Our final week in Izmir

 The past week has, again, been quite busy.

 I had to take a funeral on Wednesday – details of which were very slow in coming (I was getting calls from someone – the funeral director? – in Turkish) until a contact at the Catholic Cathedral called me. So I had less than 10 hours to prepare a service etc. I was told they just wanted prayers by the graveside. They arranged a car to pick me up from the church, and fortunately there was an English-speaking woman also travelling, who could interpret for the Turkish driver. I had no idea where we were going, but discovered that there is a Christian cemetery on the outskirts of Izmir. There were around 30 people waiting; and we had a short service, with some of them, in the very small chapel – which had an altar, and a crucifix. We then processed to the grave, and the interment was very similar to one in England. (So I have now taken funerals in France, Corfu, Germany and Turkey.) This also meant Jo had to facilitate and lead the Bible Study in my place, which was good. I got back to the church in time for the last 25 minutes.

 After all that stress, we felt we owed ourselves a complete day-off, and took ourselves to Foça, a delightful harbour town to the north of Izmir. It’s an ancient site –Greek Phocaia was base for much exploring, and its voyagers went all round the Mediterranean, founding colonies, including Massilia (Marseilles). It’s an attractive town, with a lovely setting. It’s also got some fine fish restaurants, and we enjoyed an excellent meal of fried sardines.

 After a rather slow start, our time in Izmir has gone quickly, and this morning was our final service. The congregation was around 25, the usual mixture of nationalities and languages. Jo and I were probably the oldest people in church. It’s always refreshing to see new people, some just visiting out of curiosity, others more seriously attending. After the service we were asked to pray with a Turkish woman with some problem with muscle pain; and then with two Azerbaijan women who felt they had been put under some kind of curse. Ministering to non-English speakers is always a problem, but we had two excellent interpreters!

 After church, we joined with a few people for lunch at a local restaurant – a nice opportunity to talk and listen. Then a walk by the Kordon, and return to the flat to begin packing, as we move tomorrow to the Ibis hotel, in time for Fr James to return. We fly out on Wednesday morning.

 Initial thoughts: we think we have been able to contribute something to St John’s. People have been very welcoming and receptive, and it’s a refreshing change to worship with keen young believers and seekers, who have probing questions to ask. We shall be glad to be home in many ways, but we will miss many aspects of church life here – though some things about Izmir (noise, dust, crowds, traffic…) we won’t miss so much!