Persecution

I experienced a tiny taste of persecution yesterday while handing out flyers for the church. An elderly man was very upset and yelling at us. He roughly grabbed the flyers from myself and my friend. We tried to explain that we didn't know what he was saying but he only yelled louder.

Another man appeared out of nowhere and defended us in Turkish and told us to go. We walked very quickly away and didn't come back to that area.

It was scary enough for us, but we have the comfort of knowing that in a few months we will be back home and can scream Jesus name in the streets if we want too. I can't imagine living with this reality every day and having your own friends and family angry and threatening.

Please pray for the Turkish Christians who face this and much greater persecution every day.

Istanbul (not Constantinople)

We've been here for two weeks and are finally starting to settle into a schedule. We have been trying to get into english clubs where people just chat to practice their english. It's a great way to meet people and have a reason to talk to them. We have gotten into a few but I haven't had a chance to go yet. They can only take a certain number of people and there have been multiple miscommunications and cancellations.

There has been a lot of confusion because there is another YWAM team here. They have a larger travel budget and so can take on more "jobs" that we can't get too.

Last week we had some teaching on evangelism and handed out tracks in the street (this is apparently not illegal). We also spent a day at a mosque hearing from the head Imam and had a tour and explanation of the first verses of the Qu'ran.

The next day we were warmly received at a Cem Evi (Shi'ite Alevi). They prepared a board room for us with water, tea, notepads and pens, homemade Baklava and other Turkish pastries. They explained their beliefs to us and the Dede (literally Grandfather, who is a descendant of Mohammed's nephew Ali) was a very sweet older man. Their beliefs are more about equality between men and women. Both genders worship together and participate in the Cem Evi (theoretically), but the women made food and served tea while the men talked with us.

Got to go now, but will write more later.

Leaders

Please pray especially for our outreach leaders. They shoulder a lot of responsibility and look after everyone else. Please pray for a special protection on them and their families.

Zac

Hannah

Michele

Video for Turkey Team

Prayer Pics

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God's Heart for the World

There are almost 7 billion people in the world.

1 out of 3 people in the world claims to be a strong Christian.

There are about 4,600 groups in the world that have not heard the Gospel and will not hear it unless someone goes to them.

There are no churches in those groups and no one trying to reach those people.

There are approx. 239 countries in the world.

YWAM has a permanent presence in about 170 countries.

Pics

Turkey Facts

I have been studying about Turkey. Here are some things I have learned.

The population of Turkey is approx. 75 million. That is twice the population of Canada.

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, is home to 12 million. Thats more then twice the GTA.

99% of those who live in Turkey are Muslim (mostly Sunni), 1% are Christian and Jews.

77% of the workforce are in agriculture or industry.

USD 1 = 1.52 Turkish Lira

In 2005 there were 24 National, 17 Regional, 218 Local, a total of 259 TV Stations.

Turks were the first to give the Dutch tulips.

Istanbul is the only city built on two continents (Europe and Asia).

The number of species of flowers in Turkey is approximately 9,000, of which 3,000 are endemic. In Europe for instance there are 11,500 species. This shows the richness of flora and fauna in Anatolia.

Required Reading

This afternoon we had to pick a book to read on YWAM history. The two I recognized, I had already read in Kona (Is That Really You God? and Making Jesus Lord, by Loren Cunningham). So I asked God which one I should choose and He led me to pick Against All Odds by Jim Stier.

Later when we received our borrowed copies, I looked at the sign-out card. One of the most recent people to sign it out was Alice Petheram (my friend who did DTS here a few years ago). It was a great encouragement to me as I have been feeling a little blah today. Not only was it the same book she read but the exact same copy.

Flights

Flights are booked and I'm heading to Montana on the 19th of September :)