Ignorant Historian

Trip by the Numbers…
10 closer relationships with teammates
9 hours traveled by van or bus one way (for a

total of 18 hours)
8 times through airport security (patted down

and bag checked only once)
7 days spent in country
6 thousand estimated believers in a country of

70 million
5 calls to prayer heard daily
4 meals eaten daily on average (and the food is

good!)
3 national believers met
2 kids babysat
1 God we sought to glorify

Picture above: teammates Greg, Adrienne, Wayne, and Sean

Picture below: whole team when we visited another of the 7 churches in Revelation, (L to R) Sean, Pastor Dwayne, Wayne, Ronnica, Courtney, Adrienne, Chuck, Greg, Andie, Chris, and Scott

Overview
It was a great trip. God really showed me some different things than the first time that I traveled there. While we didn’t get to make too many contacts with nationals, we did get lots of opportunities to pray for the people that we saw. The workers were very greatful for coming and sharing the holiday with them. Our team worked well together and were able to laugh and fellowship together.

Friday, November 17
-Started our journey.
-Visited Times Square during our long layover at JFK.
-During our long trans-Atlantic flight, I sat next to a college-aged national named Yesim who is studying in the US. We had a good conversation about God and I got to answer some of her questions about Christianity and the Bible. Because she studied in the US, she had more contact with the gospel though I could tell she didn’t “get” it. Sadly, she was drinking the whole trip so after a few hours we were unable to have a meaningful conversation.

Saturday, November 18
-Arrived in our destination city.
-We received a brief training and found out what we would be doing throughout the week.

Sunday, November 19
-Visited the ruins of Ephesus, a city where Paul ministered and home of one of the earliest churches. Ephesus is also one of the 7 churches in Revelation. (The library is pictured above.)
-Worshiped in the amphitheater at Ephesus, the most likely location for the silversmith riot in Acts 19.

Monday, November 20
-Visited a town of 150,000 people. (picture on right)
-Had a hard time meeting people who spoke English because it is not a tourist area. It reminds me that people are needed who are willing to learn the language and go there for a longer time span and build relationships in order to better reach out to the locals.

Tuesday, November 21
-Traveled to a city of 250,000 where several on our team went 3 years ago. At that time, there were no believers, but today we got to meet 2! (picture on left)
-Our reception in this city was not as pleasant as in some of the other areas. One old lady appeared to be placing a curse on us, but who knows. The only things these people know about Americans is our foreign policy in Iraq and the immoral images that come out of Hollywood.

Wednesday, November 22
-Traveled back to our original city.

Thursday, November 23
-Spent the day serving the workers. We helped as much as we were allowed with the Thanksgiving dinner. We had brought most of the food needed with us when we went.
-Shared a wonderful Thanksgiving meal and service with the workers and got to share what we were thankful for. (my “family” is pictured below: Adrienne, Greg, Wayne, and I)

Friday, November 24
-Shopped in the bazaar.

-Seven of us babysat the workers’ twin 5-year-old’s while the grown-ups went out to dinner. The kids (and the adults for that matter) are not used to having so many Americans around and really seemed to enjoy us.

Saturday, November 25
-Traveled back to Raleigh.

Praises:
-Uneventful travel (us and all are bags made the entire journey)
-Good time with the workers
-Our eyes were opened to the work needed

Continue to pray:
-That God will raise up laborers to go
-That the church will be a faithful encouragement to those who go
-That the Turks’ eyes will be open to the Gospel

(Picture at right is of the cisterns located in a fort Alexander the Great built. They were just open like that, about fifteen feet deep!)