It was a frustrating day. I tried to make plans to get together with different local friends, but no one was available. The apartment was too hot to be comfortable, so I decided to take my 18 month old daughter to the park thinking that at least she could be happy! While my daughter played, I sat down on a bench and turned to a woman near me who was holding a boy about my daughter’s age. “How old is he?” I asked just like I ask most moms I meet. This time this simple question was different. Little did I know that before I even opened my mouth, *Naomi somehow knew that we would become friends. By the time we left the park, we had exchanged phone numbers. In our brief encounter she realized that my daughter obeys in a way that her son doesn’t. I had the opportunity to tell her that I follow Jesus. I explained that the Bible teaches children to obey their parents and that as I teach my daughter to obey me I am teaching her to obey God. I was amazed how much I was able to share and that she listened with interest. A week later my husband, daughter and I were invited over for her birthday celebration with several of her close friends. We were honored to be included and look forward to see what God will do in this relationship.

(A few days ago…)

I was visiting Naomi again for tea. This time her mom was there too. Previously Naomi told me that her mom had been friends with some foreign Christian women years ago. I think she said that her mom had read some of the Bible with them. So this week the mom told me more about her foreign friends. They had explained a lot to her about the Bible and Christianity. To round out the discussion she had tried to explain about Islam, but she told me that she didn’t know a lot about it to tell them. The one thing she did know for certain was that if someone cut her veins, she would bleed with Muslim blood, and if someone cut the veins of her foreign friends, they would bleed with Christian blood. I haven’t heard it explained to me so clearly before. The people with whom we work hold a deeply profound belief that religion has to do with nationality and geography. Praise God that He has the power to overcome ethnic “barriers.” Praise God that He is not just the God of Americans!

My new friend, *Fern has proved to be much more interested in Jesus than I originally thought. I decided to start sharing with her slowly and had only told her that I was a believer and briefly discussed fasting with her. One day we were hanging out and I told her I was going to church the next day. I went on to describe it to her and she enthusiastically wanted to join me. I agreed and took her to a Turkish fellowship with me and she got to hear the message very clearly spoken in her language. The believers there very thoroughly explained the gospel message to her. Afterwards, I the Lord’s supper to her and what it symbolizes. She was somewhat overwhelmed because it was such a new experience for her. Seeing that she was overwhelmed, I told her that I knew she received a lot of information all at once and I will need to unpack it with her in the future. She enthusiastically replied, “Yes, yes, You need to.” She has been continuing to communicate with me consistently, so I pray that the Lord is working in her heart.

Last week the normally quiet, blistery summer afternoon was interrupted by the chirp of our office doorbell. Ethan, who handles our export company’s shipments, just happened to be in the neighborhood. So, offering our guest a cold glass of water, we sat down to talk.
After a few minutes of small talk, Ethan asked, “Have you made the pilgrimage?” Many Catholics consider a visit to the traditional site of Mary’s house a pilgrimage of sorts. He was shocked to hear that I had been to many historical sites near Mary’s house, but had never actually been to see Mary’s house itself. “Why not?” he asked. “I am Protestant,” I answered. Taking the bait, Ethan asked “So, what’s the difference between a Protestant and a Catholic?”
“You know how Muslims believe they have an angel sitting on each shoulder,” I began. “You believe that one records the good things you do, and the other records the bad things you do?” I continued. He nodded. “Well,” I continued, “Catholics basically believe a lot like you do—that if one’s good deeds outweigh their bad deeds—then they will go to heaven.”
Trying to get to the point, I explained, “But the Bible teaches that regardless of how many good deeds I do, I am still responsible to God for my sin.” I took a New Testament off the shelf and showed Ethan that the wages of sin is death. “God is just… He must be true to His character. He can’t simply ignore my sin because of the good things I do,” I explained. “The good news is that Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, and then died as a sacrifice in my place to take away my debt.”
Ethan interrupted, “But, the Quran teaches that, that Jesus never died on the cross. Instead, at the last minute, God put Judas Iscariot in Jesus place.” “But that is the good news!” I responded. “Jesus came to die as a sacrifice for my sin. Without a sacrifice, I still owe the penalty for my sin. However, those who put their faith in Jesus will be saved.”
“I believe in Jesus,” Ethan responded. It is true that all Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet. However, turning to John 14:6, I pressed a little further. “Do you only believe in Jesus the prophet, or do you believe in Jesus the Messiah? The One who came to take away the sin of the world. The One Who, according to this verse, is the only way to heaven.”
It was obvious that Ethan was wrestling with what he had just heard. “I hope what I believe is right, but I have no guarantee,” he said. “According to this, if I am wrong, I will not go to heaven.”
“So, have you ever read the New Testament?” I asked. “Only a few pages,” he responded. “If you like, you can take this one” I offered. Clearly wanting to read it, he hesitated, “But, you were reading it. Are you sure?” “It’s yours, you take it,” I smiled.
Pray that the words of Scripture penetrate deep into Ethan’s heart.
Pray that Ethan would come to know the person of Christ as more than just a prophet.

· Dr. Akin President of Southeastern Baptist Theological to speak Wednesday evening.
· Turks outside Turkey, where are they? Who are they? What culture and religion do they keep?
· Latest statistics on Turkey. Has the church grown inside Turkey?
· Business needs in Turkey and around Central Asia.
· What does partnership look like?
· Spiritual Strongholds among Turks.
· Brief history on the work in Turkey including IMB’s presence.
· Relationship Evangelism among Turks. What does it look like? How can you be involved?
· How the church can use the latest internet tools for mobilization and engagement.
· How to host a women’s prayer event in your church
· Break Out sessions to hear needs in each region.
· Video Testimonies from Turkish Believers

November 4-6 at Long Hollow Baptist Church outside Nashville, TN

Sign-up today at the Long Hollow web site. www.longhollow.com
Find the “lifestages” tab and then click “Adults” then scroll to “Asia Minor Alliance Conference”
or paste this into your web browser www.longhollow.com/events/details/148

I spent several hours with my friend, *Sam, who lives here on the island and is my age. We talked about the prophets. He explained Muslim prophets in detail, and at one point I asked him if Muslims believed that the prophets were sinless men. He, of course, said “yes.” I then asked about how he felt about the prophets that both Christians and Muslims have in common, and cited incidents in the lives of several of our prophets showing that they indeed had sinned. Mark’s response was “Well, maybe just a little sin.” We then discussed that sin is sin, neither big nor little. I was able to bring into the conversation some of my Christian beliefs. Mark never verbally disagrees with me. Each time I part from him I tell him that I will pray for him, that his eyes will be opened.

Join us at our next partnership meeting in November to learn how your fellowship can help us share God’s love to Turkish people worldwide.

As I sat with our neighbor at the shop where she works, her brother *Mark asked me some questions. They already know that we are Christians. Mark asked me more about our church and then tried to figure out what kind of Christians we are.  Catholic?  No.  Protestant? Yes. Evan-gel-i-…like Bush?  I didn’t know the Turkish word for the last category so I acted a little confused. I told him that there are many names of different kinds of Christians, but for us the most important thing is “İsa’nin yolunda yürüyoruz.”  Following Jesus is far more important than any church label.  When we ended our conversation, he expressed interest in coming to church with us!

Join us at our next partnership meeting in November to learn how fellowships are slowly starting in Turkey.

Five weeks ago with the help of two co-workers, I began a Bible study with three of our football players.  Over the past few weeks, one other young man has joined our study.  The group is made up of two “Muslim” men and two “Atheist” men.  We have met five times and have worked through Genesis 1-3.  Last week, we spent the entire hour and a half talking about the promise of Genesis 3:15, which says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel”.  We explained to these men that the Bible is really one story.  It is a story about men rebelling against God and God calling men back to Himself and giving them a provision for sin through the promised Messiah Jesus Christ.  We then were able to explain how the Bible shows that in our world today there are two kingdoms at war—the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.  They had some great questions and truly seemed to understand this.

Join us at our next partnership meeting in November to learn storying groups going on across Turkey.

*Stephen, a neighbor of mine was walking by and he joined *Megan and me for coffee. *Stephen is an older guy who is well versed in the Quran.  As we sat and talked over coffee, Stephen listened to me more than I expected. He did not argue with me when I talked about Jesus dying on the cross or raising from the dead. Megan asked *Stephen directly, “Which book is right: The Quran or the Incil (New Testament)?” *Stephen surprised us when he answered, “The Incil is more right”.

The next night, I gave him a New Testament and went to see him the following day with a friend, *Jason, another worker experienced in storying.  *Stephen said that he had read quite a bit of the Incil and listened attentively to the stories Jason told.  It was a lot of fun to watch the way that he and others listened to the stories as well–especially the ones listening discreetly from behind the corner of the fence.

The next day as we were out visiting with our neighbors at the corner, they started talking about a local alcoholic.  I said “Let’s stop and pray for him instead of talking about him”.  So I got to pray for him in Jesus’ name in front of all of them.  Later Stephen, his wife, and Megan came over to watch the God Story video (www.gods-story.org) at our place. It was such a joy to see Stephen and his wife watch the movie from the edge of their seats and to see them nod in agreement on many points that are normally very difficult for Muslims to accept.  At one point in the move it quotes John 1:29, Mike turned to his wife and said, “That’s right ‘The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’”

Join us at our next partnership meeting in November to learn how your fellowship can help workers share the Truth about Christ to Muslims.

When Jesus gave us the Great Commission, He said we should make disciples as we go.  One way I have seen this happen recently is as I have taken our daughter, *Rebecca, with me when I’ve gone to teach conversational English at a village school.  The school owner, *Louise, has a daughter Rebecca’s age named *Layla.  Layla is fluent in English but an only child so having Rebecca around was a real joy for her.

While I have taught English, Rebecca has played with Layla and even joined a session or two of an English grammar class.  Between classes, Louise has offered me a coffee and we’ve chatted a bit.  It seems that each time, spiritual topics come up, ranging from our respective faith identities, to the upcoming fast, to inability of evolution to explain our spiritual nature.

Family…discipleship…platform…ministry….  Sometimes it is difficult to find the balance, but by God’s grace at Louise’s school all three have happened at once.  I have chatted on the road with my daughter while disciplining her as an evangelist and an “m”. I have taught English to meet needs in Christ’s name and to gain credible access into the lives of the Muslim community, and I am sharing truth with Louise with the prayer that someday soon she will respond in faith to the Gospel message.  As you go, make disciples….

Lately, I have been noticing that God seems to be moving in our neighbors across the hall. *Emma and *Andrew seem to be interested in pursuing a friendship with us and we have already had two great spiritual conversations with them. The last conversation we had with them was led by a guy that we saw come to the Lord when we lived in another city in Turkey. *Jeff came to visit us a few days where we are now living and he was able to share his faith several times.  What was even better was that I was able to listen when Jeff shared with Emma and Andrew. This week, we gave them a copy of the whole Bible. Andrew had visited a church downtown when he was in university and they had given him a New Testament. We were able to give him a nice copy of the new translation including the Old Testament. I believe that they will read it. They love music, especially Bach, and I still remember the look on Andrew’s face when my husband said to him, “I don’t know. I know that you say in Islam, that music is forbidden in worship. Don’t you think God would want us to give the music back to him in worship that he has given us the talent to be able to create?” Andrew said, “Yes, I think you are right. We should meet often”. We have been meeting often! And last week, we listened to their music while we ate. Emma and Andrew’s view of God and the Bible is changing before our eyes.

Join us at our next partnership meeting in November to learn how your fellowship can pray for local believers and workers throughout Turkey.