December 5-10

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Oct. 17--23

I moved into another house on the 19th. This was the fourth time that I had moved since my arrival to Turkey in July. Praise God that this is the last time that I am going to have to move before my return to the States. I was really happy that I was moving in with this particular family, because of prior engagments. I went to the Black Sea with them in August and I was also invited to a picnic with a lot of their Turkish friends. I felt very welcome and excited as I moved into this families house.

The next day I was invited to join them in one of their ministry events. They teach English for free on Mondays and Wednesdays. They have a link on facebook allowing people to see what to expect in their classes. You have to be atleast 18 years old to join and have some understanding of the English language. Those who wish to learn must also be okay with learning English from the Bible. The classes were set up as two different classes. One was for advanced students. This class is more for people who have a good grasp on English with some minor issues. They are able to speak more fuently. The other was for those who don't know much English. They need help in sentence structure as well vocabulry. The first day that I went a few of my other short term friends were teaching. They taught some English words, phrases, and it all came from Jesus's teaching of worry found in Luke 12:22-34. We described words, asked questions pertaining to the story, made the students read the story, had them ask questions, and then at the end we would give the students the story in Turkish. We would try our best to not use Turkish in order to explain, so that the students may get more of an ear for english speaking. We played charades that night with some of the words from the story that we read in the Bible.

On Saturday I attended a CP Bible study. It was at the workers house in which I am staying. There were about 7 or 8 kids ranging from 3 to 8 and we all wrestled for a solid hour. They were all kids to parents who were attending the Bible study. Anyways, I never thought that wrestling kids ranging from 3-8 could get so tiring. All they wanted me to do was throw them around like rag dolls. I enjoyed it. It allowed me to let off some steam by beating up little kids. I am just joking, but seriously I enjoyed it. Our goal right now with the kids is mainly to calm them down so that they may pay attention. It can be hard for me at times because some how just attract the desire for wrestling. This saturday was pretty crazy but it apparently went a lot better then it usually does. After all the kids got quiet we began a movie until their parents were done with the study. Our goal eventually is to be able to do a study of our own with the kids.

Oct 10--16th

I got to hang out with my friend Çagrı again this week. This time I watched him eat a huge kumpir. A kumpir is an incredibly large baked loaded baked potatoe. It usually consists of butter, two kinds of a lot of cheese, salt, and another half of a big potatoe. It is then placed back into the oven and browned on top. Then there is an assortment of toppings that can be requested. I usually get grilled chicken, grilled mushrooms, pickles, onions, olives (green and black), jalapenos, corn, ketchup, mayo, and BBQ sauce. It sounds horrible but trust me its awesome. Anyways as I was watching my friend eat a kumpir I decided to order a chai. We sat there for abut an hour just talking. Then the subject of smoking came up and he asked me about my past. I told him that I had tried some things but only a handful of times. His next question was about why I stopped doing all the stuff I did back in the past. So this was a great opportunity to tell him about Christ and how He changed me. I got to tell him about who I was and then and who I am now. This was basically the conversation for the rest of the night. We went to several other places such as D&R and Starbucks, and messed around a bit. However, our conversations always ended up coming back to God.

I really liked this guy a lot. He was a person that thought for himself and was not a follower of society. He did and said what he saw to be right and stuck closley to his word. We had some great conversations concerning more than just religion but the world in general. We had a lot of the same interests in views, movies, music, and much more. There was one movie, for instance, we both absolutly love which is known as, "Into The Wild." We would talk about that movie all the time it seemed like. There is just so much to talk about concerning that movie. It brought up questions of identity, life, society, and God. We even found ourselves singing the song "Society" from the soundtrack to the movie by Eddie Vedder outside of starbucks that night. The worst part of that nght was that it was our last night of being about to hang out. I didn't know it at the time and neither did he. Çagrı has been waiting since September to get his visas to Spain so that he could attend Valencia University. He recieved his visas week and a couple days later. He was on the bus to Istanbul on the very same day to catch a plane to School. He called one of our mutual friends while on the for just a split second and said his good bye's vicariously through him.

Oct. 3--9

This is my last week for Turkish classes. To be honest I was incredibly stoked. Please, don't get me wrong I enjoyed the classes. However, at the same time I was ready for them to over. They were 12 hours a week as well as homework. I met some great people there and was very glad that I finished my two full units. I was ready though to get out and focus more on ministry, friends, adventures and school work.

I had a great time with my friend Çagrı the other day. We got to hang out, he watched me eat a huge plate of Iskander, and we got some coffee. As we were headed to a certain coffee shop we had to walk through a D&R bookstore. So we decided to check out some music and books and what not. We were just kinda waisting time and hanging out. What else do guys my age do? Anyways, as we were looking through books we came across a NT. He asked me if this was the book that I read because I am a Christian. I told him "yes" and from there our night pretty much began. He picked up a Torah next and asked me about it. I thought it was kind of odd for a muslim to not know about the torah but it wasn't a big deal. It actually explained a lot, because of the abrogation that Muslims believe. From there we had a spiritual discussion about who both Christ and Muhammad where. It was a great conversation because we were both focused on truth. We were both willing to learn from and hear each other out.

Sept 26--Oct 2 HEY YOU!!!!!

I was spending some time exploring my new home this week near Kızılay known as küçükesat (pronounced like kew-chew-ke-saat). So I was walking around and visiting stores and what not. While I was walking around, I heard the voice of the century cry out. It stopped me dead in my tracks. I heard the voice say, "HEY! YOU! YOU SPEAK ENGLISH!" This guy yelled at me from about 50 meters away, I recieved a lot of attention to say the least. I was also little freaked out and honestly had no idea that I stuck out that much. Anyways he didn't stop there. He then ran over to me and said, "Hello. We will be friends. Come with me and we will drink chai." It was definately a weird situation, but I went with it. So I followed him over to a bench and this guy was just excited out of his mind. He told me to sit down and then the next thing I know he has 3 cups of chai. I was wondering who the third chai was for. He gave it to the guy next to us. He had no idea who this guy was but it was an act of Turkish hospitality that I did not want to leave out. Anyways once he sits down he introduces himself as Ömer. He then pulls out several books such as Romeo and Juliet, Frankentstein, and some others. He then tells me to read to him. He didnt really know too much english but he was eager to learn. I had a pretty good time with this guy. After a while other people started to crowd around me as I read. Some where laughing and some where just listening. I would say that there were atleast 6 other people listening. I met a lot of people through this event. After reading several pages and helping him critique his english it began to get late. We exchanged phone numbers and parted ways.

Later on that week I was exploring again. So I went into a kitap evi (book store) at one point and had a chance to talk to the store owner for a little while. I asked him if he had any çocukların kitapları (childrens books). He got a good laugh out of my question but he did happen to have some books. So I ended up buyıng a book called, "Rita ve Adsız. This book is about a very bratty girl and her birthday. I picked it up soley on the drawings of the girl. It looked really funny and I figured that it would be great practice. Well to be honest I got the idea from Ömer.

September 19-25

Well its my first week back to Turkey from the states. I am staying in a new house with another one of my Worker friends. I currently live right outside of Kızılay and I love it. I dont have to deal with transit anymore and I am right in the heart of basically everything. One day this week I was able to go out with my roomate to a place called the sevgi (love) cafe. He goes down there apparently every so often to hang out and pray for the employees. He has made some great relationships there and most everyone there can't wait for his next return. The employees see this act as a true blessing and welcome him with open arms. The day that I joined him was a great day as well. They embraced me as well with a very warm welcome. They were continuingly handing us free çay (chai) and prayer requests. They also told me that I would be welcomed as such the next time that I come in, even without my friend. After we prayed and had our tea we continued to meet and get acquainted with more people, it was great. We basically went on a circuit. We picked up spices and went to the post office and all sorts of stuff. Everywere that we went my friend knew someone. It was pretty exciting to meet so many people in such a short period of time, I really enjoyed every minute of it. We also had quite a lot of time to just talk amongst ourselves. I had no idea how my friend had such a plethora of knowledge. This week was one of the best weeks that I have had in Ankara since July.

September 12-18: Heading back to Turkey

I departed from the states again on September 14. This was definately an exciting trip. Please do not take any of this as if I am complaining. Please just use this time to laugh with me.

First off I entered a plane full of babies and crazy mothers. I didn't notice this right off the bat, but it was less than an hour into the flight. Ok, so please try and imagine this with me. Your in a giant hollowed out buss with wings. There is no escape. It's now about an hour into the flight and then your start hearing a little bit of a whine. Then another. Then another. Until you notice that you are surrounded by screaming babies with their mothers drooling all over themselves from a slight overdose of Tylenol PM. This is basically what I imagine hell to be like. This happened about the entire flight.

I then had a seven hour layover at Heathrow Airport in London, England. This wasn't nearly as bad. I actually got to catch up on some sleep after my escape from baby hell, but I digress.

As I started to meet people on the flight to Istanbul from London I noticed that I was surround by people with very interesting stories and adventures that they were about to embark on. There was one man that was about to take a backpacking trip through the outskirts of Wetsern Turkey and end in Greece on Mount Olympus. There were also some elderly ladies that just left Cairo, Egypt and were going on a tour of Western Turkey. And still another couple that was going to Istanbul on holiday. There were a few other couples as well but there was something in common with all of these groups. They were all Canadians and extremely friendly. I had great conversations with each group.

We got to Istanbul an hour later than we were supposed too. Therefore I missed the metro to the Otogar (Bus Station). So God helped me out by introducing me to yet another guy, around my age, to help me out in this time of need. He got me a taxi, gave me some tips and information about the ride. A Canadian couple that I had met on the plane asked to share the taxi. They noticed that I could speak a little Turkish and had some experience in Istanbul. They happended to be staying at the exact place I had stayed when I spent some time in Istanbul. So on the way to the Otogar we had the most awesome Taxi driver I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. This guy was so goofy. About five minutes on the road he turns up some Techno music and we all start jamming down the road. It was a blast. Once the Taxi driver dropped me off at the Otogar he jumps out and runs to the cheapest yet best bus line to get me a ticket. It was a pretty cool experience. That was completely unexpected. I ended up taking a different bus though. At the Otogar I was able to witness a great ceremony. It was the celebrating of boys going off to become men. These boys were catching a bus to fulfill their non-optional military duties. There were people dancing, singing, playing instrument, fireworks, mobs chanting and cheering their brethern on. It was something that I had never seen before in the states. It was a very honoring time.

After I got my ticket I had about less than five minutes to find my bus and get on it. This guy from behind the desk jumps around and grabs my bags. We then raced off towards my bus. We got there just in time. Then I saw a bus going towards Ankara that was about to leave. So I start to talk to him and he basically pushes me aside and tells me to stand by the curb. However, I refused. This was my bus getting ready to leave and I was not going to buy another ticket. So I kept pursuing other employees on the bus. This seemed kind of odd to me. Then I hear a guy finally say, "hey kid thats not your bus!" He was standing by the curb, so I walked over to him. He checked my ticket and told me that my bus line was late, an hour and a half late.

The rest of the way to Ankara was pretty much a breeze but yet again God had shown me his divine hand at work. He blessed me by allowing me to come back to Ankara safe and with many more stories to add to my testimony of life on how God watches over me.

Sept. 5th-11th

I had an awesome time while I was home, although it felt very short. The entire time that I was home I helped out the most I could with wedding stuff and tried not stressing everyone out. That was hard for me because it is a called duty of mine. The main reason that I went home was to be a part of this new season in my sisters life.

When I got home it was a little weird being there at first. It's kind of hard to explain but it seemed surreal. After a few days it felt as if I had never even left. I was able to see a few of my friends but not to many. I had a blast telling a few of my stories to my family and friends about my current and past adventures in Turkey as well as all of the blessing the Christ has given me and allowed me to be a part of. I was very blessed though to see everyone before and after the wedding. I was able to see my best friend, Austin Brown, right before he left for the Air Force. I also got to see my very good friend Kris Dankers as he passed through Tennessee on his way to Texas. It was great to hear all of the great things that God has done and is doing with my friends and family while I was at home.

The wedding was absolutley amazing. My sister looked gorgeous. The wedding itself seemed to be perfect. I myself looked awesome. I don't mean to brag but come on, how couldn't I look good in a seer-sucker suit. The wedding and arrangments was done with a very good eye for fashion and style. Nothing went wrong during the ceremony nor the reception. It was great to see all of our family and friends there. It was also a blessing to have gained an older brother during this time.

If you would like to see pics of the wedding please visit:
http://brookekellyphotography.zenfolio.com/p957016086

Or you can also check out pictures on: Brookekellyphotography.com

Homeward Bound...for a little while

Sorry Everyone for not writing in a while. I cant believe so much time has passed so fast. Well lets get back to where I left off.

As most everyone who is associated with my family back in Tennessee knows that the Wedding bells were ringing. This was a stepping stone in my sister's and my families lives that I could not nor did I want to miss. Yet at first I was not sure if I would be able to go, considering I was oversea's and currency has never been a true a friend of mine, My FATHER had blessed me abundently. He lent me every penny that was needed in order for me to go home. So thank you DAD for helping me get home for my beautiful sister's wedding. It was a true blessing.

Alright so I was not just blessed with being able to come home and see my family give my sister away in marriage. I was also blessed on the trip home as well. My trip home began at the Otogar (bus station) in Aşti. The bus left at midnight. Now these busses arent just your everyday average bus. These are of epic proportion, they have their own stewards and stewardesses walking up and down the isle passing out food and drinks and making our ride as best as possible. We also had TV's and plus I did not have to sit by anyone. It was fablous not having to sniff some armpits all night. The bus took a total of six and a half hours to get to Istanbul for my early morning flight.

Once I got to Istanbl I had to figure out how to get to the metro station. It was definately more difficult to find than when I got directions online. However, I asked a few guys and eventually found out the general direction. I definately would not have found the place if it wasnt for a Turkish guy about my age, knowing a little english and the stones to pull me from the crowd of on coming taxi drivers. I made the big mistake of asking one of them for directions. Then I immediatley became the dead deer in the woods smelled by vultures. These guys totally swarmed me at six thrirty in the morning. However, My new friend not only took me to the metro station, he also paid my way. He was also headed to the metro. So we rode on the metro together for some ways until he finally had to leave. However before we parted ways he made sure I knew where to get off next and where to go from there. He was a total Godsend. If it wasn't for this kid I probably would have accepted a taxi which would have cost me forty lira or more.

My trip consisted of people blessing me the whole way home. For instance whenI got on my plane to London I sat by a very attractive Turkish woman, who happened to be a pyschatrist. We hit it off well as we discussed our roles in life and cultures. It was a very fun trip full of laughter and just plain good conversation. We also talked for another two hours after we had stopped in London for our layovers. We grabbed a bite to eat and then eventually it was time to part ways.

I had also met a few other Workers on my last flight to Atlanta. One was from India that was on a short term and the other was a man that is long term in Kenya. It was a total pleasure to get to know him. He told me some awesome stories about his time in Kenya. It was great to hear some more encouraging stories from a fellow worker on the field, living for our FATHER. Looking at this person, now in hindsite, helps me realize that there are more people in this world who wants to tell those who have not heard about the Good News Of Victory In Battle.

Turkçe Ders: August 28

My Turkish classes have been getting pretty intense lately. We have been studying the present tenses, sentence structures and also learning more vocabulary. It has not been easy at all but it has been awesome to be able to practice with a few of my Turkish friends. They have helped me immensly. It has helped my studies to have both the classroom and then the friends to practice with, which allows me to practice in real life situations. Although, I have been laughed at countless times. I guess that helps keep my ego down a little bit.

My homework lately has consisted of several 100 word essays where I would have to descirbe what kind of things I have been doing outside of the classroom and over the weekends, mainly topics that I would use outside among society. Also man true/false questions, matching, and etc... We also have gotten to the point in class where we are not allowed to use English or any other language except Turkish. Well, we are not supposed to unless we have a question regarding the sentence structure, grammar and things like that. It has its cool moments but can be very frustrating at times too. Sometimes I can't even say the simplest sentences which makes me want to pull my hair out. Then there are those times where I say a good sentence or two followed by a "Cok Guzel," meaning very beautiful or good from my Ogretman (teacher).

I just had my first Turkish exam on friday and passed with an 82%. To be honest I did a lot better than I anticipated. There were several multiple choice questions, followed by an oral true and false section. We also had to write down everything that our teacher said for another part of the oral examination. Yes, we had to right it all in Turkish. Then to end the exam we had to write a 100 word essay explaining either "what all do we do in a day" or "what we are doing after class." I chose the first topic with only recieving minimal marks. This exam was a huge moral boost for me. It helped me realize that I am learning although sometimes it does not seem like it.

Uh Oh...

Since my last adventures life has started to slow down a bit. I have started Turkish classes and go for 4 hours 3 times a week. Its a bit much but I'm still getting a lot out of it. I can have a very limited conversation. Such as "Hello" and "How are You"? "What is your name?" Stuff like that. I can also buy groceries and what not and understand to an extent of what all they are saying to me.

So apparently I am pretty good looking guy. I am obviously saying this in all humility. I was walking around the market yesterday, the 17th of August, and these 2 girls that worked at this certain market grabbed both of my arms and pulled me in opposite directions. They were saying that I was handsome and that they loved me and all sorts of stuff. I am sure that me being and American had nothing to do with it, right?

I have made a couple of friends in this past week and a half. I was asked not to give there names for certain reasons. But there is one of the guys in particular that wanted to take me to the Turkish Parliment after class one day. I am gonna call him Bob. So after class on that certain day we went to the Parliment. Now as we approached I totally forgot that I did not have any form of I.D except a photocopy of my passport. This was mistake number one for me. So as we approached the counter I handed my copy and they basically laughed at me saying that I probably wont get in but i can go to the main security desk and find out. So Bob and I went over to the main desk and again was basically laughed out. So as we where leaving Bob turns to me, kind of dramatically, and says, "hold on give, me your phone." He then makes a random call, speaks some Turkish, hangs up, and tells me to follow him with a grin on his face. So I did. We walk right past security and find a man waiting for us on the other side. He was the Prime Representative of Southeast Turkey. This was pretty exciting. Apparently Bob's dad and him go way back. So he escorted us straight to His office. He even served me some water. As we sat in his office we started having a little chat. Then we started talking about the states and I asked him if he had ever been to Tennessee. He had not and so I started telling him a little bit about it. As we were talking I ended up performing a major cultural taboo. I gave the Prime Representative of Southeast Turkey the Bird, the turkish way. By the time I realized what I was doing, it was way to late. The Turkish sign for such matter is the "OK" sign one does with his hand. I never do this sign and I still have no idea what possessed me to do such a thing. After this little stunt I heard a few more Turkish words and then we left, rather quickly. The very next thing that Bob said to me was to never to that sign.

Walking on Marble Streets

On the 2nd of August the group and I went to Ephesus. This was basically a dream come true for me. I am totally an ancient history buff and to be able to stand in the fourth richest and largest city in all of the Roman Empire was a real treat. The streets where paved with Marble stones. These stones had holes drilled into them so that the rain would drain away leaving the mrble a lot less slippery. Brilliant! There where also side walks made of small tile squares, creating some sort of cool designs. Then to top off this picture the roads where lined with columns that led straight into the middle of the city. They would use these columns for lights and would also have the option of attaching a tarp and covering the sidewalk from the sun and other elements. The artistic talent of these people blew me away. I honestly had no idea that they where so talented.

Ephesus was not nearly as relaxed as the other ancient sites that I had visited. We were still aloud to climb on some of the ruins but at the same time it was frowned upon. The leader of our group hired apparantly the number 1 rated tour guide that Ephesus has to offer, and boy was she a wealth of knowledge. Once she started talking she didn't stop until the tour was over. She told us everything we wanted to know about the temples, the culture, the land, the art, and anything else that you could probably think of. There was one thing that she pointed out to us that really intringued me. It dwelt with the Chri.stians of the time. At the begining of the road she pointed out a secret symbol that declared that there were a body of believers living within the city. It was an Icthys. An Icthys is basically greek acroustic. It compiles to read, "Je5u5 Chri5t, G0.d's son, savior." Now the letters are all laid ontop of eachother creating a special design that looks like a wheel. It was made of the letters IXOYE (there would be a horizontal line the O). I also saw it on several other locations.

Ephesus's large ampatheatre is still used today as a venue for concerts and things. It even housed a concert for the group Sting a few years back. However the concert caused some problems to the structure and even some surrounding structures that took two years to fix. It mainly now holds classical concerts and things of that nature. However they have allowed Elton John to play in Ephesus even after the Sting catastrophe.

There was also this one section that we toured that cost only an extra 5 lira, but it was totally worth it. The archeaologists have excavated and rebuilt 6 different houses of what they thought the typical ephesian house looked like. It was absolutly amazing. There were two houses to each building. They were somewhat like apartments. They were two stories buildings. Each floor was a different house. There was also a community area for dining and hanging out between all three building (6 houses). The time and effort that was put into each one these houses is totally mind boggling. There where murals painted all over the walls and floors. Each mark with whatever artistic tool they used called for so much precision i wouldn't have been able to stand it. I will post some pictures here soon so that you can see what I mean.

The Colossians

The last place that we went to on the 2nd of August was Colossae. It was on the same day that we visited Hierapolis and Laodicea, it was a very busy day. Paul had written a letter to Colossae, what we now call the Book of or Epistle to the Colossians.

This place has not been excavated yet for reasons I do not know. All that I saw was a bald spot on a hill. It did have some obviously cut stones and a couple tombs though. I did hear that most of the people over here don't know that it is a biblical site. They just think that it has historic value. Otherwise, it probably would have some kind of crew working on excavating the land where Colossae lays. Just the fact alone that most of the people dont understand its relevance should make people think. This may be a long shot but please follow me. Does this ignorance of what has been covered by dirt show or could it be a sign to how much this culture knows about the good news of victory in battle, A.K.A the G05pel, today. I think that it could. This is a country with many ruins of the past that are now covered by earth that once dwelt on the surface. Now as they uncover sites such as Laodicia and Hierapolis and find the past cultures that dwelt here in Turkey, what do they find? They can study and somehow understand or get a good realization of what life was like for these people, but that is not really what im trying to point out. What they find are remnants of hope. That yes, as it was once plagued with gods and godesses and other idols that fed the lusts of their flesh, there was still people who had hope. Many lives where saved at these times and these ancient Turks have graced us with leaving behind bread crumbs leading to the almighty. All we have to do is dig up and dust off the old and forgotten artifacts. What plagued this country then still plagues the country today. However, what is different other than the obviousness of time and styles of life? I believe it is the knowledge of the G05pel. Therefore, we as a body of believers we should feel the desire to remind a culture of who they once where. This does not only stand for Turkey but the entirety of the World. The world began with the knowledge of G.O.D. But the world has decided to let this knowledge be covered by the dirt of S.in and therefore the ones who know of its existance must tell those who need to be reminded. This is a call to action for the Body of the Ch.urch who serve the Living G.O.D.

The Land of the Luke Warm Church

The next stop after Hierapolis was of Laodicea. This place was not restored as well as Hierapolis but it is being worked on for sure. Laodicea is not that far from hierapolis. It actually had water pipelines running from both Hierapolis and Colossae. Hierapolis would send them hot water from their springs and Colossae would send them cold water from their springs (Colossae was known for their cold water source). As the water traveled from each source to its new location in Laodicea it would lose its special property, its temperature. By the time that the water reached Laodicea it Hot and Cold water would now be Luke warm. This is why the reference in Revelations makes such a cultural impact. That story can be found in Revelations 3:14-16. It references the Luke warmness of their spiritual lives and uses a physical Illustration. I don't care who you are but thats bad (the good bad, come on work with me people)!

There was much adventure to be had here. There where plenty of old ruins to seek out and climb on. Until we found the Cave! Ok, ok, it wasn't actually a cave but it was an ancient underground sewer system that was used by the Laodiceans, which is still pretty cool. So me and two other people from the group from Racine went and climbed down into this ancient underground sewer system. We had to get down and crawl on our hands and knees using a camera light as our only source of light. We traveled for a long way until it started to get too narrow for us to fit. So as we where getting ready to turn back one of the guys says, "Dude, I think I just saw something move." The very next thing I heard was a voice shouting, "BAT"!!!! The guy in front of me drops like a sack of potatoes then this rodent with rings slams right into my right shoulder. It then wizzes off and smacks into the wall rebounding to never be seen again. We left shortly after that.

Hot Springs and Ruins

On the 1st of August the group from Recine, a few workers and I left for a road trip to the Agean Region of Turkey. Our first stop was at a hotel outside of Hieropolis. It took about a 6-8 hour drive to get there so we stayed the night and just got to chill before we got to find out what was in store for us the next day. The hotel was pretty cool though. There was a belly dancer and some cool mud pools overlooking the actual pool. The mud baths though were somewhat inviting. It was a blissful place with women wearing bikinis while in their beginning stages of obesity posing on fake rocks, while some European men, sporting their high and tight speedos, helped the woman with the exfoliation process (that sounded dirty). Well I hope that visual wasnt awkward.

Anyways, the next day we drove to Hierapolis, also known as Pamukkale, whose name means the sacred city. This is the place where apparently the apostle Phillip was martyred. Also Paul had done some work in Heirapolis according to Colassians 4:13.

Hierapolis was and is still known today for their hot springs. The people of the ancient time believed that these Hot springs had magical healing power. So many would come far and wide to rest in the spring water in hope for curing some of their ailments. The Hot springs made these whit pools on the side of the mountain that Hierapolis was on. The pools where so white that they looked as if they where covered in snow. It was the chemicals and minerals in the water though that made this so. As I traveled through these pools, that first started barely covering my ankles, the water got deeper and warmer. The water was incredibly refreshing and I am pretty sure that was the first time i had been in a real hot spring. There have definately been a lot of firsts on this trip thus far.

This place is full of history and magnificent Greek beliefs concerning the gods, philosophy on life and things like that. I also saw some amazing architecture in the ruins such as temples, a fortress, a gymnasium, the ampatheatre, gates, walls, and cold pools that had ancient ruins in them, everything easily captivated me. It was such a pleasure to just imagine what life must have been like in this time period. Everything was so precise. The cut stones and columns and sculptures, it was a dream of mine to see a lot of what i did. It was so fun being able to see and climb on these ancient ruins (no mom I wasn't doing anything illegal, atleast to my knowledge).

July 26-30

Alright yall, this has been an incredibly crazy past two weeks. I apologize to everyone that I told that I would be blogging once a week. I am trying. I just haven't had or been in a situation to write latley. I also want to apologize for my lack of Pictures. My laptop ate my disk with a good portion of my pictures. So hopefully I can get those out sooner than later. Also Because I have blogged in the past two weeks I will blog as if I did. So there shouldn't be any confusion of a time frame.

Anyways, last week was a total blast. My friends, who are workers here in Turkey, had planned a trip to the Black Sea region for a little R & R, starting on the 26th. So I was invited as well. We were in a really nice resort like area that supplied us with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I swear yall the food here is absolutly amazing. Sorry Caroline if I come back a blob.

People came from all over Turkey and one guy even came from IraG. Me and him ended up rooming together at the hotel and I dont think it was coincidence either. For all of you that know me know that I have a heart, for some reason, for IraG. I still dont know why so if you ever think about I would really appreciate your pr^yers about that. We also had some great times talking to our Dad. Its funny how Pr^ying with others builds relationships with those that you pray with. Its more of a spiritual connection that bypasses everything else. You dont have to have anything in common with the person that your pr^ying with at all concerning personality and what not. But when you come together to just simply glorify God you have everything you need to make a relationship work and last.

We also had a group come down from Racine, Wisconsin to help out and perform a VBS for all of the children. This way most of the parents could actually relax. It was a lot of fun. I got to help out with taking care of the kids at times and was even given a part in the skit. I got to play a messenger boy! It was totally my element. I only had one line and I brought the thunder. I would run into the scene totally innterupting everything that was going on and would say while gasping for breath, Preacher! Preacher! I have a letter from Paul for you." I swear I deserve a Grammy or something.

My friends and I got to hear some great messages from one of the men who came down from Recine. We also had the Privelage to enjoy quite a few Je5u5 Jams (worship) with the Racine group and eachother. It was a great time for fellowship and opportunity to get to know the workers better for myself. We also got together in groups and discussed goals, plans, evaluations of the past years fruits, stuff like that. It was a great opportunity to see and be able to understand more of what my friends actually do while living here in Turkey. It was also a great opportunity to sit and listen to these workers strategize and pr^y for people and situations. Being with them was a real treat.

On Wednesday of last week, me and some of the gang jumped into a few vans and drove out to the Black Sea. This is the Black Sea.

Over in the distance you can see another beach like area. That is a woman only beach. Luckily, it is to far into the distance to see anyone for personal reasons. The reason that this was a women's only beach was for muslim woman. It gives them a chance to uncover and not have a fear that some man might see them. This women's only beach tells me me some things about the culture and also has me asking a few questions. I believe that they respect and fear men. That they do not want to make a man stumble over sexual temptation so they hide themselves; but I believe they also do so for their own well being. I have heard way to many stories to leave that untouched. However, from an americans perspective it seems that the women live oppressed and are also bound from a life of freedom and self expression. But I am also not a Muslim and these are just simple theories and observations.

Our last day in Black Sea regionwas on Friday the 30th. It was was a great way to end the trip. After leaving our hotel and saying our farewell to everyone we did a little bit of hiking in the mountain country of Ilgaz before returning back to Ankara. It was a gorgeous area and we happened to have hiked at a closed for the summer ski resort.

Week 1

Sunday July 25, 2010

Alright everyone, I made it to Turkey and didn't die. Thus far this trip has blown all of my expectation out of the water. To be honest I don'teven know where to start. So I guess i should start at the begining. I departed from home on the 19th of July and arrived in Istanbul on the 20th. a few layovers and interesting times just getting to Istanbul, but thats for another time.

Anyways, on the the way to Istanbul I was immediately greeted with Turkish hospitality. I met two Turkish teens, just a little younger than myself, that immediately wanted to know everything about me. They also wanted to fill me in on their lives as well. It was a very interesting flight, to say the least. We talked about the states, why I was coming to Turkey, their schooling, the million differerent languages that they could speak fluently, and mainly stuff like that. I really enjoyed their company. They also filled me in on some cultural taboos and customs. For example: Spitting in public is very disrespectful, but firing off a snot-rocket is culturally acceptable. So everyone who knows me could agree that our conversation was right down my alley. They also taught me some key yet basic Turkish words. For instance the word "Merhaba" means "hello" and the word "Tesekkuler" (it is missing some accent marks) means " Thank You." They also performed something really unexpected. When we arrived in Istanbul they waited for me as I got my visas and also helped me claim my luggage. Then they gave me a Turkish Lira and bought me a cart for my luggage. To top it off they waited with me for some time as I waited for my driver, who never showed up. After about half an hour they had to leave but before they left they gave me just a few more tips in how not to look so much like a foreigner. They really helped me out a lot. My Dad really looked out for me on this whole trip to Turkey. I had met some great people and recieved quite a bit of help. I definately live a blessed life.

While I was in Istanbul I had an absolute blast. I saw many historic sites and learned that a lot more Church History resides here in Turkey than I had ever expected. I got to ride a ferry down the Bosphores, which is basically just a channel. It took us to another side of Istanbul that was full of history and beautiful architecture. My dad would have thought that he was in heaven. I also got to see the Ayasophia, which is one of the great wonders of the world, and the Blue Mosque which is an incredibly big castle- like Mosque. I slept in a hostile there and met some really great people, there was one guy in particular that i had met whose name was Charlie. He was from England and a really great dude. We got to have some really great conversations about life on the terrace level of the hostile. He was going on holiday for sometime on a type of soul/identity search. He was a great guy and could really use some pr^yer.

I left Istanbul on Friday and headed for Ankara by train. This is where I will be doing most of my research and studies of the Turkish language and culture. It was great to see all of my friends when I arrived. They took me out the next day to explore the city and get my bearing straight. They showed me some great places to eat and drink chai (they drink a lot chai). They also explained everything I needed to know to get around, concerning the subways, bus system, and the city center.

Thus far the time that I have spent here has been awesome and there is not anywhere else in the world that I would rather be. The food here is great. My friends here have been more than helpful and hospitable. The locals here have been really cool as well. They are more than happy to help out in any way that they can too. For example, I was walking alone back to a friends house from church on sunday. I became confused of where I was at in the city so i asked a Turkishman for some help. Yes, I asked him with the very little Turkish I knew. Anyways, he took me by the hand and took me exactly where I needed to go. He just dropped everything he was doing to help me out, a stranger. The Turks definately live up to their hospitable name.