Izmir 2023

 

It’s a week since we left Axminster, to travel to London and Izmir, via Stansted airport. So we are now reasonably acclimatised, to being 2 hours ahead of British time, and expecting a normal daytime temperature around 32°C.

Izmir has not changed much in the past 12 months, except that we now look over to a new Museum of History and Culture, in renovated buildings that were formerly a tobacco factory, and the view of the hills to the east is largely obscured by more new tower blocks; so we don’t get such a good view of the rising sun while we say Morning Prayer together.

St John’s has changed a bit. The interior has been re-decorated, and the electrical system replaced, with good new lights. The congregation at the Eucharist on Sunday was about 30, of whom only 4 or 5 were around in our first visit in 2016. There is still a good mixture of nationalities, with native English-speakers a definite minority. Most of the others have quite good English, but some are attracted more by the atmosphere and ‘style’ of the worship. Most people gather for refreshments in the church hall afterwards, and the discussions and conversations continue for up to an hour.

We’ve also shared in one on-line Evening Service, with a congregation of 5, one of whom was in a car in the States; and at the Bible Study 7 gathered in the chaplain’s office and 3 were on-line. How church life has changed since the pandemic (before which hardly any of us had heard of Zoom)!

The mixture of the congregation is always attractive – a foretaste of the eternal gathering of that ‘great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb’ (Revelation 7:9). It’s also challenging, as is the fact that Jo and I are clearly older than most of the church members. It also probably creates some problems in achieving a strong sense of solidarity and belonging; but it’s moving in the right direction, and gives some hope that this is a church with a future.

It's too early to make any real comments on Turkish society. Economically, the last few years have been difficult: inflation is over 30% this year, but the lira has been so devalued against the euro that the price rises make little impact on us – food is still cheaper than in Britain. There are more empty shops than we remember from last year, but some new cafés have opened.

The annual ‘International Fair’ is taking place at the moment, in Kulturpark. There are plenty of food-stalls and market stalls, plus various displays and exhibitions. There are evening concerts. But it’s hard for foreigners like us to navigate, as the only maps are exclusively in Turkish, as are most of the displays – so it doesn’t feel terribly ‘international’.  But perhaps that’s a rebuke to our assumption that everybody ought to speak English!

It is right for us to be here, though we are perhaps more aware of our being older than when we first visited Izmir. Please continue to think of us – and pray for us, if you are inclined to. 

Blessings to all our readers.