Turkey Day in Turkey

Relax! It’s His Church

Sunday, November 23 I boarded a plane with missionaries and volunteers from all over Ukraine to embark on a Thanksgiving retreat in Turkey. After a short layover in Istanbul, we arrived in Antalya, claimed our baggage, and boarded a bus to our resort where we would be joining volunteers and missionaries from all over the CIS field and the Eurasia region. Eurasia officials had arrived a week before to take part in their annual meetings and give field reports. The official conference started Wednesday. This gave the CIS field time to spend time sharing, fellowshipping and worshiping together.

As heartbreaking as it was for me to leave behind my first Ukrainian snow, Turkey’s beautiful mountainscape views and beaches of the Mediterranean in temperatures in the 60s grew on me. If the exquisite sites were not enough; being able to rest, worship sessions, fellowship, and having an endless supply of chocolate syrup helped rejuvenate my mind, body, and soul.

Missionaries and volunteers from all over Europe and Asia arrived throughout the day Wednesday. Relax, It’s His Church was the theme of the Conference. Relaxing can be difficult for anyone. For this reason Dr. Crocker, brought in a Christian magician and comedian to entertain us for the first session of the conference. This first session set the mood for the entire conference.

In addition to the adult services, children participated in Kid’s club and teens left after worship for their own message. One of the great blessings for me was working with the children. They sang, they danced, some cried, some ran in circles around the room… They are God’s children, little missionaries. It was refreshing to sing and play and to speak English.

Thursday of the retreat happened to fall on Thanksgiving. Our group gathered into a large conference room to give thanks together, eat turkey in Turkey, and share this American tradition with many from other countries. There was even American football being shown after the evening service.

Fellowship with the body of Christ- people from all over the world, coming together for a few days- to worship, to learn, to fellowship, to encourage, to be encouraged, to share, to pray, to relax, to rejoice- this is how the body of Christ works, and it is a beautiful thing. If you went around the room at Thanksgiving and allowed everyone to share what he or she is thankful for, I would have to say this year, I am thankful for the church, for the body, because it is what gave me the strength and the courage, in the good times and the bad, to follow God’s calling on my life as I serve this year in Ukraine. Thank you for your willingness to be a part of my journey. I pray God bless you as you have blessed me.