Moving!

It has been a bit of a crazy week. We went to the city where we are moving to rent an apartment. I thought oh it will take no time. Well after three days, a whole lot of hauling babies around,and a minor accident in which a nice Turkish lady put a new red stripe down the side of our van, we found a place. It seems like there are a lot of families in the area. We are excited but there is a lot of work to do before the big move. If you a student reading this, you should really think about visiting. We are moving to a big university city. As I tell all students, you will be a rock star(not sure if that is a good think or not). Anyway you know English and your an American. This is a city of around 614,000 but that number increases almost 100,000 when the students are in university. Pray for us as we make preparations to move.

Sharing others sorrow

It has been a pretty full two weeks. We've had friends from the states in and out of our house. I finally got some time to go visit some of my friends around the city. One of them is a man who works at a restaurant. We became friends because I always go there on my break from teaching English. His five month old son died. Apparently he got tangled up in his blankets and suffocated. I was shocked. I have a two month old myself. He made the comment, "My boy is in Heaven." I told him that I would pray pray for him. We talked about that when things like this happen everything else loses its importance. Later I thought, "He has the assurance that his son is in heaven, but he doesn't know if God will accept him." How sad! This was another reminder to me what a privilege it is to be accepted by God. The people we meet our lost souls. They are not just something to put in a prayer letter. They are not our projects. I think about some of the ministry that I have done and how reckless I've been. It is not right to barge into someones life so that you can make a friend or so that they can come to church or ride a bus etc... and not be there when they are hurting. If we truly care for their souls we will be there when it really matters. Many times God chooses to use those difficult circumstances in peoples life to give us an opportunity to show the love of Christ to them. Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide me as I continue to talk with this man.

Who are you fooling?

This is just a note for anyone who reads this and is afraid of working in what some call closed countries. Many people are afraid that people in the country they work will find out that they are a Christian worker(missionary). They go to extravagant measures to be sure to look like a true business man or something else. Even if you are a legitimate business man they will still not believe you. The fact is people already assume what you are. Everyone is a missionary for some cause or another, and every major religion(Islam, Buddhism, etc...) has missionaries. I am pretty open with people that I know. So I was at work today and my boss who is Turkish told one of my students while we were in class that I was a 'misyoner.' Now the only thing that I have ever told my boss was that I want to teach the Bible to Turkish people. Now I don't use the term because people don't associate it with a person that loves God and wants to proclaim his message to others. My boss did use the term. I told him that I don't use that term, but that I want to tell people about what the Bible teaches. The people in what some call closed countries need to see that people who love God and want to preach His message are not threats. The more open you are the better. Of course there are times when you don't tell just anyone everything. Jesus did this many times. If you remember the Pharisees asked by what authority He performed his works. He told them that if they answered his question he would tell them. So he asked them if John's baptism was from heaven or of men. They didn't answer Jesus and He didn't answer them(Matthew 21:23-27).We don't waste our words with people who aren't interested. With those who are interested we show them our hearts.

The Law

I was talking today to one of my friends and telling him why I love the book of Galatians. Why do I? Because Paul defends salvation by grace. Why do people want to be tied to the laws of their religion? Jesus completed the law. That is why we don't have to. So here is what I told my friend. The law is like a metro bus drive. These bus drivers follow the rules and that is it. If you are not at the bus stop when they stop they won't open the door. Yesterday the bus was stopped at a light and it was pouring rain. A man ran up to the bus to see if the bus driver would let him on the bus. No way! The bus driver didn't even think about it. Another time I saw this old woman. She was at least seventy. She didn't push the button to get off. She asked the bus driver to stop. No way! She didn't push the button. That is the law! There is no bending. No mercy. You either keep it all or you are guilty of all. With Jesus there is mercy. Just as many people are tied to their religion, Jesus wants us to be tied to him. Paul said this in Gal. 2:16, "...for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

Planting Seeds

I was reminded some weeks ago about the power of the seed. A seed can sit on a shelf or in a bag or wherever for years and it is of no benefit. It won't bring forth fruit. However, if that seed is planted, that seed will die. When it dies it brings forth fruit. For a couple days last week I had the opportunity to spend time with a man who will be moving to Turkey and another young man who is praying about what God wants him to do. They explained to me some of the opportunities they have had planting the seed of the Gospel in this country. They can only speak with the English speakers in the country but God has allowed them to meet some great contacts to witness to. I'm sure that these people that they have met will continue to be great friends. This is what you want when people come into a country. Let them plant seeds so that those who remain can water and God will give the increase. We must be faithful planters of the Gospel, because Satan wants to steal those seeds that have been planted. Remember planting is not an easy job. You have to till the land, remove rocks, or in some countries boulders. After that you have to dig rows in which to plant the seeds. After all the hard work, what a great thing it is to see a stem pop up through the ground. Sometime later that seed which died matures and creates fruit with which you can plant more seeds.

Semantics

One part of serving in a country where there is not total religious freedom is using the correct words. I was reminded of this today. O group of men and I were able to talk to the head of a children's camp here in the country. He has to go to all the authorities and explain what he is doing. Here are a couple of examples: They can't use the word 'education' because that would mean the Ministry of Education would have to approve what they are teaching. Instead they used the word study. They can't call it a 'summer camp' so they have to call it a vacation or holiday excursion. Some churches which established themselves as foundations have had problems because they used the words Sunday 'school' which implies teaching. This means that the Ministry of Education would need to approve what they are teaching. The man who talked with us wanted prayer for his upcoming meeting with the authorities. One word could make a huge difference.

There are always opportunities

Once a week on Tuesdays there is a church that does an outreach in the city. They usually offer soup or tea for free form 2:00-5:00. Before everything starts we pass out some flyers. We want people to know there is a Turkish church in their area and that they can come and talk whenever they want. Here are some of the questions we get asked: "Why is it free?" "Do you get paid to do this?" "What is in the soup?"

Three young men showed up to eat some soup. One of them has been coming regularly. I asked them what they thought about the Bible. They told me that they had read it a little. One of them asked if the Bible had been changed. Now what they are taught here is that all the Christian elders got together at the first Council of Nicea which is Iznik, Turkey, and decided which books to include in the canon and which ones not to. Actually here the story is even worse. Many Turks will tell me that they stacked all the books on a table and the ones that fell off were not included in the canon. So before I came to Turkey I could have cared less about what happened at the Council of Nicea. We have to be ready to answer people. So I explained to this young man what really happened at the council of Nicea. It had nothing to do with the canon of the Scripture. I explained to him the congruency of the Bible. He actually wanted to stay longer and talk but his friends wanted to go. I hope to see him next week.

Yesterday I was sitting on a park bench studying when someone came and sat down by me. I didn't say anything, but about 5 minutes later this young man asked me what I was studying. I told him and he asked me how I make decisions in my life. This was an interesting question. I told him that I try to live by what the Bible says. Then he told me he was an atheist. This led to a long discussion about what happens after we die. I also explained to him why being good is not enough to be accepted by God. I hope to contact him again and talk some more.

God gives us opportunities to speak of Him everyday. We need to be sure we are ready.