Türkiye’ye hoşgeldiniz

If you don’t know what that title says – it’s okay, you’re in the same boat as a lot of us considering we don’t know Turkish.

WELCOME TO TÜRKİYE

We’re in Turkey! The 4th country of our Race – month 7 and 8. I am currently in our favorite little cafe/restaurant in the town we are living in – sitting with the Jordan Bryce Jost.

We arrived into Türkiye 2 weeks ago, but not before we spent 15 hours on a bus crossing two borders, removing all of our belongings from the bus for security, and arriving into Istanbul 6ish hours earlier than expected.

The first week of being in Türkiye was spent in all squad debriefing our time in Albania. We heard stories from other teams of how they saw the Lord work in the previous 12 days of ATL.

Here are some of those stories, our boys team ‘Daddy Day Care’ spent a few days in Rome, Italy – they visited the place Paul was imprisoned. They described it as one of the heaviest feelings they had felt, seeing scratch marks on the wall. The Farmers went back to their original ministry location, being called to work with a house that provides opportunities for kids who have aged out of the care of the government. SDR stayed in Tirana and continued to build relationships with the locals they had met, and pouring into their lives. STCKD make a trek down the coast of Albania finally reaching the destination of Vlorë, during this time we watched the Lord provide lodging for us with a family living missionaly in Durrës, and another couple who had an apartment rented along the coast who let us crash for a few days.

The blog platform really cares about your eyes and ears because it won’t let me upload the video. And so just imagine screamo music from 8 pm – 4 am on one side of the hostel and a cheap copyright version of some American pop song on the other side. Despite the blaring music, the stinch of cigarette smoke and raw fish in the streets, and the too often invite to their restaurant – Istanbul was full of life and color.

Our first week in Türkiye was sweet. Many hours spent sitting with friends sharing how we saw the Lord the month before, late nights and early morning fighting for time with Jesus. Conversations about ‘what’s next?’, hours spent researching Islam and learning from our fellow squad mates. Many visits to rug shops, and sharing “I am a follower of Jesus” to anyone who asked why we were there. But arguably the best time was spent gleaning every word that came from our coaches, mentor, and raised up squad leaders. We wrapped up our time in Istanbul and as a full squad over on an island and the last day was spent exploring over in the south side – looking at Hagia Sophia and enjoying some traditional Turkish food and hospitality.

I stood in the bird nest of our hostel one afternoon, over looking the entirety of the city below us. Many emotions filled my heart, first joy. I was joyful that I was in a foreign country, that the passport in my backpack allows me to enter into these countries freely. I was filled with joy that the hope of Jesus has the opportunity to go to the nations. The longer I sat with my Bible and journal in front of me, the more tears fell from my eyes as I began to experience a deep sadness. I looked out and what I saw was just a sea of mosque. The call to prayer ringing out over the city, my stomach began to sink as the reality sat in of millions of Muslims facing Mecca in that moment praying to a god who they do not have a relationship with. I sat in sadness for a while before my heart began to grow in anger. I was now pacing back and forth looking out at the hundreds of mosque needles I saw sticking up through the buildings. I was angry that this false religion has such a hold on my Muslim brothers and sisters. I was angry that most of their hearts are hardened to hearing the Gospel. I was angry as the second call to prayer happened for the afternoon, and once again millions of Muslims gather to face Mecca to pray to a god who they do not have a relationship with.

Last week my team made our way to a little bitty town, that reminds me a lot of Colmesneil, Texas if I am being honest. We live in a town where there are zero believers. Part of our time here is spent helping build a church for future meetings which will double as lodging for future teams. The other part of our time here is spent living as life is ministry and ministry is life. Some of us got gym memberships to build relationships and minister there, others visiting the bakery down the road spending time with the family who works there, we have some friends who love ping pong and basketball which will probably become part of our daily life here. We understand the weight of living life missionaly right now. We know that every visit to the market, every trip to the gym, every time we sit in our favorite cafe all day, every time we see the fruit lady and stop and wave – holds the opportunity for someone to hear the Gospel. Like I said – none of us know Turkish and it might be the hardest language we have been immersed in yet, so google translate is still our best friend and translates the Gospel quite well. Merhaba (hello) and teşekkürler (thank you) are the only two words I know but they are earning me a lot of smiles as I walk down the road waving at the locals.

My heart grows fonder of my Muslim friends each day I am here. I am yearning for the day that each of them come to know the One True Living God. Praying for the vibrance of life that will be revealed to them through the Gospel.

How can you be a part of what is going on in this little town in Türkiye?

• You can pray with us! Pray that they would have dreams of the Messiah. Pray that the Lord would give them visions of Him. Pray that they would encounter a believer that is willing to share the Good News with them. Pray that they would be receptive to the words that are spoken in the Gospels.
• Some of the squad is continuing to support raise for the Race – if you would like to partner financially, you can reach out and I can get you their account information
• Pray about continuing to financially support me specifically – this will help cover the cost of daily personal expenses

Stay connected! You can reach out via email [email protected] or download WhatsApp and connect with me on there 4092000085 Instagram is where I stay most updated with weekly recaps @alyssanphllps13 there is also a podcast called Unscripted Reality on all streaming platforms – this is a platform to share and hear stories of how the Lord is working in and through P Squad!

Welcome to Turkey my friends