“Paul and his companions sailed from the Cyprus port of Paphos to Perga in southern Turkey. John left them there and returned to Jerusalem as they journeyed on to the city of Antioch in the region of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went into the synagogue and took their seats. After the reading from the scrolls of the books of Moses and the prophets, the leader of the meeting sent Paul and Barnabas a message, saying, “Brothers, do you have a word of encouragement to share with us? If so, please feel free to give it.” Paul stood and motioned that he had something to say. He said, “Listen, all of you Jews and non-Jews who worship God. The God of Israel divinely chose our ancestors to be his people. While they were enslaved in Egypt, he made them great, both in numbers and in strength, until he unveiled his mighty power and led them out of bondage. For nearly forty years, he nourished them in the wilderness. He was the one who destroyed the seven nations inhabiting the land of Canaan and afterward gave the land to his people as their inheritance. This took about four hundred and fifty years. “Then God raised up deliverers for the people until the time of the prophet Samuel. The people craved for a king, so God gave them one from the tribe of Benjamin: Saul, the son of Kish, who ruled for forty years. After removing him, God raised up David to be king, for God said of him, ‘I have found in David, son of Jesse, a man who always pursues my heart and will accomplish all that I have destined him to do.’ “From David’s lineage God brought Israel a Savior, just as he promised. So before Jesus appeared, John preached the message of a baptism of repentance to prepare all of Israel. As John was about to finish his mission, he said repeatedly, ‘If you think that I am the one to come, you’re mistaken. He will come after me, and I don’t even deserve to stoop down and untie his sandals!’ “Fellow Jews, Abraham’s descendants, and all those among you who worship and reverence God, this message of life has been sent for us all to hear. But the people of Jerusalem and their leaders didn’t realize who he was, nor did they understand the prophecies written of him. Yet they fulfilled those very prophecies, which they read week after week in their meetings, by condemning him to death. Even though they could come up with no legal grounds for the death sentence, they pleaded with Pilate to have him executed. And they did to him all that was prophesied they would do. “Then they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead! And for many days afterward he appeared on numerous occasions to his disciples who knew him well and had followed him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Those disciples are now his witnesses, telling the people the truth about him. “So here we are to share with you some wonderful news! The promise God made to our forefathers has now been fulfilled for us, their children. For God has raised Jesus from the dead, as it says in Psalms: ‘Today I reveal you as my Son, and I as your Father.’ “God had promised to not let him decay in the tomb or face destruction again, so God raised him from the dead. He gave this promise in the Psalms: ‘I will give to you what I gave to David: Faithful mercies that you can trust.’ “He explains it further in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow your holy one to experience bodily decay.’ “This cannot be a reference to David, for after he passionately served God’s desires for his generation, he died. He was buried with his ancestors and his body experienced decay. But the one whom God raised from the dead has never experienced corruption in any form. “So listen, friends! Through this Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is offered to you. Everyone who believes in him is set free from sin and guilt—something the law of Moses had no power to do. So be very careful that what the prophets warned about does not happen to you: ‘Be amazed and in agony, you scoffers! For in your day I will do something so wonderful that when I perform mighty deeds among you, you won’t even believe that it was I who did it!’ ” As Paul and Barnabas started to leave, the people pleaded with them to share more about these things on the next Sabbath day. When the meeting had finally broken up, many of those in attendance, both Jews and converts to Judaism, tagged along with Paul and Barnabas, who continued to persuade them to go deeper in their understanding of God’s grace. The following week, nearly everyone in the city gathered to hear the word of God. When the Jewish leaders saw the size of the crowds, vicious jealousy filled their hearts and they rose up to oppose what Paul was teaching. They insulted him and argued with him over everything he said. Yet Paul and Barnabas did not back down. Filled with courage, they boldly replied, “We were compelled to bring God’s message first to you Jews. But seeing you’ve rejected this message and refuse to embrace eternal life, we will focus instead on the nations and offer it to them. This will fulfill what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have destined you to become a beacon light for the nations and release salvation to the ends of the earth!’ ” When the non-Jewish people in the crowd heard these words, they were thrilled and they honored the word of the Lord. All who believed that they were destined to experience eternal life received the message. God’s word spread like wildfire throughout the entire region. The Jewish leaders stirred up a violent mob against Paul and Barnabas, including many prominent and wealthy people of the city. They persecuted them and ran them out of town. As they left, they shook the dust off their feet as a sign of protest against them, and they went on to the city of Iconium. They left the new converts in Antioch overflowing with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”
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Acts 13:13?-?52 TPT
I wanted to start with this story because like Paul and Barnabus I’m leaving Antioch, and I’m headed to Cypress.
Our time in Turkey has really been blessed. It’s hard to see a country where all 7 Churches of Revelation reside and the first preserved historical gathering place for Christians (I have a couple pictures of St. Peters Church just below) be largely without the Gospel. That being said, God is at work here. People are hungry for the truth.
Since arriving in Turkey, we’ve had about four days in our Airbnb in Istanbul. We spent most of our time there exploring the city with friends we’ve met and prayed over. I went inside a Mosque for the first time (generally that’s a big no-no if you’re not a Muslim), and I saw the Hagia Sofia (outside only) and Blue Mosque (outside only). The one I went inside was called the Süleymaniye. Mosques are really big and very frequent in Turkey. In Morrocco the frequency was certainly there, but the size here, wow. We saw a really tall tower where we believe based on the word of this Turkish man we met that the story of Repunzel originated from? Anyway, you can see the picture.
Istanbul is very big. It’s like the New York of Eurasia without the fast pace. Not that I’m an expert on New York, I’ve only been outside of the NY airport for like 30 minutes before the flight to Spain. That’s how I’d describe it though, big, and tall. You might know it from History class as Constantinople, but now it’s very modern. People are friendly, but talking about Jesus very openly is a little complicated. A pastor had just been released from Turkey just before our arrival for evangelism, so we had to be shrewd. We think we may have run into a “secret policeman” and all the authorities want a reason for your visit and generally are very sceptical of foreigners from the west. Passport checks have been a very frequent aspect of our time here. That doesn’t mean we don’t share though, but it has to be Spirit led. I saw a man get healed from a very swollen foot when Eric and I prayed for him, and well he started shouting something in Turkish to the people around us. He was amazed. At a coffee shop a friend we met recommend Jeremy prayed over the entire staff and the owner! God is at work, but there is persecution.
We met an Armenian Christian in Istanbul who is doing some good work. He shared his testimony with me about growing up in a dying church in Turkey that his family rarely attended. One day, seeking God he went to a service at another church. They preached the Gospel. They told him that he could have a real relationship with God. That Jesus’ sacrifice and his faith in the atonement purchased for him meant he was now a son of the King. He was now a son with the inheritance of eternal life. I too am a son with him. He told me after being discpled (taught the way of the Lord) in the church where he received Jesus, he felt called to return to the church where he grew up. He asked that we remember the Armenian Christians and keep them in prayer. We got to encourage him and pray with him and he sent us off well with material.
Before our Airbnb was up, we prayed about what we should do. We all felt like the Lord saying go to Antioch, so we bought some $24 plane tickets and flew domestic. Patrick who was with us texted some friends he had there and we were blessed to stay with them.
We got to Hatay and took a bus ride with a friend of Patrick’s whose family can trace their Christian heritage way back, like to Barnabus. He drove us to the house of the couple that took us in for our time in Antakya in his big van that had just the right amount of seats for all eight of us men to sit comfortably. When we showed up this wonderful couple from a country we will later visit served us spaghetti. Needless to say, but they are my kinda folks.
After our first meal and tea with our new hosts we talked about a game plan for the 3 days we would be with them.
The three days were incredibly crafted by the Lord is what I have to say about our time in Antioch.
I got to see the sight where Paul and Barnabus set sail. I saw the early Churches meeting space, the exact room where Christianity began. Even better I saw the Lord working. Refugees from Syria are coming to know the Lord through the service of local Christians who are working tirelessly to love them well. The Christians are few, but God is using them in their steadfastness. He has protected the Church in Antioch. Pray for more people to join them there. They need more workers and workers (missionaries) who can stay much longer than we were able. Most of our time here was spent encouraging and praying for our brothers and sisters in the area. We heard testimonies of what God was doing in and through them and their ministry. We also got to participate. Yesterday we spent the morning packaging food for refugees. In the afternoon, after an amazing lunch with a local Christian who needed some prayer we got to share our testimonies in an English class with some highschool age kids who meet in a coffee shop. We also met a guy from Cali who is working in the church associated for the next couple months. He is pretty dope and is getting to walk with these kids more hands on for a while. Pray for him too.
Our time here has been really full. It’s hard to pick out any one story to share. For now, I really just want to ask that you pray for all the people of Turkey and the Christian community that is there in Antioch.
In Christ,
-Daniel
