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

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

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.

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:

"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

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

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

And We're in Turkey!!!

OurTeam (minus Kristin)

Erin, Theo, Seth, Esther, Randon, Ashley, Lauren, (Kristin)

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

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.

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."

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)

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...