When we found out that the team was going to be stuck in Turkey, I must admit that it was not something we were looking forward too but God had an adventure waiting for us! After a lot of standing around in line to get our boarding passes, our visas and all that jazz we finally made it out of the airport! Because it was the airline that had to move our flight they put us up in a hotel with meals included. Now most of us were wondering what kind of a place they were going to be putting us in but wow were we ever surprised! It was such a blessing to see how God is so good to us because not only did He give us a place to stay but it was definitely a 5 star hotel with an incredible view! The beds in Kenya are hard as a rock to say the least but these beds in Turkey were far from that. The team was blessed with a great night’s sleep which was a big help as we started the last leg of the trip home.
There was a group of us that went on an adventure to the Blue mosque down town. We got to the hotel, dropped off our bags and set out to try and see some of the town before it got too late. What an adventure it was to take a bus, train and taxi around the city. We were told that most things close around 4-7pm so we would only be able to see the outside of things but to our surprise when we arrived at the Blue Mosque it was still open and we were able to inside. There is no way to describe the architecture and beauty of it all, I hope some of the pictures will help describe the Mosque but if I had to say it in two words, I would say it was “breath taking”. While we were out and about one of the team members was in need of some water and went up to the stands in the street, got water and tried to pay. The vendor didn’t have change for him so what do you think happened? The vendor took the bottle of water back right? No, he told him to come back and pay if he could later…if he could….when he came over and told us this story it was shocking to see how giving the vendor was. He could see the need of our team member and chose to meet his need over being paid. That was a humbling time for us because If that were to happen in our town back home would we have reacted the same way? Something to think about. We also spent some time walking the streets sampling some of the delicious Turkish treats. After a bit of an adventure of getting back to our hotel (I will let the team tell you about that in person) we were all really thankful for the opportunity to spend some time in Turkey. It truly was a “Turkish Delight”.
