Where adventure can lead to Life

People in Global Challenge often talk about how adventure can lead to Life. But what does this really mean?

Turkey is known for its diversity — from traditional çay (Turkish tea) to kilims (Turkish carpets), a hamam (traditional Turkish bath), their bazaars, destinations like İstanbul and Kapadokya (Cappadocia), and sweet treats like lokum (Turkish delight) and dondurma (a stretchy traditional Turkish ice cream).

In Turkey, we undertook a travel challenge and the last week included a half-year debrief. Our challenge was similar to “The Amazing Race.” We had a list of locations and tasks to accomplish. We had to swim at certain beaches, visit the seven churches of Revelation, drink çay with a local, go on a prayer walk in each town and trust God in our encounters with people along the way.

Our team leader had this to say about Turkey:

“We could travel like the locals, eat like the locals and live like the locals. Our time in Turkey started with a beautiful family in the Northeast of Turkey. Not knowing anything about each other, they invited us into their home with open arms. We ate together, sang songs together and encouraged one another in our faith. We experienced first-hand how God worked through dreams.
One lady had a dream about God and He used one of our team members to confirm what she had dreamt. I realised again that the Lord can use any possible way to make Himself known, but still He chooses to use us in incredible ways”. 

We spent eight days hitchhiking over 2000 km in small groups and had beautiful, Godly encounters with many different people.

Matthew 28:16–20 is set on a mountain in Galilee. Jesus calls us to share the life we have received. This year, I have met people who are completely unfamiliar with Him.

All of a sudden, sleeping on the street for a few evenings or going without eating for a few days doesn’t seem as much to ask as before.

One of our team members had an amazing encounter on a sidewalk at 3:00 one morning:

“We met many people and we could talk about life. I was particularly impacted by one guy we met on a sidewalk where we’d planned to sleep. He was Jewish and grew up in America. He had been backpacking for the past 6 months and had a cool way about him. I experienced how God had set us up to meet here on the street in a small Turkish town. We got to pray and share our stories with him. I’ve never seen someone so hungry for truth. This year of traveling would not have made sense if we were doing it for ourselves. This guy was searching throughout his journey, not knowing who or what he was looking for. We chatted on the pavement until 6:00 that morning. I was reluctant at first, but gave him my Bible after I kept sensing God wanted me to. (I really loved my Bible – it was full of letters, notes and stickers of all the countries I’d visited, but you can’t find any English Bibles here in Turkey).”

On our travel challenges, we use many different forms of transportation – ranging from trucks, boats, trains, buses, bikes, tractors, vans, and cars to our own feet.

One of our team members said:

“Besides having tons of fun and adventure, we had opportunities (which we definitely would not have had if we’d used standard transport) to connect and meet local people. With each car, bus or truck you get into, people ask you what you are doing here and why. Tourists don’t usually travel in this way – it is a bit crazy, we know.

But, next thing you know… here’s an opportunity to share. Each team member experienced this a couple of times a day, using all kinds of transportation. Wow! One of the words the team received for this year was that God would go before us and set us up. And He certainly did… It was incredible to hear all the stories from each person and team. We were hosted by many families. We got to share, understand them better and had opportunities to ask deep questions.

I was reminded of Nabeel Quereshi’s teaching of how important it is to know what you believe, why you believe what you do, and to be ready to answer some tough questions. He challenges us to care more about other people, than our own comfort or pride.“

It’s beautiful to see how God uses us – on a 15-hour bus ride or when asking for directions. We need to be ready to share at all times.

Another team member marvelled:

“He is an untamed God, wild, adventurous and unpredictable. We cannot put God in a box. I’m very aware of how little I can actually do in a situation where I get to share. God causes people to respond to Him, not through our reason but by His conviction. So for me to have a very meaningful conversation with someone and the person responding – can only be God. I’m so grateful that I get to be part of God’s massive plan for every person He leads me to.’’

In Mathew 28, Jesus concludes by promising that He will always be with us, until the very end of age.
All our team members experienced His presence every step of the way. There was no need to worry about where we would sleep, when we would eat or when we would reach our destination.

After the hundredth car that drove by without stopping on a blistering 45˚C summer’s day, I asked God, “Why is no one stopping?” Then you step into the next car and you know straight away why the previous hundred cars should not have stopped. God sets us up. We just have to be willing to wait and see how His plan unfolds. In life, I’ve often thought, “Jesus, why is this not happening now? Why do I have to wait this long?”, only to see later how His hand was directing it all.

One of the girls on our team said:

“A team member from the 2022 Global journey had made a connection with some locals. He hooked us up so we could spend a night at their house. The family treated us to an incredible breakfast and the lady looked at me intently and smiled. She pointed at my face, indicating my eyes and looked up the translation. She said she had seen me in a dream many years before, even before she’d met her husband. I came to her in the dream and told her about a man in the sky with a beard, surrounded by a bright light. She said she couldn’t forget how I looked because of my eyes. She said this man had the same eyes I had. She brought a scarf, fitted it around my head and said, “that’s exactly how you looked in the dream.” At first, I was taken aback and didn’t know how to respond. My team leader then said, “Well, it’s time to told her who the man in the sky is.”

One of our Travel Varisty members shared this as part of her experience:

“We have hope, freedom, and joy in the Lord. Religion in itself can be deadly. People tend to live under the authority of their deeds, constantly trying to earn their way into heaven. There is no real joy or freedom in religion.  It created a deep appreciation in me for our faith. God is the One who wants a relationship with us and sets us free from our own religious striving. My eyes were opened to see the hurt, loss and pain of people passing me by. Our lives are aimless without true life. Thousands of people need God. Because our stay in countries are often brief, our greatest means of letting God’s Kingdom come is through prayer.”

Our travel challenge allowed us to see most of Turkey, from Cappadocia’s hot air balloons to the beautiful blue beaches at Kas. The question is, are we willing to use any situation to share God’s love? Adventure can lead to Life!

Our last week in Turkey was spent in a mid-year debrief. We experienced many different emotions while looking back at our year’s journey: the highs and lows. It helped to realise what we can leave behind, where we need to forgive, and where we can rejoice in the minor and major victories. We got to reflect on so many things and see how our Father was constantly at work in each team member.

We also looked forward to our upcoming engagements while praying, dreaming and listening to what Jesus wants to do in these last months. One of our values is to finish strong. We have determined that our team will run this race set before us with endurance. We know this is not meant to stop as the year draws to an end. We are called to be salt and light in our everyday lives, in our workplace, our families and our friendships, sharing God’s love and hope wherever we go. Is our faith real and do we care enough about people around us? How far are you willing to step out of your comfort zone to follow in the footsteps of Jesus?