I have a turtle!

We spent last week doing an English Camp in a village called Duden. Meeting the children and families in Duden was an amazing experience! We went to the village each day for 2-3 hours. The first day when we arrived there were about 12 kids who joined in the lesson. By the end of the week, the Camp had grown to include 20 kids and some adults!

Tyler played soccer with the young men. They set up a court in the road and marked goal posts with stones. One day we learned about body parts and he led the group in singing songs such as "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes," and the Hokey Pokey!

I played Hopscotch, volleyball, and frisbee with the girls. We used sidewalk chalk to trace outlines of each other on the road. One day I taught the lesson on animals. We learned to say "I have a cat, I have a dog." On that day a 12 year-old girl brought her turtle to the Camp for show-and-tell. She stood up and said, "I have a turtle," and indeed she did, there was the evidence to prove it!

Many families in this particular village have migrated from Eastern Turkey. Some of the families are Kurdish and others are Roma people (commonly referred to as Gypsies). Some of the children appeared malnourished. All of them were so grateful that we came. Each night as we left they followed our van out of their neighborhood. On our final day with them, they asked for our Facebook names and one of the girls looked at me and said, "I love you, Meg." I cannot remember when I have been as touched as I was in that moment.

A new week

Hello friends,

It's hot. Hot and humid. We're finding much grace in the midst of it, though, through swimming pools, air conditioned rooms, and cold smoothies. We are glad to be here.

Today (Monday) we start an English camp in a nearby village, which will take place each evening. We go armed with a few basic lesson plans and crafts, a box of snacks, a soccer ball, and a guitar. What will happen...who can say? We'll let you know.

Meg and I had a great opportunity over the weekend to go with our friend Andrew and his brother Marcus to the ruins of the ancient Greek city Termessos, nested in the mountains nearby. It was a mountain stronghold which withstood even the armies of Alexander the Great, but was eventually abandoned in 600 AD after the periodic earthquakes dealt their final blow. It stands now as it was when it was abandoned, weathered by many centuries but almost entirely unexcavated. We met few other explorers there, hiking and taking pictures. Here's the amphitheater which was built into the summit of their city:























So, for now, we bid you adieu!

















P.S. - A kind friend arranged for us to borrow a camera while we're here! What a blessing.

Camera-less

After an unsuccessful attempt to repair our digital camera, it is in tiny pieces all over the desk. So, for the time being, we have no lens through which to show you our experience here. Hopefully we can still get some pictures from others to share with you!

I guess we will have to sharpen our use of word pictures.

9:30 am. I got on the dolmus (bus) to the center for our English camp. A woman in head to tow black covering sat next to her husband. Another woman had a bleached-blond pony tail. A child stood and pressed her face to the window, steadying herself against the lurching bus. A friendly Turkish man with a dark mustache leaned across the aisle and tapped me on the shoulder to make sure I knew when to get off. I crossed the street and found the alley marked with the sign for the Oscar Hotel and followed it, sided by rambling stucco walls and sun-scorched wooden shutters. Out at the main boulevard I walked on a sidewalk of polished marble tile, along the tram line and a row of palm trees dividing traffic. With the ruins of an ancient city wall on the other side of the street, to my right Western music pulsed out of hipster boutiques and cell phone stores. A man with half his front teeth smiled at me, rang his bell and said "Ice cream!" I passed a bread vendor with white hair and rolled-up sleeves methodically sweeping crumbs out of his display case. A yellow lab lay in the sun, chained to a mountain bike. Almost to the destination now, into the old city, over cobblestones, as the sun grew higher and hotter. Ten o'clock.

Remembered of God

Although we are contributing in small ways to the church here, I feel like a child in many ways. I do not know how to buy a sandwich, how to get around the city, or how to read the signs in the park. It is humiliating to go from adult-level competence in one culture to infancy in another.

A woman who knew nothing of this struggle came to me yesterday at church. She said, "Just your being here means so much to us. You do not need to do anything. Since you have come, we know that we are not forgotten."

We cannot "do" much in our time here, but we can let believers in Turkey know that God remembers them.

"But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.' 'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

Though she may forget, I will not forget you!' " (Isaiah 49:14-15)

Happenings

Since arriving we have spent a few days acclimating to the time change, learning survival Turkish, and hearing many different languages. Antalya is a very international city, with numerous residents from Germany, Russia, Poland, and Iran. Just as we begin learning Turkish, it seems like learning Russian and Farsi would help us to connect with people as well!

On Sunday, Tyler led worship at St. Paul Union Church, Antalya's international church. This week we are assisting with an English Camp for Russian-speaking children. Today, we began leading a group for the other short-term volunteers in Antalya. Our group will focus on the theme "Listening to God."

Hazy hills

I wonder if the mountains were hazy like this when the apostle Paul and his friend Barnabus sailed out of this city (Acts 14:25-6). I wonder if these majestic peaks brought to mind a quotation from their Hebrew Bibles, or stirred their hearts in praise. I wonder if they took strength and courage for their journey from knowing that the God who made these hills had called them into his love, and was the one who had sent them to tell the world about his love through Jesus.

Walked down to the sea today--only a half mile from where we're staying--and traversed the winding concrete steps down the cliff to dip our feet in. We went back later for a swim!

I got a chance to meet Andrew, with whom I'll be doing some worship leading over the next few weeks. Tomorrow morning is a meeting for everyone helping with the English camps and VBS for the next few weeks. It's nice to have this gradual introduction to our busy time here.

Arrival in Antalya

After 22 hours in transit, Tyler and I arrived in Antalya, Turkey last night. I cannot remember an easier passage into a foreign country. We bought our Visas for $20 in the Istanbul airport and as we passed through Passport control, the border officer hardly even looked at us!

We know little about this place, except that at first appearance Antalya is a beautiful city. This morning I sat on the balcony outside our room. From the balcony you can see the Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus mountains behind it. Most places we go, we go for ourselves, to see the beauty, to climb the mountains, to get an education, but Tyler and I have come here for God. All we know about Antalya is that God longs for the hearts of the people here. God is the king of this city.