*Robert has been reading the Word, texting me, asking good questions, and requesting prayer. A friend and I went out to Robert’s home town in eastern Turkey and spent 3 and a half days with him. We were able to share the gospel with him in many forms. By reading through Ephesians 2 together, we talked about us being not just on the wrong path but dead in our sins. We were also able to give him a worship CD and a “God in History” CD in his mother-tongue. Unfortunately, he was a little distracted by the political happenings in the town and by families members who were with us throughout the weekend.
We were also able to go into his home village. This gave us an opportunity to share with three of his brothers and, back in the city, two of his cousins. We walked throughout the village, saw ancient church ruins, and ate a lot of “village goodies.” I was able to share with two of his brothers an example of everyone in the world trying to get to the mountaintop (where God sits) by their own path. But, to be a Christian means you have been shown that we are unable to make it to the top on our own. In fact, we’ve fallen to the bottom and can’t get up. That is why God sent Jesus to pick us up and carry us on his back all the way up the mountain. He is able to make it on the path. This seemed to resonate with them, but, alas, they seemed to be left thinking I can choose my faith and they can choose their’s and it makes no difference. The family was very welcoming to us, and invited us to come back any time we wanted and told us to bring our wives.
Since getting back, Robert has called me twice and said how he wants to keep reading the Word. I pray he sees more than beautiful morals and words, but that the light of Christ would be shown into his heart through the Word.
