After not having internet or email for two weeks I am trying to not overdo it now, which is made easier by the fact that the internet I am using is not very good. 🙂 Even though I was so tempted to get online and check my email and my support account over the last couple days, I was not able to have the opportunity to get online until today. Our fast was over yesterday, but we didn’t have time to get internet yesterday. I am so glad that I have held out and I feel like I accomplished something great by not having email for over 2 weeks. 🙂 One good thing about this fast was that we do not have wireless available where we are living. Whew!
So, the last two weeks have been filled with decorating the church, and preparing and advertising for a series of Christmas concerts in which we are participating this coming weekend. We are in the choir, which will be singing in 4 different languages, and we are also performing other specials. I ended up buying a violin right after we arrived in Istanbul, so I have been extremely blessed to be able to play and to enter worship in that way. I am also growing leaps and bounds in my ability to pick up tunes by ear and even to throw in some harmonies… I am having a lot of fun with it!
We have been tremendously blessed to be working with a truly international team. The people with that we see nearly daily hail from at least 5 countries and we have had the privilege of meeting workers from many other countries! It has been a joy to work with these people and they have welcomed us with open arms. To use the phrase of one of our new friends, they intend to “use us to our max”. 🙂
Personally, this last two weeks have been pretty good. I don’t think there has really been a stand-out moment for me (except when Hope returned from the States with a pile of mail for me!!!), but I have really enjoyed getting to know our friends better and hearing how they have come to be where they are now and what God is doing in their lives and leading them to in the future. It’s so cool to see their visions for Turkey as a country, and for the Turkish people. I have also enjoyed just being a part of this international community and helping them to celebrate Christ’s birth this year.
One of the things that God has been teaching me is more about what it means to live in community. He has also been continuing to challenge me to be bold and not to fear man. In the last couple of days our family has been pushing to make sure we are growing in the ways God wants us to and not to be complacent in any way. Please keep praying that God will continue to speak to me and reveal Himself in new and deeper ways, and also for our team, Shekinah, that we would continue to pursue God together and not hold back.
It’s hard to believe that in just 2 more weeks we’ll be heading to Africa; but God is good and I am living in the present and using my gifts and abilities to the fullest. Praise the Lord His work is being accomplished and people are coming to know Him!
Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers. We will be celebrating Christmas here in Turkey and there are various parties and services that we will be participating in, so please pray that we will not be getting homesick and that we will just enjoy our time together and with our new-found friends.
Sorry that there aren’t any pics; I’ll try to get some ready to post in my next blog before we go to Africa…
