A First Week Full of Blessings

So Wi-Fi in Turkey is either hard to find or a little sketchy, so we apologize that we won’t be posting as much as we originally planned to. But here’s a recap since we last posted! Tuesday we went to the pazar for the first time to buy fresh fruits and veggies, and practice some of our Turkish numbers (“bir, iki, uç, dört…”). It was so much like I had seen in the movies, and we got lots of yummy foods for our house for only 15 lira! My (Hannah’s) luggage also came in Tuesday, so I was full of gratitude for these blessings. We continued our language learning Wednesday and Friday mornings and did further prepping of our house and hearts. We attended a Turkish church prayer service Thursday and with some help, we were able to understand and pray with this congregation whose hearts are so sincere and caring. Friday we helped prepare for the fair at had youth group at which we got to sing many of the songs we’re familiar with from English worship songs in Turkish. Singing songs we’re familiar with has easily become one of our favorite ways to learn Turkish! Afterwards we all went to coffee and the park and had a wonderful time of fellowship with the friends we had made, and met new ones. A group of about 5 recently graduated college students have spent the past school year here teaching English. Many are believers and a few of them attend the church so it was wonderful getting to know them and hear their stories.

Saturday was a glorious day! We helped for the larger portion of the day at the church Mayfair and got to do crafts, play games and paint faces with lots of sweet children. We also got to know some other church members better as we served together. Afterwards we were pretty hot from being outside all day and decided our team wanted to go for a swim together. This became much more of an adventure than we imagined! We went down to where our worker had showed us was a great place to jump off cliffs and swim, but at the time there were quite a few fishermen and other swimmers. So I had the great idea to hike around (up and down) some of the other cliffs to reach a different place to jump in, out of the fishermen’s way. This proved to be fruitless, and while getting to the place I hoped to jump in was not difficult, returning was rough after realizing the location was not providential. So rough, in fact, that I completely broke my shoe and tore my shorts! Yet, this didn’t stop us; we then tried a completely different location, which was beautiful, with ancient ruins and lots of greenery, but, alas, also had no easy access to the water. Dismayed, we tried to buy me some new shoes (which ended up being only socks…and some ice cream) and decided on plan C. We resolved to try once more at the very first location and just swim beside the fishermen, and when we went down, we found a group of our new friends had just arrived, so we got to swim with them, which was way better than just going by ourselves! I was so excited (and sweaty, ready to get into the water!) that I hadn’t fully thought through that I was jumping off a cliff into the chilly Mediterranean, so upon arriving I took off my cover up and jumped into the water. However when I did, my body went into a little bit of a shock and I couldn’t breathe, but after about 20 seconds I was able to calm my breathing and was just fine. Some of our new friends came to make sure I was fine and helped me be able to get used to the ocean and notice things I may not have on my own. We swam around and had lots of fun and great fellowship with our new friends.

Not only was this a great experience, but also I feel the Lord used it to teach me a few things. First, I learned that this trip could be a bit like our adventure. Getting there and achieving goals is certainly not always the easiest or as we anticipate it to be, but there are some great blessings that we get to experience in the midst of a crazy journey. Also, while it may scare me a bit initially jumping in, God is quick to provide peace and make the experience all the better the deeper we go. Finally we can be thankful for all those around us and focus far more on the folks and beauty opposed to the danger and scariness within situations.

Sunday we went to both services at church again then went to lunch with some friends and had some time to relax and explore. Monday we went a bit outside of town to ruins of a Roman road. As Paul and Silas sailed out near where we’re staying, it is highly likely they may have walked this very road! It was so wonderful getting to appreciate both the history and beauty of this place as we hiked up a ways. It was a truly remarkable to be a part of! Tuesday we had language class and bought groceries again at the pazar, and then this morning we did some gardening outside our language school before class, and prayed over the building and all that will take place there (as it’s the same building where Casey and I will do a conversational/cultural class later in the Summer).

Thank you for all your prayers and support so far! We have surely felt them! Casey came down with a bad cold/flu thing Saturday and had to rest until today(Wednesday), but thankfully she is doing much better now! I know she would still appreciate your continued prayers, as would all our team for our own health to not interfere with us getting to do what the Lord has called us to. Please pray also that we continue to really learn the language so more relationships may begin. Sağol (thank you and God bless)! Görüşürüz (see you later)!


This was the first location I found, georgous, but not exactly safe to jump in and out of:(

The second location where we found lots of beautiful sights and ruins!

Ruins outside of the Roman road.

The actual road!