Turkish Delights

Arriving in Turkey, we had a few days of ATL in Istanbul. I knew God would use that short time, but what I didn’t expect was for him to pack our days with amazing encounters with locals and lots of sharing the gospel. 

We shared with our taxi driver coming back from the biggest mosque in Turkey, there was a long discussion with the owner of a rug shop right around the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and there were several conversations with people in the mosques who came up to us to give us information on Islam. We freely shared the good news with each of those people, and many more. I was blown away by how many people God put in our path to tell about Him.

Then my team traveled to our ministry location for the month. We were blessed to have a host in a town near the ruins of Ephesus. Her name is Nese (pronounced Nay-shay) and she is a fiery woman of God. She lives out her faith boldly in her community, using her shop as a place to interact with people. Even the chief of police knows who she is and is a friend of hers. He often hangs out at the pharmacy next door to Nese’s shop, and he was one of the people my team got to know during our time there. He made us lunch one day which turned out to be raw veal meatballs called köfte. It wasn’t my favorite because they make it really spicy. But it was an authentic Turkish recipe.  Our time there was spent doing all kinds of ministry. Nese lives a life directed by the Lord so she doesn’t have a specific schedule. That gave us freedom to tag along everywhere she went. We helped clean out the church building after a year of being closed, and we were able to attend their first service since the COVID shutdown.

My team was invited to have dinner with a local Kurdish family. It was a cool experience, but it challenged me. Read about it here.

Nese also took us to meet some Syrian refugees that she has worked with in the past. They invited us for tea and we got to play with all the kids.

One of my favorite things about Turkey is how relational the people are. Once we were introduced to Nese’s friends, we spent as much time with them as we could, with our trusty Google translate app since only Nese knew English. One friend in particular, N, we grew pretty close to. She helps Nese at the shop, and she is an amazing cook! She taught us how to make baklava and sarma- grape leaf wraps with rice inside.

Another one of our favorite people is Nese’s sister, S. She came to visit while we were there so she went on a few adventures with us. She is in her 70s and never had any children. When it was time for her to return home, she hugged us all and said we were the daughters she never had. It was a sweet time of pouring into her, and sharing the love of Christ with her. Pray that God would stir her heart and draw her to himself.

We also went to the same coffee shop all the time, so we got to know our barista, Z, pretty well. He was given a Bible at the end of our time there so pray that he reads it and that God works in his heart. 

Outside our time serving with Nese, we did some adventuring. We explored the ruins of Ephesus and saw the Virgin Mary House.

We went to Hierapolis, where the disciple Philip was martyred.

Right by Hierapolis is Pamukkale- cotton castle. It gets its name from the white rock formations made by the mineral-rich water that flows down it.

Life in Turkey was so sweet. Our town had an open market every Saturday with mountains of fresh produce, and almost every shop we went to offered us tea, which quickly became a staple for us. Nese took us to a few restaurants to try Turkish food, but she also made us some fantastic home cooked meals.

I quickly fell in love with this country and its people. As I prayed for God to break my heart for what breaks His, He broke my heart for the Muslims there, following a religion and missing the true, loving God. I could definitely see myself returning there to work with Nese. She has many connections and opportunities, but she needs more willing hands to help. I guess we will see where God leads me after the Race. He is using this year to show me so many different ministries and options for the future.

Turkey, you are a favorite of mine. I’ll be back one day, but until then I leave a big piece of my heart with you.