*Sarah's hospitality with a volunteer team

     A big part of any volunteer team's experience is meeting and spending time with Turks. This is a huge desire for many of them, but it can be challenging at times because of schedules, cultural differences, and language barriers. Last month a team of high schoolers came in town for a week. Before they came, they expressed a strong desire to visit a Turk's home. I knew this would be an amazing experience for them, so I contacted my believing friend, *Sarah. Sarah is a woman who became a believer just five years ago but you can see the love of J*sus even in her smile. She is always full of joy and very full of love for others. 

     I emailed Sarah and asked if it was possible to host this group one night for tea or dinner. She very willingly agreed and was excited about the opportunity to meet and host them. Three days after the team arrived, we went to a local fellowship on Sunday morning. It was a great time of pr*yer and w-ship and new experiences for the team. the service was completely in Turkish and it was refreshing for me to w-ship with the people I live with and challenging and eye-opening for them. After fellowship, we all headed to Sarah's house. 

     I have experienced Sarah's amazing ability to host and cook before, but she exceeded my expectations once again. Soon after we arrived, she brought out simit (bread), börek (pastries with potato and cheese), home-made pickles, and tea as we sat around talking with her. Then, a few of the students helped her prepare dinner. It took a while, so we had a relaxing afternoon hanging out in her apartment. When it was time for dinner, we had soup, rice, meat, salads, french fries, vegetables, and other side dishes. None of the students quite expected how much she prepared and it was all delicious. 

     After dinner and dessert, we sat around on couches and Sarah asked "How did each of you come to know J*sus?" We took turns telling her how God called us to Himself. Each person had some unique way God revealed Himself to us and how He changed our lives since we started following Him. For all of us, and for Sarah, too, it was such an encouraging time. It was beautiful to hear and think about this God who can use so many different and unique ways to call us to follow Him. As the night wrapped up, we all gathered around Sarah and  pr*yed over her. We pr*yed that she would be a light to her Atheist husband, to her family, to her neighbors, and to all she encounters. We pr*yed that He would keep and protect her and that He would strengthen her faith in Him and dependence on Him daily. It was a beautiful night of fellowship.