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