Week 8

Another largely uneventful week; though we had the pleasure of Nathanael visiting us, which gave an excuse to re-visit some places. It was good to have some time with him here. He has now returned to England, and we await Becky’s visit later this week.

Last Sunday was the eighth we have spent in Izmir, so it is time to start reflecting on the experience. As we have said before, it is good to experience worship in a multi-national congregation – something which always should be typical of Anglicanism, with its ability to sustain a recognisable ‘style’ of worship in a variety of contexts and languages. In most English parishes we are deprived of this pleasure; on Sunday we had people from the UK, USA, Turkey, Korea, Germany, Netherlands, France, Iran – and that in a congregation of around 24. We continue to be impressed by the desire to learn more about the Bible and faith; by the way the congregation have taken responsibility during the vacancy – and by the opportunities for witness in this place.

Turkey itself seems to be calming down. The daily demonstrations in support of ‘democracy’ have finally finished, though the word is sometimes used in ways we find it hard to recognise. The control of the media for what is almost propaganda is a little disturbing; but some papers are showing more openness. On Thursday there was a large gathering in Izmir; we saw some of those preparing to march, and it must be said that many were young and few looked at all ‘Islamist’. So some of the reports in Western media need to be corrected. And the atmosphere in this city remains relaxed at all times. Although the state of emergency continues, police are seldom seen on the streets, and those who are appear less scary than some of those we saw in Paris three years ago. The majority of people simply want stability, and are probably not too bothered about political niceties. A church member commended us for helping the church members to feel calm during the troubles, but we must say that we have never felt at all anxious about our security or well-being,

As I said, we have been able to re-visit some places with Nat – and enjoy some more meals out. For us the highlight was our second visit to Ephesus. The taxi from Selҫuk took us to the Upper Gate, which meant we began our exploration from the other end of the ancient city, seeing things in a fresh light, and enjoying the perspective of looking down the main paved street to the Library of Celsus. We paid extra to see the ‘terrace houses’, in which some remarkable wall-paintings and mosaics are preserved. This time we had enough stamina to visit the Basilica of the Virgin Mary, where the Council of Ephesus was held in 431 (it declared her ‘Mother of God’, in an attempt to resolve some of the conflicts about the relationship of Christ’s human and divine natures.)

We also had another day-trip to Foҫa, with its pleasant contrasts to Izmir – a small town, its harbour filled with pleasure boats and fishing boats, and with truly blue, clear sea. At Izmir, the Aegean is much darker, and often choppy. The bay here is constantly active; passenger ferries criss-cross from one landing pier to another, and there are always cargo and container ships moored at anchor. Some are waiting their turn to go into the port, but one or two have been in the same spot for the last seven weeks at least. One wonders about their crews – are they marooned aboard, or have they been abandoned somewhere, far from home? It is good that the job description for the new chaplain here includes work with the Mission to Seafarers.

It remains (very) hot, and our energy sometimes flags. But though we will be pleased to be able to catch up with friends and family soon, we shall also miss much about the life of St John’s and its members.

Prayer Points:

1.   Please continue to pray for the process for appointing the new chaplain; short-listing is under way, and interviews are planned for early September.

2.   Pray for those sleeping rough on the sea-front; some of whom seem to be refugees.

3.   Keep praying for a full return to normality in Turkey; for restraint in the state of emergency, and no excessive recriminations against those involved in last month’s attempted coup.

4.   Pray for our last fortnight here.