Blessings and peace beloved friends,

Today is Monday December 17, 2007. I trust my God that all is well with you and those you love. God continues to show Himself to be strong among the believers here in Turkey. Bear with me as I try to sum up a very long day.

Today, we met with house church pastors from Adana, Mersis, Antakya, Seyhan, Maras, Iran, Malayta, Cyprus and Istanbul. We had a wonderful lunch together in an outside courtyard (you guessed it, more bread!). The Turks really enjoy meals and fellowship- especially the Christians. We enjoyed a magnificent salad, lentil soup, rice, chicken, pickles, radishes, hot tea and on and on.After the feast, we had an awesome time of singing and prayer together. Then the pastors began to share some of their testimonies and prayer requests. I will share a few of them with you.

One pastor was a leader on Malatya, where the Christians were tortured and killed this spring. He shared with us that, for reasons I cannot print, he could have easily been one of the victims. Since then, he has been threatened by some of the local Muslims. He said that only one family has received financial support from abroad. The local church in Adana helped with burial expenses.

Another precious pastor said that in Turkey there are 1500 foreign Missionaries, but only 3000 Turkish Christians. He said that only 3-4 of them were active in reaching Muslims. He pled with us to encourage more diligence among the foreigners. We shared that our desire was to help them reach their own people in this culture, and not to be missionaries. (for example: passing out tracts or leaflets of Scripture is viewed as disrespectful to God here in Turkey)

A pastor from Cyprus said that his 5 -year old daughter is being harassed at their public school. Last week she was sent to cross the street alone. He cannot complain, because Christians are accused of being anti-government when they don’t follow the plan. Please pray for him.

A pastor from Antioch travels to three families three times a week to minister to them. They have no transportation and he has a wife and four children. They are the only Christians he knows in his town. They were all former Muslims, but had never read the Qumran. He needs his car repaired.

After the meeting, we hugged and kissed (one kiss on each cheek) the brothers who had to leave early. I prayed that God would bless me financially, that I might be a blessing to them.

One of the fellowships in Adana is building a house for a young 21 year-old pastor. He will live and minister from this home. As we ascended to the roof to pray, I could see metal water tanks (heated by the sun) all across his poor Parrish. Only a couple of rooms are finished. He cares for his mother, sister and nephew. Land is very expensive, but the labor is not. His name is Elhud.

Next, we visited the home of a Christian woman near downtown. It was very cold (yes I drank more hot tea, sunflower seeds and Chick peas!), but they did their best to bless us. It would have been disrespectful to refuse to eat or drink. They begged their pastor to let them prepare (another) a home cooked meal for us. The wife worked so hard to serve us every course of the meal. Although very poor, they had purchased some bottled water and Coca-Cola’s for us. She even made a Turkish Pizza. The salad had delectful pomegranate syrup dressing on it (now, I’m full). Their only request was that we would pray and bless their home. I have so much to be thankful for.

Today, in a Turkish newspaper, I read about a Catholic Priest who was stabbed. Please pray for his recovery. Many are not hostile to the Gospel, but believers have to be as wise as serpents…

Later this evening, we visited a dear sister who required Dialysis four days per week. Her neighborhood was a very poor one in which most of the residents were of Arab descent. When we entered her small brick home, we were warmly greeted and offered the traditional hot tea and bread (plus feta cheese & olives). She was also caring for her elderly mother in-law (a Turkish tradition). Until her health began to deteriorate, she walked 30 minutes to catch a ride and then paid $5.00 each way to get to the fellowship. Everyone loves her and is praying for her.  She has no medical insurance, so the fellowship buys her medicine and pays her hospital bills. We were able to pay her utility bills tonight! She was very encouraged by our visit. Her unconverted Muslim husband and mother in-law bowed their heads and lifted up their hands in prayer as we asked God to be merciful to her. What a witness to the love and sovereignty of God we were able to be tonight! Amen.

As we have driven through Adana, Turkey this week, there have been more and more sheep in the city. On the side of the roads, in trucks, advertised in the markets, on billboards, ect. - everywhere! Today, the pastors shared with us that the Kurban Bayrami (sacrifice festival) was approaching. All across the Middle East, lambs are sacrificed to commemorate what they believe Abraham did when he killed a lamb instead of… Ishmael? Yes, they believe that Ishmael (not Isaac as the Bible teaches) was spared. So, one day this week (Tuesday, I believe), 90% of the Millions of Muslims across this region will kill a lamb, pour out its blood and then eat it in celebration. That was why farmers from across the Islamic world are peddling sheep for an average cost of $440.00 each. I felt like stopping the car and preaching on Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, but I promised Ann that I would behave myself. Nevertheless, I was able to encourage the faithful Christians with the truth that the final (lamb) sacrifice for sins has already been slain. Hallelujah! One pastor said that the message on the New Covenant was just what the fellowship needed on Sunday. “They are all convinced that God does not dwell in man-made buildings anymore”, he said. I was blessed.

Well, it’s about 3 AM here in Turkey (7 PM in Birmingham) and I’M GETTING SLEEPY!

By God’s grace, I will send one more update this week. Please pray for the weather (JKF) for this weekend. I have been reading about the storm. I will show pictures/video at Doers on Sunday December 23rd. Thank you for reading @ my experience here. Sharing with you helps me put this trip in perspective. Pray for me.

In the service of the King,

PAJ