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.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, November 1, 2010
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.
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.
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