24/8 Day 34 Istanbul

(Written at YWAM in Amman, Jordan 27/8)   After blogging in Thessaloniki I returned to the station where I did not wait long before I could board the Night train to Istanbul. The train was not full and I was alone in the little two bed compartment. As we rode through the sunset on rural Greece I had another of those moments of true gratitude as I was able to experience the fatness of the blessing I was walking in. (Unfortunately I am not always equally aware of this, but when I am suddenly able to see the bigger picture in gratitude it always opens the door on divine happiness).   Border crossing to Turkey came at about 5 am and after a bleary-eyed but smooth interaction with the border officials I blew the shofar by the locomotive. When I told the gospel to Turkey I was under the impression of the many different facets of this land starting with the fact that it straddled Europe and Asia. But also all its religious history came to mind. I felt that Istanbul and historic Constantinople was somehow like a bad growth in good tissue and that the soil wants to be healed of it. There was also a frustration with all the people who passed through here before who claimed to come in the Name of the Creator, but gave the earth blood to drink. Turkey was ready for the Son of God to be revealed. The King of kings and the Lord of Lords.   The train arrived about 2 hours late and in communicating this to Jeanne we discovered that we had misunderstood each other, and that she was only expecting me the following day, even though she somehow did make the hotel reservation for this day. All turned out fine though and I was able to make my way though old Istanbul past the only partly helpful tourist info office to find the quaint little hotel Jeanne's friend Errol had booked. Fetah, the young man at reception, could not find the booking though, and it took about two hours before Errol could swing by to remind them of the booking and then all was in order. In the meantime Fetah invited me to breakfast and I felt very at peace in the midst of all this confusion.   After washing my clothes and taking a shower I spent the rest of the day working through the inbox on the bulk-sms website. (My excuse for not running around Istanbul is that it must have 37 degrees outside with very high humidity and I just did not have the anointing to go anywhere in that). I copied all the responses to my smses that I never got at the time to the blog as addendums to my sms they were sent in answer of. It took me a long time but it was a real blessing to see how every-one at home had been standing with me all along.   Thinking I would blog in the evening I slept a few hours in the afternoon. When I woke up after 6pm I me flesh told me it had been pummeled: I could feel every muscle in my body. I did not feel like blogging so I stayed in bed until the Lord finally got me out of there with an invitation to walk in the cool of the evening with Him.   Trying to mark my way through the maze of little streets in order to find my hotel again, I went downhill in the direction of the sea. I found myself something to eat at a falafel place and when I came to the water-side I discovered that this is where all the Families in Istanbul hang-out on Sunday evenings in summer. It was pleasant walking there with the Lord. Its always good to hear his words of encouragement and hope. He is very kind.   On the way back through town I stopped at an internet-Café to ask it they could cut a dvd of the photo's on my camera. They thought they could and various angry and frustrated young men tried. While I waited the older woman behind the counter saw me looking longingly at her glass of water and asked with her eyes if I wanted some. On my affirmation she fetched me a little bottle of water for which I assumed I would have to pay. On the final verdict that they are not going to be successful with the DVD I asked how much for the water, and to her son's visible frustration she told me it was free. May she get her reward…