19 : 66

Studying the New Testament for three months has left me with a sense of a few themes that run through it. They can be found on nearly every page. The first is of course salvation through faith and not works. The other is suffering, and what it means. For the Jewish reader their Law laid out a conditional system, whereby there were punishments for disobedience and rewards for obedience (Lev. 26; Deut. 28). This mindset had remained with them for a thousand years and wasn't simply wiped clean. The Messiah was not someone they expected to suffer, because how could the Messiah be in disobedience? But He wasn't in disobedience, He was ushering in a new way. He led the example in suffering, and the scribes of the New Testament spent hundreds of pages trying to explain that. Suffering was part of the new way. There was no way around it. It was not a result of disobedience, but an instrument of change.

19 books out of 66. I feel that I have only begun to scratch the surface. They told us at the beginning of the year, "You may get some answers, but you will certainly come away with more questions."

Antakya

The first week in Antakya (biblical Antioch) has gone well. We have been warmly welcomed by the people here and are comfortably settled. I have had the privilege of befriending some girls here (about my age) and really enjoy their company.
Please pray for continued safety for our team and energy to do His will.

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.