Turkey 2010 – Day 5 – Saturday 14th August

With yesterday evening off, the team slept in this morning (it is amazing how much the heat and constant language challenge is taking out of us). Half the team then headed to the bizarre to look for more cool (in terms of temperature) clothes and the rest headed for tea and a book by the beach!

A midday walk to the church followed by lunch launched us into an afternoon of planning for tomorrows service (the church has asked to us to present some Turkish introductions and some fun testimonies about ‘Treasure Hunting’ - looking for who God wants to speak to) and the party we led this evening for the church family.  We also continued our devotions in the gospel of John and prayed for Darren’s back (he is struggling to sit down for long periods of time without dull aches and pains in his lower back).

The afternoon went really well and we were all set for tonight when Katie had a fall on the marble steps outside the front of the church and jarred and bruised her lower back and shoulders.  She has spent the afternoon with aches and pain but is beginning to feel better - the team prayed for her and have sent her to bed!  It has been amazing to see her trust God in the situation and for the teams response to be to pray for her healing immediately - mission trips do help us to rely on God more for everything!

Throughout this trip, God has been reminding me that being on mission trips to other cultures is such a fantastic opportunity to get His heart for the world.  It’s one thing to have a theology that says that God wants people from every tribe and tongue, it’s totally another to engage with those people and their culture and see directly their and our need for the living God.  God is speaking not only to Turks here in Yalova, but also to us as he puts in us His desire to see all people come to know Him- this in turn is making us more hungry to share the good news of Jesus Christ with more and more people and to pray for people at every opportunity.

Some prayer points for our trip so far:
1. That katie and Darren’s backs would be fully healed.
2. That those we have spoken to about the church and Jesus would find the church and meet Him.
3. That the Church in Yalova would be blessed beyond their wildest dreams.
4. That our overnight bus to Izmir tomorrow (Sunday) evening woudl not be too bad and we’d get some sleep.

Thanks for your prayers.