"Follow the yellow-brick road..."

Munchkins, witches, and that little dog too! If you've never been out of the country then you probably wouldn't know the extent to which American cinema has invaded the world. A few weeks back I saw a clip from the adventure in "Oz" and the song hasn't left my head...(help!)

12 days ago Rachel and I moved into with a Turkish family I had met two years ago. What an amazing and challenging cultural experience. The man of the house spoke good English, wife and son-zero! A quick summary: all Turkish food, swallowing second hand smoke, sleeping without air conditioning, going for days without a shower, personal space restrictions, late night hours, and seeking to keep our spiritual lives on track with little personal "alone" time. But through it all we had some great experiences: my late night talks with the man of the house, Rachel cooking American/Turkish food with the lady of the house, creating a spiderman costume for their son (2), teaching them to play "pig" (a card game), and smiling/laughing when we just couldn't communicate. We still have much to reflect on together...

The past two days we moved back to our original apartment, now all alone here, for a dose of "American-ness": a good shower, an Italian dinner, cranking up the stereo, ________ (you fill in the blank). After "going Turkish" for so long we just needed a bit of normal. We helped lead the worship service again this morning (Rachel played a great flute duet with a church member). It was a wonderful time in God's presence with God's people setting our minds and hearts on the King again. And it's wonderful to have tea-time after church seeing other believers you may go the whole week without seeing!!

And now we're off again, bags packed, tickets in hand for an overnight bus-ride to a nearby city. We'll be visiting with a couple of "friends" there and seeing what life is like in a smaller, more conservative setting (Antalya is kind of like Miama!). In fact, this whole week we'll be spending most of our time with "foreigners" who live & work here. Our goal is talking through what it looks like to live here, what we may need to do in these next few years to prepare, and to encourage them as well. Basically, we're taking time to talk with people further down the yellow-brick road and get their perspective. We don't know where ours leads just yet but trust the Father's direction. Would you ask him specifically this week to be guiding our thoughts and conversations in such a way as to clarify and not confuse, to confirm and not contradict. We are so grateful for your support in this way.

May He continue to guide each of you in the Way, setting your gaze firmly ahead not straying to the right or the left. Blessings until we're able to udate again.

M&R

P.S.-Tomorrow is our first anniversary...waking up on a bus!!