Wow crazy to think just a week ago we were in a completely different country. Türkiye was not that long ago but it feels like a year ago. There is so many stories from Türkiye that were amazing and great reminders of how great God is. Here’s just one for now:
This story isn’t a story of a miracle or a amazing conversion but it is a story about how six christians women were encouraged that they aren’t the only ones out there trying to bring glory to God.
So SDR (my team) and I went to Mersin which is on the coast of Türkiye and about a 30 minute drive from Tarsus. Yes! The Tarsus! Like Paul of Tarsus Tarsus! So of course we wanted to go to Paul’s home turf! We made plans to journey to Tarsus for a day and see a handful of historical sites including Paul’s church. After we took first the wrong bus then a very crowded bus and after that a very crowded train. Luckily along the way we met a kind man that lived in Tarsus and became our guide till we arrived. We went and saw some old walls and read some signs that told what role the old walls played in history.
We eventually made it to Paul’s church sometime in the afternoon. By the time we got there we were hot from the beating sun and I was wishing for the sea to jump into. We came to the entrance and was disappointed as travelers who are always on a tight budget to see there was a fee to get in. But since we had walked so far we gave in and payed (admittedly a pretty cheap fee). So eventually we go into the church that Paul of Tarsus himself walked in back in bible days. It wasn’t anything glamorous, just simple gray walls with big windows and some illustrations of saints and angels on the ceiling. When we first arrived there was a bunch of tourists but all of a sudden it was just me and my team in there. We all sat down in the chairs like we were about to attend a service and tried to soak in the history of the building, either that or rest from the long walk there, enjoying the silence. Two men and a women walked in after a few minutes, I smile at them as they start taking pictures. One of the men stand at the pulpit and the other two take pictures of him. He looks at us and through broken English he tells us he is a pastor so it’s ok if he stands at the pulpit. After more pictures are taken he asked if it’s ok if he “makes a prayer” and of course we welcomed it.
There’s something that people on the World Race always do and that is singing the doxology wherever we go. So when the amen came we all agreed we should sing it for these random people we just met. So Maggie tried to communicate to them that we wanted to sing a song to worship God. All this pastor man needed to hear was “sing” and he said ok and started to lead us in Jesus Loves Me….and then another worship song….and then another song. With the acoustics and the melodies of two different languages coming together it made such a beautiful sound of praise to a Living God. It was a sound that I won’t soon forget. After the three of them sang a song we didn’t know, we sang the doxology for them. Next thing we know this pastor I still don’t know the name of brings us in a circle on our knees, points at us one at a time and says “one minute prayer, one minute prayer, etc.” So that’s what we do! Honestly most of us had a hard time even praying because we were all choked up with emotion. These three people from somewhere that wasn’t where we were nor where we were from, who didn’t even speak the same language as us, believed in the same God as us. The six of us, already different in many ways, are united with people even more different from us under the same roof just wanting the same thing; to praise a God who loves us all equally. In a place where we complained about paying like $5 to get in, in a place where we expected to just find old walls and read some historic facts I found a perfect representation of the church. I found a place where we didn’t have to agree on which denomination is right or wrong or which translation of the Bible is superior. We didn’t even have to speak the same language. I found a place where we could just come together to talk to our Father that hears and understands all languages.
After our time with these strangers they handed us a very generous gift of cash money, told us to go get a lunch on them and then said “see you in paradise!”
And that was enough to encourage this Christian.
