The number of your counting shall be to three, not four and not two unless immediately proceeded by 3 and 5 is right out!…
For all you Monty Python fans out there we are living in the land of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Last Sunday night I think it was we found out that we were going to Antakya Turkey, also formerly known as Antioch in bible times. This is the place where Paul spent a year and where he was actually sent out from as a missionary with Barnabas. Also this is where believers were first called “Christians”. I was so excited when I heard we were coming here.
Also on the way we passed by Tarsus where the apostle Paul grew up and we went through Bythinia, Galatia, Cappadocia and I think Cilicia all of which I believe are mentioned in 1 Peter 1. So I am just so pumped this month for this huge unexpected blessing. Also our hostel in Turkey was only like a block away from Hagia Sophia, the church where the council of Nicea was held in 330 AD. It’s basically the first time the whole church from all over the world got together and figured out the main doctrines that they all believed in. They came up with the Nicene creed. Nowadays it is being used as a mosque, and a tourist attraction.
I really love history especially church history and so this is like the biggest blessing from God to be able to go to these places where amazing things happened in the past and see them. We went to the church where Paul and Barnabas were sent out and it’s just like a cave in the side of a mountain. They were experiencing persecution and that’s where they had to meet.
The Hospitality here is unbelievable. I have had to redefine my definition of hospitality. Just yesterday we were walking along the road and stopped to talk to some kids. An older man talks with our translator and just invites us over for tea. Stops what he’s doing for the next hour or two and sits down with us and makes us tea and brings out all sorts of nuts and candy to eat while we have tea. Then he invites us to stay for Supper. We were busy that night so he invites us for the next night. He says “You can sleep at my house if you would like too”, also he knows we live half an hour away and he offers to drive us home. Tonight we come to his house and it is a massive feast. I likely would have died if I ate everything that was set before me and a lot of you know how big my appetite is :).
We get nuts and candy and tea to start us off and we talk for awhile. Then they start bringing out a plate of salad and a plate of yoghurt and a big bowl of soup and a glass of pepsi and a gigantic plate of Uzbekistan rive with fried chicken on top. Then they set out fresh home-baked brick oven bread and big platters of all sorts of fruit. They were so friendly, our host nicknamed me “Canada” and kept saying “Canada eat eat!” with a big smile. He has 14 children and 13 grandchildren and he is only 53 years old, and still they found time and money to treat us to one of the most amazing meals we’ve ever had.
Life here has been so good, sorry that I’ve been bad with uploading pictures. My teammates have posted some great ones if you want to check out their blogs. I love you guys.
