Worship & Wedding Crashing in Turkey

Sunday was our last morning in Trabzon and our travel day to Rize further up the Black Sea coast. I should preface this post by saying that Sunday was my favorite day of the whole trip, and maybe even one of my favorite days ever!

First thing in the morning, we headed over to Samuel (who we had dinner with the night before) house for a morning of breakfast and "church." Samuel, his wife Hannah and their son Donald [again, names changed] lived in an apartment in Trabzon. On our way we stopped and picked up bananas, oranges and apples to take as a gift. When we got to the apartment, we all took off our shoes and entered the home. It reminded me of the Russian standard apartment that I lived in in Moscow, only cleaner and newer. They had a cat which they tried to keep in the back, but apparently the cat knew how to open doors which I thought was a pretty awesome talent.

The guys went in an immediately started chatting. Emily and I were assigned the customary duty or helping out in the kitchen. Hannah really didn't need our help, but in Turkish culture the women are supposed to help out with the meal. So I stirred the mulama and served the tea. The guys in the group LOVED that we had to serve them and took full advantage of acting like they were kings. For breakfast we had mulama, pumpkin pancakes, and what i can only describe as vienna sausages in a sauce. It was pretty good.

After breakfast, we all sat on the couch and "church" started. When we started, we were reminded that Samuel and his family were some of the only Christians in the area and that the nearest church was 6 hours away. Can you imagine not having another church within 6 hours of you? That is longer than the distance between my parents in Dallas and my inlaws in Little Rock. We probably pass 1,000 churches on that drive, maybe more. I can't imagine feeling so alone and isolated. I was again filled with that overwhelming feeling.

Then Samuel started playing the traditional instrument of the region. In fact, he was a very accomplished musician and taught children how to play. Here are a few videos that I took. (sorry they are sideways, but they are still worth listening to)

When they first handed us the hymnal, I thought it was a joke. How was I supposed to read and sing in Turkish? As Samuel and Hannah started to sing, my heart soared. I've NEVER heard anyone worship so longingly and wo passionately. Here, in the privacy of their home, they could sing for joy to the lord. They may live in a country filled with darkness, but in song and in worship, they could forget all of that. At first I took videos, but as I started to cry I had to stop. I looked back down at my hymnal and it didn't seem so foreign anymore. I actually felt like I knew what I was singing, and it was wonderful.

Worshipping with Samuel and Hannah was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. I've gone to church my entire life, I've been on mission trips, I've gone to concerts, crusades, and seminars, but I have NEVER worshipped like that before. When they cried out the name of Isa (Jesus), it was like they were begging for him to be there. The joy and the freedom and the love that they felt in those moments was overpowering and contagious. I never wanted those moments to end. And then they told us they were going to play a song that they had written together.

As they sang, I wept. I realized that here were two people singing to the Lord, praising Him in a beautiful way... and these were probably the only two people within hundreds of miles doing this at that moment. In that tiny apartment, surrounded by the lost, in a country filled with darkness, they were loving their Lord in a way that I think most Americans are unaware of. I think its easy to enjoy the musical portion of a church service before the sermon, but I will never ever take advantage of that time again. Worship is a time to bear your soul and just have a moment between you and God. Samuel and Hannah really reminded me of what true worship is.

After we finished singing, both Samuel and Hannah told us their testimonies. They were incredible. While they both came from different backgrounds, they both endured years of suffering and even when they did obtain copies of the Bible, their own relatives would steal them and hide them. But they worked through their fears and their doubts and their life struggles and eventually came to know that our God is the one true God and that only through Him can we be saved. Their lives are still difficult, but they have a hope and faith in God to provide and take care of them. If you would like to listen to their testimonies, let me know, the video files are a bit too big to put on the blog.

We then took a break and ate the fruit that we brought. I looked at my watch, we were supposed to have been on our way over an hour ago, but none of us wanted to leave. Ernest shared a few words. He spoke on the story of Gideon. He spoke in Turkish which meant I really didn't understand a word that he said, but I watched Hannah and Samuel. They were so intensely focused on Ernest and they hung on every word that he said. It was amazing to watch. When we started to get ready to leave, they went on and on about how much it meant for us to come and how it had filled their hearts with joy and with hope. It was unbelievable to hear them thank us for coming. I cried as I hugged Hannah good-bye. They gave me so much that morning that I will never be able to repay. I hope that my prayers for them every day are enough. I pray that their hearts would be encouraged and that they will not feel discouraged by the slow pace of evangelizing in Turkey. I pray that they will be bold in their witness and will not be afraid to share with anyone. They have amazing stories and an incredible opportunity to share. I pray that they will be protected as they do so and that God will bless them immensely for their efforts.

When we finally left, we got in the van and left Trabzon. Our next destination was Rize, a town about an hour up the Black Sea coast towards Georgia. I have to admit that 8 people and their luggage in a van was pretty rough. After the emotional morning we had, I needed to escape a little bit. So on went my earphones and I just listened to music all the way to Rize.

When we hit Rize, Randolph decided to take us up to a castle on the top of a hill overlooking the town before we went to the hotel. On our way up the hill we passed one of the funniest things I've ever seen, it was a cart FILLED with live chickens! Rize was going to be a fun town!

The castle was extremely old - as it described itself, it had outer and upper sections. Not sure what that meant, but it was pretty cool. They had converted the top to a little cafe oasis area to look out at the Black Sea and the mountains.

Rize was a really cool town because that is where alot of tea is grown. On pretty much every spare bit of land they are growing tea bushes. It's really cool to see all of the path designs on the hills. My mom should really go see this place. She would LOVE it! They say that in the summer, when they are harvesting the tea, that when you walk outside the whole place just smells of tea.

While we were up there, we took a "chai" break. I was a bit "chai"-ed out, so I decided to have my first taste of Turkish coffee! People are always raving about it, so I tried it. It was S-T-R-O-N-G but delicious! You have to be careful though, they serve it with the grounds still in it, so if you aren't careful and drink too much, you get the sludge in your mouth. Learned that one the hard way. It was GROSS! But the coffee was good, plus I was definitely awake for the rest of the day. And as you will see, I needed all the energy I could get that night!

After we left the castle, we headed to the hotel to check in. It was another pretty generic hotel, but not bad. We were just warned not to turn on our tv's under ANY circumstance. Apparently there are bad things on pretty much every channel there... After checking in we walked through town and ate an early dinner at a restaurant. I was a little over Turkish food so I just ordered a grilled chicken breast, veggies and rice. I should have stuck to the Turkish food. This was the first and only time that anything I ate over there made me sick. After dinner all I wanted to do was retreat back to the hotel, but that was not in the cards.

During dinner, Ernest had been telling us about Turkish wedding traditions. Come to find out, there were two wedding celebrations in Rize that evening. We walked over to one and Ernest tried to get us in.

All I could think about as we sat out there waiting was, oh my gosh, how am I going to go home and explain to people that I crashed a wedding while I was on a mission trip.... Then I started thinking about what I would have done if random people, or even foreigners, had shown up at my wedding uninvited and tried to get in. I would have FLIPPED OUT. Right about the time I had decided we were headed home, Ernest came back. We were in!

Not only were we in, but people welcomed us with open arms. They offered us seats, cookies, and juice. Everyone was staring at us. I wasn't quite sure what to do, BUT there were alot of kids running around. When I travel overseas, I always take kids stuff with me to pass out. Luckily I had some balls and the church had some american pencils, and I had a 1 pound bag of dum dum lollipops on me. As soon as those kids saw the candy, we were immediately adopted. I was sooooooooooo glad I had that stuff on me. It definitely broke the ice!

It was so fun to walk around all night and see kids with lollipop sticks hanging out of their mouths. The room was laid out with table all around the room in a U shape, with a dance floor in the middle. The dancers held hands in a giant circle and around and around they went doing traditional dances. Every now and again they would take a break and do a little techno.

Ernest tried to explain some Turkish wedding traditions. One of the biggest was that the bride looked MISERABLE. Not smiling, I mean she looked so upset. Apparently it is tradition for the groom to be ecstatic and for the bride to act put out. If she was to act excited, her family might take it the wrong way that she was excited to get away from them. Plus, apparently mother-in-law and new daughter-in-law relationships are TERRIBLE in Turkey. So she really may not have been that happy. BUT they do take a break in the middle to let her relax her miserableness for a few minutes. They also have a time when people give "gifts" to the bride and groom. They may give them gold coins, gold bracelets, or maybe even just pin money to their clothes. Pretty interesting...

Right about the time I was admiring the bride and groom and heading back to my seat, my hand was grabbed and I was thrust right into the circle of dancers. It was miserable tripping over my feet and trying to figure out the foot movements. Luckily I was with 2 of the guys in our group. We made a few rounds and gave up. The kids started flocking. They all wanted to practice their English, which consisted of "hello, how are you." Seriously... that was it. Made conversing a bit tricky. Here are my efforts...

It was funny, they would disappear and then come try out new words they have picked up. My favorite, was one sweet girl came to tell me that I had beautiful oggs. Hm, oggs. I'm not sure what oggs are, but she was pointing to her face so I am assuming she was telling me I had beautiful eyes. Very sweet.Before long, they tired of playing hand gestures and mime with me and wanted to teach me how to dance! Everyone else in our group had escaped back to our table or to talking. How I was the one that got stuck dancing for the next 2 hours is still a mystery to me.

I have NEVER been so glad to have gone to Texas A&M and spent countless evenings at the Hall learning to line dance. While Turkish dancing was different, it was very line-dance-esque. First, you hold hands and you pump them up and down to the beat as you go. When things got really going they would raise them up in the air. The dance would also start slowly and gradually get faster and faster. It started with just tapping your feet in the pattern, then it was picking your foot up, then a small kick, and then I felt like I was essentially going in circles really fast and can-canning. It was insane. I was sweating like a PIG and huffing and puffing. Apparently it freaked them out and these mothers/older ladies kept bringing me tissues and wiping my face. Very sweet but also embarassing. Here are a few short videos of the dancing. Unfortunately, nobody caught a clip of me doing the really fast one, but here are some of the slower.

(in the next video, if you watch the far right corner, you'll see me come around the corner. I have on khakis, a black shirt and a scarf)

(The next video is the closest I have to the fast dance. This is when it started to pick up. A few seconds in, you'll see me come around the corner in my black shirt and scarf).

Those girls were so sweet. They completely took me under their wing and were so patient teaching me the dance. They would grab me by the hand and actually fight over who got to hold my hand. They would take me to meet their mothers and their grandmothers. It was precious. One of the things I noticed and later asked Randolph about, is that there were alot of disabled children there. Apparently there is alot of inter-family marriage, therefore quite a few of disabled children. But their disabilities didn't stop them from laughing and smiling and having the best time.

I will never forget those girls' smiles as we went around in circles dancing. We may not have been able to communicate with each other, but I think our smiles and our laughter said it all. At first I was disappointed that I couldn't share Jesus with them. But then I realized, that maybe my job was just to sow the seeds. I showed them that Americans could be open and friendly. Hopefully those girls will be just as open with the next American who comes by and will listen to the stories they will tell them about Jesus.

Right about the time I was going to collapse, Ernest came and rescued me. It was time for us to leave. We wanted to go before they cut the cake so we wouldn't be obligated to eat it. We really were there just to experience a Turkish wedding, not take advantage of those sweet people. The kids just clung to us as we went to leave. I felt so bad that I had nothing left to give them. We gave each other the traditional kiss on each cheek, said goodbye, and they told me that they loved me. With that we went our separate ways. I may never see those girls again, but I will always remember the joy and the love that we shared that night on the coast of the Black Sea.

Check back tomorrow for our day in the mountains!

Days 3 in Turkey

The next morning I woke up in a complete fog. Jet lag got me. There was not enough concealer or tea that morning to make it better. When we went downstairs for breakfast we were greeted with terrible pictures and videos coming from Japan. We didn't totally understand since it was all in Turkish, but clearly something really terrible was going on there. First things first that morning we needed to buy John some new shoes. His loafers did not treat him or his backside so well climbing the mountain, so we had an early morning shopping trip. While he shopped, we sat in the square and shot a few pictures.

Once we got John's new shoes, we were off for the day! Trabzon has a sign on the top of the hill much like the Hollywood sign, just not quite as glamorous. We drove to the top of the hill and got out and sat at a table overlooking the city and enjoyed a morning of discussion over tea.

That is when Randolph dropped the big one. As we looked out over this huge city, kids running around with their friends, women chatting over tea, men working in the buildings, everything was so relaxed. And then Randolph told us that the city we were admiring so much had only about 5 believers and 2 of them were a British couple. In fact, that couple had pretty much stopped sharing about their faith and “retired.” It was an overwhelming feeling. It really made it difficult to enjoy the view, which really was stunning. We broke up into groups and prayed over the city.

If you know me well, you know I'm not an overly emotional person. I like to keep my emotions under control and to myself. But looking out over Trabzon, I was filled with this overwhelming feeling, a feeling that I really can't even put into words. I stared out at this city and I just could not imagine the lack of believers. I mean, how is that even possible? Staring out over the sea, the beauty was astounding. How could they not believe? How could they live their lives and not know? And then the call of prayer started up.

Then I got angry. So angry that I couldn't hold back the tears. Not only did this beautiful village not know God, but they would stop everything every 4 hours and bow down to walls, to NOTHING! It was almost impossible to take. I found it difficult to even be up on the hill anymore. I didn't want to see or think about it anymore.

After our morning on top of the mountain, we broke into two group. Emily, Tommy and I went with Ernest the translator. I kid you not when we I say we walked 10 miles around the city that day. First we went down to see the local Catholic church. There was no answer. Randolph had told us that it had pretty much ceased to exist since a man walked into the church a year ago and shot the priest in the back of the head… Can you imagine? Not only was this denial of God, this was outright violence against Christians. The church itself was completely protected by gates and tall walls. In fact, you really couldn't see any of the church except for the cross on the top. I was struck by a sign on the wall. It's hard to see in the picture below, but it says Allah Seni Seviyor. I asked Ernest what it meant, and he told me that it said God Loves You. I was intrigued because I assumed the word Seviyor meant Savior, but it actually meant love. I thought that was fitting. The church also reminded me of the importance of encouraging each other. Here at home, I feel like protestants and catholics have this rivalry going on all the time. But in a place like Trabzon, it was important to pray for the them because they were there. They had a building and an opportunity. My prayer for them has been for courage and boldness to proclaim the name of Jesus.

From there we walked downtown for a lunch break. Again, lentil soup, but with fried eggs and sausage and cherry juice. Delicious! From there we literally walked to beyond the city gates. I could list all of the places we saw, but I think pictures will do a better job.

 After walking the entire city, we were exhausted and hungry. They have these street vendors who sell roasted chesnuts on the streets so we bought a bag to split. Most people really didn't like them. They were okay, but had a very "meaty" texture and taste to them. They also make you super thirsty. I don't know why, but it reminded me of Christmas.... chestnuts roasting on an open fire!

Then we wandered into a bookstore. I was pretty surprised by what I found. In my mind, Turkey was a country overly dominated by its autocatic government. I expected censorship to be through the roof! BUT... they had pretty much anything you would find in a U.S. bookstore, including..... TWILIGHT! I guess Turkish people aren't that different from us...

We were on our way back when we saw the following shop.

That stuff looks good right? Kind of like fudge. It's called Helva. And it may be the worst thing I have ever put in my mouth. We bought half a kilo and split it into about 10 pieces for everyone to try. I was expecting fudge and that was definitely NOT what I put into my mouth. It had the consistency of wet chalk and the taste... well... I couldn't put it into words, but one of the guys in the group said it tasted like he was eating a cigarette. While I've never smoked a cigarette it did kind of taste like the smell of cigarette smoke. Awful. Pure evil in my mouth. I liked pretty much everything I ate in Turkey, but Helva was a HUGE exception to that.
 
When both groups got back to the hotel we had about 1 1/2 hours before we needed to go to dinner. Some of the other group wanted to go back to a bazaar we had walked to, and I wanted to buy a few souvenirs that I had seen, so about half of us walked back across the city. First we stopped in a silver shop. They have this really need technique where they wrap silver and can make jewelry, picture frames, bowls, etc. It is unique to the region, so I bought myself a picture frame. From there we headed to the bazaar where we all bought a variety of socks and scarves. It was really fun. Before we headed back, Randolph wanted to show us this antique shop that had old dishes and things that had pictures of Jesus and crosses on them. Again, right in front of their eyes....

More importantly, when we came out of the store, we saw two Turkish girls sitting and having a conversation. Randolph asked if Emily and I wanted to talk to them. We were hesitant. I was nervous! What was I going to say to these girls? We grudgingly said okay, sat down and ordered tea. I've been lucky that in all of my travels, I've always known at least enough of the local language to have a basic conversation. In Turkey, I was COMPLETELY reliant on translation. It really takes some time getting used to having a conversation via translator. We made small talk about who we were and where we were from and our families. Then, with Randolph's help, we were able to talk more about Turkish culture, headcoverings, mosques, education, and religion. We learned about how your entire future - your university AND your career - is determined by a test you take in high school. We learned that headcoverings differ not only on religion but also on region. We learned that girls go to the mosques at either different times or in different areas because they believe if a man looks up during prayers and sees a woman, his prayer is cancelled out. Really interesting stuff. Unfortunately, it took so long for us to get to these deeper topics that it came time for us to go to our dinner plans. As we walked away, I felt really down. We hadn't even shared a little bit of the Bible with these girls. I was talking to Randolph and could sense he was a little disappointed with us. It was so hard while we were talking with them to find bridges into the more serious stuff. Of course, as soon as we walked away, the bridges became so clear. I could only hope that we would have another opportunity...

After talking with the girls, we hurried home, hopped in the van, and headed to the mall with dinner with a local believers, who I will call Samuel. I was shocked by the mall - it was SUPER fancy and had nice stores, a movie theater and even an ice skating rink! The restaurant we ate at had this amazing dessert - it sounds disgusting but its amazing! It is basically a cheese patty coated in shredded wheat and fried. It sits on some honey and then on top is ice cream and crushed pistaccio. YUM!

This was our last night in Trabzon, so we went home to pack up our bags. But, before we went back to the hotel, Ernest wanted to take us back to the center of Trabzon. Apparently their soccer team had beaten a rival that evening and there was supposed to be dancing in the streets! Unfortunately we were a little too late to see the dancing, but he showed us a clip on youtube. If you want to watch it, here is a link!

Trabzon Dance!

Check back tomorrow for an update on our last morning in Trabzon and moving to Rize!