This week was a total blur. I said my goodbyes, finished my souvenir shopping and helped out with the English club for the last two times. I was very sad and so where all of the students. However, the reality of m departure was still not clear. It felt as if I was not really leaving. It was a weird state of mind that i can not really explain nor know where to begin.
On wednesday, my last day and English class, three of the students ended up giving me gifts. I was more than greatful for all these relationships that my father had created. Each one had blessed me abundently with not only material gifts but also hopefully lasting relationships. I am really going to miss them and hope to someday see them all again. I am going to pray especially that I do.
Friday, December 10, 2010
November 28-December 4th
This is my last full week in Turkey. I have spent most of my time working on ministry and my relationships, and homework.
It is hard to believe how fast the time has gone. As I look into the future of going home it seems incredibly surreal.
This week I continued in my English classes and Saturday night bible study. We also went to our firends house again on thursday in the gececondo. We didn't wrestle this time but just talked and hung out. We drank a lot of tea. I probably had about 6-8 cups. We did however, end the night watching wrestling on TV.
This saturday was a very sad night. It was the last time I would ever see the majority of those people if not all. I am really going to miss every single one of them.
It is hard to believe how fast the time has gone. As I look into the future of going home it seems incredibly surreal.
This week I continued in my English classes and Saturday night bible study. We also went to our firends house again on thursday in the gececondo. We didn't wrestle this time but just talked and hung out. We drank a lot of tea. I probably had about 6-8 cups. We did however, end the night watching wrestling on TV.
This saturday was a very sad night. It was the last time I would ever see the majority of those people if not all. I am really going to miss every single one of them.
November 21-27th and the gospel Bird
Thanksgiving day was so much fun! We had many cakes, pies, and the rest of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The family that I was staying with invited several other of our worker families on the field in order to celebrate.
This week we also continued in our English classes as well as our saturday night study. This saturday was a little different than usual though. A former church of my host families came over this saturday in order to have a meeting. This pastor, of a church in Kizilay, invited his entire congregation to this meeting on the previous sunday. Now there is something that you must know about this congregation. Now I am not trying to be racist but just follow me for a second. This congregation was about 99.9 % African origin from all over the world. On last sunday the pastor told this entire congregation of about 50-60 Africans that there would be KFC at the house for free. We had litterally 205 peices of chicken at this house and it was gone within two hours. That is counting all of the sides as well. Can you guess how many people come on saturday to the meeting? Almost every single one. We had a great laugh about the simple irony in the matter. The house had reached its capacity and more.
That night when everyone from the previous meeting had left we had another party to cook for. We decided to not have our every saturday bible study but, instead a party. We made a huge pot of oily spaghetti and seven big loaves of garlic bread. It was a great night full of good food, fellowship and not having to fight off the little kids.
This week we also continued in our English classes as well as our saturday night study. This saturday was a little different than usual though. A former church of my host families came over this saturday in order to have a meeting. This pastor, of a church in Kizilay, invited his entire congregation to this meeting on the previous sunday. Now there is something that you must know about this congregation. Now I am not trying to be racist but just follow me for a second. This congregation was about 99.9 % African origin from all over the world. On last sunday the pastor told this entire congregation of about 50-60 Africans that there would be KFC at the house for free. We had litterally 205 peices of chicken at this house and it was gone within two hours. That is counting all of the sides as well. Can you guess how many people come on saturday to the meeting? Almost every single one. We had a great laugh about the simple irony in the matter. The house had reached its capacity and more.
That night when everyone from the previous meeting had left we had another party to cook for. We decided to not have our every saturday bible study but, instead a party. We made a huge pot of oily spaghetti and seven big loaves of garlic bread. It was a great night full of good food, fellowship and not having to fight off the little kids.
November 14-20
This week everything was mostly the same. I was continuing to teach english on Mondays and Wednesdays. There was also another bible study on saturday where I would watch everyones kids and teach them bible stories. There are three children in general that come every saturday night to these studies. They are crazy and love to wrestle. I feel like I have to fight for my life everytime they come over. I went over to their house, which is a Gececondo, this thursday on the 18th with my host family. We ate çig kofte (which is like a dish of cracked wheat that is usually mixed up with raw beef) and baklava. It was a great meal. Shortly after that these kids picked up large pillows and there was officially war in their house. The smallest kid who was about 6 years old continued to turn the lights on and off to make to make the pillow fight a little more intense. We battled hard through several hours of sheer wreslting and pillow beatings. As the night came to an end the room looked as if a tornado had sturck it. The beds and their sheets were all mangled, everyone was sweating perfiously, and somehow someone had ripped out a an entire electric socket. That was clearly a night to remember.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Nov. 7-13th
This week we did not have class on Monday. I was invited to a one of my Worker friends daughter's birthday party who just turned six. So we went bowlng, had some awesome oily spaghetti and finished it off with some cake and Ice cream. After we stuffed ourselves full of the delicious food the little girl opened all her presents and we ended with a good ole night.
On wednesday I was invited to go mountain biking with a friend. We ended up going to the tallest peak in Ankara. It was by far the most gorgeous sight that I have seen yet in Ankara. The only thing that I regret was that I forgot my camera. I really need to go back and take some pictures before I head back home to the States. By the time we got to the top it started to get dark out side and we had quite an elevation to descend on. I had a speedometer device placed on the bike so that I could know my speeds and times. Anyways on the way down the mountain it read that I topped out at 40 kmph. I dont care who you are thats pretty fast on a bike. On the way down the guy that I was with was a good ways a head of me. I started to catch up to him and I noticed that he had stopped. So I hit the breaks and I apparently did a wicked powerslide. I think it was about 15 feet before I utterly ate the dirt. It wasn't that bad but I did get some gnarly road rash on my knee and elbow. The ride was a lot of fun though and I really hope that there is a next time before I leave Turkey. By the time our ride was over I realized that I was late for my English class. So I rushed over to Kızılay to assist in teaching the class.
This Saturday, as usual as of late, I helped out with the kids again. This time one of the boys that is usually good, was a bit of a devil. He continued to be rambunctious and rebelious until he was eventually dealt with by one of the guys that was with us. This saturday we tried something new. We felt like we should try to teach them some stories or some kind of lesson. The past couple weekends we had given them coloring pages with memory verses. We would have a great time coloring and then every so often we would say the verse aloud. Most student would come the next weekend and recite the verse on their own in order to claim that they remembered the memory verse. This saturday we had another worker friend come in and she taught the class. I had a hard time understanding the story because my Turkish can only go so far and I also had to watch the kids. However, I did get the major premise of the story. It was about how we need to rely on God and how we can't do things on or own. I even got to play God at one point. I picked up the kids so that they could take the candy that I had previously taped to the ceiling.
On wednesday I was invited to go mountain biking with a friend. We ended up going to the tallest peak in Ankara. It was by far the most gorgeous sight that I have seen yet in Ankara. The only thing that I regret was that I forgot my camera. I really need to go back and take some pictures before I head back home to the States. By the time we got to the top it started to get dark out side and we had quite an elevation to descend on. I had a speedometer device placed on the bike so that I could know my speeds and times. Anyways on the way down the mountain it read that I topped out at 40 kmph. I dont care who you are thats pretty fast on a bike. On the way down the guy that I was with was a good ways a head of me. I started to catch up to him and I noticed that he had stopped. So I hit the breaks and I apparently did a wicked powerslide. I think it was about 15 feet before I utterly ate the dirt. It wasn't that bad but I did get some gnarly road rash on my knee and elbow. The ride was a lot of fun though and I really hope that there is a next time before I leave Turkey. By the time our ride was over I realized that I was late for my English class. So I rushed over to Kızılay to assist in teaching the class.
This Saturday, as usual as of late, I helped out with the kids again. This time one of the boys that is usually good, was a bit of a devil. He continued to be rambunctious and rebelious until he was eventually dealt with by one of the guys that was with us. This saturday we tried something new. We felt like we should try to teach them some stories or some kind of lesson. The past couple weekends we had given them coloring pages with memory verses. We would have a great time coloring and then every so often we would say the verse aloud. Most student would come the next weekend and recite the verse on their own in order to claim that they remembered the memory verse. This saturday we had another worker friend come in and she taught the class. I had a hard time understanding the story because my Turkish can only go so far and I also had to watch the kids. However, I did get the major premise of the story. It was about how we need to rely on God and how we can't do things on or own. I even got to play God at one point. I picked up the kids so that they could take the candy that I had previously taped to the ceiling.
Oct. 31 through Nov. 6th
This monday's class was a bit different. The lady who usually is the main teacher was out of town. So it was up to me to teach the class. To be honest I really enjoyed it and I also had another one of my worker friends come in to help me out. He came up with some great ideas while we were teaching. We played "Simon says" again and we finished the "Prodigal Son" story. Last week we broke up the story into two parts and then this week I decided to approach the story as a whole. I think it helped put the peices more together.
On Wednesday my friend was back in town and so she again took the reigns of the class. However, I still helped out a lot in the class. This time we taught on the parable of the "10 coins."
I was asked to go with some of my Worker friends to join a family for dinner. This family made the best Mantı (mant-uh) I have ever had. Mantı is basically a small ravioli with different spices and and other stuff. This lady was definatley a blessed cook. Anyways, being invited to this families house was totally awesome. The husband is an artist who sculpts and plays quite a few musical instruments.
I went over one of the students houses again to help out with English. He really has improved quite a bit and then he and his wife invited me to go out and see Attaturks Mausoleum. I had not been there yet and I really enjoyed. I got to hang out with some friends. They helped me with my Turkish and I helped them with English. We went out and ate some food and did quite a bit of stuff together. They treated me as a king. They paid for all my food and what not. Then they also walked me to my bus after the night was done. They are a great family and if you think about it, please pray for them. God will know who and whats up. Thanks.
I went hiking this Friday in Kızılcahamam (kizil-ja-ha-mam) with a couple of my friends. It was about an hour away on a bus. The mountians were full of greens and yellows. It kind of reminded me of home but there weren't any hiking trails. Actually, we had to travel on 4x4 trails. We hiked all day and got some great pics of scenery. We also were able to see a petrified tree. It was the biggest petrified tree that I have ever seen.
On Wednesday my friend was back in town and so she again took the reigns of the class. However, I still helped out a lot in the class. This time we taught on the parable of the "10 coins."
I was asked to go with some of my Worker friends to join a family for dinner. This family made the best Mantı (mant-uh) I have ever had. Mantı is basically a small ravioli with different spices and and other stuff. This lady was definatley a blessed cook. Anyways, being invited to this families house was totally awesome. The husband is an artist who sculpts and plays quite a few musical instruments.
I went over one of the students houses again to help out with English. He really has improved quite a bit and then he and his wife invited me to go out and see Attaturks Mausoleum. I had not been there yet and I really enjoyed. I got to hang out with some friends. They helped me with my Turkish and I helped them with English. We went out and ate some food and did quite a bit of stuff together. They treated me as a king. They paid for all my food and what not. Then they also walked me to my bus after the night was done. They are a great family and if you think about it, please pray for them. God will know who and whats up. Thanks.
I went hiking this Friday in Kızılcahamam (kizil-ja-ha-mam) with a couple of my friends. It was about an hour away on a bus. The mountians were full of greens and yellows. It kind of reminded me of home but there weren't any hiking trails. Actually, we had to travel on 4x4 trails. We hiked all day and got some great pics of scenery. We also were able to see a petrified tree. It was the biggest petrified tree that I have ever seen.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Oct. 24-30
This Monday a couple from Moody, and fellow short termers, were leaving Turkey. They moved in with me right before I left for my sister's wedding. They are a great couple and very focused on Christ and His great commission. It's weird to think how fast time flies. Anyways, we threw a going away party for them on Sunday. We made a lot of tasty treats such as cinnamon twisties and a big hot fresh apple pie. This was all after Church and a huge meal of Ali Aziz, bread, salad, and salsa. Please stop salivating on your computer! I think that was the fullest that I have been in Turkey and I played the glutton card all night. Everyting was so good I just couldn't help myself. We also played games all night and had plenty of great laughs. They will be missed.
The rest of this week looked very similar to last week. I helped teach English on Monday and Wednesday. Except, this week we started the parable of the prodigal son. The class seemed to enjoy it and they have all improved in some degree in their English since last week. We also played a few games before we got into our lessons like last week. We played "Simon says" on Monday. On Wednesday we played " head, shoulders, knees, and toes" as well as the "Hokey Pokey." Playing the "Hokey Pokey was easily one the highlights of the week. Imagine being in a room with a bunch of Turks singing the Hokey pokey in English as well as doing all the motions. Believe me, it was nothing short of pure awesomeness.
Me and another one of the English teachers went to one of our students houses this week for a private tutoring session. We did exercises with lego's and other objects. We also pointed to things and made him create sentences. He treated us to some Chai and cookies as we took a break. He also attends our saturday night bible study with us and is very interested in Truth.
This week I hung out with one of the guys from the English class. We will call him Ali. He is more my age and he is pretty quiet. However, he seemed like a lot of fun. So we went over to a coffee shop on friday night near the Sevgi Cafe in Kızılay. We played a couple games of chess, had some coffee, cherry juice, and had some good conversations. Although we had to share a dictionary so we could understand one another. Here I made another mistake. This time it was with the language. In Turkish for a word to be a negative an "m" is implemented into the word. For instance when i want something i would say "istiyorum. If i dont want something then I would say istmiyorum. So back to the story. I was trying to say I didn't understand. The word for "I understand" is anlidim. So I said "amlidim." I kept saying this word and used it quite a lot and apparently I was being loud. So my friend leans over the table and tells me very quietly that I have been dropping the F-bomb for about 15 minutes straight.
This Saturday I watched the kids again as their parents sat in on the Bible lesson. Yes, I also wrestled around with them and for some reason they really like being thrown around like rag dolls. I have a lot of fun though and I really like these kids. They also did really great when it was time to be quite. They all listened the first time as we said to be quiet, except for the smallest one. He bit the fire out of my friend who was helping me. I laughed.
The rest of this week looked very similar to last week. I helped teach English on Monday and Wednesday. Except, this week we started the parable of the prodigal son. The class seemed to enjoy it and they have all improved in some degree in their English since last week. We also played a few games before we got into our lessons like last week. We played "Simon says" on Monday. On Wednesday we played " head, shoulders, knees, and toes" as well as the "Hokey Pokey." Playing the "Hokey Pokey was easily one the highlights of the week. Imagine being in a room with a bunch of Turks singing the Hokey pokey in English as well as doing all the motions. Believe me, it was nothing short of pure awesomeness.
Me and another one of the English teachers went to one of our students houses this week for a private tutoring session. We did exercises with lego's and other objects. We also pointed to things and made him create sentences. He treated us to some Chai and cookies as we took a break. He also attends our saturday night bible study with us and is very interested in Truth.
This week I hung out with one of the guys from the English class. We will call him Ali. He is more my age and he is pretty quiet. However, he seemed like a lot of fun. So we went over to a coffee shop on friday night near the Sevgi Cafe in Kızılay. We played a couple games of chess, had some coffee, cherry juice, and had some good conversations. Although we had to share a dictionary so we could understand one another. Here I made another mistake. This time it was with the language. In Turkish for a word to be a negative an "m" is implemented into the word. For instance when i want something i would say "istiyorum. If i dont want something then I would say istmiyorum. So back to the story. I was trying to say I didn't understand. The word for "I understand" is anlidim. So I said "amlidim." I kept saying this word and used it quite a lot and apparently I was being loud. So my friend leans over the table and tells me very quietly that I have been dropping the F-bomb for about 15 minutes straight.
This Saturday I watched the kids again as their parents sat in on the Bible lesson. Yes, I also wrestled around with them and for some reason they really like being thrown around like rag dolls. I have a lot of fun though and I really like these kids. They also did really great when it was time to be quite. They all listened the first time as we said to be quiet, except for the smallest one. He bit the fire out of my friend who was helping me. I laughed.
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