Land of Tolerance

The region that we live in is known to be the place the church, mosque, and synagogue.  There are some churches, but as far as I know the synagogue is closed.  But there is definitely an air of tolerance for all faiths here that you don't find any where else in this country.  Our neighbors often ask, "And how is it with you guys?" as if all faiths and practices are valid in their eyes.  We pray for God to open their eyes to the truth.

Visit from my parents

 My parents were quite worn out after their long trip but we were all excited to open the presents they brought us from America.

 We all went together to visit a new place a few hours away.  We had a great time swimming in the sea and visited the place called "Heaven and Hell" but we actually just visited Heaven.  There's an old church there and a big cave.  It was a pretty walk down to it through the forest.  It started raining and my mom and my friend had to take cover under the arches.

Another day we took a beautiful drive up into the mountains and had tea on a raised platform cushions under the huge pine trees.  It was very relaxing.

Conference

 This was the view from our room.  What a blessing!  Praise the Lord for His goodness to us!
From the speaker, “Jesus didn’t die just to save you from hell but to give you the whole of heaven.”  We want to live each day enjoying all the blessings that Jesus died to give us: joy, freedom, love, unity, purpose, security, abundant life, fullness, and so much more!
We thank you for your prayers for us to stay strong and encouraged in our new home and ministry.

 I love the sea of course!

And here I am drinking hot chocolate in the sea!  I did swim later when the wind died down and it was refreshingly cool!

We had lots of cups of tea by the sea.

And coffee of course!

I love the sea!

We are so thankful that my friend's mom was able to attend the conference as well.

This is the face for carrot jelly.

A sunset at the end of a very wonderful day.

Coffee in Izmir

My friend's childhood friend took us to have coffee and the most delicious strawberry ice drink I've had even in the country!  We had a good visit with her and continue to pray for her salvation.

Another Visit to Swan Park

 We really love this park in Ankara!

The weather was just a beautiful!

 I enjoyed taking these pictures with my new camera that my parents brought to me for an early birthday present.

Washing our Rugs

We had a lot of fun washing our rug with soap and brushes in the hot sun on our balcony.  This is a yearly job that I really enjoy because you get to get wet!

A chicken at breakfast

Ever had chicken for breakfast?  We were holding our new baby chick and she jumped right into the pan and started eating the leftover eggs.  Don't worry, we're not going to cook her!

And this is our newest baby chicken.  She is named after my friend's niece, Neema.

I tried to get Neema and Kailey to be friends but they were not interested and still aren't.