Hello from Turkey,
February just flew by here. I think it helped that it is the shortest month of the year and that I was really busy. The month started slow and I don't remember much from it. But then my sister came for a visit. And that kept me plenty busy. It was fun being able to share a little bit of my life with her and I also loved having an excuse to go see a bunch of historical sights again. Ephesus continues to amaze me and I don't think I will ever see another place that is as incredible as Cappadocia.
We had two University football games in the last month. With our open league season being canceled, the focus has shifted entirely to the University guys. Now the trick will be figuring out a way to get that extra attention to show on the field. We lost our first game 28-20. It was probably the best game our guys have played while I have been here but it was still the little things that sunk us. The second game was played on Sunday. And it was ugly. Between the mud, the dumb mistakes and some of the worst officiating I have ever witnessed, I left the field very frustrated. We lost 22-2. We could do nothing all game against them. And the most frustrating part was watching our best players play like it was the first time they had ever played in a game. Which is to say, not well. But we still have one game left and some time to prepare. It will be interesting to see how our guys respond.
The good news is that football is not the reason I am in Turkey. I was able to witness a baptism at church in February and it was great to celebrate with the him and the other members of the church. This young man has been coming to church for a while and meeting with the pastor and he came to the decision to be baptized. The other amazing part is that his family came to celebrate with him and they are not christian. The decision to be baptized is not an easy one in Turkey. Many people risk losing relationships with both close friends and family. It was really exciting then to see his family there at the baptism. While you could tell they didn't agree or really understand, they were not going to ostracize him over his decision. I also heard about one of my friends got baptized about a month ago. He has been meeting with some of our other friends and decided a while ago that Christianity was true and that he needed Jesus as his savior. It took him a while to move from there to being baptized and I don't believe that he has told his family yet. I would really appreciate prayers for both of these men in my life right now.
Another exciting development is one of the football guys that I am close to has started coming to church with me and he has been reading through the Bible. We have started meeting together to read through the bible together. I would love some prayers for him and for me that I would be able to answer any questions he might have about the gospel. I love being able to see God working in this country.
I thank you all for your prayers. God bless you all.
George