This is the ruins of the theater of Laodecia. It's hard to see the scale in this picture, but it's huge. 

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.