The City Center. A Day to be a Tourist.

Today we ventured to the city center, and got to be tourists. We were able to learn a little bit more about the culture of this country today. Our team of 16 was split up into groups, each with a leader who is currently living in this country as a missionary spreading the word of God. My group was lucky enough to have a woman named Kate as our "tour guide" who has currently been living in this country for 5 years now. Kate was such an inspiration, and truly has a love for the Lord. She has a heart for the lost, and her want to help these people radiated from her.

Kate walked us around the city center, showing us the places that were important to the city, and also to her personally after living here for 5 years. We started our day by going up to the look out point over Bursa. This city is beautiful. Standing up above everything, our group prayed for the lost. We prayed for the opportunity to meet people who God has prepared to hear the good news. Its heart breaking to realize that as we walked through this city we may have been the only chance for the people we passed to hear the Word of our Lord. We may be the only chance. The only opportunity for these people to accept Christ into their life and live an eternal life with Jesus. Wow. Its scary to think about. And very eye opening.

Next we went and walked through a very famous mosque. Here we had to take off our shoes, and cover up our heads with scarfs. The Islam religion believes that women need to hide their beauty from their God and this is why they cover their heads. It is also said that if a woman does not cover her head they will go to Hell, and that ever hair showing will turn into a serpant and strangle the woman. Now thats quite morbid. Glad I don't have to worry about that. In the mosque many people were praying, some were washing themselves with the fountain. There is a separate fountain for men and women to wash in. We were told that in this country there is a mosque walking distance from everyone's home. After being told that, it was quite obvious that this was indeed true. There were minarets (the towers on the mosques) visible in every direction. And not just one, but many. This also is so that the people can hear the call to prayer. The call to prayer is a loud prayer that goes off 5 times a day to remind the Islam people to pray. It is said in Arabic and goes on for a few minutes. The first time I heard the call to prayer my heart really hurt. Knowing that people were praying to a God to earn his love.

Walking through the city center, I realized that I have never felt this way about my faith. Sometimes, yes, I have my doubts, but I've never felt that Jesus didn't love me. In the Islam faith they do feel this way. They don't know if their God loves them, and that's why they live their live on earth trying to earn love. Jesus has broken my heart to seek these people. My stomach really aches when i think about all of the lost people that Jesus has died for, yet they don't even know Him. We are on earth to reach them. God created us to share His word and this is something since the beginning of this trip that has really been put on my heart.

Towards the end of the day the group met back up so that we could walk to the Turkish Bath together, known as the hamam. Now this was an experience....one that I don't know if I'll ever really need to have again. Guys and girls were split up of course, but it was still, ummmm, very different than anything I'd ever experienced. So pretty much a hamam is a huge sauna, with naked people everywhere. I've never seen so many naked women. All ages. Just everywhere. Being uncomfortable is probably an understatement haha. I guess it is a good thing that I am very comfortable in my own skin. Especially because I forgot my swimsuit at home so I was given a paper, i like to call it a diaper, but really it was like paper underwear, and this is all I wore while in the Turkish bath. We scrubbed each other down, sat in the little pool area, and scrubbed ourselves down some more. On the plus side my skin was very soft afterwards...but I think I would've been okay with my rough skin haha. It was definitely a cultural experience, one I'm glad I had, and one I'll never need to have again :)

We had dinner in Culture Park at a Hooka Cafe as a big group. It was nice to hear about everyone else's day and laugh about the experience we just had. After dinner we walked through the park. It was dark, but very beautiful. Bursa is very lit up. A city surrounded by mountains full of lights from the houses on the mountain sides. Lights in the pure darkness. God's light in a city of darkness. Hopeful. Beautiful.

Your heart grows for these people. Even without talking with anyone about spiritual relationships, my heart hurts for the city. And at the same time being here has really made an impact on my relationship with God. In the past few days of being here it already feels stronger. I have never wanted to read my Bible more than I do now. To learn. To Grow. Sit in rest with our Lord and thank Him for the eternal life He has given me. Without me doing anything. Without me deserving anything. He has given me the biggest gift one can get. I am truly blessed to live where I do. Not everyone is given the freedom to express their religion. Not everyone has the ability to share their faith. But we do. Because I have an American passport I can get on a plane and go. Go anywhere. Do anything. For His Glory. I want to go where my feet can't take me, but where God leads me.

#middleeast