Yesterday Sarah and I suddenly felt better after what had been the worst day prior to that. We nearly lost our marbles, then like a breath of fresh wind, we knew people were praying for us. Sarah wasn't nauscious all day, and I felt much better. We are still struggling with both a cold and the nausea so please keep our health in prayer!
I really felt like we were at the end of our capacity to be here, once again. But then I cried out and said God if you want us to stay here in Turkey than you need to make both of us feel better immediately. It's funny, but he did just that the next day. I seriously was already making plans to come home. Then He spoke and I realized once again he had a great purpose in our sickness. He is teaching us absolute Grace, where we can't do anything but God gets all the glory. I am so happy to be here in Turkey. It's not a place I feel or ever felt called to, but I understand that God has placed us here for such a time as this, to do something here, but especially to do something in us. I couldn't help but think of the apostle Paul and his 14 years after he was saved where God was working in him and not yet through him. Yes God is working through us but honestly the greatest work is what's taking place in my heart and mind.
Jedi D.
Adventures in Istanbul, Turkey as a family of 2, then on to Zambia, Africa as a family or 3 then 4, and now soon to be 5!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Monday, February 04, 2008
Need your prayers!
Hello friends, we need your prayers especially these days. Sarah has "morning sickness" it's actually all day and night sickness- very challenging. She's been in bed for the past two weeks. Today I am very sick with some kind of flu - I've been in bed all day too. Please pray that Sarah won't get sick with whatever I have on top of being pregnant. In spite of the challenges, we are staying very encouraged with the body life here, and listening to messages from Baltimore.
IBI - Istanbul Bible Institute, started up again last week with a full load of classes- 15 credits, and many students: 2 Nigerian disciples - Cliff and Shelter who sing and play drums for our worship services! 2 Sisters from Iran- Tannaz and Sheila who have been with us since the first conference in 2003. A turkish Pastor from another church and his two friends who long for deeper doctrine and attend all the classes. Yves- our faithful French/Swiss/Cypriot friend who is loving the word of God and also teaching us Turkish twice a week. Gabriel - a new friend from outreach, who hasn't missed a thing since P. Julian met him three weeks ago. Miriam - our dear fellow missionary with another ministry, she translates Niyazi's class from Turkish to English. Fanny - from France who is here for 5 weeks, progressing in her English acquisition. Many Turkish visitors - who come as they please. And 12 Team Members make the Istanbul Bible Institute quite a notable event!
Please pray also for the plans for Euro-Con. That many who would like to go from here would be able to.
Jediah
IBI - Istanbul Bible Institute, started up again last week with a full load of classes- 15 credits, and many students: 2 Nigerian disciples - Cliff and Shelter who sing and play drums for our worship services! 2 Sisters from Iran- Tannaz and Sheila who have been with us since the first conference in 2003. A turkish Pastor from another church and his two friends who long for deeper doctrine and attend all the classes. Yves- our faithful French/Swiss/Cypriot friend who is loving the word of God and also teaching us Turkish twice a week. Gabriel - a new friend from outreach, who hasn't missed a thing since P. Julian met him three weeks ago. Miriam - our dear fellow missionary with another ministry, she translates Niyazi's class from Turkish to English. Fanny - from France who is here for 5 weeks, progressing in her English acquisition. Many Turkish visitors - who come as they please. And 12 Team Members make the Istanbul Bible Institute quite a notable event!
Please pray also for the plans for Euro-Con. That many who would like to go from here would be able to.
Jediah
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A NEW HEART - with a New Vision
Yesterday we had our first doctor's appointment and we were able to confirm that there is indeed a little alien in our midst! :) As if all the puking, nausea, and tiredness had not already confirmed it... There's nothing like seeing that little shrimp on the screen, and hearing the heart beat for the first time. Sarah said it sounded like a night-club in there (we'll have to educate him/her in healthy music listening habits early on). This little beating heart, reminds us of how we need to daily nurture this New Heart of Faith that God has placed within us.
Ezekiel 36:26-29
A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.
And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
I will also save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call forth the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine on you.
And a New Vision - We are meditating daily on the imporatance of continuing in the new vision from God! Our old hearts have "hardening of the Categories" but our new heart if pumping with the vision and burning from God! We can easily think of ourselves in very hard ways, and think we are useless, and unloved, but God is thinking so much greater. Let's allow Him to stir His New Vision within our New Heart!
Jediah
Ezekiel 36:26-29
A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.
And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
I will also save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call forth the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine on you.
And a New Vision - We are meditating daily on the imporatance of continuing in the new vision from God! Our old hearts have "hardening of the Categories" but our new heart if pumping with the vision and burning from God! We can easily think of ourselves in very hard ways, and think we are useless, and unloved, but God is thinking so much greater. Let's allow Him to stir His New Vision within our New Heart!
Jediah
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
faith that works by love
Hello to all you faithful readers, and friends around the globe. We miss you, and are thinking of you today. I am thankful to God for you... as I share my heart with you.
Faith that works by love...
It's amazing how much sense our faith makes as we continue with God by faith! It's so amazing often that we are tempted out of excitement to throw it all on a young inquirer without any thought to his person, and if he can bare what will be said. I had just such an experience today and it broke my heart when I realized the situation. I frankly apologized and tried to recover what was important, and minister to this precious one where he was at. I thought I did a terrible job, but as we approached our point of departure, he spoke. "There is something that I really appreciate about Christianity.' he said 'The openness that you have with others. I think you can call it the love of Jesus, or openness and we don't have that in other religions and cultures. I also saw that in my mother who was a christian."
I was touched, and I responded, "I think you saw what I wanted most to tell you but could not communicate with arguments, It's the love of Jesus that changed my life."
Think of who God has placed in your path, they are most definately there to be loved. The gentleness of the Holy Spirit will give the gift of faith bound-up in love. We can see that faith is motivated by love!
Please pray for my dear friend and me, His name is Tomo. He walked from Switzerland to Istanbul this past year, and he may be staying with us for a bit before continuing on his journey. I am praying he will find something with us and perhaps begin a different kind of journey.
It's great to write after such a long time. I plan to write often.
God's power is in Prayer!
Jediah
Faith that works by love...
It's amazing how much sense our faith makes as we continue with God by faith! It's so amazing often that we are tempted out of excitement to throw it all on a young inquirer without any thought to his person, and if he can bare what will be said. I had just such an experience today and it broke my heart when I realized the situation. I frankly apologized and tried to recover what was important, and minister to this precious one where he was at. I thought I did a terrible job, but as we approached our point of departure, he spoke. "There is something that I really appreciate about Christianity.' he said 'The openness that you have with others. I think you can call it the love of Jesus, or openness and we don't have that in other religions and cultures. I also saw that in my mother who was a christian."
I was touched, and I responded, "I think you saw what I wanted most to tell you but could not communicate with arguments, It's the love of Jesus that changed my life."
Think of who God has placed in your path, they are most definately there to be loved. The gentleness of the Holy Spirit will give the gift of faith bound-up in love. We can see that faith is motivated by love!
Please pray for my dear friend and me, His name is Tomo. He walked from Switzerland to Istanbul this past year, and he may be staying with us for a bit before continuing on his journey. I am praying he will find something with us and perhaps begin a different kind of journey.
It's great to write after such a long time. I plan to write often.
God's power is in Prayer!
Jediah
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
DID YOU HEAR...
... THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY?!!
(sometime in September)We appreciate your prayers for perfect guidance for the exciting and scarry upcoming months! :)
(sometime in September)We appreciate your prayers for perfect guidance for the exciting and scarry upcoming months! :)
poem written by P. Mechti Suleyman
Because of love there’s hope for man
Because of love he smiles again
His life has purpose to fulfill
He now can pray and care and build
He is no more afraid to die
He sees God’s face unvailed with smile
He realizes he is loved
He’s friend to Christ, he’s son to God
He now is thankful for the Cross
God has forknown him, this he knows
Christ has provided all he needs
God covers him on earth and leads
God’s life has now replaced man’s dark
Christ’s resurrection makes him walk
Now he has power from above
Now he’s endued with caring love
He’s wisdom now that comes from love
He can be patient and up front
Enjoys he quietness a lot
But when he speaks - God can be heard
Christ came for me to give me life
That would be different from mine
Words can’t depict my inner bliss
My soul is thriving – I’m released
Moreover, Christ has promised me
To lead me on and never leave
I am secure, I’m fulfilled
In God my life with Christ is hid
God’s love is warm inside my soul
The Holy Spirit’s gentle so
He sheds Christ’s love within my heart
He feeds me doctrine from above
I set my mind on things above
Discovering unfading love
I gaze into the Word of Christ
His righteousness does make me wise
My heart is ruled by Finished Work
My mind considers Christ enthroned
Convictions fill my conscience out
Emotions mine are healthy, stout
When You abode alone on high
Back then You had me on Your mind!
You couldn’t live detached from me
You died so I am now redeemed.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
you asked for more comments Rachael? here is one just for you
what is your email address? jeds_tanguaygirl@hotmail.com
Thursday, January 10, 2008
my belly dancers story disappeared, so this post is now officially called "TOMO"
last tuesday, 11:30 am
Jediah, Jongil and myself roll downhill to the Findikli Tram Station. The air is very cold and Jediah can't help think of Tomo who only owns a pair of hand-made flipflops for shoes. We're going to see him today for lunch and we'll offer to buy him a pair of warm shoes. 15 mn later we get off the tram at the Sultan Ahmed stop. A few blocks up on the left we find the "Tree of Life" hotel, well... 'hotel' is a big word. We climb 3 flights of dirty stairs, books written in Japanese are piled up on the 2cnd floor, an old Japanese man opens his door and stares at us ignoring our Merhaba. Jongil silently prays his last hour will not be in this Japanese building. On the top floor we find our friend Tomo, waving excitedly through the blurry window of the old french door. We can't decide what's making it blurry, grease marks or smoke or both.
Tomo is half Swiss and half Japanese, about Jediah's age, he grew up literally around the world, and last May set out to WALK around the world with the goal of ending in Japan. He arrived in Istanbul at the begining of december and the very same day johnny the V met him in Karakoy, our outreach spot that day. They decided to meet again the next week at the same time which turned out to be an easy date for both to remember 12/12 at 12pm. Since then we've stayed in touch with him and invited him over our house for lunch and a lenghty conversation, going back and forth from the bible to his beliefs of God. He soon after met the owner of a japanese hotel in Istanbul needing a receptionist and saw it as an opportunity to make some money and to have a place to live.
When Tomo stepped out of his 'office', we were relieved to see a new pair of sneackers on his feet! At a nearby Turkish restaurant, we sat on the second and secluded floor and were able to open our bible; jediah shared beautiful principles from the first chapter of Genesis. "And God said let US make man in OUR image." God -1 God in 3 persons- was going to create a thrichotomous being 'in his likeness'. So here we are, BODY (the part of me that is world-conscious) SOUL (self-conscious) and SPIRIT (God-conscious). No wonder we are complex beings... :)
After a sweet time of much talking and eating some delicious meat Pide, we headed out to the area of the Grand Bazar, one tram stop away.
Jediah, Jongil and myself roll downhill to the Findikli Tram Station. The air is very cold and Jediah can't help think of Tomo who only owns a pair of hand-made flipflops for shoes. We're going to see him today for lunch and we'll offer to buy him a pair of warm shoes. 15 mn later we get off the tram at the Sultan Ahmed stop. A few blocks up on the left we find the "Tree of Life" hotel, well... 'hotel' is a big word. We climb 3 flights of dirty stairs, books written in Japanese are piled up on the 2cnd floor, an old Japanese man opens his door and stares at us ignoring our Merhaba. Jongil silently prays his last hour will not be in this Japanese building. On the top floor we find our friend Tomo, waving excitedly through the blurry window of the old french door. We can't decide what's making it blurry, grease marks or smoke or both.
Tomo is half Swiss and half Japanese, about Jediah's age, he grew up literally around the world, and last May set out to WALK around the world with the goal of ending in Japan. He arrived in Istanbul at the begining of december and the very same day johnny the V met him in Karakoy, our outreach spot that day. They decided to meet again the next week at the same time which turned out to be an easy date for both to remember 12/12 at 12pm. Since then we've stayed in touch with him and invited him over our house for lunch and a lenghty conversation, going back and forth from the bible to his beliefs of God. He soon after met the owner of a japanese hotel in Istanbul needing a receptionist and saw it as an opportunity to make some money and to have a place to live.
When Tomo stepped out of his 'office', we were relieved to see a new pair of sneackers on his feet! At a nearby Turkish restaurant, we sat on the second and secluded floor and were able to open our bible; jediah shared beautiful principles from the first chapter of Genesis. "And God said let US make man in OUR image." God -1 God in 3 persons- was going to create a thrichotomous being 'in his likeness'. So here we are, BODY (the part of me that is world-conscious) SOUL (self-conscious) and SPIRIT (God-conscious). No wonder we are complex beings... :)
After a sweet time of much talking and eating some delicious meat Pide, we headed out to the area of the Grand Bazar, one tram stop away.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
south of france friends
CARL AND his sister FANNY
Carl got saved last year january 27th!Fanny is coming to Istanbul for a month,
she'll be staying at the team house!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
some old and new palmieris
views from palmieri grand parents house in Northern France
arriving at train station, my parents are sometimes camera happy!
christmas dinner, we all sang "Tu scendi dalle stelle"!
grand ma's brother, Armando
dad's brother, Jean-Marie, please pray for him, we haven't heard from him in a long time
grand-ma Carmela with Mario and Luigi!
and ze cat
arriving at train station, my parents are sometimes camera happy!
christmas dinner, we all sang "Tu scendi dalle stelle"!
grand ma's brother, Armando
dad's brother, Jean-Marie, please pray for him, we haven't heard from him in a long time
grand-ma Carmela with Mario and Luigi!
and ze cat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)