Hello From Turkey

Hello from Turkey.I love this place I had no idea what to expect but what I've found is a beautiful fertile country clean and tidy and very modern.massive 6 lane highways for 1000's miles. went to a supermarket today and it was very impressive much bigger and better than anythingIve seen in Aust or NZ. Then there is the old, we have been to ancient towns with Greek & Roman ruins the splendour being much more than Id ever imaginedTurkey the place where Abraham was born (Haran) the place where Job lived, the place where Noah parked the Ark, The place of the northern kingdom of Israels exile, (it was part of the Babylonian empire then) the place of the Hittites, the place where Paul spent two years ministering (Ephesus's) the place where John Lived , ministered and is buried, the place where Luke is buried. saw where polycarp was martyred today (Smyrna) modern Izmir. The bible is just coming alive. for instance In Ephesus Acts came alive. the story of Paul and the silversmith Demetrius which caused a city wide riot. I went to every building mentioned in that story and we sang Te ariki in the stadium where the crowd went wild for 2 hours railing against Paul.Went to church in Izmir today the lighthouse Church, it was outstanding, great worship beautiful people.The people of Turkey what can I say, the team of 23 got invited home by complete strangers today and they gave us a meal, just people we met in the streetfriendly open and beautiful. this country has to be a hidden gem in the world. every where we go once they find out we are from NZ they love us. because there is great respect for Anzacs here our forefathers lie in the ground here side by side and the NZers fought so hard in the first world war there is huge respect passed from generation to generation. The British really did double cross them in the first world war and the Turks saw how the Anzacs were sacrificed and feel we suffered the same fate as them in WW1 so they see us as family here.

Ian Johnson
www.hisamazinggloryministries.org