Survival Turkish

The team received an email from the couple that lives in Turkey. Included in their email was an information sheet with some Turkish phrases. Since I want each of my supporters to feel as connected as possible, I thought I'd share some of my Turkish knowledge with you! Ready? First lets do something easy. We'll begin with numbers:

• Zero – Sifir
• One – Bir
• Two – İki
• Three – Üç
• Four – Dört
• Five – Beş
• Six – Alti
• Seven – Yedi
• Eight – Sekiz
• Nine – Dokuz
• Ten - On

Do you feel educated? Just wait until you try these next phrases!

• Hello – Merhaba
• Thank you – Teşekkürler
• How are you? – Nasıl sınıs?
• I’m good. – İyiyim.
• Where is the toilet? – Tuvalet nerede?
• Welcome – Hoş geldiniz

Now for the real reason we're going:

• God – Allah
• Jesus – İsa
• God bless you – Allah bereketlisin
• God willing – İnshallah
• Praise God – Hamd Olsun
• Come Lord Jesus – Gel Rob İsa
• Come Holy Spirit – Gel Kutsal Ruh
• Fire - Ateş

I hope you have enjoyed this lesson. :) I'm praying that the Lord will give me supernatural abilities of fluency in this language! Otherwise, now you know as much as I do! Lots of Love To Ya!!

Destination: Turkey! - April Update

Spring has Sprung! I'm so thankful that Jesus has risen and given us opportunity for life and love! I sincerely thank everyone who has given a donation at this point towards my mission to Turkey. God is so rich and I'm so thankful that He's been pouring into this ministry opportunity! When I first committed to this trip, I was very specific with the Lord and asked for the entirety of my financial support to be raised by May 1st. As it stands now, I only owe $300 to have my trip paid in full! Thank you again for everyone who has committed to supporting me both financially and prayerfully! Your prayers are of unmeasurable value to my team and I. We've had our first official meeting and were given our research assignments. I chose to research the History of Turkey. Wow, is there ever an abundance of information! This coming Sunday, April 19th, we will be having our next team meeting where we will present our topics to each other. I have a sneaking suspicion that these next 7 1/2 weeks will be flying by! Last night, I had dinner at an authentic Turkish restaurant with my mentor and friend, who went to Turkey last year. I do believe that I was born to eat of this country's cuisine! She shared lots of her experiences and tips on traditions in the country. Every day I grow more and more excited to embark on this journey! God has given me big expectations for what He's going to do and how He's going to use me on this trip! He spoke to me back in November and told me, "I'm preparing you for Turkey, to prepare you for the rest of your life!" I have little clarity as to what the rest of my life looks like through His eyes, yet His promises are rock solid and I'm standing tall! Would you please continue to pray about being a part of my support team? All financial contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to New Life Ministries International and the envelope (not the check) should be clearly designated with both the trip name and my name. You may include the country/trip name on the memo line of your check but please do not include my name. If the check is designated with my name, according to IRS regulations, you will not be able to use it as a tax deduction. Also, you may make an online contribution through our website at http://newlife.cc/. Because we have to meet deadlines for airfare deposits and other arrangements, I need to have adequate financial support raised as soon as possible. With lots of love, Kristin DePola New Life Contribution Policy: "Contributions to short-term mission trips are tax-deductible; however, in accordance with IRS regulations, these designated offerings are subject to the governing board's control and discretion. When contributions for a particular individual exceed trip expenses, the governing board may redirect contributions to other mission team expenses or to another activity within the missions department." Make check payable to: New Life Ministries International or "NLMI" Donation for: Kristin DePola Trip location: Turkey (For tax benefit, please do not put my name on your check) Mail donation to: NLMI-Dept. of Missions 1244 Thompkins Lane Virginia Beach, VA 23464

God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called

Last week I was at a prayer gathering with my mom, my aunt and some of my favorite Naomi’s. When I first got there they ladies were talking about the world and different things the Lord had been speaking to them. As I sat listening, they began to quiz me and test my spiritual discernment. To my credit, I was told that I got an A+. My aunt really encouraged me by telling me that I am in fact hearing the Lord and that I need to begin trusting the Holy Spirit and having confidence in His leadings. More or less… follow my gut.

My intention when being around these women is to glean knowledge and understanding in the spirit. I usually stay quite because I don’t feel I have anything to offer. Apparently, the Lord has been maturing me more than I know because while there, He gave me a very distinct and vivid vision to share with the ladies.

Mom had a word about the reference in Ezekiel 3 where the Lord tells Ezekiel to eat the scroll which will be sweet to his mouth yet bitter in his stomach. She said the Lord kept speaking, “Eat the scroll.” Just after that, one of the other women had a strong sense that there was an urgency to prepare for an upcoming devastation. Hearing this warning made me ask God, “How do we prepare?” and I heard Him answer, “By eating the scroll.” I then felt like that Lord was saying that the scroll in this case was His word and that in order to prepare for anything, we need to go beyond just reading, we need to ingest and digest His words. We need to exchange the world for the word!

A little bit after that while we were all in prayer is when the vision came. I saw a picture of a drafting table. There were 2 sets of lines. The line I was in, along with one of the other women in the room with me, was on the right hand side and we were standing in front of a soldier who was seated behind the table. To the left was the other set of lines in front of a man who was standing up behind the table and was dressed in a dark navy suit jacket. This other woman and I, as well as all the others in each line were dressed in camouflage uniforms. The men behind the tables were handing out papers to each person in line. I saw myself standing at the front of the line and the seated soldier handed me a rolled up piece of manila paper and said, “Here are you orders.” I grasped the paper and turned to join a line of people walking away from the drafting table.

I shared the vision with the ladies. We all recognized that the rolled up piece of paper could have easily represented the scroll the Lord spoke about earlier in the evening. After returning to prayer I heard two military ranks, General and Commander in Chief. Not knowing anything about military ranks or what significance it had to the vision, I stayed silent. The next morning while at work, I researched the two ranks. Surprisingly, I found that the General is the highest rank in the military, however the Commander in Chief is the President’s title and who has final say in any military decision.

Shortly after pondering this information the Lord took me back into my vision. I instantly knew that the official looking man to my left was representing the General, and the common looking soldier in front of me was the Commander in Chief. God said, “You are not receiving your orders from the worlds leader, but you are receiving Kingdom orders from your Commander in Chief!” From my vision He also showed me that after I accepted my orders, I was signifying the Spirit of God infiltrating the army of the enemy. At that moment I knew the Lord wanted me to accept my new assignment and devour whatever ‘orders’ He was about to give me. The next day at work, I was definitely given a new assignment, which involves a lot of transition, sacrifice, and uncomfortable movement. A good friend of mine made a comment once, “For every ‘Yes God’, around the corner is a ‘No God not that!”. I identified with that statement more than ever! Honestly, my spirit has had a peace and joy since that evening, but I’ve been keeping my mind in a state of denial because I can’t imagine leaving my comfortable life and schedule.

I’m going to use this cyber world as a place to proclaim that I’m going to accept the assignment the Lord has given me, and I’m not going to let my flesh dictate my emotions. The Lord was specific and He has a strategy that I can’t fathom understanding. I love and trust my Father, and should expect nothing but the best from Him!

So… here’s to a new day and new orders!