Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Happy New Year

Well I hope all of you had a merry Christmas. Now it is on to 2009! I'm really looking forward to what God has for our family in 2009. Let me update you about the past few weeks. We went to a city about 5 hrs. east after the Sacrifice Holiday. It was coooooooooold. Negative 5 degrees to be exact. We spent the weekend with my Turkish helpers family. It was a great cultural experience. They were so nice and fed us more than we needed. Even though this city has a population of about 300,000, it is different from the big city that we're used to. On Friday most people actually go to the mosque. The streets were virtually silent. Nothing like Ankara. On our return home we had quite an adventure. We were literally in the middle of nowhere and Angie accidently shifted from 5th gear to 2nd. We sat on the side of the road in the cold for an hour waiting for a tow truck. Thankfully, he gave us a ride back to Ankara, because all of the buses were full due to the holiday. Unfortunately, riding in the tow truck turned a 5 hour drive into almost 8hrs. All is well that ends well! At least that's what they say.

The International Protestant Church had a Christmas program in Turkish. This was an opportunity for people to bring their Turkish friends to hear a clear presentation of the Good News. My helper joined me. There was a small choir that sang, a man gave his testimony, and there was a message. The program clearly presented why God sent His son Jesus to earth. I think there were about 300 people there. It was standing room only. At the end of the program they gave all the guests a book in Turkish about the meaning of Christmas and a CD of Turkish Christian music. My helper was impressed with the program. Be in prayer, that God would use what people heard that night to change their lives.

Again Happy New Year to all of you! I pray that God would show you more of His grace this year as you live your life in faith to Him.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Blood Everywhere!

Here is a quick cap of the Sacrifice Holiday. According to the news there were 2,555 wounded over the holiday. This is largely due to the fact that most people don't know how to go about killing an animal with just a knife. So people's hands, arms, and legs get cut. Also there is the animal factor. It doesn't really like to be tied up so there were a lot of people wounded by kicks from animals. The news showed almost everything except the slice of the animals neck. The city only allows the animals to be killed in a specific place. You can probably imagine blood was everywhere. There were little boys playing with cow heads, men skinning animals, etc... Nothing for the squeamish. It reminds of the sacrifices that God called for in the Old Testament. It was not a glorious job that the priest had. They had to kill the sacrifice and blood no doubt flowed. It was that blood that God required to cover man's sin. I'm glad we don't have to sacrifice anymore. The blood of Jesus Christ, the ultimate sacrifice, put an end to the sacrifice of animals. Still, we live in a country where people either out of tradition or for religious purposes sacrifice. They don't believe in the sacrifice that Jesus made.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

New Website! Crazy Day!

I know it has been forever since I've blogged. I have a lot to catch up on. Also continue to check in on the blog. I'm going to put some videos of Braxton's 1st birthday party. There is a website called Yasam Sozu that we would like for you to visit. We know you can't read it, but you can see what you think about the general look of it. Right now it allows people to download the written or audible Bible, they can also read the Word, and get a copy of a New Testament if they'd like. Please give us your opinions. We are praying that God would use it to allow us to disciple men and women all over this country.

Now the crazy day. God blessed us with the ability to acquire a vehicle. This car needed an inspection. Now everywhere you go in this country you have to wait but I think this is a little excessive. I got up and was at the inspection place by 6:30. Already I was 148 in line! I'm not joking. The first hour of waiting was calm. At about 7:30 my entire day changed. I got some water laid my car keys on the seat and shut the door. I didn't push a thing. My doors automatically locked. Uh Oh! I was in trouble. Immediately I called the locksmith. He got there but the line had already started moving. I lost valuable places in line. I was the show. 20 Turkish men gathered round to tisk tisk me with there voices while watching the locksmith. The locksmith got the door opened and robbed me in the process. Not really! It seemed like it though. Long story short. I waited from 6:30 in the morning until 6:00 p.m. at night to get my car inspected. There were some bright spots to the day. I can't believe that God allowed me to wait 12 hrs. in vain.

I spoke Turkish all day. That is wonderful.
I made some new friends. After waiting 12hrs. with a bunch of guys you learn a lot about one another.
I was able to share a simple meaning about what it means to be a Christian.
I made it on TV for the second time. The reporters asked me if I had ever seen anything like this and what it was like in America. I told them and at 8:00 p.m. that night I and my friends were on the news.
A man spotted me 70 turkish lira. I didn't have enough since I had to pay the locksmith. This was a bright spot and quite possibly the reason God allowed me to wait for 12 hrs. This man helped me with the entire process. We will see what God wants to do with the relationships that were made.
If nothing else God taught me a big lesson in patience.