Istanbul, Turkey 06/25/06

Sunday! What a great day it was! I went to church this morning. In Turkey, there are not too many Christian churches. Greek Orthodox is the predominant "Christian" sect. As you now know, 99% of the population is Muslim. The reason why I went to this church is because the Pastor has a great testimony and we're looking for some stories for CBN.

The singing was celestial. I think there was only one instrument - an organ, but most of the time the people were singing without it. AS the Pastor led worship, everyone joined and it sounded like one loud voice. When the Bible talks about singing in one accord, I think that was pretty close to it. The acoustic of the singing bouncing of the church got to me and it gave me chills compelling me to join in singing. Yes, I was singing in Turkish. To the surprise of the Turkish people that I have come in contact with, I can read Turkish. According to them, I have a native accent and I look Turkish. Well, Turkish people have such a wide range as far as their look. They are very blond to very dark skinned, but not African. When you look around, you would think you're in a South American country like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, or Colombia and Mexico.

The pastor's preaching was awesome. He very passionate about what he is talking about. His style of preaching is very energetic. He walks up and down the middle between the aisles. That doesn't let you even think about snoozing off for a second or two. He might catch you.

I took out my camera to do some videotaping, but I was quickly asked not to. Turkish people do not want to be in pictures or video because they are afraid of persecution -specially those who have left Islam and embraced the salvation of the Messiah (Christ) (or become Christians if you want to say it that way.) After church, I sat down to interview a minister (I won't say where he's from) that serves in this church, but then he asked me not to video tape the interview. He also hesitated to describe what happened and why he had to leave his country. So I just took notes. After the interview was over, he told me that he had been beaten and tortured. At some point, all his upper teeth were pulled out and he was hung by one hand. He showed me the scar. I did, however, get two other interviews. At the end, the pastor asked not to be interviewed.

After church, Kari and his family took me to McDonald's. His kids wanted to go there real bad. So I had some good ol' American food in Turkey!!

The day wasn't over after McDonald's!! We went to the beach at the Black Sea!!! Wow! It was very interesting. The water was just as cold as the water in Virginia Beach earlier on in June. Although it was beautiful, the beach was a little dirty - there was some trash around the sand. Despite all this, it was a great experience to have swam in the Black Sea. From there we went to an old Ottoman Fort up in a high point from where you can see far down below ships cruising from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea and eventually to the Mediterranean Sea between the two continents. I would say that it looks like the Panama Canal, but I've never been there! It was a magnificent sight. When I think I've seen enough, there's always something else that leaves me in awe. We had a little something to eat in one of the restaurants of the area. I had a Turkish "tortilla" filled with potato and cheese. It was delicious! Turkey is fantastic!