After a very long bus ride along a winding coastal road we arrived in the university town of Adana. Lots of students travel across the country to come to the large university in Adana. We hoped to be able to hang out around the campus and meet English speaking students. This would be one of the smallest towns we would be in and we knew we would stand out. We hoped not to draw to much attention to ourselves especially since we would be living above a prayer house. We were excited to be living directly above the prayer house and we enjoyed being able to meet and pray in the large room as well as be able to be a part of all the meetings that would be happening. We were also able to do 24/7 prayer if we wished. The rooms above the prayer house were quiet small so we were very cramped. Our leaders had one room and had to share a bed. The boy's had a room but all got their own beds and us girls got the room that connected the two other rooms. This room also served as our dining room, and main gathering room we also did not have enough mattress so we just pushed the mattresses we did have together and all slept on the one big bed area it created. It was like having one long sleep over but we didn't mind since we would only be able to stay for 5 days counting the day we arrived and the day we would leave. That first day we did not do much we arrived to late to anything other than getting the rooms figured out and shopping for diner and cooking. We were blessed to have a kitchen and glad that we would not have to be looking for restaurants and eating out every day. We would be sharing the kitchen with another small Turkish family that also had some rooms on the same floor as us.
    The next day we decided to go out and get a feel for the city. We wanted to know how much we would stand out before heading to the university and to also get a feel for how the people would react to foreigners.  We split into small groups. My group soon found ourselves in a beautiful park.

                           The park was called Ataturk park after their first president.

     These fountains would randomly shut off and then turn back on and would go as up about as high as your waist.

   We started to draw stares and then some of the bolder guys walked over to try and talk to us. They knew a little English and with a Turkish dictionary we were able to talk a little.

    My team leaders decided to take a break and sit down by a nice water fall to take some pictures and soon had made some new friends. We think these boys were begging but even when we didn't give them anything they stuck around to see what we would do.

            
                                             The water fall and two adorable sisters.

    One of my teammates and I had continued walking and we soon saw a couple of girls sitting on a bench and decided to join them and see if they would talk to us. They didn't know a lot of English but were excited to be able to practice what they did know. They invited us to go visit them at the university and said they would love to show us around.  After a bit we decided to go find some lunch and head back to regroup with the other teams and find out how their morning had gone. That night the young women that had started the prayer house came over and told us more about the city and how the had come to live here. They said we should be welcomed at the university and that we should have no problem meeting people.
    The next day we decided to go to the university. We all rode the same bus but once we got on the campus we split up into small groups as usual. My group started walking around and soon ran into the girls we had met at the park. One of them had to go to class but the other said she was free and would show us around. I had a Turkish/English dictionary and she knew more English than I had first thought so we were able to talk quite a bit. She told us what all the building were and told us about some of the teachers and showed us where the sports building was. It was a fun and interesting tour and we got to know a lot about her and what life was like for her at the university. There was a bit of a rebellion going on with the young women wanting to wear head scarves and the school wanting to be more modern and so the were trying to pay the girls not to wear head scarves but the girls family's were not happy about this. It was interesting to hear about this and she kept her head covered and was not going to accept the money or go without the head scarf.
   When it got to be lunch time she showed us where the cafeteria was and we all ate together. Soon after lunch she had to go. Right before she left she said she would like us to come to her house and to meet her family. It is rare to get an invitation so we happily told her we would love to come over. She said she could meet us the next day at the park and we could come over to diner and we agreed.  Then  we went to try and find our other groups so we could all catch the same bus back. We soon found two of the other groups hanging out at a cafe doing prophetic art and talking with a small group of students. We waited in the cafe which was near the bus stop and kept a watch for the other groups and soon we were all together and ready to go home.
    The next day we spent the morning cleaning and helping out around the prayer house. The kitchen we had been using really needed a good cleaning and reorganizing. We also had a long meeting and prayer time down in the prayer room. In the afternoon some people stayed at home to rest and relax and my group went to meet the girl from the university. We had to walk to the park and then wait. When she showed up we had to walk to the bus stop and then just a short bus ride and another short walk to her house. Her sisters and parents seemed excited to meetus. She was the only one in her family who spoke any English so it was hard to say much. We took some pictures with the family which they really enjoyed. It is rare for anyone to have a camera there.
                       The girl I am talking about is the one in red. She is the oldest.

    They served us a wonderful meal and we ate it in the traditional way sitting on the floor. They served us a full three course meal and it was the first and it would turn out the only meal we would it in a Turkish home. I was really blessed and enjoyed the experience.
    Sadly we had to leave right after diner since we weren't supposed to be out much after dark. The dad was very sweet and drove us to the park so we wouldn't have to ride the bus. The whole family piled into the car with us even though the car only had 6 seats. They were so excited to have foreigners over and were sad to see us go.
     The next day we decided to learn some of the history of the city and visit some of the older sections of the city. We soon learned that there was a really old clock tower and that the oldest bridge still in use in the world was right here in this city. We started out to try and find the clock tower first. This ended up taking a really long time. Our directions were not very good and we kept getting lost. It took us at least two hours to find the clock tower when we thought it would take less than one. It turned out to not even be that interesting. We found the bridge and it turned out to be really nice. While standing on the bridge we got some amazing pictures of a huge mosque. The bigger and more important the mosque the more spires it has and this one had at six which means it was one of the biggest in the country.
                     The oldest bridge in the world that you can still drive a car across.

     After taking these beautiful pictures we headed home. The next day would be our last day in Adana we would be taking a bus early the next day to Gaziantep.  We went to bed early so we could pack and clean and be ready to catch the bus the next morning. This time in would only be a short 3 hour ride.

  In Gaziantep we would only be able to stay for three days counting the day we arrived. Our only plan was to visit the house of prayer and encourage the few believers that ran it. We would meet a small but on fire group of young men that made up the entire church. This would be one of our favorite stops even though we were only to be here for a short time. We knew we would have to use our time wisely so we spent no time resting. We simply dropped our bags off at our hotel and then headed straight to the house of prayer. Here we met our contact and he told us a bit about the city and his struggles starting the prayer house. He had had to move three times in the last two years because of threats and he had recently moved the house of prayer after some men tried to set the last place on fire. He had a wife and little boy but said that even with the threats they planned to stay. He took us out to lunch and then said we were welcome to stay at the house as long as we wanted but that he had to go. He told us he would bring the rest of the church to meet us the next day. There was no real church they just had the prayer room , a small kitchen, and a room above the prayer room that they were using as a church. We stayed and prayed and worshiped until diner. 

The next day we returned right after breakfast and started doing prophetic art. 

There seemed to be a fire/light theme. This will be a city of revival.

Church members started to arrive. We shared with them as much as we could.

                                   They joined us for worship and reading the bible.

                       They showed us some dances.

   When our contact showed up we started to hear and share testimony's. Each member of the church shared and then three people from our team shared. Their testimonies were amazing; most had been threatened and live dangerous lives. They were all sharing and open about their faith even though it could get them beat up, arrested, or even killed.
                                 Praying for one of the church members after hearing his testimony.

    Part of my team, the guy who started the prayer house, and most of his church. It is a small but strong start to what we hope will soon be a large community of believers.

We would spend all of our time here in this prayer room hearing stories and sharing our stories. We  prayed over each member of the church and the family that is faithfully trying to start a church.  We would not get to see much of this city but we really enjoyed the time we got to spend with these amazing believers. After just three short days we would again be getting on a night bus for the 8 hour ride to the capital city.