Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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December
4th:

We’ll
be spending the month in ‘Taksim’ which is a part of Istanbul.
Istanbul is a huge city. I think there are around 14 million people
here. Turkey is the most unreached, unengaged country in the world,
which means that less than 2% of the population are evangelical
Christians and there is no presence or strategy to change that. So,
as great as this city is, it is full of broken people who need the
hope of Jesus. We’re doing “Ethnography” to research the
different cultures and people groups here, so the organization we are
working for can find the different people groups and send people into
them that have the same backgrounds. We get to talk to people, and
write down everything they say. I am so excited about this ministry!  We’ll be headed to Gungoren, which is about an
hour away by tramway. Not looking forward to that much traveling, but
I’m excited all the same.
 
December 9th–  We met a family in Gungoren today. We pushed a ton of buttons at the door of an apartment complex, until someone buzzed us in. I was like, “What the heck am I doing?,” but Hope, Emily and I tredged on. We knocked on a couple of doors, until one answered. “Hi!”, We say. An older woman stares at us, unsure of what to say. She closes the door on us, and we hear talking inside. We stare at eachother, unsure of what to do. Just when we are about to turn away, the door opens and a girl around our age says, “Hello.” We begin to talk, and she just stares. Then she leaves again, and two younger kids come and stare at us. She comes back with an English/Turkish dictionary, and we converse awkwardly for 30 minutes, before they finally let us inside. Thank you, God for internet and those free-translation.com! We typed conversations back to each other, and I planned a date to see a movie with the two older girls. What a strange day!
 

December 11th- Right
now, I feel like I’m still in the basics of Christianity… fighting
to love God, even when I don’t understand.  The pull of
instant gratification- anything to keep me from thinking of the pain
or whatever and my desire to love God keep me in what feels like a
spiritual tug of war…

Maybe
the vertigo is whiplash.

Later—

“will
you cure me of vertigo, God?”

“Yes.”
He answers.

“When?”.

..
silence…. oh silence.

But
perhaps it’s not because He is ignoring me, but because the question
doesn’t make sense… Like…

“Is
yellow round or square?” or “How many minutes in a mile”

that
sort of thing…”

 

 
December
17th, 2009

What
a strange day. We were supposed to go to this school to talk to the
students about the cultural differences we found between America and
Turkey.

We
get in the car, I got sick, as usual, and arrived at the school
around 2:30. We were just expecting to go into a classroom and have a
discussion.

They
informed us that the auditorium would be ready shortly.

Auditorium?
We mouth at each other.

We
head over there, not sure what to expect, and see a table with chairs
behind it, each place having a notepad, pens, and water. It looked
just like a press conference. We are announced, and we walk in to
applause and flashes from the many cameras. We introduce ourselves
and allow the students to ask different questions.

“What
is your job?” “I use to work for the white house” Melanie says.

“Do
you like Turkey?” “I love Turkey. People are very friendly here.”
Emily replies.

“Is
America safer than Turkey?” “I wouldn’t use the word ‘safer,’ I
say, ‘it’s just different.”

“Do
you like Micheal Jackson?” “Who doesn’t like Micheal Jackson?”
Michelle says.

Each
answer is received with thunderous applause.

We
become more confident after each question, and begin to tell little
anecdotes and jokes, which are met with hearty laughter and more
applause.

We
smile and grin as the cameras flash, and ruffle our hair after asked
if we have boyfriends back home.

Time passes too quickly, and we are at the end. 

We are presented with enormous bouquets and wrapped gifts, and
the students were welcomed to come and take pictures with us. The
students swarm the stage, asking for emails and pictures with them.
I began to sign my name like an autograph, realizing that this was as
close to celebrity as I was ever going to get. We take a final group
picture, and are escorted out of the building. The students watched,
talking excitedly to one another, as we stepped into our chauffeured
car and wave back. We drove in silence for a while, unsure of what to
say.

Surreal.
Weird. Random. World Race. What a crazy day.

 
December 23rd-  We have become very close to the families at the apartment complex. They are Muslims, but they always ask us to pray over the meals. We prayed for healing for Ferat, the father. He has severe diabetes. The atomosphere in the room changed while we prayed. I looked up when we were done, and the mother was crying. Come, Jesus, come!

 
December 24th- Surprise! HAppy Birthday, Anna!

 
December 26th- Our last evening with the families. http://hopemendola.theworldrace.org.
 
 
December 29th- It’s been a good month, but a very hard month. I was sick for almost all of it, but I know that God is good. It’s so weird to think that I’ll be in Africa in a couple of days.
Am I ready?

People say “the safest place for you is God’s will.’
I think that’s a big, fat lie.
God is good, but He sure isn’t safe. 
Still, I say, like a good christian should, “God, my life is in your hands.”
That’s the only place it belongs.