Our Team in Turkey

Our friends from Lebanon. This is the conference room where the adults met & Glenn led the worship.
Another great part of the week is meeting with the teams from the different countries.

Leaving SFO. Don't they look fresh!?!

Here's the ski lodge where Glenn, Diane, and Casey went skiing.
View from the hotel room.

Kids in Turkey

Glenn's Home

The Turkey team arrived safely last night and even a little early. We're all on our way to school & work right now so we'll blog later today. He has lots of photos!

Two Firsts in One Day

Lauren drove us to church Sunday morning in the fog -- first time for her to drive in the fog. Later that afternoon she drove us home in the rain -- first time for her to drive in the rain. Uncle Alan, I tried to get her to buy me ice cream, but she wouldn't do it! :-)

Glenn's plane is supposed to land at SFO tonight (Tuesday) at 7 Pacific Time. It may take a few days but we should have some photos and more stories to blog.

Hi...wanted to let you know I got to see one of the episodes of 24 -- last season here. I was suprised and it was in English with Turkish subtitles.

Did you go to Panda's after church?

Boy, I sure could used some propel or gatorade. They have nothing like that around here, nor bananas. Ive been drinking lots of water but I feel like I need something to replinish some electrolites to give me some energy. I am also eating oranges. My lunch today consisted of orange, tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots. You know I am sick to eat that...LOL When I asked for an energy bar they pointed me to the chocolate candy.

Well...this will be probably my last night to actually go to sleep here. Probably will catnap after dinner. We leave at 3 am. Will try to get some major sleep on the way to munich and also we have a 6 hour lay over in munich so I need to find another place to chill and sleep. And then some over the sea probably wake up over canada somewhere

Still having a little fever...but it broke and still kind of breaking now as I type. I am sooooo tired of feeling sick and being in my room. I only go out just for some air and play a few songs for the kids.

I learned to today at lunch that one of the girls from Yemen has the exact symptoms I do and she started the same day. So we must have gotten it from on of the other kids. I am really suprised the team has not come down with it. By the grace of God for them.

Update on Sunday morning

Well, it is Sunday morning. Tomorrow is our final day of service here. I have to tell you how amazing the team is. They have an energy and love for the children that can only come from the Lord. It has been pretty challenging that last several days. We are closing in on around 40 kids in a room about the size of annex D. Today it is raining so there will be no outside play or going to the beach, so it will be more of a challenge.

On top of that I have been sick. I have come down with the flu and had to go see a doctor about 10pm on Saturday night. I was having trouble getting my fever down and felt it was time to seek professional help. I was amazed how modern and clean the clinic was, which eased my concern. They took my temperature under my arm which also eased my concern not knowing where they usually take temperatures in this part of the world if you know what I mean. It came in at 106degrees. THey immediately gave me a shot on my bottom. Boy, it was powerful. It hurt pretty good, but worked pretty fast. I'm sure there was some kind steroid in it. Anyhow, then the doctor prescribed 4 meds. I had a pharmistist with me from the conference who came as my translater and to make sure they prescribed the right medication.

It's Sunday morning and I'm still not up to par. So pray for me. Doubly, pray for the team. I would hate to think that they would get what I have.

So, as I lay in my bed I am able to watch the Hour of Power...LOL. It was nice hearing American hymns sung in english and a special guest speaker Nikki Cruse, gang missionary spoke, and singer Russ Lee sang two songs so it ministered to me. It's good know that some kind of form of gospel it on television here, just wished it was something more solid.

Anyhow the team got to see the new Jesus movie last night, which was told from Mary's point of view. They said it was good

I can't tell you how good it has been to get to know Carey Young. He is really on fire for Christ...missionary style...and not for just the sake of doing special missionary trips. He has been telling me about the personal work he has been doing around his neigborhood. Carey has a great love for the Lord.

Chris is still plugging along. She has been great with her French translation. We have a number of kids who speak french so it's been good to have her along.

Carolyn just loves on the kids, does crafts with them, reads stories, sits with them, etc.

Diane is like the energizer bunny...she just keeps going and going and going. We are really going to miss her work at Northcreek. Anyhow, tomorrow we will start packing stuff up and giving away certain items we do not need to bring back [He's leaving his laptop with someone. And last year we left all the games, art supplies, and other things for the kids.] We will have an early start Tuesday morning, leaving the hotel at 3 am. I sure hope I am better by then. Then we will take a 23 hour trip back home.

So...that's the scoop for today. Thank you for your prayers.

Glenn

Glenn just called again. He made a little trip to the doctor last night. His temperature was 106! He got a shot & some medicine & said he slept good all night and felt better this morning. He was through leading the worship and was only helping out with the kids now, so that's good.

Pray for the others to stay healthy the last 2 days of the conference.

Kids in Turkey

Hey, I like the new Blogger. Remember how much trouble I had adding lots of pictures at one time last year? No problems at all now... and it's much faster. Here are pictures of the kids from last year. I think all these kids are there again, plus LOTS more. Last year the Bird Flu was discovered in Turkey the week before we got there and many people decided not to come or bring their kids. Sounds like the conference this year is a lot larger.

This is the room we were in with the kids from 8-10 hours every day.

Yes, twins. I don't know if we ever really figured them out. What personalities!

Taking a Day off in Turkey

Today we left at 7 am to go skiing. We drove 2.5 hours to the north. It was pretty, the same path that Paul pretty much took to get to pisidia. Pretty rustic. But I was so glad to get out of the city today. The smog is soooooooooooo bad. Everyone burns coal either in their homes or in 50 gallon barrels. It was soooooooooo bad.

When we got back from skiing it was dark and you could see and smell it. It was like breathing the back end of a jet liner going full speed on take off.

We did some shopping on the way back. Got you guys some things.

It's almost dinner time. We ate this morning at a resturaunt on the way up to the mountain. I had coffee, fresh squeezed OJ, Toast (which means a panini type of toast with cheese and saugage spread in it), some wonderful bread with strawberry preserve. Diane had chicken soup. Usually their breakfast consists of boiled egg, olives, cheese, bologna type of meat, soup.

I took lots of pics today...wish I can share them with you.

Good morning...but good evening to you.

Woke up early but I will go back to sleep. Thought while I was up I'd email everyone.

Today, being Friday, is our off day...R&R. Actually Diane, Carey, and myself along with a guide are driving 2 hours north to a ski resort today. We can rent skis, buy ski lift ticket and rent clothes, too, except that Diane brought her clothes. Chris and Carolyn are just going to chill out here.

We had supper last night with the Israel team. G was telling me about his wife. They met six months ago in Jordan, engaged for 4 months, married now for two. But because he is Israeli and she is a Palestinian from Jordan she is not allowed to come into Israel, nor is he allowed to live in Jordan so he travels back and forth to see her. They are not sure what they will do. They are praying for a plan. He knows he needs to stay in Israel. He lives in Jerusalem.

It's interesting in talking to them about the conflict with Lebanon. They just don't get paralyzed by all this. They continue to minister and go on with life. They just expect this, same with the Lebanon team.

We have not heard too much about any major persecution this year yet. But I do know now that they are trying to engage with Muslims in their countries not just the nominal Christians.

It was funny yesterday, Carolyn needed a place to process some photos she took of the kids so our guide here in the hotel told her what bus to take into the city. So Carey, Chris, and her went in to town during the lunch ,which is from 1pm to 3:30 pm, and went to a mall...lol. There they discovered civilization. What I mean by that is that they found McDonald's, Arby's, Taco Bell, etc. This is a modern mall so they were very happy.

Our schedule now for Saturday, Sunday and Monday is 8 am to 1 pm and then 3:30pm to 8:00 pm. Generally we play games in the morning, music time, go to the beach or playground, and some crafts. In the afternoon we start off with games, crafts, music, story time, movie, and general play time. We now have about 39 children ranging from toddler to 14 years old.

Have to tell you about Hope. Hope is a 13 year old teenage girl from Baghdad. To look at her and to know her would you think this girl is a typical teenage girl from the states. She dresses like them, talks like them, has same likes and dislikes, carries a laptop, mp3 player and does school just like any normal kid back at states. But here is where the similarities stop. Terrorists and the military, car bombs go off -- never know if your car, or house, or the store you are in, or if you are in a traffic jam or at a stop light, if the next bomb will go off with you near by. She showed me a picture on her laptop. Actually several pictures of what it looks like around her home. It'ss pretty devastating. Churches, businesses, homes, and etc, blown up either by terrorist, mainly...or by the military.

I would have to say, from their viewpoint, our military is not respected too much. Because things are not getting better. They will not from their view point get rid of these insurgents. If the insurgents or local are stealing, some of our troops, not all, are stealing from them, too.

Alot of what we hear from the Iraqi's here is quiet a different story painted in the news or by the government. Their view is that sending more trooops is not the answer, they believe the answer is that our troops need to learn how to be protectors...not destroyers.

We need to seriously pray for this. Even though they like American people they just don't like what they see. But yet...life goes on. They go to school, go to work, recreation, travel, and etc, just like we do, except it's a war zone. They have TV, internet, some modern abilities. So pray for the Iraqi's and their future, especially for the church.

Another interesting thing is that they are telling us that things were safer and more freer for the Christians when Sadam was in power. Sadam trusted the Christians and gave them free mobility to do what they wanted because he knew they were not there to take over the country. His problem was with the three main muslim groups who, like we see now wanted to tear up and wipe the other out of the country. So it's an interesting world. Things are not as sometimes what they seem or so cut and clear and neat like we would like for them to be. Regardless what polictical party or belief we have in the states, no matter what is being fed to us by the media or what the government wants leaked out, doesn't change the fact that whatever picture we paint this world to be there is an ever present evil here and at home that seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. But we do have one who is mightier, one who is our victor and His name is Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. One day every one of these nations and tongues and people of religion will bow before His throne and call Him Lord.

It was such an emotional thing for me yesterday while leading worship when we were singing "Come, Now is the time" I will never be ever to sing this song the way I did in the states again. The line...:"One day every tongue will confess..." took on new meaning for me when I looked out and saw the different tongues and her the different languages and people groups standing and worship the Lord. I got so excited and pumped up about that to the point of tears of joy. In all the evil that takes place in this world there is a part of heaven that God gives us to see and that is with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I know that there are times we approach our theology in areas with some differences but when you see these people who are trying there best to comprehend who Christ is and faithfully through persecution of life and death singing even when their language is not on the screen with their love and devotion to Christ it changes you.

What a mighty God we serve. One lesson out of all this that I am walking away with is that I seriously need to change my prayer pattern or stragedy. Perhap's we all need to do this.

Glenn

It's Wednesday in Turkey!

If anyone has Wayne Cerullo's email, please pass along this message. Thanks!
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Anyhow, it's 6 am, the call to prayers was just announced...

Another thing, I don't know how Diane gets her way...lol...but it looks like we are going snow skiing on Friday, our day off. Rainbow Tours has arranged a trip for us...lol...this is so wild.

Our schedule takes a change today. We have been working with the children only in the mornings and evenings with the afternoon off. Actually Diane's team has, I've been busy doing and prepping worship stuff. But now we start the long days. So we will have kids from 8am-1pm and then from 3-8 pm. So we are going to try to divide up the schedule so we are all not in the room the whole day, because that would be 4 -10 hour days with the kids.

I took a picture with A and S from Lebanon...Grace's mom says hi...having lunch with Palestinians today...and Israel tomorrow. We will also be taking on 9 new children on Friday.

FOR WAYNE CERULLO:(Glenn writing this not Chris)Wayne, Chris says hi and loves you. She says thank you for the little birthday suprise. She had a great time. After dinner last night we had the kitchen bring out a chocolate cake for her and we all sang happy birthday to her. Carolyn brought out the gifts and she loved the chocolate. She was saying all day...I need chocolate...lol. Great job, Wayne! Also, Chris needs you to check her email for Cameron's history work.

Video Emails

Glenn sent us a video email. Email me if you'd like to have the link.

Tuesday Morning -- email problems

Just got another email from Glenn. He sent 2 video emails, but I didn't get either one. So he sent a short email:
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Anyhow, let me update you a bit. Still about 30 children & close to 300 adults. Children are having a great time. The team is doing a great job. Grace is back [A very memorable little girl from last year.] and a few of the other kids are back,too, but lots of new ones. The adult time is going great. Worship is wonderful. Hirokyo has been a big help to me. She is very knowledgeable concerning worship songs and material and leading worship. I spoke to Rheema and her husband [This is the couple from Lebanon who wanted us to bring the Flock Worship Band to Beirut to sing in schools! They work with high school students there.] She told me about last summer during the bombings. It's really bad there, young families are leaving, students are leaving. I spoke to our Israel team [another group we met last year] and met a new couple from Kazakhstan.

Glenn just sent me tomorrow's report -- remember they're 10 hours ahead of us. He was having trouble with his church email address. Right now his home email is working ok, but he's still not able to send the photos that went along with his report. He said internet service is really slow there. If he gets it working I'll add them later.
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Monday, January 22, 2006

Greetings everyone back in the states from Diane, Chris, Carolyn, Carey, and Glenn. We are in Turkey and are all doing fine and things are going well. As you know we left San Francisco airport on Friday, January 19th at 2:00 pm local time and arrived about 20 hours later in Antalya, Turkey, by way of Frankfurt and Istanbul. Luggage and passengers arrived safely and all accounted for. We are staying at the Porto Bello Hotel, which is located in Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

This year Diane and her team are providing a children's program for the families who are attending this conference of missionary leaders for CCC in 30 countries around the Middle East, Central Asia, and North African nations, and I am leading worship for the adults. So far we have about 30 children attending the conference and they are all having a great time. Below are several missionary children taking time to play one of the board games we brought on the trip.

The daily schedule this year is a lot more bearable for the team, though there are more children. It consists of a vacation Bible school program in the mornings from 8 am to 1 pm. Then the team comes back at 6pm to 8pm to spend time playing and ministering to the children while their parents are in one of the meeting rooms for worship, training, prayer, and counseling.

As you can see this is a pretty good size conference room and is full to capacity with over 250 missionaries. This is where I spend most of my time, leading worship. On Sunday we were able to sit down and have lunch with 3 who serve in Kazakhstan on the Campus communication team.

Below are a couple of missionaries we met last year who are attending this years conference. One is from Egypt and the other from Kyrgyzstan.

What a joy to serve and worship with these brothers as we witness the greatness of God through Christ Jesus as he brings these nations together in His name. God Bless!

Glenn's in Turkey

Got my first email from Glenn this morning. They're 10 hours ahead of us here on the West Coast. He said their trip took 20 hours and he slept a lot on the plane. All their luggage arrived at the same time that they did -- Remember last year that ALL of our luggage arrived 24 hours after we got there!!!

He's going to try to send photos. Sunday is the first day of the conference. I'll try to blog everyday.