I arrived at Lambert International Airport from a whole day of travel from the middle east to find Emma holding Annie waiting for me at baggage claim happy to see me. I told Emma, “Nice Shirt”, took Annie from her and started towards the parking lot. As we were getting ready to get into the car I saw the design on the back of our car that reads “Baby on Board”, strapped Annie into her car seat, buckled myself in and headed home. Before we could get on the highway Emma asked what I thought about her shirt, and I told her that I liked it and asked if she would be selling it on etsy, but she said … and it hit me, she wasn’t wearing a baby on board shirt because she was carrying Annie, but because she was pregnant!

Fast Forward to my trip to southeast Asia at the end of summer and Emma had come down with a terrible case of mono CMV during the first trimester. After that we started having extra ultrasounds to monitor the baby because they were seeing signs of echogenic bowel syndrome. The baby continued to grow but there were still concerns that would only manifest themselves after birth and we would be able to treat symptoms as they arose. (Click here for more info on CMV)

We still did not know if we were going to have a baby boy or girl and I was listening to this message from Craig Groschell, God With Us pt 3 In the Storm (https://www.life.church/watch/god-with-us/in-the-storm/) and he said the following

“ And I took that picture at our family reunion worship time. And I told Mandy, “I believe by faith, “at next year, you will stand all the way through worship.” I gave her that picture as an act of faith. And if you don’t know the whole story, we couldn’t diagnose what she was going through. Finally sent her to the Mayo clinic, have a diagnosis. But for 18 months, she’s just a physical, she just can’t do much at all. Go to the grocery store, stay in bed the next day. And it’s just horrible to watch this newlywed, my daughter go through this.

So one day I’m trying to prepare a message, maybe a month ago. And I just had a breakdown. It just all came crashing down. I went to a place alone in the church. I’m like, “God, give it to me, take it from her. “Can’t you do anything God? “Where are you? “We’ve prayed, come on God.” And I just sensed God minister to me to completely trust my daughter to Him. And I felt like He was showing me that as crazy as I am, as much as I love her, that He actually loves her more than I do. Trust her to Him.

On that same day I came home and I told Mandy, I told Amy, said “I had a breakdown today over Mandy.” She said, “I did too, I did too.” And she said, “I felt like God was telling me,” Amy said, that we should start praising Him for her healing before that we see it. So day after day that’s what we did. “God we thank you. “We believe that she’s going back to the mountain. “God we believe that you’re going to heal her. “God we thank you that you are with her. “God we trust her to you. “God after 18 months of seeing nothing, “we believe that you’re a good God. “We still have faith in you God. “We believe that you can do this.” I’m happy to tell you that for the first time in 18 months we’ve seen some slight and very very real improvement. Very very noticeable improvement. And we praise Him.

And we praise Him as she’s climbing back up the mountain. And we will praise Him when she is on the mountain. But here’s what I want you to understand. We praise Him in the valley. Because we may enjoy Him on the mountaintops but listen to me, we get to know Him in the valleys. He reveals His character to us. We can sense His strength in a way that we can’t otherwise.

When we totally and completely need Him and we have nothing else. And we know that we’re traveling through the valley. We’re just here, we’re passing through. He is a good God. And we’re going to the place of peace.

So right now you feel weak. Who is God? In the middle of your weakness, my God is your strength. When you’re in the darkness, who is God? Our God is your light in the darkness. When you’re in a season of trouble, who is our God? He is your joy in the trouble. When you’re in the middle of pain, who is our God? He is your comforter in the middle of your pain. That’s who our God is. We pass through the valley. Even though we’re in the valley, we do not fear, why? Because He is with us. The same God that is good on the mountaintops is good to us in the valley. We get to know Him in the valley. If you’re in the valley right now you’re just passing through. You won’t be there forever. Our God will lead you out. He is good, He is with you, He is present and He will take you from strength to strength.

When you can’t handle anymore you lean into Him and let His strength be everything that you need. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because you oh God are with us. Who are you? You are Immanuel. God with us.”

God so impressed on my heart that we were going to have a girl and that’s how he told me that it was going to be ok. He told me think about the name that you have picked out. That’s how you can know that it is going to be ok. Our girl name was Magnolia Grace. He said Grace…a gift you do not deserve, or rather the free and unmerited favor of God. Magnolia, a beautiful flower. She will be a beautiful display of this like a flower. I told Emma the next day and that carried us through allowing us to take every step in faith that Magnolia would be ok.

When the Doctors said that Emma was going to have to have a cesarean sections because the baby’s oxygen levels were dropping in some positions I knew that she was going to be ok because God said so. When They kept pricking Magnolia’s foot and her blood sugar levels were low, I knew it was going to be ok. When they took her to the NICU and she was hooked up to the monitors, I knew it was going to be ok. When the CMV test came back position, I knew it was going to be ok. Even when I was walking with the nurses down to the ultrasounds of Magnolia’s head, I knew that it was going to be ok. The tough days of back and forth from home and the NICU while they were figuring out the process for medication and so forth, I knew it was going to be ok because of what God spoke to me.

Our God is faithful and thus far in 2018 He is showing us His faithfulness as we show him our faith and giving us many reasons to praise Him as He continues to reveal why He gave us Monumental as a word for the year.

Giving Tuesday is an event every year on the last Tuesday of November where people give to charities of their choice as a gift throughout the holiday season! We want to share about work among unreached and unengaged people groups in a few sentences and why we need your help.

As many of you know we have recently walked through the process of adoption with our beautiful daughter, but before we started that journey God started another one for us.  God called us for missions and that meant stepping out in faith to focus on these people groups that people currently are not going to or engaged in sharing the gospel among them.

A gift to the Luke & Emma Holder Ministry fund at Priority Living goes towards helping us reach reach these people who are lost and in need of the gospel. Before we started our journey of adopting our daughter, God had revealed His heart to us about adopting these unreached and unengaged people groups to work with. David Platt describes unreached people by saying the following: “Unreached people groups are unreached for a reason: they are hard, difficult, or dangerous…all the easy ones have been taken.”

As you consider giving today we want you to watch this video about our role with an organization called Engaging Nations.

We want to ask you to consider giving a tax-deductible donation to help us adopt some of these hard, difficult, and dangerous groups in the world so that we can get in on God’s heart to see people from every tongue, tribe, and people adopted into His family.

Click here to give as you feel led and make sure to designate your gift in the appropriate spot for the Luke & Emma Ministry Fund.

Thank you for your generosity, we could not do what we do without you!

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28-20 ESV

One February evening during my senior year of high school I read this passage and it finally made sense. The reason God sent His son, what that meant for me, what my response was to be, and what that would mean for me. Oh how I wanted that rest for my soul! As a scholar athlete involved in too many extracurricular activities I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, where I wanted to go to school, or what I wanted to study and because I had none of those answers I was stressed out. But that night, I felt how that yoke was easy and the burden was light because where I was going to go to school or what I was going to study was not ultimately going to define me and it certainly would not give me an eternal identity.

My life changed that night. I didn’t have all the answers, in fact I didn’t have any of the answers to those three biggest questions I had for my life, but it made life in the uncertainty so much easier because I was walking that journey and navigating those answers with Jesus. I don’t mean to rewrite history or act like I had much figured out during that time other than that I wanted to follow Jesus and know Him more. This was affirmed as I hear a preacher speak about how my life was not about me as a response to the gospel and I wrote that on the bill of my senior year Seckman baseball cap so that I could remember my identity was not found on my performance on or off the field and that my part of the team was more important that my personal performance. God would continue to grow a desire to know Him more and learn more about him in the coming months until I decided that I was going to skip a week of baseball and go to a church camp.

God spoke to me while at this church camp as I learned about being like clay in the hands of the potter, make into whatever He wanted. I was coming into that camp with that mindset already as I had decided to do something unprecedented in my life…miss a baseball tournament so that I could focus on my relationship with Jesus. I was also doing something that I never thought that I would do in my life: go to a church camp. It was a new life for me and I was doing what I needed to do to grow in my relationship with Jesus and well…growth doesn’t occur by just doing the same things that you’ve been doing the same way. On the contrary some people consider doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results is just insanity. Going to this camp was a crazy decision for me to make, but I learned so much and by the end of that camp I was ready to focus on things that would help others grow in their relationship with Jesus rather than trying to pursue a limited collegiate sports career.

Once I got back from that camp I spoke to the youth leaders about helping and was plugged into and learned how to start leading a small group with the Brotherhood, a weekly middle school boys group.  We would faithfully meet for the next six years to play games, talk about life, share a meal, study the bible and discuss what it meant for our lives. This was such a blessing to me. I had a vision to give these boys an environment where it was safe to talk about the messiness of high school, girls, their family, and what it meant to follow Jesus without judgement (for the most part).

A couple months into this and my freshman year of college I was desperate in prayer seeking God for what my calling was so that I could make the most of my college degree and study that which would prepare me for that calling accordingly. I was pretty sure it had to do with two fields and so I was incredibly desperate because they felt like completely different educational paths: law or youth ministry. One day while walking from one area of my job to another I was keeping the place look nice. I saw a piece of paper on the ground and thought ‘That doesn’t belong there’ so I bent down and pieced it up. As I picked it up I read the two words on the other side while the nearest trashcan came into my line of sight and I thought “And it doesn’t belong there either.” The two words that were on this piece of paper placed in my path was what I needed to answer my prayer as it said, “Youth Ministry”.

God met me right where I was at and continued to call me to follow him and take His yoke upon me one step of obedience at a time. From there I had the opportunity to go to Haiti, Brazil, as well as a couple countries in south Asia and the middle east on mission to get a better grasp on God’s heart for all nations as a part of this call to ministry.

In the midst of that, I met Emma and struggled for a long time with God’s call for a husband and wife and if we were ready for that commitment.  We had a conversation about a month and a half before we started dating that included me sharing about this calling into ministry and needing to know that she would be 

ready for something like that because I did not want to date someone that I did not think I would marry and this was one of those non-negotiables. After I got back from my next mission trip we got together and I had the opportunity to hear her share how God had called her to be a wife and mom who stayed at home and supported her husband and kids however was needed and that she took that very seriously. And that was when I knew that she was the one.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans‬ ‭8:28-29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Fast forward a couple years to get to last week when I was sitting in the conference room at church answering questions in front of the ordination council about what I believe about the bible, ministry, and how God has called me. It was incredible to share some of the process over the past six years as God has continued to confirm that call in my heart and through our lives. The most exciting part of this process to me is looking back at the events that God brought about in my life to get me here. I have such confidence that He was in control through it all and it was for my good and His glory.

Yesterday, I stood before our church as our Pastor presented one of my best friends and I to the church having the full support and approval of the ordination council affirming that God had called us into ministry.

We are so blessed as a family to be a part of what God is doing at Encounter Church and thankful for the opportunity we’ve had to grow because of the way that the leadership lives out their heart of raising up new leaders. Yesterday was in one regard a celebration of sorts for the church in seeing the fruit of what God has produced in our lives and the calling on our lives that was and is being carried out by Encounter Church.

The moment that I read the verses God used to capture my heart on one February evening in 2010 was indeed planned from the beginning of time. Deciding to go to that Church camp where God started to give me a vision for Ministry and then confirming that with the sheet of paper at Vetta as an answered prayer. The opportunities to go to Haiti, Brazil, and then India we’re all a part of God meeting me right where I was and calling me to take my next step of obedience in following Jesus and trusting His call on my life. God met me right where I was and he used so many other people to confirm, encourage, and help me grow.

The list of people that I would like to thank is a mile long and will be unpacked as a part of this ongoing blog series that I’ve titled How We Got Here. I reflected this past week over the process of ordination and the importance of the church not choosing who to ordination, but rather formally recognizing who God has chosen and called into ministry I was reminded of that February night studying Matthew 11 when I decided to start following Jesus. Since that time, I have claimed verses 28-30 as my life verses, but right before that call to follow Jesus in verse 28 is a statement of God’s Sovereignty and explanation of the power Jesus had to issue a call that when met with obedience would bear fruit in the form of peace.

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:27‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It is by God’s grace that I was ordained yesterday because I did not choose this path, but I can look back at how He pursued me and called me though I deserve it not. And that is how I will choose to serve, in such a way that others will feel that they do not deserve because that is who God has called us to be.

It’s going to take a prayer movement to reach a prayer movement…

Five times a day devout Muslims gather and pray.
Five times a day devout Muslims gather and pray.
Five times a day devout Muslims gather and pray.
Five times a day devout Muslims gather and pray.
Five times a day devout Muslims gather and pray.

Arabic transliteration and English translation courtesy of https://www.thoughtco.com/what-do-the-words-of-the-adhan-mean-in-english-2003812:

Allahu Akbar (x4)
God is Great
God is Great
God is Great
God is Great

Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah (X2)
I bear witness that there is no god except the One God.
I bear witness that there is no God except the One God.

Ashadu anna Muhammadan Rasool Allah (x2)
I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.

Hayya ‘ala-s-Salah (x2)
Hurry to the prayer (Rise up for prayer)
Hurry to the prayer (Rise up for prayer)

Hayya ‘ala-l-Falah (x2)
Hurry to success (Rise up for Salvation)
Hurry to success (Rise up for Salvation)

Allahu Akbar (x2)
God is Great
God is Great

La ilaha illa Allah
There is no god except the One God

For the pre-dawn (fajr) prayer, the l following phrase is inserted after the fifth part above, towards the end:

As-salatu Khayrun Minan-nawm (x2)
Prayer is better than sleep
Prayer is better than sleep

Last night I gathered with a group and one of the women shared with me an interaction with a couple who did not understand the concept of someone from Turkey being a Christian… My new friend described someone as a Turkish Christian to them and she was stopped with the question of, “Which one are they then?” She continued, “Are they Turkish or are they Christian?” As if completely perplexed at the possibility that someone from Turkey could identify as a Christian.

If you grow up in a society and population of over 80 million that is 98% Islam where you hear the Adhan 5 times a day starting at 3:25am it may difficult to think of someone being Turkish and Christian. This is in the other secular Muslim nation where the religion is not promoted by the Constitution.

The birthplace of followers of Jesus being called Christians because they were loving nonjews like Jesus did and proclaimed His message now find it confusing that someone could be both.

If that breaks your heart like it does mine, let us resolve to more prayer ourselves.

The I AM is Great
God the Father is Great
God the Son is Great
God the Holy Spirit is Great
I bear witness that there is no God except the True God, that there is no name higher, nor more worthy of praise than Jesus. That salvation belongs to our God, worthy is the lamb that was slain!
Jesus let your kingdom come and advance in my heart and in those I met.
Let your salvation spread until all nations have heard of your wonderful deeds and declare your glory,
God you are Holy and we cannot fully comprehend your goodness but rather undeserving experience your love and blessings as your mercy and Grace abound daily.
There is no one like you.
Amen.

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of sitting at Kaldi’s coffee shop in Kirkwood talking with my good friend, John talking about working for the Kingdom of God together in partnership. John and I text prayer requests for each other and commit to praying for each other, our work, and families one day a month. While we were doing this, he shared with me how he is not able to focus on reaching people across the world all the time because of his job, and that it just isn’t where God has him right now…but through partnering with us that he gets to be a part of it because of a young guy with a servant’s heart for the nations…

Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above. We are incredibly blessed as a family, in ways that we can hardly believe, giving us even greater faith and promise that we are on the right path. When we decided that I was not going to go back to teaching and would instead be pursuing full-time mission work, we were taking a huge step of faith knowing that our church could not financially support my salary that we would be depending on Him to provide. We knew that as we stepped out in faith onto e3’s Engaging Nations team that we would be asking people to partner with us in ministry spiritually through prayer and fasting, and financially through recurring monthly, quarterly, or annual gifts. The more that we have learned about Unreached-Unengaged People Groups, the more expectant that we have become in waiting to see God’s plans unfold.

I went through a waiting and refining process while getting my bachelor’s at Missouri Baptist, and then again during my year of teaching in the classroom when God was preparing me for the work that He wanted to do in and through us… and this has been so much more than we could have asked for!

One of the ways that God helped equip me for this work was in one of my bible study groups at church a few years ago where my good friend, Travis challenged our group to memorize Romans 12. I have reaped the rewards of committing this chapter to memory numerous times and challenge the rest of you to do it and see how God can use that in your life. Romans chapter 12 is rich with directions on how spiritual worship is doing what God calls us to, the many differing ways love look, how our different gifts help accomplish His purposes, and overall instructions how to live as Christ followers.

Within the context of this, the Apostle Paul shares with the believers who made up the church in Rome that their differing gifts when used together help them accomplish more:

“4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (NASB)

As I started meeting with people almost daily in the beginning of October asking them to join our ministry team, I have gotten to know people and their gifts on a deeper level allowing me to better understand some of the ways that these differing roles help accomplish the Great Commission. It has been such a blessing hearing from people and hearing how they want to matter, be a part of growing God’s Kingdom, and I am so thankful for these experiences! This never would have happened if we did not take the step of faith to follow God into this scary and unknown season of relying on Him to provide for us in a very real way with our finances. My position with e3 Partners Ministry does not have a salary or hourly wage, but instead is dependent upon people to become partners in this work by financially giving to the work that we are doing with Unreached and Unengaged People groups who have never heard the gospel.

God knows where every cent from every one of our financial partners is going to come from, and the exact times people will be praying and fasting for our ministry. We are constantly amazed and thankful as God continues to reveal who the members of the team are and we could not be more excited!

Through this season, we have come to better understand how every good and perfect gift indeed comes from the Father above. Emma and I are so thankful for everyone who we have met with and especially those who have committed to partnering with us. We’re exuberant that God has built the relationships as the divine networker to give us the opportunity to work together. Listening to you share your heart with us and deciding to partner with us following God to reach these Unengaged People means the world to us. You all are the best!

If we haven’t talked to you yet, just wait for it and start praying for how you might partner with us in ministry. Be ready for a phone call asking when we can get together and chat about global missions and the opportunity that we have working with Unengaged People Groups.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Learning about your personal heritage can move you to a better understanding of who you are and where you came from. In some cases this encourages you on the path that you are on, but other times it helps stir you to action and to carry the mantle of what once was. During my recent trip to Turkey we visited five sites that helped me better understand the spiritual state of Turkey: a port, a palace, ancient tombs, a decorated mosque, and the home of a follower of Jesus.

1. The Port of Antioch

In visiting the ancient biblical city of Antioch, we got to go to the port where Paul and Barnabas would have left for their first missionary journey.  This held great significance, not because we consider the Apostle Paul to be the greatest missionary of all time, but for me it was the church at Antioch that sent him out to do the work…The church of Antioch is described in Act 11: 19-26 as the first area where followers of Jesus who fled persecution preached about Jesus to Hellenists and would come to be called Christians for the first time:

19Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (ESV)

In addition to the being the first church to preach Jesus to the Hellenists and the first place where the disciples were called Christians, they also send out Paul and Barnabas for their first missionary journey, as seen in Acts 13:2-3

2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (ESV)

To walk where Paul walked, as he was leaving for his first missionary journey, on my first vision trip as a Catalyst working with unengaged people groups was a very powerful and encouraging moment for me personally. It was something that I will not forget. He was a champion of preaching to the gentiles of which I am! The way that he and the other apostles did what Jesus modeled had an impact almost 2000 years ago that resulted in a network of people coming to know Jesus that would trickle down through generations and God would use to bring about my salvation. And Paul left on that first journey in faith right there. God could use us to continue to pass that down through generations to see Matthew 24:12 fulfill as all nations will hear the testimony of His gospel, and then the end will come.

The church at Antioch took up that call and took ownership of fulfilling the Great Commission in reaching gentiles where they live and sending Paul and Barnabas to help reach the nations, but as generations would pass, and regimes would rise and fall, this call was not passed down and there are a mere 25 believers in Antioch now.

2. The Topkapi Palace

As the Ottoman Empire took over the region, Islam almost wiped out Christianity as people were given the opportunity to pay high taxes, convert to Islam, or be killed. During our seven hour layover in Istanbul, we took a trip to Old City to see some of the historic sites. The Topkapi Palace was built in the mid-to-late 1400s by Mehmed as the Ottoman Empire took over Istanbul. The Topkapi Palace was the administrative, educational, and art center for the empire for nearly 400 years.1

As we walked throughout the palace and go to see the architecture, upkeep of the grounds, views of the city and the sea, and walk through the museums I began to feel a spiritual weight on me as we read and learned more about the takeover of the Ottomans and the political and financial oppression of Christians and Jews throughout the once Byzantium claimed territory.  Artifacts within the museums at the palace included many weapons used against the Byzantium Empire throughout the Crusades and even the different sacks of Istanbul and the surrounding areas.

Christians and Jews were tolerated because of Islam’s recognition of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as prophets, but they had higher taxes, poll taxes, and were limited in their occupation because all government jobs were to be held by muslims.2 This would eventually lead to generational creep away from Christianity and an even greater celebration of Islam from the political leaders.

3. Tombs in Antioch

During our trip to the port of Antioch, we took a detour to see some ancient tombs that have been empty for years.  This made me think of the spiritual state of Turkey. The Turks as a people group are considered to be the unreached people group with the largest population in the world. The people who live in what was considered Asia Minor, where Paul proclaimed in a two year journey that everyone had heard the gospel, now have a less than 2% population of Christians. While I have no clue who laid in these tombs, I felt as if this represented the church of Antioch of the past.

4. The Sophia Mosque

Built by Constantine II of the Byzantine Empire as the largest Church in the sixth century, the Hagia Sophia was to be the biggest church in the world. After the Ottoman take over of Istanbul in the 1400s, it was turned into a mosque. Some of the paintings were changed, and large 12 foot diameter tablets
with Islamic calligraphy were hoisted into their current place. This is celebrated as a mosque that has been secularized as a tourist spot now. There is one hallway that talks about the construction of the Hagia Sophia as a Christian church, but other than that it is celebrated and commemorated as the Sophia Mosque and people can learn about the historical significance that it played.

In America we are starting to relate to some of this as we see Mosques go up in areas that held significant to us for something else once upon a time, but it is still hard for me to imagine being a believer and going to the Hagia Sophia for service, but then it being converted into a mosque. What destruction I would feel for my faith! This was all the more a sign for me not to consider a building as ‘The Church’ and a reminder that followers of Jesus are ‘The Church’.

5.Family of Jesus Followers Home

While in this home we got to hear how the man, an automobile mechanic shares Jesus’ story with people at his job. The family even had an evangecube under their TV so that they could share Jesus’ story with anyone who came over.

We got to hear this family say that they looked for people who were not close to their family to share with. The idea behind this thought is that they will not fear their family being upset with them for starting to follow Jesus.  In the states this is something that we often do, looking for the person who is an outsider…we sometimes view them as having less to overcome to start following Jesus…they must be desperate and searching.  There is indeed some truth to this, but in a muslim culture we encouraged them to try to gather the family together to hear stories about Jesus so that they could talk through and make those decisions together.  We are hearing that in situations where this takes place that they are more encouraged for their new walk with Jesus.

The family was open to this approach, the same way that many Sunnis and Alawites that we encountered were open to hearing stories about Jesus.  Jesus is a prophet to them in their Quran and therefore we ever heard some of them tell us that they love Jesus.

I did not realize how much Islam has a hold on Turkey, but upon coming to grasp that I also came to see that the people are open to hearing stories about Jesus. I was again reminded about how you get a favorable response when you ask people to gather to hear a story about Jesus and continue to invest in them, loving them as Jesus would. Could this approach help restore millions of Turks to the faith of generations past? Please join with me in praying that it does.

Sources:

1. http://topkapisarayi.gov.tr/en/history
2. http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/islam-ottoman-empire
3. http://www.canuckabroad.com/places/place/hagia-sophia/
4. http://hodolomax.deviantart.com/art/Hagia-Sophia-Mosque-306479384

Sweating, panting, running through the airport to the constant clicking sound of my carry-on pulled behind me on the tile after they already had already made the final boarding call for Luke Holder, I hoped that there would be a way that I would somehow make my last flight home. Knowing that I could not do it without the help of a friend and those in charge of the flight, I prayed that God would make a way, because I desperately wanted to be going home to Emma. This wasn’t the way that things were supposed to work out, we were supposed to have a couple hours of a layover, but things don’t always go the way we think they should or hope they will, especially when we aren’t in charge. God reminded me of that as I sat on the plane ride home jammin’ to some David Crowder reflecting on this trip.

As I left a little over a week ago, I asked for prayer coverage for safety, that God would prepare the field and go before us, for people of peace, and for the laborers who are on the ground working among the Alawite People in Turkey. Let me tell you how good our God is! This was my first vision trip to an unengaged people group within a muslim country, and it was fruitful for our work as well as for me personally.

The Alawite People of Turkey are a Turkish Muslim unengaged people group who are very hospitable and based on the conversations that we had are open to hearing stories of Jesus. The people of Turkey are about 99% muslim and have been for generations now.  One story we heard from one of our co laborers on the ground was about a man who started to follow and after being ostracized from his family for leaving their religion later spoke truth about how he was not leaving their family’s religion, but rather returning to that which their family followed generations prior.  This even stirred up my heart for good, faithful family discipleship for generations to leave behind a legacy of following Jesus.

There are some laborers on the ground that we stayed with who want to see God move throughout the Alawites and we’re excited to see a way that we shared Creation to Christ using a tool that was simple enough for the person who heard it the first time could tell their family. We were very encouraged upon leaving them, expectant about what God is going to do.

We met and connected with an American, Chip*, who moved to Turkey about 6 years ago with a heart to reach the Turks. One of the Alawites that we would meet named Joshua* is like a son in the faith to him. They are excited to continue sharing Jesus’ story among the Alawite people in hopes of seeing people start gathering in groups that would study to know, love, and follow Jesus more.

Joshua shared his story of how the hardest things that he wrestled with in starting to follow Jesus was about loving people and understanding Jesus’ love of him and others. He shared how this was so counter-cultural to the Alawite Muslim background he grew up around. Joshua translated for us sharing Creation to Christ with Teddy*, he helped Teddy practice sharing Creation to Christ in preparation of telling his wife and mother, and asked him if he would be open to meeting in Teddy’s home so that they could learn another story together. Joshua was amazed at this and loved the way that Teddy was able to share the story back.

Leaving Turkey we were encouraged from hearing the hearts of the laborers on the ground and their desire to see God move in their midst. Join me in continuing to pray for them.

• Pray for more gospel seed to be sown, that from it there would be a mighty harvest, 30-60-even 100 fold (Mark 4:8).
• Groups to start gathering, like one in Teddy’s home.
• Some of the groups that are already gathering to reproduce as they become more Kingdom minded (2 Timothy 2:2, 1 Corinthians 1:11).

Lastly, I owe you all a thanks for continuing to pray for us while I was in Turkey and here after to see God move among people groups for the first time in generations, if ever. Excited to see what God will do as He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3: 20)!

Before I leave for Turkey I have to say the biggest thank you to Emma. Before we started to date a couple years ago, I made the statement that we wouldn’t date unless I could see myself marrying her, and that I would have to know that she would not only “be okay” with me going abroad, but that we would be a unified front and hopefully going together someday.  While that day is not today, she has been a champ with the planning of me being gone and her taking care of Annie without me for six days, with her birthday falling during this trip.

Emma, thank you for your companionship, partnership, and unending support. I love you.

Turkey Trip Prayer Requests

Monday-Tuesday

• Safety during our travels
• Preparation of the field

Wednesday-Friday

• Growth of the family that started to follow
• People to start following and gathering in groups
• People of peace and Houses of peace to receive our message and us
• Faithfulness of leaders on the ground

Saturday

• Travel back and greater growth upon us leaving