In full stride. . .

A full Sunday schedule today.  Liturgy at the Armenian Church this morning, just down the street from where I’m staying.  It’s so cool to just roll out of bed and be at church in a few minutes.  The small church was packed.  Seeing so many familiar faces and praying with friends is just such a great blessing.

This afternoon Fr Bruno invited everyone on his mailing list for an afternoon gathering (talk and prayer) followed by tea.  Tea and finger food is part of almost every gathering in Turkey.  We weren’t expecting a large crowd because there were so many other things going on.  The nearby Armenian Church was electing a new leadership group followed by a visit from a bishop, others were at a Foculari event and a bus load of locals were away on a pilgrimage to Antioch and won’t be getting back until tomorrow.  Yet we still had a full house in the downstairs conference area.  About 60 people.

I preached for 45 minutes and then prayed with folks for another hour or so.  Many here have a big problem with forgiveness.  The culture teaches more of an eye for an eye mentality and to just let something go is often viewed as a weakness.  So if we’re just going to do a one segment program it’s good to hit the topic somehow.  At the end I gave a short testimony on how forgiveness has healed me and changed my life.

This evening, more friends came by and joined me for dinner and we chatted until late.  I’m quite tired and have a big day ahead tomorrow.  Meeting with Fr Drtad in the morning (his invitation), visit the Armenian old age home in the afternoon and then a prayer meeting at the Patriarchate at night.

Please join me in praying for strength.  I was feeling a bit under the weather today.