SO THAT Missions Podcast | FBC Boerne
So that...God's ways may be known on Earth.
"So That" is an FBC Boerne podcast focused on what God is doing around the world with missions and through FBC Missions partners.
SO THAT Missions Podcast | FBC Boerne
Episode 73: Mark & Linda: Global Christians welcome us like family!
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Have you ever walked where ancient apostles once trod? Imagine standing in Laodicea, gazing across miles of ancient landscape to see the literal source of Jesus' "lukewarm" analogy from Revelation. This transformative experience was just one highlight from our recent mission trip spanning Turkey and Georgia.
Mark and Linda Turley join us to share their journey through biblical lands and modern faith communities. Their candid reflections reveal how physical connections to Scripture—touching the white marble of Ephesus or exploring the recently excavated ruins of Laodicea—bring biblical narratives to vibrant life. These aren't just archaeological curiosities but touchpoints that fundamentally reshape how we understand familiar texts.
The most profound moments, however, came through unexpected human connections. Linda describes a divine appointment with a Canadian-Turkish woman named Nell who had recently found faith after multiple suicide attempts. Meanwhile, Mark found himself fielding deep theological questions from a young Turkish man hungry for spiritual guidance. These spontaneous encounters highlight how missions often means simply showing up for God's already-unfolding work.
The contrast between massive Turkey and the tiny Republic of Georgia (population 3.5 million) reveals different facets of global Christianity. Georgian believers demonstrated extraordinary hospitality, making our team feel instantly adopted. Their relational approach—where people always take priority over schedules—culminated in an unforgettable feast in Sonori village, where locals had butchered a pig specifically for our visit and prepared homemade everything from bread to wine. During this perfect evening under ideal weather conditions, we witnessed a man named David being celebrated for his recent decision to follow Christ after years of prayer from his family.
Whether you're considering your first mission trip or have traveled extensively, this conversation will inspire you to see how God works across cultures while giving practical insights into what makes international ministry meaningful. As Mark advises those considering missions: "Don't think too hard about it, just go. It'll change your heart. It'll change your life forever."
Visit our website at www.fbcboerne.org for more stories, information, and service times.
Welcome to FBC Missions Podcast
Speaker 1Hey everybody , welcome to FBC Missions so that Podcast . Today we have a great podcast with some members and friends that went on a mission trip this summer Mark and Linda Turley , you know you're going to enjoy . Welcome to FBC Missions so that Podcast . This is an encouraging place to hear how God is working in and around us . We know that he blesses His people so that they can bless the world around them .
Speaker 2Join us as we discuss how to join God in all that he is doing .
Speaker 1Why is God working in our life , church and community ? It's so that , through us , the world will know that he is needed . Hey everybody , welcome back . We're so glad that you're with us today on the FBC Missions podcast . Welcome back , we're so glad that you're with us today on the FBC Missions Podcast . I'm so glad to be with you . My name is Chad . Most of you probably know me . I'm the Missions Pastor here at First Baptist and . I have my friends and guests . They're members of FBC , Mark and Linda . How are you guys doing ?
Speaker 3We're doing great .
Speaker 4Fantastic .
Speaker 1All right , all right If you got to know , if you're listeners and you know Mark and Linda , then you know they're like polar opposites personality-wise Linda has lots of energy and Mark's just the calm and the quiet . He's the easygoing . I have been so blessed to hang out with you guys quite a bit since we became a pastor here at FBC . My family has just been so blessed by you guys so I'm excited to have you with me here on the podcast . How was your day ?
Speaker 3It was fun . We had a great time in missions . I think the kids are really enjoying it .
Speaker 1Yeah , so what kids ?
Speaker 3The kids for Vacation Bible School . We have , like , I think , kindergarten through fifth grade .
Speaker 1Yeah , so this week is our Vacation Bible School week here at the church , and it is madness , absolute madness . I think there's close to , if not more than , 700 kids registered . We heard today that almost 70 gave their heart to faith , heart to Christ , this morning in our group , and another group wants to get baptized , and there's other people that want to know more about Jesus . So what a cool thing . There's a lot going on between volunteers and students . We've got well over a thousand people here every day this week , and so the church is getting used to its maximum this week . It's awesome
Turkey and Georgia Trip Overview
Speaker 1. It's awesome . We're so glad . So you're serving in the missions area for Vacation Bible School and , mr Mark , what are you doing ?
Speaker 1Fourth and fifth fifth grade , so I've got mainly the boys that I try to corral that takes a lot of energy .
Speaker 4She takes the helper or the leaders that she actually just does , all the girls , all the girls yeah , they're really easy well , that's uh , that's awesome .
Speaker 1You guys are doing such a great job . Uh , I I'm so excited to see you every day , but , uh , this is like a lot less than we saw each other the last few weeks . So , uh , mark and Linda got to go with us on a trip earlier this summer . We went to , uh , two countries we went to Turkey and uh , and then we went to the Republic of Georgia . Uh , there's a team of 12 of us and , uh , we were there for for almost two whole weeks , and so actually it was just beyond a 15-day trip . So our goal today really is just to kind of talk to you guys about what you experienced , what you enjoyed , what are your takeaways from the trip , and so , before we jump into that , I want to say these guys have been doing this before . They've been to Moldova and other other mission trips as well , so let's just give me a little history . Where have you been before ? You guys went this year to Turkey and Georgia .
Speaker 3Okay , our first mission trip when we joined the church was to Manila , philippines . That was when Amanda and Derek Ross did True Love , waits , purity Before Marriage . And then we've been to Moldova . I've been there five times . And then Turkey . Turkey , I've been twice , and this last time we went to Turkey . And then Georgia for the first time the first time .
Speaker 1Okay , so you guys have been to the Philippines several times as well . I didn't just the ones , just the ones . And Mark , have you gone on all those trips with Linda ?
Speaker 4all but one all at one . Yes the last trip to Turkey she took , I was unable to go because there were limits , because I was not retired .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , mark just made that jump , I've made that jump . Eight months ago , six months ago , how long ago was it ? October , october ? So yeah , eight months , nine months ago , and now I have a new boss . Yes , yes , how's that going ?
Speaker 4Very well actually .
Speaker 1You're not the right person .
Speaker 3I need to ask your supervisor .
Speaker 1You asked my supervisor , the boss . Is he doing okay , Linda ? He's doing pretty good . He's doing pretty good , I like it , I like it . Well , let's talk through Turkey and Georgia . So obviously I got to lead the trip , so I know a lot about it and I can definitely jump in with some information . But before we get into that , just what are the things that stand out the most when you look back at the 15-day trip ? What are your highlights ?
Speaker 3Well , I like going back to Ephesus and Laodicea for the first time and then just going to be with the people in the different churches in Istanbul and in Georgia and Batumi . I just had so many God stories . It was overwhelming . It was one of the best mission trips I've ever been to Wow , that's amazing .
Speaker 1I'm so glad to hear that there's a lot there . We're going to come back and maybe unpack some of those things . What about you , mark ?
Speaker 4Well , for me it breaks down into . You know , turkey was a different trip part . I guess it's a Different animal altogether , different animal altogether . But the major things that I took away from it one was walking the streets where Paul walked . That's kind of still going , wow , but visiting with the church there and talking with their members . And there was one young man that approached me . I'm used to getting all kinds of questions , but his was going well , how ?
Speaker 4do I know what God wants me to do and what do I need to be doing , and all these questions , bam , bam , bam , bam . And we only had like 15 , 20 minutes before we were supposed to pull up stakes and leave . And we only had like 15 , 20 minutes before we were supposed to pull up stakes and leave . But basically it came down to I said well , you know , god's already made all the plans for you . You just don't know what they are . You've made the major step . You've accepted him as your Lord Savior . Now you've got to get used to that . Every day you're going to have to choose him . And he was even going . Well , I'm getting kind of lonely , I want a wife . And I said God's got a plan for you . She will show up when it's time .
Speaker 1You didn't have one of those just ready for him . Huh , no .
Speaker 4I said here , let me introduce you . No , didn't have anything like that , but you know it was amazing . It was like bam bam bam . I'm going oh whoa , I need a committee on these questions . But did the best I could and prayed with him .
Speaker 1I'm sure you did , and then he seemed a little calmer , yeah well , again , what else can you do except for but look for those opportunities to pray and to care and to give the best counsel you can give .
Speaker 1I saw that , I know when that interaction happened , you know , and it was really fun watching you sit down and talk with him , mark , in that window 20 , 30 minutes we had there , with coffee and refreshments , with all those people from all over the world , really in that little international church that we visited . But let me just tell the people who are listening that the trip has really two purposes the Turkey interaction itself . My prayer and hope was that God would inspire our members , our church , the people from our team , to have a passion and a desire to minister directly to the people that live and work and play in Turkey . So we talk a lot about the Turks themselves . We talk about the Turkish people , the kind of former Ottomans . We talk about the ancient Hittites that lived in that land . They interact with Abraham . At different times we visited sites like ancient Ephesus . This was the first time we had been to the Laodicean ruin , which was one of the letters of John's churches , of course , in Revelation . And so really the part in Turkey really is focused on kind of helping our team kind of get immersed in what the history and the culture and the people of Turkey look like , with the hope and goal that if and when our members decide to have a passion for that , then they know what they're looking at , they know how to communicate to other people in our church . Maybe we can send teams specifically focused on the people of Turkey . We did that last year , we did this this year and I think next year we're going to talk about a team that's specifically dedicated on engaging ministry within Turkey . We've had some touch points , but we really haven't had too much overt ministry opportunity in the times that we've been there so far .
Speaker 1Georgia was the opposite . So , georgia , we have a long-term missions partner that's Georgian himself . He's very interactive with the Georgian church and he just wanted us to see how the Georgian evangelical church is thriving . So we went and visited several small groups . They're kind of house churches . We visited one church that actually had a nice building , two that had nice buildings , but it was really incredible to see the churches . But the ministry opportunities in Georgia looked very different than what we were doing in Turkey , and so I'm so glad that you guys got to go .
Speaker 1So , linda , you mentioned kind of a number of things , obviously going to places that Paul walked the streets of ancient Ephesus . You know it was a city in white marble . It's just an incredible thing to see and walk . The history there is unrelievable . But then we drive a couple hours away and you go to laodicea and and that one was also super cool . One of the things that's neat is it's really the the excavation and laodicea started in 2006 , so it's only a 19 year old excavation . Most the ones in la and ephesus started in 1885 or something you know . So they're talking about 150 years of excavation in Ephesus versus 19 years in Laodicea . So everything's fresh , new and pretty interesting
VBS Ministry at Home
Speaker 1in Laodicea . But you mentioned those being highlights . What stood out to you in those places ?
Speaker 3Well , I want to just share one of my favorite God stories . God gave me a divine appointment at the Christian church in Istanbul . In church in Istanbul , after our team worshiped , we went downstairs for tea and cookies and I went and saw Natalie Swanson , andy Swanson's wife , who's one of our church partners and she said I have a young lady I want you to meet . And so I went and met Neil and she'd only been saved , been a Christian for like the week before we came . So I went and prayed with her and the Holy Spirit just gave me the words to say . And so after we finished praying , I told her that I always have a some of my favorite scriptures on my phone , so she took a screenshot of that . And then I told her when we got home that Mark and I would make her a journal , and when Andy comes he's going to take it back to her . But she had battled deep depression . She had tried to take her own life three times and after one attempt she was in a coma for over two months .
Speaker 3And the doctors didn't even expect her to ever wake up . And she heard someone say wake up and she thought it was God bringing her back to life . And so the church she'd never stepped foot in a church until January of this year , but she just felt that she needed to go there . And they housed her and fed her , but she still felt hopeless . So she decided to go into rehab . She got medication and she got help and she got the clarity she needed so she could think more clearly . And it's here that she found Jesus . Jesus gave her a community , and so the church watched her transform her heart , her soul and her body from death to life , from despair to hope , and I just witnessed just a beautiful miracle of life .
Speaker 1Yeah , watching that again was really fun . Mark's over in here at this corner talking to this guy and on this other side George . George , that's as close as I can pronounce it . No , we'll take it and over here . I watched Natalie introduce you to Nell and just kind of get some moments with her and listen , she was full of life , Full of life .
Speaker 3Full of life . She was full of life .
Speaker 1She's not . She wasn't someone that was , you know , gothic , covered in black clothes and black makeup . She seemed very , very open and very excited to tell her story .
Speaker 1All of it , even the suicide part she's just kind of bubbled out of her and , uh , and really quick , linda just kind of latched onto her , literally and figuratively , like she's holding onto her hands and then they're hugging and praying for each other was so , so , precious , precious and sweet to watch and it's really one of the things you might think of . In the international church there in Istanbul , we met people from all these different places . She was Canadian .
Speaker 2Turk , right , so she's Turkish , but she's from Canada .
Speaker 1She told us that she's going to be going back to Canada soon , so one of the concerns was whether she would find a Christian community when she went back to Canada . We met people from Pakistan . We met people from Saudi Arabia . India , Bangladesh . We met people from all over the world in that little basement right there , you know , and that was really interesting and really neat , just to see how God is calling people to himself from all these places .
Speaker 1So that was precious , so anything else you'd share . When we talk Just think about the turkey part you know there's the deep history and then you've got these moments of ministry and clarity and opportunities to pray . For believers like that , anything else stands out to you .
Speaker 3Well , just walking to the streets of Laodicea , Ephesus , when you walk where Paul and Jesus spoke , all these places that we've visited before , it just makes the Bible become more alive and just more real , and so it just makes the stories just pop out .
Speaker 1Yeah , one of the stories that I'm reminded of is you're standing in Laodicea . It's this kind of large rolling hilltop . I don't think there's a tree on the entire thing , it's just open . But from there you can see about seven miles away is another ancient city called Hierapolis , and Hierapolis was built around these sulfur pools and the pools cascade down the hillside and make this big white . It almost looks like snow hillside .
Speaker 1And if you look on Turkey , any Turkish website , and you're looking for tourism , when you put in sulfur pools , you're going to see this place . It's called Pamukkule , which no one remembers . No American remembers the name . But if you look at that it's like you see these sulfur pools . They kind of cascade down the hill . You can walk down the hill and walk into them . They're kind of cool . The Hierapolis is really neat . But here's the thing is it comes out of the ground hot , right , these sulfur springs are hot , and so the water comes down into the valley and in the valley it meets the water that comes from Colossae , which is like 30 miles away , and the Romans had pulled water from Colossae one direction . They pulled the hot water down the hill from Pamukkule and Heropolis , and where it met together was where Laodicea is and the water was lukewarm , right , yes , right You're standing on
Speaker 1the hilltop and you're like , oh , it's not just that they didn't like lukewarm water , it's that the lukewarm
Walking in Paul's Footsteps
Speaker 1water defines this city . They have to bring in cold water . They have access to geothermal hot water right , and it meets in the city and you have lukewarm water . So , like John writing this , jesus speaking through John is talking about something that this city will clearly understand If you stay lukewarm , laodicea , I will spew you out of my mouth . Remember that's what he says . And he says so you think that you have wealth . You think that you're rich , but you're actually , it says , poor , wretched , blind and naked . Use the wealth that you have to buy from me gold refined by the fire . Right this idea , the fire , right this , this idea that use all that you have to find life that you can only find in christ . And uh , standing on the hilltop , you go man , this was , this , made a lot of sense to this .
Speaker 1And then we got to see the church ruins , like if john wrote this early writing is mid-60s , late is mid-90s , let's just say it's first century writing . You know , by the third century there's a huge church . We walk through it . You know , in between there there's a huge church . We walk through it . In between there there was a house church . We walked through that and they also worshipped in the theater . We walked through that . So you could see like three generations of how the church was expressed in that space . And now all it is is a hill , a mound of rubble that people are digging through to try to learn more about what was going on in that space 2,000 years ago . So it's super cool .
Speaker 1I love it and I love getting to take people from our church to go and see it . I do think when you see those first century locations you think about what they were . Then you think about what they are now and you get a lot of truth out of it . So that's exciting . But we did go from there to another country , to Republic of Georgia , which is absolutely wild contrast . So if Turkey is huge , land space is . I think it's one of the top 10 land masses in the world . It's huge . The country spans basically from Syria all the way to Europe . You know it's way over there . And then we go to Georgia and Georgia is like the size of New York . You know it's just a little tiny country squashed between two mountain ranges . Total population of Georgians is 3.5 million . The country that has a lot of expats , foreigners , living in it is about 6 million total . You think about that ? That's barely bigger than the Austin-San Antonio Metroplex combined .
Speaker 1It's like basically what it looks like Central Texas is kind of the size of this country , and we drove the breadth and width of Georgia . We hit the ground and drove all the way down to the Black Sea coast . Batumi is where we started our trip , spent our time there and then we ended up all the way by the Azerbaijan border , about 20 miles from Azerbaijan at the end of the trip . And so it's a different country , very different feel , completely different language group . And so tell me , what did you guys think about our time in Georgia ?
Speaker 4I almost felt like we'd been adopted when we got there . They were like instant family , especially Linda by the time you know , give her five minutes , she'll know everybody's kids .
Speaker 1Listen , that's not just in the country of Georgia or Turkey . It was in anywhere , it was in the market , it was anywhere it was in the market , it was everywhere we went At the breakfast , linda's making friends .
Speaker 4It was like walking into a Sunday school class here with a growth group and everybody . You could just feel the love there . That was the thing that was just most startling . There was no standoffish , there was no give me a minute to get to know you . It was like instant hugs , instant laughter , everything . It was just amazing .
Speaker 1Yeah , georgians in general are some of the most , uh , hospitable people . Uh , I would put them right on the same levels like filipinos . Filipinos are so hospitable but it's really amazing when you add uh kind of a christian character to both of those cultures . But georgians and from and the christians in georgia , they just they . They assume that if you're a believer and you're coming here , that you're one of them instantly and they treat you like it . It really is wonderful . The hugs they're incredibly relational . They love people and they would much rather sit and talk to you than do anything . What I mean is you might have a whole schedule of things you want to do and all of that's secondary to the person standing in front of them . You know they're gonna enjoy their time with you and if that oh , we went 20 minutes too long , no big deal , it might make us miss our lunch time .
Speaker 4Yeah much to the chagrin of some of our team members , which definitely wouldn't have hurt us a bit .
Speaker 1No , no , we weren't hurting at all , but uh , it was funny how often that came up . But yeah , that was fantastic . They're so welcoming . What about you , linda Well ?
Speaker 3I love just being able to worship with them and sing with them . And Chad played the guitar and some of their worship songs . We sing the same ones . We taught them some of the songs , like 10,000 Reasons and another song , and they're just like when I went to the church , some of them just came up and hugged me like I've known them forever and I felt like that , like new brothers and sisters in Christ , and they were just so welcoming .
Speaker 3And in fact , one little girl when we left Tbilisi after the church service we had the cookies and had the little refreshments . She was the last one I talked to and I said is there anything I can pray about ? And she last one I talked to and you know , I said is there anything I can pray about ? And she said , yes , pray for my husband . He's not saved . Um , the children are trying to get him to come . So I wrote her name down and she's in my prayer um list . Every day I pray for her . But just um , all the people when we were in the groups , like we divided between the men and the women and we did like , uh , like Lisa Hilkemaier led our group , like what does this verse say ? What does mean ? How can you apply it to your life . And that was so meaningful too , because we were all in groups and we had people that could interpret for them . So that was very encouraging to me . And then we kind of told a little bit about ourselves , our testimony , and so they just blessed me more than anything .
Speaker 1Yeah , I've said that multiple times that we go on a trip like that and we have in our mind this idea that we're going to be a blessing to them that we're bringing whether it's expertise or gifts or tools or resources and then we get
Divine Appointments in Istanbul
Speaker 1there and we're so blessed I don't know that they needed the tools or the resources . They just got to share with us some of theirs as well . Kind of towards the end of our trip , we went to a village church in a town called Sonori . It's the one that was close to Azerbaijan , and I've been to Georgia probably five times . I've never been to this location before . So this was all new . Those were all people I've never met before , and what we knew when we got there was that we were going to do a little worship time with them , share some testimonies , and we're going to break into men's and women's groups . And then there was some discussion about whether we were going to eat on site . They said they were going to fix something for us , but the way that I thought that was going to happen was I thought there would be lunch , but we didn't have lunch , so we got past it . I thought we were going to kind of load up and head back to the city so we could have dinner . So we got to the end of all of our things , which was really fun . The testimonies were wonderful , the you know we sang with them , all those things . The breakout sessions were also great and I have a story from that men's breakout session that I don't know if I should tell here or wait and tell it another time , so I don't tell all of our stories with you guys .
Speaker 1At the end of the time we got finished , we went back downstairs . The ladies were just about finished and the guys were just kind of hanging out talking , chilling . They had some cookies and some waters and some little drinks , some kind of Georgian sodas and as we're sitting there , gia says we're going to eat in a little bit . I said oh , what do you mean ? He said we're going to eat here . They butchered a pig for you like . So yesterday , the day before we were there , they had butchered a pig , it was prepared . They had a stack of of grapevines . This particular area is known for their kind of specialty barbecue over grapevines . Apparently it has a different flavor of smoke and uh . So they were super excited to show us what sonori , uh barbecue , like it was called Sashlik . By the way , if you wonder how to say barbecue in Georgian , it's Sashlik , and so we were at that point . We know we're going to be here for a while . Like , there's apparently a pig , there's no fire , but there's wood and they're preparing a meal .
Speaker 1So , like the meal it's never ending Well so you know , the women finished and now this kind of thing is just kind of trickled on for a little while and about an hour later they start pulling out tables and tablecloths and one of the guys brings his own unique wine . He made it himself . It was made out of some sort of fruit , it wasn't even grape wine . There was some grape wine , but there was this other wine he brought . And , yeah , you know , all georgians make their own wine . It's like part of their culture . They say that noah came off the ark and stopped here , that wine , that vineyard , he did . It was right here in georgia . So like they're very proud of their historic and ancient wine practices .
Speaker 1But uh , you know , once you got to dinner , I was sitting across from Greg Kogelmeyer , you could hear all the birds were outside . It was beautiful weather , probably 70 degree , you know , kind of sun setting , and you have this extremely beautiful table and meal , that's , you know , probably a 50 foot table , when it was all said and done table , when it was all said and done , you know , and you've got bread and meat and and salads and all the different drinks , from wine to all the kinds of sodas , and it's all spread out we had brought money to pay for it and they said no , no , no , this is our gift to you , so they wouldn't let us pay . And then you realize the pickles , the bread , everything is handmade . Right , this is all made with their own materials , our own things . And Greg looked at me and he said he goes . This is like an unbelievable just scenario . You're sitting , it's like it's one of those moments where everything's perfect , right , it was .
Speaker 3The food , the community , delicious , right Everything , the fellowship .
Speaker 1The story , the climate , the temperature , the location , and then you know one of the guys went and got a guitar and he's just strumming in the background and then there's , like people singing a few worship songs here and there , and in the middle of that Gia gets up and says Brothers , I have an announcement Now . Every time we had a meal , gia would do a little Toastmaster . At least three At least .
Speaker 2At least so you know At least three At least , at least .
Speaker 1So he says , brothers , listen here , I have this story for you , our brother here . And he grabs this man who was sitting next to him . He says our brother David was his name has just come to faith in Christ and we all cheered , it was so wonderful . And then he's like we've been praying for David for years . His wife and his son have been going to this church . The son was one of the kind of pastoral leaders and they're sad . I mean , the wife is crying , she's crying and the son is so proud of his father .
Speaker 1And then you watched over the next several minutes , maybe 30 minutes , as they're all hugging him and giving him points of you know , here's your next steps . And Gia was encouraging him as well and he just felt like you're a part of the family , like you said , like we were just there to support , to love , to care , just to really get to know them . And in the middle of it we got to be a part of a really intimate and wonderful dinner and time , just to see . This is what the church is right . The church is a family that together is making themselves available to the world around them , the lost , the hurting , the broken and then loving each other to the best of our ability in the midst of this community of faith , and it really was precious .
Speaker 1I can think back maybe like 10 or 15 times in my life where you have those kind of perfect places where you just kind of look back and like everything around me is as good as it can get . I couldn't , I couldn't , I could not think of anything I could ask for . Um , maybe my wife being there with me would have been the only thing I could do to improve it .
Speaker 1But you know the the setting was just absolutely perfect yeah it was wonderful and and then uh , the time goes to leave and it takes like 20 minutes to try to get the team torn apart from these new friends they've had for five hours Seemed longer , but they can't leave without hugging everyone at least once .
Speaker 1And Linda , I think , has pictures with every single person and it's wonderful because now you can remind us and we can pray for people . But what's funny is it really takes forever , because these newfound friends , they're people that you've spent five hours with , but they're people you're going to remember for a long time and , uh , they're going to pray for us and they definitely hope that they'll see us again on this side of eternity , but , uh , it really really was wonderful .
Speaker 1Well , um , you said that that this was the best mission trip that you've been on . I think
Georgian Hospitality and Fellowship
Speaker 1every trip is the best mission trip I've been on . Right , I do too .
Speaker 3Like every time I go , that one's fresh , it's new , it's real .
Speaker 1It doesn't mean the last ones weren't valuable . It just always feels so nice . But what are some things that you're going to remember the most when you look back ? How are you going to hold on to it ?
Speaker 4Well , I've always felt like , when we go on these mission trips , it's not that we're going to , like you said , we're not going to teach , we just want to go show them that we support them , that they're not alone , that we're part of your family , that you're part of our family . But I never got more of that feeling than with the Georgians . Yeah , I mean , it didn't matter . We saw two or three little church communities , it did not matter which ones , it was just like you are our brothers and sisters In Turkey . There was such a wide range of different people there , with all different cultures , backgrounds , points of contact , so many different problems , so many . Yet they were together . They were in it together . We were accepted to be there with them . It was , but the Georgian is like we became family . Yeah , you're in it together . We were accepted to be there with them . It was , uh , but the Georgian is like we became family . Yeah , you're .
Speaker 3And y'all kept telling me how hot the weather was last time it was last year , it was hot 2024 was really hot .
Speaker 4I'm going . We got up to what 78 one day maybe , which I'm really glad , cause I was thinking I'm probably not going to make it .
Speaker 1I should have been hiking a lot more before we went .
Speaker 2Honestly , we had the most incredible weather , the duration , the entire time To be sitting in Ephesus in the high of the day was like 75 .
Speaker 1In the sun it felt warmer but there was a nice cool breeze the whole day Cool breeze the whole time .
Speaker 4Last year we're standing in the middle of this ancient chapel in someone's home and you can tell I mean it felt like a chapel it did .
Speaker 1Last year we were in the same spot and they told us that we had come . They said it's good that you came in June , because it only gets like to 100 , but in July it can get up to 120 .
Speaker 2So we were ready for heat .
Speaker 1and it was not , it was unseasonably cool it was wonderful for our team .
Speaker 3And also another highlight was having Christina from Russia with us on the trip . She just made it just a lot of fun , because sometimes we need interpreters and so she was just right there and so I just enjoyed getting to know her better , because we're like sisters now , so I we share information from our church and she shares what they're doing in her little community outside Siberia . So I really enjoyed getting to , because I met her last year and really got to really spend a lot of time with her this year , so I thought that was really special that she got to spend a week with us in Georgia .
Speaker 1Yeah , last she got to spend that time with us in Turkey , but not Moldova . This year it was nice to have her with us in Georgia . She's amazing . If you're one of our listeners . You don't know who we're talking about . We have a partner in Domatova . Domatova , I think .
Speaker 1Shadrinsk is another city nearby Russia , I think Shadrinsk is another city nearby Russia and obviously , since the Russian-Ukraine conflict , all of our access to Russia is basically cut off .
Speaker 1We can't even send our money , and so we're partnered , and when we see her at different times , we're able to give her some of the gifts that we have in person and she can take them home . But beyond that , having her there is so interesting because you get a different worldview . She's from Russia , she's fully Russian , she lives and works and plays in Russia , and so it's really interesting to see her perspective on world events . It's very different than our Western perspective , but what's amazing is you put the politics and the perspective and the worldview aside and we love the same Jesus , we have the same heart , and so one thing that was funny to me is when she and another one of our partners got into an argument about Ukraine and it was at some points it started to get I felt like heated . But what was really funny is our American team started to get uncomfortable . You notice everyone's shifting in their seats . The couple got up to use the restroom . Everyone's like okay .
Speaker 2I need to do this .
Speaker 1But it was wonderful Again . At the end of that , both of them said hey , we don't see eye to eye on these things , but we love each other , we are dedicated to caring for each other , so there's no problems between us . We can have a . What's the word ?
Speaker 1A lively discussion I was laughing , because lively means different things in different cultures and you realize , I feel like when Russians are talking , it's like they're ready to go to fist with each other and they might actually do that . I've never seen a Russian fight , but it seems like they are ready to fight at any time . But Americans are so much more conflict adverse . You know , we don't want to offend anyone and Russians don't seem to mind offending everyone fairly quickly and easily . Well , it was really nice having Christina with us .
Speaker 1And she shared her testimony over and over again and everywhere we went people spoke Russian , so , like even in Turkey she could talk to . Last year she was speaking Russian to a lot of people who understood her . You know , I always forget the influence that Russia had in that region of the world until really the early 90s . So any person older than me speaks fluent Russian , and so it's really interesting . So , yeah , that was awesome .
Speaker 3And also I got to enjoy meeting Gia's family because I've never met them before was awesome . And also I got to enjoy meeting Gia's family because I've never met them before . So having Sally and Andre and Timothee with us on some of our little excursions , that that was really a lot of fun . I got to really know them a lot more . And then I asked for some of the recipes . So Gia sent me some of the recipes I'm going to try at home because we had just amazing food .
Speaker 1I'm going to be amazed if you can pronounce any of the .
Speaker 4Do you remember any ?
Speaker 2of the dishes .
Speaker 4Kinkali .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Kinkali . Everyone remembers Kinkali .
Speaker 3Right right , so describe .
Speaker 1Kinkali to our listeners . How would you describe a Kinkali ?
Speaker 4It's a meat dumpling . It's delicious , fairly big , about fist-sized . It's got meat inside and a lot of juice . You basically eat it by biting off a piece of it , pouring the juice out and drinking it , and then eating the top and leaving the dumpling stump .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , that's a pretty good description .
Speaker 3Mark and I also like the egg bowl that we had , like the bread bowl , Like I had the recipe for that . I'm going to try it . You make the bread and then you put two different kinds of cheeses and you fry an egg on top and you stir all that and you just slice it and share it . But that was one of my favorites too . I really enjoyed that one .
Speaker 1Yeah , there's every kind of cheesy bread you can imagine in Georgia it seems like there's ten different ways .
Speaker 1They call it Hachapuri , and there's 10 different types of Hachapuri and one of them , which is called Ajarian . Ajarian is the area near Batumi where we went to the church , but that's the one that they crack the egg on the top of it . And so then you've got this incredible cheesy bread with this large crust and you're dipping the crust in the cheesy egg mixture . It's so good , it's good , it's so good , and the cheesy egg mixture is so good , it's good , it's so good .
Speaker 1So good . And the stringy cheese , the stringy cheese , it really is fantastic . So now everyone's going to be hungry for Georgian food . There's a lot of other the sashlik , the barbecue , you know , the fire roasted pork was fantastic .
Speaker 3It was all good Food was fantastic .
Speaker 1Georgian cuisine is very , very welcoming to an American palate , so it's a lot of fun . Well , guys , we have gone past our 30 minutes , so anything else that you guys would say , let me ask you would you encourage other people to go to Georgia ?
Speaker 3Absolutely Almost definitely .
Speaker 1And what about Turkey ? You think we should ?
Speaker 4go back to Turkey . Yes , oh yes , we'll get more of an education there . Oh yes , yes , oh yes .
Speaker 1We'll get more of an education there . Yeah , I feel like the discipleship opportunities are really strong in both places
The Perfect Feast in Sonori
Speaker 1. You already know I mentioned that we went to Ephesus and Laodicea . Last year we went to Pergamum and a couple sites . Eventually we'll hit all seven of those churches in Revelation but in Georgia it's a little tiny place in the backwoods no one ever kind of really thinks about or knows about . In fact , whenever I say we go to Georgia , people say , oh , atlanta .
Speaker 2That's what they all ask me Like we do mission trips to Atlanta .
Speaker 1Maybe we need to start going , but I'm like Atlanta , that's like the buckle of the Bible belt . But you know , anyway , this is the Republic of Georgia . But there's history there , incredible history . We found out while we were there that Matthias , the disciple that replaced Judas , is buried in a Roman fort called Gonia . We learned that Simon the Zealot , another disciple of Jesus , is buried in another part of Georgia . The history they say that Andrew the disciple , simon Peter's brother , came to Georgia in the first century .
Speaker 1So you just kind of hear all of this and there really is a remarkable amazing . Everywhere you look there's something ancient , and if you think Turkey ancient like 2,000 years old then you go to this cave city that's dating to 3,500 BC . So people have lived in this place for 6,000 plus years . It's another level of ancient Guys . It was a ton of fun to travel with you , linda , last year in Moldova and this year in Georgia and Turkey , and , mark , so glad you could join us this year . I look forward to seeing what God does in the future . What are your last comments ? Anything else you'd say to those who are thinking about going on these trips ?
Speaker 4Don't think too hard about it , just go , just go .
Speaker 3If you haven't experienced before . It'll change your heart . It'll change your life forever .
Speaker 1I think about when we were in Ephesus , they showed us this statue of one of the Roman gods it was called Nike , you guys remember and they showed us the picture like this is the original swoosh , and we were laughing at that . And then I think that the Nike slogan from the 90s was just do it Like just go , just go , guys there's so many ways that God can use you and ultimately , we just want you to follow wherever God's called you .
Speaker 1But if you are thinking about a trip like that , you're thinking about going to some of these places why not go with us to Georgia , go with us to Turkey , go with one of the teams If you've never been , go to Mexico or Peru , or Moldova .
Speaker 1We've got a team today still in Malawi working on caring for some villages there and outside of the Long Way , and just amazing things happening all around the world . And so , church , our deepest desire is that God would allow you to know what he's called you to do , that you would know how he's gifted you , that you would know that he has a purpose for you and that you would know that that purpose goes far beyond yourself , that you know the verse we talk about all the time on this podcast , psalm 67, . May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us . Everyone loves that verse . The next verse says so that his name will be known among the nations , his salvation to all the peoples . So why does God bless us and make his face shine on us ? It's so that we can be a blessing to the people in the world around us . So be a blessing .
Speaker 1If you're a member , if you're a listener , if you're someone who just listens to the podcast , I just want you to know follow God with all your heart and use what he's given you for his kingdom and his glory . We hope that you have a wonderful day . If you have any comments or questions , feel free to reach out to us here at the church . We love you guys . Have a wonderful day
Mission Trip Reflections and Impact
Speaker 1, god bless . We are so thankful that you joined our podcast today .
Speaker 2We would love to hear any feedback you may have for us . Remember Psalm 67 says May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us , so that we will always be known on earth and your salvation among all nations . Don't forget why the Lord blesses us it's so that we can be a blessing to those around us . Until next time , god bless .