Day 1, October 24-25

The team is starting to gather in Türkiye, two leaving Thursday and two more on Friday to meet in the Istanbul airport.  It was a good thing Fred had a long layover planned as a thunderstorm in Istanbul landed his plane in the Tekirdag Corlu airport for four hours, making it land 5 hours late in Istanbul.  This is why we pray for the trips, so connections are made.  Now it is night the next day (25), and it has been a long day as there is an 8 hour time difference with not the usual sleep.

Day 2

This was an easy day as we slept in as long as desired, had meals supplied, and went to meeting at 2 pm.  The rest was on our own, catching up on computer work or studying the Turkish language.  Let me add a couple pictures, one of early morning and the other of several houses we will be working on.  We are staying in the one with the open door near the right center of the picture.  The other two members of the team arrived late after missing their flight the day before.  The leader for our project is on his way back from the Netherlands as he had car trouble.  This impacts our material supply and direction Monday morning.

 Day 3

It is Monday, we are settled in and starting into the work.  The first business was to walk around the property to find what was needed.  Then, as direction was not immediately available, we started picking up and cleaning up some of the leftovers from other construction.  Apparently I was not clear about our leadership.  There is our team with our leader, Jonathan, then there is the one who has determined what our team is to accomplish.  Normally this refers to the missionary we are serving.  In this case the missionary is kept from entering the country, so we are working with a local, who at this moment is traveling from  the Netherlands in his car 

starting Tuesday.  Jonathan spent the rest of his day traveling with one of the local helpers to get supplies and choose material, all the while being in contact with the leader in the far side of Europe.  The other three team members were given the responsibility of putting a large window in a warehouse wall.  Surprisingly it took the rest of the day to complete it.  The evening was spent catching up with one we spent the day working with who has fled Iran, lives in Cyprus, works with Russians and other nationalities for an Israelite company and is away from Cyprus awaiting approval of a work visa.

Day 4

Another workday, getting more of the warehouse taken care of.  This time we had to move supplies out of the way of the day’s construction work while the window frame was put in place.  After clearing the work area, we were designated to put an overhead shelf in place along the wall.  Cutting all the pieces and getting them in place took all day.  One of the difficulties is the boards are sufficiently hard to either nail or screw that all fasteners had to be drilled first.  In addition to the framing work time was taken to attach the electrical panel and nearby switches appropriately to the wall (they were extremely loose).  As sunset drew near some of the team hiked up the nearby hill to see the beautiful view of the valley below.  Conversation during supper and following was with our Iranian friend about his Persian culture and our American culture

Day 5

It is Monday, we are settled in and starting into the work. The first business was to walk around the property to find what was needed. Then, as direction was not immediately available, we started picking up and cleaning up some of the leftovers from other construction. Apparently I was not clear about our leadership. There is our team with our leader, Jonathan, then there is the one who has determined what our team is to accomplish. Normally this refers to the missionary we are serving. In this case the missionary is kept from entering the country, so we are working with a local, who at this moment is traveling from the Netherlands in his car starting Tuesday. Jonathan spent the rest of his day traveling with one of the local helpers to get supplies and choose material, all the while being in contact with the leader in the far side of Europe. The other three team members were given the responsibility of putting a large window in a warehouse wall. Surprisingly it took the rest of the day to complete it. The evening was spent catching up with one we spent the day working with who has fled Iran, lives in Cyprus, works with Russians and other nationalities for an Israelite company and is away from Cyprus awaiting approval of a work visa.

Day 6

Time to do some more clean up as we wait for siding to arrive. Three of us (this includes Amir) dug ditches between buildings to bury an electric line so the local dog would not chew on it. The other two continued to rearrange some of the warehouse. As lunch time approached a truckload of siding arrived, which was unloaded by the piece. After lunch it was to the work of placing siding on the warehouse. The major work is getting pieces cut to size around the door and making sure the first row is level as all boards attached above it are measured from it. This reminds us to measure our lives from the cornerstone, Jesus Christ.

Day 7

This is not a day that lends itself to a long commentary as the whole day was spent putting up siding. The team worked together straightening board ends, putting up a board, measuring, cutting, putting up a board, measuring, cutting, putting up a board, etc. By the end of the day the supplied boards had their ends cut and most had been placed. Now we are awaiting another load of siding to be delivered. Two things to pray for: that the siding would arrive so we can keep working, and that there would be more quality in the boards as there is much waste.

Day 8

With the anticipation that more lumber for siding would arrive before lunch, we built scaffolding and added more siding to the end of the warehouse. Shortly after the sun became unbearable on that side of the building and a water break the expected lumber did arrive. A good portion of the load did appear to have more quality to the boards. After lunch we did sightseeing in the area. Since this was a Saturday there were many more people than when we went to the sites last year. We parked near the seashore and walked up to the Titus tunnel, enjoying the landscape along the way. When we returned to our vehicle, we drove to see some rock formations further north along the shore. As the evening drew near we chose to eat supper at a fish and chips sandwich shop with tables located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and were able to watch the sun set. After returning we played a couple games and checked our interests.

day 9