Turkey

We arrived in Turkey yesterday. It is our first time outside of Russia in 10 months. I have to admit, that as happy as I am to be on holidays, there is a part of me that misses Russia, and I realise that I appreciate my life there, despite it's short falls. One of the first things that made me realise this was the residential buildings in Istanbul. Also high rise housing like a Russian city, the buildings were much closer together and very few trees were in sight. It made me realise that I find Novosibirsk to be a more pleasing city than Istanbul.

After picking the rental car up we travelled across the busy freeway system of Istanbul to pick up Melody's parents from the other airport. The traffic was an adventure, certainly crazier than anything I have driven in before. I haven't driven in nearly a year, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Driving in Russia now seems tame (apart from the ice).



We had an 8 hour drive to our resort. I drove the whole way. Some of the freeways are the best roads I have ever seen, better than the interstates in America. We didn't reach our resort until 1 am. What a long day. While it was still day, the views were amazing. Turkey is a very beautiful country. It felt like we were driving through the Bible, as we saw sheperds with their crooks standing in the hills.



This morning we woke up to a spectacular view of the Aegean Sea, from our bedroom window. What a blessing from God. We could not be here if it were not for Melody's parents who have time share. God is the best travel agent though.



Easter Sunday has been a relaxing day. We prepared our own service to celebrate the resurrection and also went into the local town for very cheap kebabs / donairs / souvlakis for lunch. I got talking with Ibrahim the owner of the business. Within two minutes I found it was very easy to share the gospel, talking about Isa and the Injil. He said he really liked the movie "The Passion of the Christ." Amazing that he could be so open to the gospel. Turkey is a secular country, the business week is Monday to Friday (they don't have Fridays off). I sense that there is a great openness here.