OK, a really cool spot that almost no one goes. Here we are on the main street of Laodecia, one of the seven churches of Revelation. See Rev 3:14ff. 

Here we are at Pamukkle (Cotton Castle). It's also Hieropolis, a place mentioned in the Bible as a place of an early Christian community. The white in the background is from calcium, deposited by thermal waters. 

A few more pictures

I've processed a few more pictures of the project. Enjoy!

Here is our group on the last day as we were getting ready to leave. It was hard to leave the kids. 

Here we are, all in our new hats. These kids thought this was pretty cool. 

Like most Turkish homes, shoes are left outside at the comunity center we worked at. 

Here on our last day our craft was coloring painters caps. After games outside, an indoor activity was the order of the day. 

Carrie and a friend out on our play field. 

Halimae couldn't wait to put her shirt on. 

Some Reflections

I now have a little time to do a little writing. Things have gone well, in spite of one main demon…heat. The kids have been wonderful. They are very open and friendly and in spite of the lack of shared language, we were able to make some wonderful connections.

As the week went on, you found kids giving you hugs, holding your hand, putting their arm around you, and giving us kisses as we left (no small event when you’re dripping with sweat). Yes, there are times a kids needs some discipline and at times they act nuts...they are still kids. But it’s amazing the bonds that form as you spend time together.

Each day was hot and humid. Most days it was about 100; one day it was 104. High humidity kept you dripping wet. What made this hard was that our fancy 4 star hotel had the worst air conditioning you could imagine. It was even hot at night. Our PCUSA people will never use this place again.

The team was wonderful. We all had good and bad days, but no one whined and everyone pulled their weight. Each person led activities and supported the others when needed. I am very proud of them all. Sandra Thompson, from University Pres in Seattle, fit right in and was an important part of our team. We’re ready to steal her from UPC.

I’m not very patient. I really wanted to talk directly about Jesus with these kids, but that not possible now. The plan is that we are opening the door in this area by our actions, so that the local Turkish church can start a home church in this neighborhood. We’re just a small part of the big picture to plant seeds and begin to break down walls that are literally 1300 years old.

I’ll post a few more pictures of our work and of some of the places we are touring as our work is over, but my greatest feeling (that is, now that I’m cool), is of gratitude that God has allowed us to travel here and welcome children in His name. I know He will use this.

But the way (WARNING: Proud father alert!), you would all be very proud of Alisha. In the short two weeks she was here before we arrived, she learned enough to be a great help to us in many ways and she was wonderful with the kids, who seem to naturally gravitate to her. She will continue to work with three other projects in Antalya, help leading worship at the International Church, and help with a few other tasks. She’s doing a great job for us.

God bless!!!

Pastor Al

I very happy bunch of kids in their shirts. This craft was a LOT of work, but the kids loved it and were very proud of their creations. 

By mid-morning even the inside room was oppressively hot. You had to cool off some by crowding into the shade on the porch, where the kids had water. 

Rush hour in rural Kepez. This was the morning goat procession. 

Day 4 and the girls are jumping rope. It seems all little girls love jump rope. Carrie and Sandra were chanting a rhyme the jump by. 

We're taking a public bus back to the hotel. Nancy is dressed just a little differently than the woman next to her. The bus was far cooler than our hotel. 

Same day and we are working on lanyards. They enjoyed this too. The kids really loved the craft stuff. 

Day 3 and we are working on decorating a parachute. WE played games with it later. The kids really got into coloring it. I'm bringing it ome for our Ellensburg First Pres kids to see. 

Her we are after a HOT day at a waterfall about 1 mile from the site. You never guess it was over 100 degrees. 

A little base ball.The kids loved it and knew nore about it then we thought. 

Day 2 Some serious tie-dyeing 

Updates...

Sorry for the lack of updates. I haven't been able to post any pictures to blogger. I'm now in Istanbul with a good internet connection and will give it a try again.

Day 1
Here we have nametags.


A few songs...












Carrie trying to bring a shy child into the program.













Michelle working on crafts.

Day Two at Kepez

Hi folks. Sorry I haven’t posted for a few days. I have tried, but it appears that the Blogspot site I’m using is overloaded and I have been able to successfully upload anything.

It has been very hot here…over 100 the past few days and very humid. The AC in our hotel works poorly and we find we are just hot and tired a lot.

However, the project is going well, due to the team digging down deep and finding the strength to keep going. The kids are great and each day has been filled with lots of fun and hugs from the kids.

I’ll post a series of pictures with a few captions to give you a flavor of what we are doing.

Sunday-Calm before the Storm

Well, the rest of the team arrived last night, tired of travel. Unfortunately, their luggage did not. A delay of the Northwest flight out of Seattle made the connection in Amsterdam very tight. They made the flight, but their luggage did not. This all becomes very complicated, since they changed carriers and tickets in Istanbul.

The bottom line is that their luggage will not arrive in Antalya until 1:30am Monday morning (they arrived Saturday night) and we have to go to the airport to pick it up. They have been very good about it (better than I would have been), but I feel for them. I’ll head to the airport at 5:30am tomorrow to pick it up for them.

We went to the Antalya Union Church this morning, an English language church here. After, we went to lunch with Ben and Verna King for an orientation meeting.

After showing the next pictures, I don’t imagine I’ll have a hard time getting a team together in the future. This is where we had lunch.

This is us in front of the ancient Attilia harbor, the harbor Paul and Barnabas used on their first journey (perhaps others too).




We start tomorrow morning with the kids at Kepez and will finish our planning for day one tonight. Everyone is excited and a bit worried. Verna’s advice has been just to enjoy and love the kids. Keep us in your prayers—this is a new experience for us all.

Well, I’m back in Antalya waiting for the team to arrive. They are probably tired and board, waiting for a flight in the Istanbul airport.




A few pictures and thoughts from the last two days. I drove about 250k up to a town called Yalvac, which is where the ancient city of Pisidian Antioch. I stayed here on the way, Lake Egrıder.

This is a gate where Paul and Barnabas would have entered the city on their first missionary journey. I got some good pictures. You’ll see them later.

There is also a good museum in town, with finds from the site.

I happened to be in town during Friday prayers at the mosque.

Impressive to see the devotion in these people.

I made a few new friends in a place I stopped to eat. They spoke no English and my three Turkish words didn’t get us very far, but they were very friendly. Typical Turkish folks.

By the way, there was a bus bombing today in Turkey. It was 300 miles from here and no where near any of our folks.

Day Two ın Antalya

Wow. Stıll hot and humıd. A breeze came up thıs afternoon, but the weather ıs stıll mıserable. I guess all summer ıs lıke thıs.

Met wıth Verna and Ben today to talk shop. They are very pleased wıth all the teams they have had so far thıs summer. God ıs doıng some great stuff here. We take over from a team of ten that has done a good job wıth the day camp program we wıll run. Maybe they have the kıds traıned by now.

I rented a car today to drıve to Pısıdıan Antıoch to do some photography. I had to fıll the tank wıth gas. Mınd you, thıs ıs a Ford Focus...sıt down...It cost 100 dollars!

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Gas ıs about 6 dollars a gallon. I wıll stop whınıng about 2.50.

I`m now up for the nıght at a town called Egrıder. Beautıful lake ın the mountaıns. I can`t post any puctures untıl I fınd a flash card reader (forgot to take one). I`ll try to make ıt up later.

Take care and God Bless. Team, I`ll see you ın to days.

PS--If any of thıs looks funny, I`m on a Turkısh keyboard and thıngs are not the same.

I'm Here

Well, I made it to Antalya. It’s a long time in a plane. At least on the Seattle to Amsterdam route we had a new Airbus with individual video screens for each seat.

It is hot and humid here. Reminds me of some of the worse Summer days when I lived in Michigan. Heat will be one of our worst enemies on this trip.

I met Alisha at a worship service at the St. Paul’s Center. Mostly people from the various projects and service teams that are here. I had dinner with Ben and Verna King, Alisha, and the four summer interns from University Pres in Seattle. It was a modest neighborhood café. Dinner for seven was 40 Turkish lira….$30. If only it didn’t cost so much to get here.

Tomorrow I rent a car and head into the mountains.

Notes for the team:-It’s easy to find the Visa window in Istanbul. You’ll see a sign as u get into the passport area and lines at the windows. Remember, $20 cash.-As I left the passport control area after I got my luggage, the officer asked to look in the craft box. I opened it and after looking for about 1 second, he said OK. Don’t worry if this happens to you.

-Ignore all the guys who ask you if you need the domestic terminal. That’s where you’re going, but you can find it on your own and they will expect a tip if they help you.

-OnurAir has ticket windows in the domestic terminal. I had then change my flight, but then had to pay for my flight. If this happens to you, don’t freak out, pay for the flight with a credit card and we’ll work it out with the travel agent in Antalya.

Things are off to a good start. Bye.

Pastor Al

Well, I'm about as ready as I can be. I leave on Tuesday, 3 days before the rest of the team. I'll take a couple of days to head up to Pisidian Antioch for some research and photography (more on that later).

We have two big boxes of craft material. We have to take everything we'll need for a program of 40-50 kids. I'd forgotten how much work this is.

I'll be posting as often as I can. Keep checking back.

God bless....Pastor Al