News from Zurafa

Hey Everyone! Merry Christmas! I hope you guys are having a great day full of worship and praise to the Saviour of our souls!

I have an urgent prayer request: Yesterday Kenan got into a terrible car crash involving his Taxi and a minibus. He was lying in the street covered in blood and almost unrecognizable. He was rushed to the hospital where there they took many X-rays and CAT scans. He was conscious and coherent while they were wheeling him down the crowded hallway. When I got there he looked at me and said "Zurafa..... How are you...?" (never loses his sense of humor). He lost a lot of blood and had many cuts and bruises on his face and head and legs. A few were really bad. Thankfully he did not break any bones or have any internal bleeding! After spending the night in the hospital he was evaluated again and released to go home. Right now he is sleeping on the couch and E., Kenan's mother, and I are watching over him. He is going to need a lot of time to recover and he will always have a big scar on his face. It really is a miracle that he survived. God is not done with him yet!

J put it on Facebook and Twitter and had people praying all over the world! Hundreds if not thousands of our family were praying for Kenan! And the prayers were not unheard! He has made such a fast recovery! Almost miraculous! His face is less swollen and his bruises are looking a little better. It still hurts for him to move too much, but he is being a trooper and is up and about entertaining the zillion guests who have come to see him today. Keep him in your prayers! He is exhausted. And so am I and E.

I began teaching English here three days ago in Sodom. We have seven students and I am trying to learn how to teach. I hate being in front of people and teaching is that much worse. Hopefully though I will get used to it and we can effectively use this as a means of sharing the Gospel. Already shared with them the meaning of this strange holiday we are celebrating and even sang them a hymn in English (All Heaven Declares). They said the melody touched their hearts. Hopefully we are looking at our future brothers and sisters in Christ! Pray for them and their salvation as well as that of this entire country.

God keeps putting different things on my heart that I want to do. I feel as if I am being pulled apart and don't know where God wants me. I don't know the first step to take. I can't do it all, that is a fact. Please pray for God to guide me where He wants me, to do what He wants me to do. I am going to really start pushing my studying tomorrow. I want to finish the Qur'an and several of the books/articles J gave me tomorrow. And by the end of the week, all the books he gave me. I also hope to start a research evangelism this week. I'll keep you posted how I am doing with all of this. Thanks for reading!


Here is how you can pray specifically for me and the area here:
Pray that God would raise good godly leaders in His churches here.
Pray for Kenan's speedy recovery and new unemployment.
Pray that God will use the English class as a platform for sharing the Gospel.
Pray for much discernment for me as well as the other workers here for many decisions that need to be made.
Pray that if that is God's will, He will open the doors to get me to the right college with the right classes.
Pray that the Lord would open my mind to learn what He would have me to learn and to give me a humble and obedient heart.
Pray that God will continue to guide my conversations and give me the words to speak and the courage to speak.
Please pray that God would reach His lost sheep here and bring them out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of Light.
And always remember to pray for your brothers and sisters who are in prison and who are suffering. (Heb 13:3)
Thanks for all the prayers everyone! They truly are a blessing!
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If you feel led to support my training here, you can send donations to: New Horizons Foundation Inc. (Check Memo: Gateway Missions/Zurafa) Send to: New Horizons Foundation, Inc. 4570 Hilton Parkway, Suite 203 Colorado Springs, CO 80907 This will help pay for things like my Turkish classes, rent, and food. Any extra money will be used for projects here in Turkey. You can also give online at New Horizons. If you do decide to give online, you will need to send me an email sayıng how much you sent because there ıs only one account for GES. Zurafa108@gmail.com. or you can send an email to J of GES at gatewayeducationalservices@hotmail.com. Also for those of you who go to Victory Baptist Church, Grace Road Church, or Wheatland Community Church, you can put your donations in the offering box/plate and it will find its way to me. (I hope) Thank you everyone who decides to pray or give financially!

You can now see more constant updates on my Facebook account: Zurafa Turk
(Picture of a Turkish Stop Sign [I thought it was pretty funny;])

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Zurafa
It is well with my soul,
It is well with yours?