goodbye, Istanbul; hello, Ankara...

The conference close on Saturday was unbelievably touching - the house church leaders clapped and cheered at the end of our session; Chris cried at the outpouring of their love and then we prayed over them. I think they got into our hearts like no people have overseas since the Filipino's back when we were missionaries in the 1980's. Thanks for all your prayers!

We arrived in Ankara yesterday afternoon and had a wonderful meeting over dinner with Pastor Ihsan Ozbek and his lovely wife. I'd met him a few years ago thru a conference sponsored by Dr. David Shibley at Global Advance, but this was our first real opportunity to get better acquainted. I can understand why he's considered the most influential pastor in Turkey - he's spearheading so many creative outreaches in this almost-totally-unreached country (there are only about 3,000 evangelical Christians among Turkey's 69 million people!)

We're especially excited about opportunites to partner with them next year with a CLC missions trip, and the prospects of future involvement here, as Turkey was one of the first countries God placed on our heart at CLC more than 8 years ago. We've actually supported some of Ihsan's efforts financially for several years (placing Turkish children's Bibles in the public schools & helping sponsor a youth camp he conducts every year for Muslim children), but we now see the possibility of more strategic and meaningful involvement for CLC - so get ready! Turkey is a beautiful country, and so much of the Bible took place here that it's almost like visiting the Holy Land - so rich in history...AND it's perhaps the safest place to visit in all of the Middle East, so bringing a group here will be easy and fun.

We'll leave for Sunday worship service with the Ankara congregation soon, and I'll try to post again before we return home. Blessings to everyone who reads this-