27 July 2007

Central Asia: Day Four

Today was a little more chill than yesterday and just as God-directed. They had set aside today as a day to meet again with contacts we had made before, so we all headed out to downtown, and those of us who didn't have someone specific to meet were free to roam around the bazaar and hopefully make some new ones. Marcus, Kyle, Amy, and I roamed the bazaar, made a couple good purchases, attempted to find some English0speaking women to befriend (and failed at that), and just sort of hung out together. The whole team met back up together after we had all finished meeting our contacts and we all headed back to the hotel, then were free to grab a couple of people and grab dinner. The family Kyle, Dan, Abby, Julie, and I met last night invited the five of us to supper with them, so we met up with Mahmet and he took us to his apartment.

We had an amazing time! We visited for alittle while, then sat down to a really good meal. Over dinner we discussed food, mostly. It was just Mahmet, his wife, and his younger daughter, Huma (his other other daughter was at her aunt's). We talked to Huma some about her imaginary friend she normally plays with but hadn't that day. She was so cute! Three years old and assassy as could be. I think last night she was kind of overwhelmed by all the foreigners, but tonight she warmed up to us a little more and even sat in Abby and Julie's laps. She just jabbers and jabbers away at us; if only we could understand what she's saying!

Dan and John did an amazing job tnight telling the Story to Mahmet and a friend of his that came by. They asked some really great questions and had a good conversation going. We didn't want to just focus on religion though, and we spent a good awhile just loving on them, asking questions about their lives and them. They are so sweet. The part that was most personally exciting for me was after Mahmet got down some photo albums and let us look at them. It was awesome for the girls because it gave us an opportunity to interact directly with Nagihan, the wife, without the need of a translator. Since we know to say "who's this" and "what's this" and we already knew the names of her children, she was able to share some of her life with us through telling us who was in each picture.

There were a lot of cute baby pictures and also some pictures from their wedding. It was really cool to see into their lives like that, and I felt like we were able to connect with Nagihan through it. She also showed us some head scarves she made before she got married (apparently that's a tradition here), she taught us to count to ten in Turkish, and we got to ask her some questions about her life, so she was able to share with us. She is so sweet-speirited, always smiling and laughing! She made us feel so welcome, and I was so glad to be able to interact with her more today. Women don't have much dignity or worth in this culture, and I feel like us allowing her to share her life with us, to teach us, and just honoring her, we are showing her, just a little bit, that she does have something to give and contribute, that she's not just a second-class citizen who's meant to do all the "women's work."

At the end, we took pictures, of the men and the women, and she asked if she could have a copy, so over the weekend we're going to get those photos developed and on Monday we're going to meet with them one last time so we can give them to her. I'm praying that then we will get another chance just to love on her and her daughters, showing them God's love and Word, even if we can't speak it to them.

Over the last day or so, I've finally become competent at being able to look around as I walk without making eye contact with people. It's hard when you're not used to it. But I definitely don't want to be giving off any vibes I don't intend to follow through on. In other news, I now love çay! I'm beginning to crave it as I walk around the city. Unfortunately, my traumatic encounter with Ayran the other day has ruined for me anything that has yoghurt in it. I also had to drink some Turkish coffee today, and that was a struggle too (though nowhere near that of Ayran), but it did get a little easier as I went. Who knows, maybe I'll develop a liking for that too. I may come back to the States craving all the thinks I once hated! :p

After we got back to the hotel at like 12, I talked for a while with Ivey and Amy, just about womanhood and life in general. God put such amazing people on this team! He's already blessed me with them so much. And He gave me such joy and peace in that apartment with that family; it was so encouraging.

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