A Good Way to End

Today I woke up to the sound of rain. I was concerned this was going to keep me from walking to assemble with a church. At one point I was pretty sure I would not go, but all of a sudden the rain stopped. Eventually the sun came out!

There were not too many people on the street this morning, so the walk to church went a lot faster than I anticipated. I made it to church early, so I walked around for a while. On my way I decided to forgo part of my walk and ride the Tunel, which is a very short subway that goes up a steep hill. It was interesting.

I worshiped with theUnion Church of Istanbul The church meets in the Dutch Embassy and has for more than 100 years. I was quite surprised by what I found. I went to the second assembly, which was full. I estimate that there were more than 100 people there. There was also an assembly earlier which was also full.

I was told later that there were 35-40 nations represented in the congregation. I sat next to a Chinese lady who sang and spoke in English, but she was reading out of a Chinese Bible. A couple from South Africa had their little baby girl dedicated this morning. Americans and Asians passed communion. The worship was fairly simple, the sermon was really good, and the communion was quite amazing. It was amazing to think about all these people from all over the world communing together.

Afterwards I introduced myself to the minister. He then invited me to have a meal with the church. It was great! We met and ate in another part of the Dutch Embassy. I met a lot of interesting and (I am guessing) important people. I think several are associated with various embassies. I spent a lot of time talking to an American university professor who teaches international relations in one of the universities. We talked a lot about Turkish culture. I learned a lot.

I am now getting ready to go to bed. I have packed everything I can. I leave the hotel about 9.30 in the morning, and my flight (Delta 73) leaves Istanbul at 12.35 (5.35 a.m. your time). It is an eleven and a half hour flight to JFK. After a short layover I should arrive in Indy about 10 p.m. It will be a very long day, but I am very eager to get home.

I’ll talk to you in a day or so...

Please pray for safe travel. Thanks!