Turkey Update

Team Turkey is staying healthy and safe in Antalya, eagerly anticipating the national elections coming
up on July 22nd. Red, yellow, blue and white flags flood the streets and every few minutes a van with
huge speakers will drive by blasting music or the voice of their chosen candidate. We are continuing to
refrain from using the words ÒmissionaryÓ, ÒevangelistÓ, ÒsickÓ, etc, although today I (Sara) managed to
call one of my students an illegitimate child while trying to identify a bead as ÒpeachÓ. IÕm not alone;
yesterday Dayna called an entire marketplace full of people ÒpeachesÓ and was shushed by some men
nearby.

WeÕve decided to step up our level of crafts from Òage appropriateÓ to Òshock and aweÓ and are now
switching from things like watercolor family portraits to things such as bead lizards, rainbow balloon
arches, masks out of cast gauze, and paper mache. The kids are loving it and as we tried to leave Kids
Klub today they actually bombarded the door and wouldnÕt let us pass. And since it is illegal to even
TALK about religion to a Turk under the age of 18 we find ourselves entirely reliant on our actions to
speak for us. THUS, weÕve focused a lot on cultivating Òfruits of the SpiritÓ in ourselves here (love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). The one we have
struggled with most here is self-control since we have pocket-money and easy access to a candy
WONDERLAND just next door (Hi, Dana!). As I am writing this Dayna and Veez are out loading up on
chocolate and gummy goodies to satisfy our high candy needs.

This weekend we will be visiting Cappadocia in central Turkey with our new comrade Rebekka, from
Holland. She is the 21-year old cousin of Lydia, the woman we were previously going to be working
with this summer in Denizli, along with her husband Bill and family. We are very excited to see the
naturally-occurring fairy chimneys, underground cities and the caves where Christians lived for
hundreds of years.

After reading the latest updates from the other teams it seems we arenÕt suffering nearly enough to
earn the title of Hardcore Deputees. Despite this, we would like to thank everyone for their prayers for
safety and for God to work in each one of us. Your prayers have allowed our relationships with each
other and the Turkish people to flourish. We have been blessed with AMAZING leadership and wisdom
in the Kings and Karn Choi and are reminded everyday how God placed us all here for a distinct reason.

-Sara, for Team Turkey