and they asked me question after question. It was great fun and great preparation for when our actual language program starts this Thursday. Continue to pray for that as well! But we got back from that and all fell asleep. Each day seems to get hotter and hotter. But I love it here and I'll have some cool pictures up soon and if you have facebook I think I have enough for atleast 2 photo albums. Peace out and God bless.
I don't remember much from saturday but are American friends put a scavenger hunt together for us so we could get more familiar with the city and asking Turks where things were. We had to drink Turka cola, which tastes wonderful, and we also had to find a drink called shalgom or shalgam which turned out to be turnip juice. Probably one of the nastiest drinks ever! Even the turks say they don't like it. It's a red juice and it's very very salty. Theo Randon and I are still in our little competition but it seems we're losing count. I can't remember much else from that day except our ice cream friend Mehmet is always happy to see us. Everytime he sees us he yells "oh my god...you guys!" (but he pronounces god - gahhh) It's great.
For 6/24/07 (Sunday)
Chruch started at 1 pm so Theo, Randon, and I went swimming in the Mediterannean. It was amazing! The water was clear and perfectly refreshing. Some of our turkish friends went swimming with us but decided underwear was the best way to go. There was also a german guy in a red speedo near us so I felt right at home (just kidding). There were some rocks we swam out to and we jumped off them. We then went to church. It was the Turkish service so we had worship in Turkish and so was the sermon (we got to wear cool head phones and a little person inside of them would translate in english) I haven't been able to find the little person who talks in our headphones but I will before we leave. Ja Ja Ja Ja...(that's my new turkish laugh. everyone else thinks it's annoying but i don't care.) And mimi, you'll be happy to know that I remembered the word şöyleböyle, (turkish for so so). It has now become my favorite turkish word to say and everyone rolls their eyes at me when I say it. (i use for many different things). Our friend Salim, who works at the pansiyon, thinks I'm weird because I use it out of context. He still calls me tall man. But back to church. Salim actually came with us for the first time in his life!! It was great and he talked with the pastor at the end of the service. His brother also came to hang out afterwards! Pray for him...it's really exciting and he is always happy to help us with turkish as long as we teach him some new english words. I met an Anmerican from Oregon who was engaged to a Turkish woman. After the service we hung out in the garden area, had some Turkish pizza (pide), played some backgammon (tavlav), listened to Story Box, and met some really awesome turkish believers. I also got to meet a team from Texas! Some were UT fans and some, sadly, were going to A&M. But they were fun to be around and were leaving the next day. It was hot so the whole team went swimming. Somehow all the girls ended up with cuts on their bodies. Erin's got a cut on her leg that swelled up a little bit but it's better now.
For 6/25/07 Monday
Every Morning we've been studying great scripture from II Corinthians to Philippians to John. We went to the American Culture Center today and we got to talk with Turkish students that ranged from middle school age to adult working age. Esther and I got to talk with two men. One was a general practice doctor, who said I could visit him for free if i got sick while in Antalya, and the other was getting his master's in marine biology. It was really cool to get a perspective on that side of Turkish Society. We also hung out at the Cafe and chatted with some students. We hung out the rest of the day and since the weather has been so hot a lot of people use AC so the electricity goes out in the whole city for a couple mins at a time. We also had pastchio ice cream for dessert. Very ta ta ta tasty tastaay.
For 6/26/07
Our small group, which consists on Me, Erin, Esther, and Ashley prepared a little sermon, talk, testimony thing structured around Psalm 139 and the theme of identity. We are going to share with the turkish young adult group next friday. The other small group is going this week so keep them in your prayers as they do that. So after putting some time into that our small group went back to the american culture center (an english school) and we hung out in the cafe for about 1.5 hours. I got to talk to a man named Ohan about some really interesting topics like politics, our differences in culture, sports, everything...it was really awesome until erin came over and whispered into my ear "seth you need to come up to the counter with me...this guy is a little weird". She was ordering some food for us and a turkish guy kept asking if she wanted to practice english with him somewhere else. Erin said he was pretty persistent until I came over and he didn't seem as interested. Apparently he was late for class. It was great fun, for me atleast. After that We participated in a nightly english speaking club. We basically ran the whole thing for about an hour and a half. There were about 16 older students, most of them working. We talked to them about University Life, Movies(they love Nicholaus Cage for some reason), Work life, and other interesting topics. My group had fairly good speaking skills but were a little shy until they found out I had been to Turkey before and they asked me question after question. It was great fun and great preparation for when our actual language program starts this Thursday. Continue to pray for that as well! But we got back from that and all fell asleep. Each day seems to get hotter and hotter. But I love it here and I'll have some cool pictures up soon and if you have facebook I think I have enough for atleast 2 photo albums. Peace out and God bless.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Iyi akşamlar arkadaşlar
Good evening friends!
O man, so much has happened so far that it is going to be really difficult to express it all, especially since I haven't been writing things down like Seth. One thing I can say for sure is that Turkey is beautiful; the people are beautiful, the landscape is beautiful, the food is FANTASTIC!! We are making soo many friends it is so great. We don't know very much Turkish but with the combination of our little Turkish and their little English we are finding ways to connect to the locals. There is a man that works at our hotel that has been very kind and easy to get to know. He came to church with us for his first time EVER this last Sunday and it was such a blessing to have him with us. God is so good and I feel so privelaged to see such a thing happen in this man's life, even if he doesn't go back for long time we got to see his first time. Antalya is really westernized, we were expecting a little of this but not nearly as much. The heat is ridiculous, it is as hot as Tucson but as humid as Florida. I am seriously drenched in sweat right now, NO JOKE!
I'm going to make a quick comment on the appearance of Turkish men... they are not all bad looking; there are actually a few worth looking at a little while HAHAHA just thought I was share with ya'll in case you thought all Turkish men have receeding hairlines, smell bad, and no teeth. False! Oh and Mom I am looking for my Alibabah, tell Mikey to get ready to pay my dowry. Lauren already has about 5 prospects lined up, she looks more Turkish than I do so the men really like her, especially the ice cream vendor.
I want to share something with you guys that Lauren wrote during orientation that both Seth and I think is encouraging and inspiring and beautiful. It is a rewrite of 2 Corinthians 6:4-10:
O man, so much has happened so far that it is going to be really difficult to express it all, especially since I haven't been writing things down like Seth. One thing I can say for sure is that Turkey is beautiful; the people are beautiful, the landscape is beautiful, the food is FANTASTIC!! We are making soo many friends it is so great. We don't know very much Turkish but with the combination of our little Turkish and their little English we are finding ways to connect to the locals. There is a man that works at our hotel that has been very kind and easy to get to know. He came to church with us for his first time EVER this last Sunday and it was such a blessing to have him with us. God is so good and I feel so privelaged to see such a thing happen in this man's life, even if he doesn't go back for long time we got to see his first time. Antalya is really westernized, we were expecting a little of this but not nearly as much. The heat is ridiculous, it is as hot as Tucson but as humid as Florida. I am seriously drenched in sweat right now, NO JOKE!
I'm going to make a quick comment on the appearance of Turkish men... they are not all bad looking; there are actually a few worth looking at a little while HAHAHA just thought I was share with ya'll in case you thought all Turkish men have receeding hairlines, smell bad, and no teeth. False! Oh and Mom I am looking for my Alibabah, tell Mikey to get ready to pay my dowry. Lauren already has about 5 prospects lined up, she looks more Turkish than I do so the men really like her, especially the ice cream vendor.
I want to share something with you guys that Lauren wrote during orientation that both Seth and I think is encouraging and inspiring and beautiful. It is a rewrite of 2 Corinthians 6:4-10:
"Rather, as servants of God we offer ourselves to Him in every way:
In long bus rides, in dirty hotels, in dark cities, in homes of light,
in moments of silence and in moments of divine revelation,
in sleepless hours and in restful days.
We do so in laughter and joy; serving our friends, protecting our dignity,
holding back when appropriate and gently correcting as in needed,
In embarassing moments and in happy community.
Armed with both God's word and God's Spirit,
we teach with English but speak with love.
Our words are not exquisite yet they are beyond worth.
Our actions are ordinary yet they shake the foundations of the earth.
Our hearts beat in one accord and our eyes and ears are ever attentive-
first to God's whisper, second to the whimper of hunger.
We eat plain bread and water, yet we're already full before any meal.
To all we are meek and gentle, and yet our movements are that of a warrior.
We punch with kisses and kick with hugs,
our words are not careless but rather they carry power in every syllable.
It is only by God's grace that we enter this city and state.
We are in constant intercession and perpetual communion with the Father.
He is our only hope.
We see light in darkness, growth in dry ground and life in decay.
To call us anything greater than the least is false,
and to deny that we are worthy and valued above all is a lie.
We hope, love, walk, talk, think, ask, probe, restrain,
renew, evolve, cast out, and set free.
We are the free-est captives I have ever seen."
--Lauren
I hope you all enjoyed that, I think it is amazing. I can't stand this hot sauna room where this computer is anymore so that is all I have the energy for today. SORRY! I miss you all and pray that you are all well and happy. Even though we are tired, we are full of God's joy. Thank you for your continual prayers, they are making a difference!!! Praise Jesus for Turkey!
I love you all!
God Bless,
Erin Leigh
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Update for 6/22/07 (previous update is for 6/21/07)
We had free time until noon yesterday so Theo, Randon, and I went exploring around the Marina near our pansiyon. It was beautiful! I think it finally hit me that we're in Turkey. The mediterranean Sea is more amazing than I remember and the water temperature is perfect. We explored for about an hour and then talked with a Turkish man, Ahmet. He was very interesting, very, talkative, told us to find some russian women ("very good" were his exact words) and he was a Kurd living away from his family. He liked America and wore a yankees hat but didn't know who they were. He offered us Cimits (a type of turkish bread) and Theo accepted not realizing we didn't have money to buy it so he gently reclined. We took a picture with him and said goodbye. We then spent the day with our worker friends in Antolya and Our friend Irena from Albania. They helped us orient ourselves around Antalya and for our cultural linguistics program that starts in a couple days. And Theo, Randon, and I decided to have a contest. There are 3 turkish football teams or soccer teams, Galatasaray (Theo), Ferenbahçe (Randon), and Beşiktaş (Seth or me). So any new friends we meet we ask them who their favorite team is and we're keeping score. So far theo and I have 4 and Randon has 3. Turks are really into football here so whenever we mention their favorite team they get really excited. Its so fun. Hyrie (sp?), a converted muslim who was baptized in may, told us his testimony. Very inspiring to hear how much they, as Turkish believers, have to give up to follow Jesus. (He's a beşiktaş fan by the way.) We attended the youth group and a band named story box played a concert of turkish and english worship songs. At the end of the service we split up into prayer groups to pray for some Turkish believers. I got to pray with a couple turkish friends (2 who were also beşiktaş fans). It was the first time I had heard a prayer in Turkish and though I understood very little it was amazing and beautiful to listen to. We haven't even begun our linguistics program and Giod is already opening our eyes and hearts to the Turkish people and their love. Oh yeah Theo made a friend who sells ice cream on the street corner. Mehmet, who sadly is a galatasaray fan is convinced theo is fluent in Turkish. And we found out yesterday that theo's turkish nickname, teoman, is actually the name of a Turkish popstar!!! Mehmet called the American Tarkan because he didn't know my name. One of the guys who runs our pansiyon, Salim, calls me "tall man." And he asked if he could join us at ch on Sunday! It was so cool! The turks call me "Set" because the "th" sound is difficult to say. But set in Turksih means dam, wall, or barrier so when I say, "I'm Set!" they say..."No you're not". It's great fun and I really love this place. God is amazing and this culture is so beautiful (I know i say beautiful but i don't know how else to describe it.) That's all for now. Peace out and God Bless!
Seth Knox
Seth Knox
Update for 6/22/27
It's been a crazy 3 days. After orientation in Flagstaff we drove down to Phoenix, had dinner with my parents and my dad shared some Amazing stories of God's Redeeming power. We made it safely to the airport and Theo had fun being patted down at security. God has really placed each person in this team strategically. We are different and similar at the same time. The trip to London and Istanbul was effortless. He provided all our luggage and guitars to end up safely together in one piece. And although my fellow flying friends in front of me decided it was best to lean back, the travel experience was good. Sadly the movies I wanted to watch were not the ones they showed us on the plane. We arrived in Istanbul and it was hot and humid. Our shuttle drvier, Ramazan, was quite a jokester. Theo loves to see if any Turks can speak arabic. So far all i can get is hello, how are you, what is your name, nice to meet you, and good bye. It's coming slowly but surely. Oh yeah and if they sneeze I can respond to that as well. But we arrived at our hostel in Istanbul which was right next to the Blue Mosque (cami mavi) pronounced jami mavi, and the Hagia Sofia. Seeing those buildings again brings back great memories. My last trip to Turkey was 9 years ago. Our hostel was cozy enough and we got in around Midnight. We made a friend, Ervin Bilen, who was very good at speaking English. I talked to him for about 30 mins over sports, family, and our travels. Our team was going to pray on the Terrace but didn't realize our hostel turk friends loved to stay up and chat. (I apologize for misspellings and bad punctuation, turkish keyboards are different). So probably until about 3 am we chatted with ervin and his friend, who seemed to have an opinion on everything. It was really amazing to talk to them about their culture, their lives, and how they perceived our culture. After that we got about 3 hrs of sleep. Our bus left at 830 and we had to get ready. We had a traditional turkish breakfast of cucumber, tomato, olive, cheese and ekmek(bread). Mom and dad you'll be happy to know I ate all of it! I felt like I had a special connection with ervin, his 6'4'' stature helped i think. He served us in every way possible. The amazing thing is he worked at the 4 seasons across the street! He helped us to our room, entertained us, and made us breakfast all on his own! I am already loving the turkish attitude on life. Our taxi ride to the bus station was totally awesome! Total disregard for traffic lanes and signs is so fun! It was like a roller coaster ride except the operator was on a cell phone and joking with the driver next to him at the same time. The bus ride was 12 hours of sleep, talk, and knee cramps. It finally hit me that I was in Turkey during that long ride to Antalya. The turkish landscape is so diverse and beautiful! We made it safely to Antalya and our new friend (who knows english) picked us up. She is quite a character. Our pansiyon, The White Garden or beyaz bahçe, is quaint beautiful and right in the middle of the old city and only a minutes walk to the Mediterraean Coast. We had amazing doner for dinner and I am currently living in a room as big as my bathroom back home but I love it! The view is amazing but i'm sure my attitude will change when I experience the +110 degree weather. That's all I have now. god continues to bless us. Pray that we will be able to be bold and speak with Turks, even with limited Turkish (one word of turkish and they think we're fluent). Pray for endurance, peace, patience, and JOY!! This is going to be an awesomely, wickedly, amazing summer adventure. God Bless! - Seth Knox
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Tomorrow, Tomorrow...We're only a day away...
Merhaba! (that’s hello in Turkish)
Hope everyone’s summer is going well. We serve a good God! As you know, our team will be embarking to Turkey tomorrow (or depending when I send this email out…today). The past couple days at our training orientation have been really amazing. Everyone on the team has their own special gifts and ways to communicate with God. The vision we all had for our trip was the same and it’s really exciting to see how God is working in all of our lives even before we embark on our great adventure! We’ve been studying scripture in II Corinthians and God has revealed numerous ways to apply it to our lives here and as we go to Turkey. I can’t wait to meet the Turkish people and the university students. Pray that God will continue to gather the right students and each will have open and willing hearts to listen. And the same for us as well. God is really going to change how we interact with life, people, and Him during this summer and for the next years at our Campuses.
PRAY: - that we will continue to seek God in everything we do and experience
- that we will have safe travels from Phoenix and to London and then to Istanbul and theeeen to Antalya
- that passports and visas and customs and airports will run smoothly
- that God will prepare our hearts and the hearts of the Turks to be receptive to friendship and love
- that we will be Bold yet humble and go with God’s confidence
- We pray that you will continue to do God’s will where ever you are this summer
Hope everyone’s summer is going well. We serve a good God! As you know, our team will be embarking to Turkey tomorrow (or depending when I send this email out…today). The past couple days at our training orientation have been really amazing. Everyone on the team has their own special gifts and ways to communicate with God. The vision we all had for our trip was the same and it’s really exciting to see how God is working in all of our lives even before we embark on our great adventure! We’ve been studying scripture in II Corinthians and God has revealed numerous ways to apply it to our lives here and as we go to Turkey. I can’t wait to meet the Turkish people and the university students. Pray that God will continue to gather the right students and each will have open and willing hearts to listen. And the same for us as well. God is really going to change how we interact with life, people, and Him during this summer and for the next years at our Campuses.
PRAY: - that we will continue to seek God in everything we do and experience
- that we will have safe travels from Phoenix and to London and then to Istanbul and theeeen to Antalya
- that passports and visas and customs and airports will run smoothly
- that God will prepare our hearts and the hearts of the Turks to be receptive to friendship and love
- that we will be Bold yet humble and go with God’s confidence
- We pray that you will continue to do God’s will where ever you are this summer
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Flagstaff Arizona
Despite my lacking sense of direction (we missed one turn on the way up) our whole team made it safely to our little getaway in Flagstaff. It's going to be really exciting to be in the lives of all of these amazing people for the next month. Me, Erin, Theo, Esther, Ashley, Lauren, Randon, and Kristin. Pray for all of us. Pray that in the next couple days as we are orienting ourselves and get to know each other that our relationships will grow deeper with eachother and with Christ. God is doing big things this summer all around the world and we have the honor and privelege to be witnesses of it. Soak it in. Praise God for everything he has done so far. Continue to seek him in every aspect of life and be joyful! God is Good.
For Him
seth
ps hopefully we'll get a picture of the whole squad soon so you can put faces with names. We love you all.
For Him
seth
ps hopefully we'll get a picture of the whole squad soon so you can put faces with names. We love you all.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Merhaba aile!
Hello my family!Tomorrow I begin my journey away from my family; I don't think the amount of time we'll be gone has sunk in yet. I'm really excited and only nervous that I'm forgetting something. I'm trying to go with no expectations, just hopes and a willingness to move. I pray safety and joy for all of you! Thank you for your prayers and support, I really love and appreciate you all. If you want to email me send it to erinb7@email.arizona.edu. AH! We serve a big and awesome God!
Your sister in Christ,
Erin
Psalm 91
"Because he loves me," says the LORD,
"I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he
acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will
answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
"Because he loves me," says the LORD,
"I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he
acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will
answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
5 more days
Ah! Five more days. It's late right now and nothing new to report but I felt like our blog needed another post. Pray for safety as we travel up to Flagstaff for our orientation and for everything to continue to run smoothly. God is Good (yes...all the time of course) Peace and God Bless.
Seth
(hopefully erin with contribute to this sooner or later)
Seth
(hopefully erin with contribute to this sooner or later)
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Hey It's our first blog
We're five days away from orientation and 9 days away from departure to Turkey. We're going to post more later but for now we're just making sure everything is in order. We love you all and we'll be back soon. Peace...
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