Our itinerary between Nepal and the next nation on our recent mission trip included a plane change in Istanbul which didn’t even require that we would exit the airport. However, when the airline notified us that the flight to our next destination had been canceled and we would have to take a day layover, we realized that this was actually a God-ordained delay. A close ministry partner of ours was in the city doing an evangelist outreach among Iranians who flood into the city to celebrate the Iranian New Year because they enjoy the relaxed restrictions in Turkiye (Turkey) which, although it is a Muslim country, does not enforce sharia (Islamic law). With a team of Americans and Iranian Christians, the ministry shares copies of the gospel of John and a personal witness with thousands of Iranian tourists during the two-week holiday, resulting in hundreds of salvations. When we discovered that our unplanned layover fell right in the middle of this annual outreach, we arranged to join them.
What would have seemed to be an unfortunate turn of events in that the day we were there was cold and rainy, forcing all the tourists off the streets and out of reach for the evangelists, was actually a blessing in many ways as we all hurtled in the hotel for a time when our team was able to bring instruction and encouragement to their team. Our time together began with a formal teaching and prayer which, by the way, was also broadcast to the underground believers in Iran via ZOOM and Instagram. The rest of the day became time for one-on-one counseling and mentorship with the Iranian Christians who live under constant threat in their suppressive homeland.
It was only when we finally made the flight to our next destination that we discovered that our delay had not interrupted our minstry schedule after all because the meetings that we had thought were to begin in the morning were actually planned for the evening, giving us time to rest and recuperate from the overnight flight before beginning another phase of ministry.
Istanbul to ensure the security of the underground believers we were with in Istanbul, we have used a generic photograph from the city rather than including actual pictures from the mission.
Istanbul Sunrise
Istanbul Full Moon
Istanbul Flag
