Turkish Delight?

There's a bit of a pun here. In Turkish - lokum means Turkish Delight! So we are hopeful that our time in Izmir will be a delight for us - and, hopefully, also for the people of St John the Evangelist and St Mary Magdalene, Izmir, where we will be spending ten weeks, from June 16th.

We will be posting reflections and prayers - and (if I can manage it!) some photos.
For now, our need is for the prayers of our friends, so I am pasting below the Prayer Letter we have sent out to some of our contacts.


From mid-June, we shall be spending ten weeks at St John’s in Izmir, Turkey; they have been without a chaplain for some time. The hope is that the church will eventually be able, with assistance from the Diocese in Europe, and the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS), and in partnership with the Mission to Seafarers, to have sufficient funding for a stipendiary chaplain. Please pray for us as we prepare to travel and for our time there.

Prayer Points:

• Our Preparation.
We have another fortnight for spiritual and physical preparation. Pray for our protection during this period, that nothing will impede our travel, and for safety during our journey.
• Settling in.
Pray all goes smoothly with our arrival, settling in to our accommodation (a two-bedroom apartment near the church), and finding our way around in a new city and culture. Pray we will cope with Turkish language, and be sensitive to living in a predominantly Muslim country.
• Blessings on our ministry.
We hope and pray that we will quickly be able to discern the needs of the congregation, and how we may best offer pastoral care, teaching and guidance.
• Protection in Izmir.
There have been disturbances in Turkey in recent months, with terrorist attacks mounted by both IS and PKK (the extremist Kurdish militants.  Pray for peace with justice in Turkey, and for our safety.
• Good health and energy during our stay.
July and August are the hottest and most humid months in that area. Pray that we will soon be acclimatised, and able to minister effectively. Pray for protection from illness.
• St John’s, Izmir.
Pray for the congregation here, and at the daughter church of St Mary Magdalene; for the churchwardens, with their additional responsibilities during the vacancy; for those who have been leading worship; for guidance for their future.

Izmir:
In NT, Smyrna (one of the seven churches in Revelation.) Third largest city in Turkey, and largest port. Small Christian community – RC Cathedral, some indigenous Protestant and Evangelical churches – and the Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist (19th century building, but there have been Anglicans in the city since 1625), with daughter church of St Mary Magdalene. There is a weekly Sunday morning Eucharist at St John’s, and a Tuesday evening Service at St Mary Magdalene’s.

Timetable:
Tuesday 14 June Leave Axminster, to take train to Gatwick. Stay overnight
Wednesday 15 June Fly from Gatwick late morning, changing at Istanbul, to reach Izmir by early evening.
Sunday 19 June Our first Sunday service at St John’s.
Tuesday 21 June Our first evening service at St Mary Magdalene’s.