Destination: Turkey! - Welcome Home

Happy July Everyone! As you have probably assumed, the team and I have made it back from our trip to Turkey safe and sound. I’m might be unable to fully express all that God has done because of this experience. Let me begin by telling you about our trip! Our traveling was mostly uneventful, in the best possible way. We arrived in Antalya, Turkey just before midnight on Thursday, June 11th. Our sleeping arrangements were great. We stayed at an adorable hostel in old town Antalya, complete with our own showers and air conditioning. Praise the Lord! We spent our first real day in the city exploring and meeting locals. Each day we were able to experience a bit of the culture whether by activity, historical teaching or authentic cuisine. The team visited the Antalya Museum and learned a bit about the history of the country. There was a day spent prayer walking around a near by province within Turkey. Also, we took at 3 day excursion to a city called Cappadocia which is home of centuries old cities, churches, and monasteries that were carved from within the mountainside rocks. To maximize our usefulness, we turned our tour bus into a traveling prayer house, by each taking 1 hour slots of time to intercede for the cities we were driving through. In keeping with the theme of the city we were visiting, the place we stayed was also created within caves. While it sounds like we may have been roughing it, check out this website (http://www.elkepevi.com/) and know that God definitely blessed us! Along the way, we spent time at historical tombs, storage facilities, and an open air museum. The team spent a day climbing to all sorts of different ‘rock churches’ and were able to see fresco painting of Jesus, the disciples, and some other religious figures which were important to the early century dwellers. Since our purpose was not just to see great sites, we made sure to share God’s presence through worship and prayer within most of the areas we stopped. After returning to Antalya, we spent more time in prayer and worship. We spent another day prayer walking through villages, and were able to meet families who invited us into their homes to have coffee and lunch with them. God ordained a meeting with the Imam, from a village and he graciously allowed us to explore the village’s mosque. He recited the traditional call to prayer for us, and in return we were able to pray for him and his son. The village visits were my favorite ministry opportunity of the trip. Shortly after our arrival, I had begun to question my purpose for being on this team. I was feeling very little spiritual movement and seemed to be very disconnected. Many times I strived to be spiritually minded but I felt as though I was failing; until our last day of prayer walking. The Lord shown greatly through my physical and spiritual weakness and in that began to stir my heart more than it had been stirred the entire trip. I didn’t fully understand why, now nearing the end of the trip, I was ‘getting it’ but I did nonetheless. Earlier today I was explaining to one of my teammates how I was feeling and the Lord gave me a great picture of what He did within me. The longer I've been back the more I realize how foundational this trip was for me. It seems like God is laying a cement pathway in my heart. And while we were in Turkey, the mixture was being stirred, but towards the end of the trip (now looking back) it's as if He poured the mixture into the molded path. It still seemed muddy and unsettled when I first came home but now I feel as though it's "hardening" and being sealed in me. As I mentioned in earlier letters, I had great expectations on this trip and I felt as though the Lord had a great download He wanted to place within me. I now can say that I feel His holy heaviness in my spirit. At this point, there is no identifying marking as to what this will lead too; however, this trip has given me an understanding of what true faith is. When He called me on this trip, I said yes without knowing if logistics would work out in my favor. I did everything I could to prove my faith; however, it seemed to come so easily. I did not realize that this trip would require so much foundational faith and so little emotional senses. I’m learning each new day that God laid a foundation that He’s cementing in my heart and spirit. While I’m eager to run down the road to find what’s on the other side, I am also being taught to appreciate the sealing process that He did and will continue to do. There are not enough words to exaggerate my unceasing gratitude to each and every one of you for sowing into my life, and ultimately my future ministry. I love you all and hope that God blesses you a hundred times more than He’s blessed me because of your willingness to love and support me! I hope you all have a blessed and great 4th of July! With lots of love~

Destination: Turkey! - Departure

Good Morning Everyone! This is it, my last update until we return home! We will be boarding the plane around 5:30PM today and will be gone until Sunday, June 21st. Again, I can not thank all of you enough for your generosity, time and love! I'm taking a bit of each of you with me on this journey! Please keep the team in your prayers, as well as the country. We're planning to create quite a stir in the spirit! :) Lots of Love!

Destination: Turkey! - May Update

It’s time for summer! I truly feel that God’s presence has been shining on me brighter than the sun! In November when I first committed to this trip, I fervently prayed that the Lord would pay off my trip by May 1st. I’m the type of person that would have been stressing out way too much if I was waiting until the last minute to raise my funds. After my update in April, God miraculously paid off the rest of my trip! God’s favor has astounded me throughout this process. My faith for financial support seemed to be effortlessly easy. Normally, this would be my hardest area for me to believe for, however, God spoke so clearly, I knew that He would provide. As I’ve said before, God spoke to me and said that He was preparing me for Turkey to prepare me for the rest of my life. I believe that the greatness of God’s love is pouring into me in a way that I’ve never known. He’s been expanding my faith for provision and favor. Also, He’s been teaching me to trust His voice with a depth that is seeping into every area of my spirit. Each principle the Lord has been teaching me is forming my future in His will. I feel extraordinarily blessed by His hands in my life! We leave 18 days from today; this time has flown by! While we were meeting a few weeks back, I felt God release me and our team to receive from Him just as much as we’re pouring out of Him. I feel like this trip is going to be transformational for each of us in molding who we are as worshippers and prayer warriors. I’m hoping that our intercession would be catapulted to a new level so that we see some drastic changes in the spiritual oppression over the country! I sincerely appreciate each of you and dearly thank you again for your commitment to supporting me both financially and prayerfully! Your prayers are of immeasurable value to my team and me.

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