WOW, what an incredible two weeks it has been in the beautiful country of Turkey. I can honestly say my life will never be the same ever again. . . yet AGAIN Jesus continues to overwhelm me with His goodness. . . SERIOUSLY!!! I am so so SO filled with encouragement as the testimony of what God is doing in the Middle East and specifically in Turkey, spills from my heart. I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that God’s plans for Turkey are good and His desire really is for the drawing of all Turkey and the Middle East unto Himself. Before my very eyes I got to see Turks come into the Kingdom, encounter the real tangible love of Christ, and get healed. From the first moment I arrived in the city of Antalya, I jumped into 121 hours of continuous vertical worship and prayer. . literally jumped straight in. Even though I was jet lagged, having been up for over 30 hours, the moment I stepped foot on the land, a hunger for His presence over took my heart and so the journey began with the midnight set that night. 🙂 haha classic burn style. Over 150 people came together from all over the world and from around Turkey for one thing. . . the man Jesus Christ. Singing the song of the Lord over this land, joining hands in prayer, gathering leaders and missionaries in times of teaching and encouragement. . . it was the largest gathering of Christians Turkey has had this year. . SO EPIC and Beautiful! LET ME JUST SAY AGAIN 121 HOURS OF WORSHIP IN TURKEY!! 🙂
From the place of intimacy and the presence we spilled onto the streets of Kelici, old Antalya, filling the atmosphere with MORE WORSHIP (cause we just can’t get enough) and seeking the lost! We got to see beautiful Turks come to know Jesus as SAVIOUR and also physical bodies were healed!! I am convinced that the more time we spend in His presence, the more we should become overcome with the desires of this God who seeks and saves the lost. How could we not?! The more time we spend drawing near to the heart of God, the more we realize that He is jealously drawing every lost heart unto Himself. We just can’t help ourselves but to partner with this man who we are SO IN LOVE WITH.
I feel like I need to set the stage of this trip a little better, help paint the picture so that you get it in full colour!! Turkey is the second largest Muslim country behind in the world, approximately 99.9% are Muslim. Antalya is a city know for sex trafficking, and Turkey as a nation is known as a country famous for the import and export of women. My heart completely broke as I walked the streets at night and witnessed women walking the streets waiting for men, their customers to pick them up. Women selling what no man should ever purchase. . . Most of these women, from Eastern Europe are brought in under the impression of getting jobs in the tourism industry or nanny’s, but upon arrival, passports are taken, they are raped, locked up, and forced into a life of prostitution. Innocence stolen. The injustice overwhelms my heart, human slavery never gets old. . . it NEVER gets easier to witness, and I pray that it never does. I pray that it never EVER becomes normal to us, especially as children of God because it never becomes normal to Him.
As I walked down the strip by the Mediterranean Sea, praying and worshiping, feeling the vulnerability of being a woman, men stopped all around. . . I was overwhelmed. In that moment, I looked into the eyes of Papa God and I saw a jealous Father, with eyes of fire who is burning with desire. . . who never turns away. I am continually being wrecked by this Father who literally can never turn His face away from the suffering of the one’s He loves. As humans we naturally turn our faces away from suffering. . . because we “just can’t handle to see”, but He does not. He says that He hears every cry, EVERY pain and does not turn his ear or eye away from the suffering of the poor and the needy.
Please join with me to pray for every woman, man and child who has been forced into slavery, and pray for Freedom. I encourage you to ask Jesus even right now what part you have to play in the ending of this injustice.
One night I was really wanting to write some songs, so I grabbed the guitar and headed down to the sea. I sat on the steps looking down onto the small patch of beach that was not taken over by the fierce crashing of the waves. It had just stormed all day long. As I began to sing, I began to think about the apostle Paul. This was the very port that He came into. I thought about his travels and the revelation of Jesus he carried. How he infiltrated the political systems, spheres of influence all across Turkey. . . and all of a sudden I was approached by a Turkish man. A bit on guard, as you do when a random man approaches you. . . he begin to tell me in broken English that he owns the bar down the beach and wanted to know if I would come and play the music in his bar that night. Haha what?!?! OF COARSE I SAID YES!! I began to worship as I do normally, and because they didn’t speak much English I as plain as I could uplifted the name of Jesus in that place. Songs of Hope and salvation began to fill my heart and my mouth. . . randomly the owner and his workers would turn to me and say, “ohhhhh sooo good” ahah only if they knew I had just finished calling them into the Kingdom and singing the heart of the Father over them. After playing for about an hour, I had to head back to the hotel cause it was getting quite late to be out alone. . and they invited me back to play!! So I did return another night to play in the bars.
What a privilege it was to get to openly worship Jesus and declare His Kingdom in a bar in one of the most Muslim nations of the world, in the very area where sex trafficking is the mot prevalent . . .lets just say Jesus set me up and set that city up for transformation. This is not a testament to my good skills or voice. . . because lets be honest here, I really can’t even play the guitar well.. . I really wouldn’t be smart enough to think to play in the bars in Turkey. . .but this area and this country is SO IN THE HEART OF GOD!!! And he will use even a young kid from a small town in Canada to see His throne established. The foundations of His Throne are righteousness and Justice!! He is really not a respecter of persons and is just looking for a “YES”!
There are so many other testimonies and things that the Lord did, especially in my own heart during these past 2 weeks, but so that this blog is not a novel for you to read. . . I will conclude with the fact that I am just undone at the thought that Jesus is returning for a spotless Bride. In this divine romance, He is beckoning every nation and every soul to HImself in lovingkindness and persistent AFFECTION. I pray that as you have read about what God is doing in the nations of the Earth, you are moved with love for your city, region, school, and family. Let us put our heads on HIs chest and hear the heart beat of our Saviour.
Thank you for all your prayers and support, I can not tell you enough how much it means to me and is so appreciated!!!! So privileged to get to run together!! 🙂
LOVE LOVE LOVE
Kels
The Great Exchange 