Looking Back

We are now back In England, after an smooth journey back (apart from the greater number of security and passport checks at both Turkish airports.) It’s good to be back in our own home, with availability of books and music, choice of clothes and the calm of a small town in East Devon. But we miss our involvement in the life of St John’s and all the friends we have made there.

Our Holy Week was worthwhile, if a bit limited. We held an afternoon service for Good Friday – which about twelve church members were able to attend, as well as a number of Turkish passers-by, who called in and stayed for the rest of the service. Our Easter Day Eucharist was a joyful occasion, as always; and we had a lovely leave-taking afterwards. We were given a hand-woven kilim – a reminder, we were told, of how our lives are woven together. And someone had had a luscious strawberry and cream cake made, with the iced message ‘Michael and Jo, we love you.’!

Easter Day was also the day of the Turkish referendum on much increased presidential powers. To nobody’s great surprise, President Erdogan got his way – but only by a small margin. Given the huge disparity between the government-funded campaign for Yes and the severely restricted No campaign of the opposition, it almost counts as a defeat. The campaign and its aftermath was at least fairly peaceful. The Izmir region voted strongly against the proposed changes; again, no surprise. It will be interesting to watch further developments from a distance. Some of the Iranian refugees are anxious that there will be a push for more Islamisation in Turkey. And it will probably be even more uncomfortable to be an opposition politician, or a journalist. But as there will be presidential elections in two years’ time, Erdogan will have to ensure he loses no more support (even his home-base Istanbul had voted against the new constitution.)

So we look back on seven and a half busy weeks. As always, we are conscious of the privilege of doing locum ministry. We get to spend time living in a ‘normal’ area of a city, with regular contact with locals – so different from the experience of spending a week in a hotel or holiday let. We become part of a local church, with a real opportunity of getting to know and learn from people with many different stories. We meet Christians from other churches and denominations. Talking to refugees from Iran, we gained a much deeper realisation of all they have suffered, and the continuing pain of their unrooted existence in a temporary setting. They do not really belong anywhere, or possess anything – despite their skills and gifts. It is deplorable that those who are fleeing intolerant regimes are rejected by Western governments that criticise those same regimes.

I am writing this on the feast day of a third-century martyr from Turkey, who was executed in Palestine – one St George. It should be a reminder of our common humanity, unrestricted by narrow nationalism.  At present, most Christians in Turkey have freedom to meet and worship, but there must always be caution; Christian pastors have been arrested on little evidence, and in more Muslim areas, there can be some hostility. Complaints about the apparent downplaying of Easter in chocolate eggs hunts in England sound strange in a country where there is no outward recognition of any kind of this central Christian festival! At St John’s we were able to go on procession around the church on Palm Sunday, but we were told that in some places that would be impossible.

Our hope is that the appointment of a permanent chaplain will proceed according to plan. But we also hope that this will not have been our last ever visit to Izmir and the congregation of St John’s.

Please pray for the people of St John’s in the months to come:

That the refugees may have more than a glimmer of hope for the future.

For justice and openness in Turkey.

Holy Week in Izmir

Yesterday was Palm Sunday. It was good to be celebrating this in a church with palm trees outside; the Catholic Cathedral administrator brought us many (fresh, green) palm branches to decorate the church and to carry in our procession from the hall, as we walked around the church – shouting Hosanna! -before entering for the service. We had brought palm crosses with us from England (a bit like carrying coal to Newcastle, I suppose!) and distributed them to everyone. And, although the congregation is not large, they joined very positively in the crowd parts of the Passion reading. It felt a satisfying start to Holy Week. We were surprised during the Offertory hymn when the congregation more than doubled in size when a large group of young people (obviously on a walking tour) came in at the back of the church; they stayed, many taking photographs, for most of the Eucharistic Prayer - when they left as suddenly as they had arrived. Another indication of the interest many young Turkish people some to have towards Christianity.

Our plans for an afternoon boat ride across the Bay were frustrated. With the referendum on presidential power only a week away, the government AK Party are pulling out all the stops. Some of the streets and the waterfront are festooned with AKP flags, and the President was speaking on a huge stage set up the Cordon, which was out of bounds to visitors. Bus-loads of supporters were brought in from outlying parts (many in buses sponsored by local firms.) We saw crowds making their way to the assembly, which could be heard over a wide area. Restaurant owners must have been disgruntled, because many were out of bounds. The vote takes place next Sunday.

So we walked in Kulturpark (on the site of the former Armenian area, destroyed in the great fire of Izmir in 1922 – sadly there is no acknowledgement of this anywhere. Turkey is quite adept at airbrushing or ignoring its past.) It was nice to see a group of teenagers happily jiving to 1950 jazz music.

On Friday we ventured somewhere new. One of the Iranian members lives as Manisa (in line with government policy to assign refugees to specific towns, to avoid over-concentration in large cities.) It’s accessible by train, so we went, to see her, and to visit this town, which was an important centre of learning in Ottoman period. There are some lovely, well-restored buildings, including a former hospital now turned into a medical museum. It was informative, with panels in Turkish and (pretty good) English; there were some gruesome displays of surgical instruments, and tableaux of procedures. Ottoman medicine apparently included music therapy – something which has only recently come on the scene in Europe – and some innovative medicine. Manisa is famous for its paste made of a mixture of 41 herbs and spices. We bought a tube, and will test its therapeutic powers. A mountain-range towers over the town; at the top of a river, which runs down through the town is ‘Niobe’s Rock’. Readers of Ovid may remember the tale of how Apollo and Artemis took vengeance on Niobe for her hubris in boasting about her children; they were killed by the gods, and Niobe’s tears continue to flow, though her head has been petrified!

Now we prepare for the rest of Holy Week – which of course makes little impact on Turkish society and shops; so there are no Hot-cross buns, or Easter eggs (or bunnies) in the shops. We hope a few church members will be able to attend a Good Friday service at 2.00pm (but other churches have evening services for those who are working.) There are not enough people to support Maundy Thursday or Easter Eve services, I fear. We’ll be taking home communions to a few people. We finished our Bible Study on Ephesians last week, so we will do a one-off one for Holy Week. And then Easter Sunday will be our last engagement before we pack up and return to the UK and our family.

Please pray:

For protection of Christians this week; (there have been few attacks on churches in Turkey, but the dreadful incidents in Egypt may provoke others.)

For our final services at St John’s.

For the future of the church, as the appointment process of a permanent chaplain continues.

For safe and easy leave-taking and return to the UK.

Turtles and cable-cars

Now it is Passiontide. Lent has passed quickly – but in many ways it has been more positive this year, with fewer distractions, and more reason to be focussed.

Yesterday after the Eucharist I took part in my first Annual Church Meeting for five years. It was basically the same as others have been (though perhaps some details were observed in a slightly more casual way than in the past!) Numbers at church have not been high; but at least two of the best singers in the congregation have returned from time abroad, so the hymns were sung with more panache. Visually too the worship was enhanced: one of the church members has loaned a beautiful representation of the Last Supper painted on cloth by a Syrian Orthodox woman from eastern Turkey; we’ve hung it as a kind of altar frontal. Its impact affected even our youngest member: 3 year-old Ryan came up to the sanctuary step and gazed at it for some time. (I’ll try to post a photo on Facebook.) And once more, our numbers were increased by seven or eight people who came into the church in the course of the service - and stayed until the end. We hope and pray that this has some lasting effect. (This week, too, there were well over 300 visitors to the church on Saturday.)

As well as leading the Bible Study and Evening Prayer, I’ve also been seeing one of the Iranian asylum-seekers, a lovely man who is wanting to deepen his (relatively new) faith. He is eager to learn, but already knows more of the Bible, and his reason for believing than many long-term Anglicans I have come across! It’s frustrating that most English-speaking countries have closed their borders to refugees; he and his wife would be assets to any country.

Political campaigning is warming up somewhat as the referendum approaches. We had some ‘Vote Yes’ leaflets delivered to the flat; and there are more ‘Vote No’ posters and stickers around in Izmir. From time to time we hear loud music and announcements from a passing car – but I have no idea which side they are on! But so far, all is calm. The result may well be influenced by the fact that Syrian refugees have been given votes – but not the more sceptical Iranians.

For the past couple of weeks, we have visited the Botanical Gardens at Ege University before the Bornova Evening Prayer, and it’s been good to see the visible progress of spring. There are some interesting plants – and a colony of turtles in one pond. But we can’t help noticing the rather neglected state of the gardens, with a lack of notices, some overgrown ponds, barren flower beds and an air of untidiness. Given that these are – according to one web-site ‘the best’ botanical gardens in Turkey – it suggests that there has been some over-relaxed management in the past, though there are signs of improvement over last year. They are worth visiting (if you can find them!)

We managed to get to Ephesus again. Though this was our third visit, we found plenty of new things to see, as well as enjoying the whole experience again. It was good to see more tourists than last year; and it was easier to explore in a temperature less than 35C! There are good information boards around, but they gave no indication of Ephesus’ significance for Christians – apart from the notice at the Church of St Mary, site of the 431 Council of Ephesus. We took a taxi to the House of the Virgin Mary in the hills above – a lovely peaceful place (with explicitly Christian notice-boards), whatever its historical status. There was much more security than last year, with a check point on the way, and armed soldiers at the entrance.

We also managed to visit a modern art gallery on the 18^th floor of a tower block overlooking the bay. The exhibition – of Turkish paintings from the past 120 years – was very interesting; and the views from the windows were outstanding. (I don’t think we’ve ever been in a gallery so high above the ground.) We also met the two young women Jo had taught when they were at school in Exeter many years ago, and went with them and a couple of friends (six of us in the car!) to the Balcova district, where we took the cable-car up to the top of one of the very high hills overlooking Izmir. It was good  to be surrounded by pine forests and peace.

Please pray for:

Holy Week preparations.

Refugees and asylum-seekers, that their cases will be processed soon.

The presidential referendum; security during the last fortnight of campaigning.

Safety for travellers.

Continued health and safety for Jo and me.