One of Those Sundays

There comes a church service in one's lifetime, that is so incredibly powerful, where God makes Himself so undeniably evident you question how people can reject His existence.

One of those Sundays where you end up sitting or kneeling during the worship, because the stories and the Scripture so perfectly align, that your jaw drops, and just to sing "Majesty, worship His Majesty" takes on a whole new meaning. 

One of those Sundays that the pastor's closing prayer resonates in your heart and you mean every single word along with him as God confirms these truths and speaks to your soul. 

One of those Sundays where you let the tears roll down your cheeks while simultaneously grinning from ear to ear, unashamed, because you've just discovered what an amazing God you serve. 

One of those Sundays that you just want to hug everyone or shout Hallelujah, Amen, which is totally out of your character, because you know that this omnipotent, omniscient God deeply loves you.

This was one of those Sundays.

Hearing the testimony of the elderly couple seated on a couch onstage, it was like walking into their living room, sitting with them, enjoying afternoon tea and sharing stories. Except these stories were like no other.

You see this couple, Keith and Wilma Forster, are Wycliffe Bible Translators. The Forsters have dedicated the majority of lives to living with the Kuna tribe in the jungles of Panama and translating the Bible into their native language and what a journey it's been.

Keith grew up in South Africa, and having a passion for the Lord and making him known, walked away distressed that a group of international miners didn't have the Bible in their language. This experience impacted him for the rest of his life, and, even though he was not skilled in languages, he decided that he would either be an accountant or a Bible translator and use it for the Lord.

When he had to provide for his widowed mother, he received checks in the mail from anonymous donors, as well as was miraculously provided the funds and a fully paid ticket for a mission trip to Colombia. Later, while facing the dilemma to become an accountant or a Bible translator, Keith was approached by a pastor he had met in Colombia, who, prompted by the Lord, signed Keith up for Wycliffe's linguistics course and jungle training and funded the whole process. (Ha! Talk about an answer to his dilemma about what to study!)

Wilma, on the other hand, never wanted to be a missionary, but God grabbed a hold of her heart and she eventually committed whole-heartedly, "Okay I'll be a missionary, even if it means I will be a single missionary." And He continued to direct her and sustain her, even when she met Keith and had three children together. Can you imagine raising a family in a completely different culture than your own? Not to mention snakes.

There are countless stories during their years pre-Panama and during their years in the jungles where God completely provided and directed their work, so that today, the Forsters and their translation team sit just weeks away from the final revisions of the New Testament in Kuna.

Listen to the service recording and their story "Our Lives for a Book" here.
Toda la gloria es para Dios!

The Tour Continues

Met up with Mom in Rome, fellow adventurer :)

-Italy
-Florence: climbed the Palazzo Vecchio Tower
-Pisa: leaning tower and baptistry with amazing acoustics
-France: shuttle to Marseille, Metro, train to Aix et Provence
*did laundry, ate crepes, walked narrow streets, lavender and linens and soaps

-Spain: tourist bus in Palma Mallorca up to Castle
(secret staircases, amazing views)
Cathedral reflected in the water

-Barcelona
*walked up La Rambla to meet Fat Tire Bike Tours
-steps commissioned Chris Colombus
-old bull fighter ring (Gaudi's work = gaudy)
-parks, zoo, cascade
-Familia Sagrada
-the beach

Pompeii

-Rome to London
met up with Spanners
relaxing, ppl climbing the Shard, deer park and cows, Amen Corner
perfect.

Roman Catacombs

*Sang our morning song one last time

Lessons from the trip:
-Victory in Christ
-Transforming Power
-splendor/grandeur of God
-the Body = 1
-His faithfulness

*St. Paul's Church

*Walking thru the Catacombs was a surreal experience, running my fingers along the rough volcanic rock and peering into slots in the wall that once held the bodies of early Christian martyrs.

-to even proclaim Christ thorugh your dying breath--saint with 3 fingers showing the trinity

2 Tim: hold fast to the hope of Christ (1:13)
the Word of God is not chained (2:9)
live vigilantly for Him
all will suffer persecution but God equips us
preach the Word! be watchful 4:2

*Summary prayer:
Lord you are so faithful!
From the example of the ealry Christian marty

rs--Stephen, etc.
From seeing how you chose Paul, a severe persecutor of the Christians, and transformed his life
To how you used Paul in megacities like Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica
You encouraged him at the moment he really needed it to press on and establish a Church there by the power of the Holy Spirit
You saved us from death--reaching into our sarcophagi and lifting us up to share in your Victory!
Thank you for the perseverance of the saints and for the unity through your Spirit
throughout the ages.

When in Rome..

Tuesday
-early morning flight to Rome

-lunch with restaurant owner who looks like James Bond
-Vatican museum/Sistine Chapel
*good culmination of everything we've seen, God is sovereign, faithful and He has the victory in the end-last judgment)

Wednesday

-Colosseum
-Titus' Arch
-Roman Forum, SPQR by the Senat and the people
-Trevi Fountain
-Pantheon
-Trajan's column
-crazy street performers
-Spanish steps and obelisk
-Metro

Thursday
-started with 9 on the Michele tour and ended with 3
-Piazza de Popolo (originally built for pope)
(concert being set up, churches, obelisk)
-climb to Pincio (gardens and amazing view
-followed Tevere River down to the Bridge of Angels
(nice cool, shady walk under the trees, smart cars parked the wrong way)
-explored all over Castel St. Angelo, built over Hadrian's crypt
-LOTS of steps
-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bastions
-parapet walk, christian symbols
-Room of the Urns (ashes of Hadrian's wife)
-long curved ramp, like passageway for funeral procession
-Chamber of Justice, treasury
-gorgeous Sistine-chapel like frescoes everywhere covering the walls
-more incredible view from the top!!

*walked to Piazza Navona: Neptune fountain, obelisk, church, narrow streets, sat and ate lunch

*Campo de Fiori: remains of farmer's market
*followed river past several bridges; crossed to Isola and back
*Found St. Maria in Cosmedin: crypt of Hadrian and Mouth of Truth
*Circus Maximus, Arch of Constantine, Colosseum, Roman Forum
Vittoria Emmanuel Monument
Via de Corso
*back to Piazza de Popolo
back to hotel Leonardo da Vinci
went back to the concert in the Piazza, popular Italian singers: Tezeki Festival

Istanbul (continued)

IN BRIEF (more pics later)

-Basilica Cistern
-Archaeological Museum
-Boat tour on the Bosphorus
-Kora Church frescoes and mosaics
--Jesus: Come ye all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest
--Powerful imagery: Jesus pulling Adam and Eve out of the grave!
-but

no cross!
(Orthodox emphasizes redeeming work vs. atoning work)
-dinner in Asia


-Grand Bazaar
-Church with Apostle's Creed
-Sultan's Palace: Topkapi

Hagia Sophia and Lessons on Forgiveness

**Hagia Sophia

Built by Justinian I as the largest Christian church in the Roman Empire, the Hagia Sophia has undergone many changes throughout its turbulent history and evidence of this is still etched into its walls. The site of the Great Schism, taken over by the Ottomans and turned into a mosque and more recently converted into a museum.

It is one of those sites that you walk into and you feel small. Dwarfed by columns, grand ceilings/mosaics, you feel as if this place was meant to reflect the glory and grandeur of God. Now, however, the stories from the Bible depicted in mosaics are covered up, the crosses rubbed out, overlaid with ornamental Islamic designs, and huge circular discs hang from the ceiling with the verses from the Quran.

To me, it was upsetting to walk through the Hagia Sophia, originally designed to glorify God, and see that it is now a museum, that neither serves as a place to worship Him nor acknowledges Him in a very Islamic society. Sure, there are some of the original church mosaics that they’ve uncovered of Jesus and various disciples, but of the few thousand visitors that pass through the sanctuary, not many leave with the true meaning behind these pictures or a further understanding of the Gospel.

Then, walking into the Blue Mosque was even worse. Also an amazingly grand place with its blue tiles, spacious rooms and domes, the Blue Mosque welcomes visitors when it is not a designated prayer time or holy day, but people must cover themselves (no shorts and women must cover their heads). The thing that struck me about this mosque, or any mosque for that matter, is that even when there are multitudes of people kneeling and praying inside, it feels empty, like something is missing.

When I visited a Jewish synagogue in Santa Barbara while working as a day camp counselor, I experienced a similar feeling. They may be so sincere, crying out to the Lord and knowing that He is holy, but completely missing the point. They are so wrapped up in law and following all the rules, that they miss God’s message of a Savior, Jesus Christ.

Something so unique in the Christian faith is that we have God's Holy Spirit living within us and that unites us across countries as brothers and sisters. When we worship the Lord together, He is present among us and that is never an empty feeling. His Word is living and active, and when we open His Word to read together, it has transformative power.

Though we may have divisions within the Christian Church (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox..and other branches off of those), we know What unites us, Who we're ultimately following, and Where we have to look forward to one day. As the Westmont group and I further examined conflicts within the Middle East and Turkey throughout history and today, there's one powerful word I believe the Islamic society is missing. Forgiveness.

Yes, I will admit that as the Christian Church, we too struggle with exemplifying genuine self-less love and forgiveness, but we have the Holy Spirit which allows us to love in ways that we never could on our own. On the other hand the Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims both have similar core beliefs but their original disagreements over leadership have become deep set divides that have led to countless attacks on each other. The root of bitterness and animosity has grown deep and caused endless tragedy among the places where these groups of Muslims interact. 

It is only in Christ that we have the power to forgive even what we would consider the worst of wrongs. Jesus says: 

Mark 11:25

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. 

This act of forgiving others is so important that Jesus tells us that we need to put priority on setting relationships right before we come to worship Him.

Why should we forgive?

Colossians 3:13

13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Once we grasp how wide and long and high is the love of Christ that never fails us and has completely wiped out our sin, we are more able to forgive others. Rely on His strength to either humble yourself and ask for forgiveness or to say "I forgive you" and mean it with all your heart.

Micah 7:18-19

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Istanbul, Not Constantinople

**Istanbul, Not Constantinople!

Whew-what a whirlwind shift, going from Greece to Turkey!

To me, Istanbul was full of surprises. First of all, the city was very green, as we drove along the road to the Old City from the airport, we passed grassy parks with playgrounds and bright flowers. I noticed it was a very modern city with deeply historical roots, on both sides of the Bosphorus Strait you can see a skyline of apartment and business highrises interspersed with the minarets of domed mosques on every corner. The remains of seawalls and aqueducts dating to the Byzantine era stand near the coastline, and large ships cruise through the sparkling blue waters dividing this great city.

Turkish food was always a discovery, from different eggplant toppings and shaved lamb meat to baklava and other super sweet desserts drenched with honey. Vendors handed out free samples of Turkish delight in every market and put on the act of being friendly and personable in order to sell you their wares.

The Westmont group and I stayed near the mosque of Suleyman’s son, a mosque I thought completely grand until I stepped into the Blue Mosque tiled with gorgeous geometric patterns and intricate calligraphy.

My roommate, Susan, and I went on our own walking tour around the neighborhood of our hotel. It was late Friday afternoon and these back streets near the university were quiet. Following the cobblestone roads, we passed through archways that led to different, larger mosques.

On the way, we passed Turkish men sitting in barbershops and smoking outside at little tables playing backgammon. Women with decorative scarves sat in small groups in the mosque courtyard sharing an afternoon picnic. And when 5:10p rolled around, shop owners hurried out to the local mosque for one of their 5 daily prayers. Their prayer times when we were there were approx. 4a, 6a, 1p, 5p, and 10:30p. In fact a local band covering popular hits at our hotel restaurant stopped their show completely at 10:30p out of respect for the call to prayer.

Each night during our time in Turkey, we met with Jim Wright and Heather Keaney, who lead the Westmont in Istanbul program and are extremely knowledgeable when it comes to history of the Middle East and Islamic culture. Leaving those talks, I always felt I had a much better grasp on the current situation in Turkey, the parallels and differences between Christianity and Islam, and the Orthodox Church.