Another one on the way!

Angie is 7 weeks pregnant! We went to the doctor today and heard the baby's heartbeat. Please keep Angie and the baby in your prayers.

Circular Argument

Yesterday my teammate and I went out together to talk to some security guards that he had met. They are a bit of a captive audience as they have no other place to go. So they were bashing America and saying lots of other meaningless things, when I told them all of the bad things that happen in the world are because people have a heart problem. This got us on the topic of 'religion'. They immediately said the Bible has been changed. I told them no it hasn't. I showed them what Jesus said in Matt. 5:17&18. They were surprised that I had the Bible with me. So I told them if the Bible has been changed, tell me when, who, how, and why. They said they would bring their Koran tomorrow and we could bring our Bibles. It was a duel. We set up some rules where they spoke for 30 minutes and we said nothing, then we would speak for 30 minutes and they wouldn't say anything. They didn't follow the rules, but we were respectful.

So today we met. They started. They went way over their 30 minute timetable. They read a lot of different verses trying to claim that the Koran says the Bible has been changed. Actually the Koran doesn't say that. It says that Jews and Christians have distorted God's Word with their tongues. Nothing about physically changing it. Now for my partner and I the point was not to argue but get to the Gospel message. Here is what I laid out to them: First I just talk about how powerful God is. Then I said:
God cannot change.
You can't separate God's Word from God. So God's Word can't change.
The Bible hasn't been changed.
They responded that God allowed the Bible to be changed so that He could send a better book. I told them that then makes God like man. Almost as if God said, "Oh, this book is no good. I need to do a better job." I said many other things, but there's no need to list all of them. Anyway, they just kept going around and around with the same argument. It was actually very irrational at time. I just wanted to go on to what I had prepared to teach them. Actually one of my friends uses this method. I wanted to show them the principle that Jesus taught that the Law, Psalms, Prophets, and N.T. were actually one book. I then would go through the principle of why the prophets sacrificed. They took a lot of time without letting me talk. Finally I said, you have been talking for hours. It's my turn. They admitted that they had taken my right. So finally I was able to present this principle. God encouraged me because there were three guys that came and listened who were not workers. This is really the reason I shared this presentation. I was fed up with the guys I had met. I didn't want to cast my pearls to the pigs. The other men men listened. One guy kept interrupting me asking me why we don't sacrifice anyone. This was the exact point that I wanted to make. I promised him, if he would listen I would tell him. I don't know what God will do with His Word. We hope to go back regularly to let them talk to show them that they don't really have that much to talk about. At the same time, we want to communicate Christ to them. Pray that God's Word would fall on good soil. I'm so glad that as Peter said, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy..." The Holy Spirit gave me such joy as I reached the conclusion when John says, 'Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." I then asked them if they thought Jesus would agree with John's witness. Some said no. In Matthew 20:28 Jesus said that He came to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Enough said!

Prayer Requests

I am so glad that God cares for His children and knows exactly what they need. The Lord knew I needed some encouragement and this week has been just that. I visited the area where we first lived when we came to this city. It's about 40 minutes from where we live now. I have some friends there. We began talking about how life was going. We made our way around to what Christians believe about fasting. I explained what the Bible says. My friend told me I was number 1, and the only thing that would be better was if I were Muslim. He told me he didn't want me to burn. I told him the same. It sounds weird but were friends we can talk like that. Anyway, I explained to him and the man listening that what I tell them is not my own theory. It is from the Bible. We talked about many things. In the end, my friend asked me if I could give him a Bible as a gift. Of course I told him I could. That is the prayer request. I'm praying that he will be willing to meet regularly to study what he will read. So that was just God reminding me that He is still at work.

I had another great opportunity today to explain why we needed Jesus to give His life for our sins. My language helper started asking me all kinds of questions about what is different about the Bible and the Koran. What an opening. I wish I was articulate enough in Turkish. He repeated to me what I was trying to say. So at least he understand. Pray for this also. He's one of my language helpers. So we spend a lot of time together.

More from Our Trip

So just to remind you this is news about a trip my partner and I took to the south of the country. Just as God was with us when we went and visited our first city, he was with us on the second. At first, I thought we would not get to meet anyone on the second leg of our journey. I couldn't contact anyone who was actually in the city we went to visit. We decided to visit Tarsus. The home of the Apostle Paul. The information they gave about Paul was very accurate. We visited his well and the supposed area where he lived. Don't ask me how they know this. So it wasn't until the morning that we were on our way to the next city when I got a call from a man we wanted to talk with. Our friend from the church we had met in the previous city had given a local pastor my number. He met us in the city we visited and talked with us and answered our questions. This city probably has a population over 650,000 people and has a university that has 23,000 students. Many people migrate from the east of the country, so the culture is a mix of ethnic Turks, Kurds, and even Arabs. This is definitely a city that needs more work in it. The highlight of the trip was to be able to sit down with 3 young Turkish believers. These were teenagers from 17-19. We sang hymns, prayed, and even played UNO with them. Talk about so weird UNO rules, they had them. We asked them some questions. I asked particularly if they thought there was a fear among their countrymen to even ask questions about the Gospel, Bible, and Jesus. They said that there is fear. Fear that they will lose their job, be disowned, or general persecution. This fear can be so hindering that they feel it is better if they just don't talk about it. The exciting thing is that there are those who despite fear, God has gripped their heart and they step out and find the truth that is in God's Word. Pray for us. We desire to be in the city where God wants us.

Some News from Our Trip

Ok so five days ago my partner and I got back from a trip down south. The Lord was really with us. We tried to set up meetings before we left but nothing worked out. We arrived in our first town at 6:30 a.m. It was about 95 degrees with what felt like 100 percent humidity. At that hour nothing was happening. So we got a ride to the city center and begin walking around. Blindly we walked. Come to find out we were walking in the right direction. We had some news that there was a church in the area so we made our way there and the door was open. We walked in and they were meeting were prayer. Great timing! We met the believers there. We prayed with them and then we talked for quite some time. There pastor was the first Latin American to come to the country. He's from Mexico. He has been here fifteen years. God has used him to establish three churches and help build another one. I was really excited to meet him because a Peruvian pastor has been in contact with me. He has a huge burden for this country. This is a matter of prayer. It was a huge encouragement to see God using people from the Latin American culture to reach this country. The pastor we met with feels that people from Latin and South America can more easily adapt to life here than Americans. Isn't it great to see God using people who were influenced by missionaries and now they are taking the Gospel to other countries. The pastor answered all our questions and was quite encouraging. The city he works in has about 1.5 million people. There is good work going on, but plenty to be done in this area. There are many details, I will try to write about the rest of our trip soon.

Excitment and Disappointment

My partner and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of some of the southern part of the country. It was quite a trip. One city included Tarsus, the birthplace of the Apostle Paul. I hope to get some pictures up and share some more information with you. Needless to say we learned a lot about the region. We also met some men who are doing good work. One city we visited has a population approaching one million with a university of 23,000 students. There is quite a need there. This is a matter of prayer for us. We want to be where God wants us. I'll share more later.

The disappointment. I finally found a Turkish pastor who was willing to let us attend his church. I was really excited about this as it is really hard to attend a Turkish church if your a foreigner. This is one of the few churches I know that is rather conservative in this city. Unfortunately I received an email saying that someone with a church that helps them is coming to work in the country and for this reason they don't want to many foreigners. So we got the boot so to speak. Of course, we are disappointed. We rest in the fact that God knows what's best. I don't know what He is doing. He is working though, because a door that I thought was open He shut. Please keep us in your prayers.

Let me Explain

Anywhere in the world where ministry is done, there must be an effort to find the people that God is preparing to receive His word. Many times we use the term 'fishing' for this. In a country like this you must sow the seed to hundreds, thousands, and millions to find those people who are questioning. We have had some opportunities of late to do some basic outreach. One way has been through a survey. It is a simple survey with about 5 quotes from the Bible. The survey is about personal improvement and the Holy Book(Bible). The aim of the survey is to point people to a website if they want more information.
Another opportunity we had was to simple take some guitars and sing hymns for the Psalms. Especially those written by David. We went with a friend who has been in the country for a long time and just simply asked people if they new anyone who was sick or needed encouragement. We ended up singing to a group of five. It was a great way to sing of how God is our salvation, helper, protector, etc...
I'd love to hear if you have any creative ways to help reach people!