TURKEY!!!!!!

We just returned from a remarkable 8 day trip to Turkey. I have taken a few days trying to figure out the best way to relay all the information, history, pictures, sites and smells in this post.  Basically I concluded its almost impossible!  Just so you are all aware we were in Istanbul and on that side of the country and very safe EVERYWHERE we went.  The fighting and ISIS issues you see reported in the news was well over several hundred miles away from us.  Turkey is a beautiful country.  Istanbul is a spectacular city of 14 million people with Mosques on every corner to service its 97% Muslim population.  Hopefully I can give you a small glimpse into our fantastic week.

Teachers ready to go...

Students ready to go...

Plane ready!

Our first views from the bus as we traveled to our first site, Hagia Sophia and the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.

After we checked into our hotel we took a lovely walk to simply take in as much as we could.

Day two was filled with Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace,shopping in the grand bazaar a cruise on the Bosphorus  ending up the day with a Whirling Dervish ceremony.  The following pictures captured the day with the exception of the Whirling Dervish as no photography was allowed.

Day three:  Long bus day. One bus broke down and so Ron & I and several others missed the visit to Gallipoli Battle Fields but caught up with the other bus for lunch and a ferry ride across the Dardanelles. The first four pictures are what we did while waiting for our new bus to arrive.  The other pictures are of the rest of the day; the ferry ride and Troy.

Day four, one of my favorites, ASSOS and Pergamon Acropolis.

In the middle of all these ruins and history, we never lacked for wonderful food.

Day 5

Ephasus, Basilica of St. John and Meletus

Basilica of St. John

Good nights rest after a long and wonderful day...

Last two days were filled with long bus rides, visiting Sardis, Bursa and the silk market, the Grand Mosque in Bursa and Iznik

This is Yasemine, our Turkish guide.  She was very knowledgeable and a delight to be with. She picked us up at the airport and stayed with us the whole time and then seeing us off at the airport.

After three gate changes, a two hour delay and the scariest take off I have EVER had in my life, we arrived back home to Jerusalem...yes it is my home...at 4:00 a.m.  

THANK YOU TURKEY!

Giving Service in the Holy Land

As soon as I found out I was coming here I wondered how I could possibly serve others.  Service is a vital and integral part of my life.  It is one of the things that I do that keeps me from becoming selfish.  As soon as the students arrived we were all introduced to Bro. & Sis. Gunther, a service couple from our church.  They have the fortunate responsibility of making the necessary connections with locals in order to provide service opportunities for those of us here in the center.  On two different occasions we assembled hundreds of school kits for elementary schools here in the area.  I love to watch these students give their time and energy...their endless energy...work together and serve.  The following pictures are of one of those activities.

Goin' down under!

If you haven't had the chance to see the Jerusalem center in person then you really can't imagine what a magnificent structure this is.  Our Associate Director, David Whitchurch, gave a great forum address to all of us here about the history of the center a couple of weeks ago.  I'm just getting to this post now since we have been in Turkey for 8 days (more on that later!). Another unique opportunity we had was to get on a hard hat and climb, down, down and way down underneath!  Terric, from the Jerusalem Center staff, gave us a tour.  Steep stairs, miles and miles of electrical wires, pipes, boilers, more steps, BONK!!!! Duck those heads.  And at the very bottom level the approved "go ahead and write on the wall" wall.  Just a fun gimmick for the students......and us!  Thanks Terric!

D