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Wichita, KS 67203 - © 2009 Olivet Baptist Church,
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Yesterday was full of conversation with Tatar (it can also be spelled Tartar) Turks: first in their local association office and then in two villages outside Eskisehir. In the association office we were treated with traditional Tatar music on Tuesday. She is an excellent musician and also teaches the traditional dance to children. The Tatar’s have fully adapted to the Turkish culture and consider themselves first, Turks, and then Crimean Tatars. They love their adopted country yet want to keep their old traditions alive for future generations.
I showed them photos of Guven and talked about our relationship as “father and son.” She was very impressed and asked if he was Muslim. I told her that he had been Muslim but now was Christian. She seem perplexed initially, but told Ercu that it was good that he had the freedom to make his own decision. I sensed a bit of jealousy in her voice about the freedom to make a personal choice.
In the first village we visited we met a young man who was the village guard. He got in the van with us and took us out to the fields to see the people at work. They are harvesting sugar beets right now. It is one of their major crops. Later we met his wife and son and had chai and cake she had made. They are quite poor and we let them some cash for his taking time to show us the village. They hope to move to Eskisehir so that their son can get a good education and make something of his life.
At our second village we were met at the coffee house by a group of men who were drinking chai. It is one of the things they do every day. We met two retired school teachers who return to the village for planting season. One taught elementary children and the other taught physics in high schools. During this time the local imam came by and we began a conversation. He asked if I believed in tolerance. I told him that I believed tolerance meant respect for the rights of other people to hold divergent views from my own. I respect their right to believe differently, but I also hold the right to speak my beliefs that are different from theirs. He seemed to agree with my statement. I went on to say that there are some points of agreement between Christianity and Islam but there are also great theological differences that I believe must be addressed. He was very gracious and then had to leave to prepare for the time of prayer. In this village of 60 families (during the growing season) he has fewer than 4-5 who regularly attend mosque.
Most of the people in this particular village are Tatar. They tend to be Social Democrats – followers of Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. They see religion as a part of their culture, but not part of their daily lives. They are like many secular Americans.
The retired physics teacher invited us to visit his home and garden. His wife, also a retired teacher, prepared chai and fruit for us and we had some excellent conversation focusing on marriage, children, politics, etc. They invited us to stay for dinner and to even spend the night but we needed to get back to Eskisehir for a short meeting with Pastor Salih and possibly a meeting with a man who has been attending the church and is seeking truth in his life.
Today Chad, Dennis and Mark are driving back to Istanbul to prepare for a meeting with businessmen tonight. Cindy, Leslie, Ercu and I are on the train to Ankara to visit Guven’s family before returning to Istanbul later this evening.
Tomorrow we will be doing some sightseeing and shopping before going on the retreat with Chad’s team. We are excited about helping them with the retreat by taking care of their children during the study and prayer times for the adults.
