Have you ever heard the call to prayer? Some of our Entrust friends and students have never lived a day without hearing it...If you would like to listen to an example, click here: Islamic Call to Prayer.
In our few vacation days in Istanbul, we never saw a church that hadn't been turned into a mosque or museum...no reminders of Jesus...no crosses...no mention of His Resurrection...not even the ever-present chocolate Cadbury eggs! A few days later, it was actually a relief to see commercialized, stuffed Easter bunnies in the Munich airport...at least Easter was sort of acknowledged there.
While Istanbul isn't even in the heart of the Middle East, it was a poignant reminder for us that even many non-believers go to a service on Easter Sunday in the USA...yet here, hardly anyone goes to church...ever...and in nearby areas, they could die just for the privilege of attending one.
We have a renewed perspective...
Why were we in the Middle East??
Everyone arrived safely after many hours (sometimes days) of travel...this is quite a miracle in and of itself as there were well over 100 of us gathering together! We arrived on Saturday, April 9th and began to settle in and prepare for the upcoming Board Meeting and All Staff Conference. Board and staff members began arriving shortly thereafter and it was pretty much non-stop until me and Andy left for Istanbul on April 20th.
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| Bodyguard Andy |
The Board Meeting was great! We had a full day and a half of meetings in a beautiful room overlooking the water....and after exactly five years with Entrust, this was one of the smoothest board meetings I've ever had the privilege to be involved in. My role for the Board is to set up the meetings, prepare materials and officially record and follow-up with everything that occurs....in addition, I was working with David & Nancy Goodman and the All Staff Conference Team trying to prepare for the upcoming week's schedule, modifying PowerPoints, updating notes for speaking sessions and prepping for a big Leadership Team meeting. Looking back, I feel like we spent most of those two weeks running full speed ahead :-)
While I was in meetings, Andy stayed quite busy helping our Communications Team get ready for the big event and he took it upon himself to make sure no woman traveled unescorted into town. While we were located in a relatively safe area of the Middle East, he gave us an extra peace of mind...and I loved watching him step even more into his role as a protector of women :-) Andy is a wonderful man...In fact, we hit our three-year wedding anniversary during the board meeting on April 12th! After three-years of marriage, I think Andy gets even more wonderful every day :-) Our anniversary was great--full of sweet wishes from our Entrust family and it even concluded with a beautiful Mediterranean sunset!
Our whole Entrust team adopted Andy as we served throughout the conference--we loved seeing/meeting everyone in person! My role was to assist the President/Board/Leadership Team, set up the Conference Information Desk and run the Technology Help Desk for the missionaries...Andy stepped-in to help with heavy lifting, set-up/tear-down, tech needs...and we both ended up doing a variety of all of this and more, LOL. We both worked the Technology Help Desk everyday, restoring computers, answering software questions, addressing Facebook security issues and so much more! We had a blast...and we even performed in the Entrust Family Fun Night with some of our friends from the Headquarters Office. If I can find a video of the performance, I'll upload Andy's "ballerina debut" for you :-)
We've heard wonderful reports of spiritual renewal and encouragement and we saw first-hand the unity/fellowship that resulted from the conference. The Lord prepared the way for our time together and He was with us every minute...A wonderful collection of speakers commissioned us to move forward in our common goal to multiply leaders for multiplying churches. We were completely blessed to serve the missionaries that work 24-7 to accomplish this for His Kingdom!
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| Ephesus Library |
After almost two wonderful weeks serving at the Entrust All Staff Conference, we traveled to Ephesus(a phenomenal experience!) and then hopped on yet another plane to meet friends in Istanbul for a much-needed vacation. It was an amazing experience that we will never forget and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Middle East. In a few days, we'll give you more details and pictures on Facebook...and for those of you who would like to know more than we can blog---we'd love to share with you!
Thank you all for your prayers and support before, during and after our travels. We could feel you praying...please know how much it was needed and appreciated! Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East...
1 comment:
I am so happy that your trip went well. I have been praying for the both of you and your report stirs my desire to travel even more.
I love you both!
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