One of many purposes of God during our Istanbul trip.....

The purpose of this trip was to share Christ with everyone we came in contact with. We believe we accomplished this.
Sometimes in word, sometimes in action.
We built a nice relationship with the Hotel staff. We bought a chocolate mousse cake to share with them and they gave us a “going away” party. We had lots of fun learning more of the Turkish language with the manager and his staff. Our goal was to go away with them thinking that Americans are nice people.
The Christians associated with the refugee center were blessed by our visit. It was enjoyable to meet so many that sacrificed their “comforts” (ex: away from family in America) for the sake of the Gospel. We were among God’s family as they shared with us how it is to be a missionary. We traveled by foot, taxi, bus, subway, tram, trolley and Ferry (from Europe to Asia). They wanted us to get the real missionary experience.
One of many highlights was meeting and loving many refugees. One was Neiousha. She spoke English pretty well. She read one of our testimonies. (How someone gives their life to Christ) We were blessed to see her translate and watch her add to the story. She knew Christ but not everyone in the room did. She passionately read and spoke. We worked as a team. We formed a circle and prayed. Some may say there was a language barrier but we didn’t think so!! Through tears and songs we enjoyed the presence of God. Nazli is a young girl that loves Jesus and was hungry to hear more. She loves to pray and boy, does she have the hope of Jesus. You can see it on her face.
We did many other things. We performed a MIME in their church. We made over 6000 tracts (Christian pamphlets). We visited other missionaries and saw life from their perspective. This was opportunities to do prayer walks. They need prayer!!!
To sum it all up…Jesus went and affected people one at a time. Wherever he went, he loved them and told them the truth of the Gospel. Sometimes in word and sometimes in action.


Love, Steve and Karlene