Traveling in Istanbul

Every Wednesday, Gina "hops" on a ferry carrying passengers
only and travels to a friend's house for Bible study. It takes
at least an hour both ways to go by bus, boat and walking, or
longer if the traffic is bad. These boats carry 100s of 1ooos of
passengers each day, and they leave every ten minutes from the
Europe side to the Asia side of Istanbul. 

The Bosphorous divides the city of Istanbul and the continents
of Europe and Asia. There are two bridges such as this one that
takes traffice across the water, but our favorite way to travel is by
boat. The is the 'first' bridge, and we live further north where the
second bridge is. 

Rabia's Birthday

Our family spent the evening with Rabia and her family
to celebrate her birthday. Just some interesting information...
the Turks acknowledge the age of a person differently. For example,
Brianna and Rabia were born the same year in 1997, but Rabia
turned "10" because the she is finished with her 9th year of life,
but passing into her 10th year. In America, we would say she
turned nine years old. 

Gina and Friends make 'Faith Bracelets"

What a great day we had making our 'faith bracelets' as an opportunity to witness to our Turkish friends. These beads were sent to Gina courtesy of Polly Schoen, a friend from high school and college. We can use the beads to witness and tell about our spiritual journey with the Lord Jesus. Gina's friends are from her Bible study (left to right) Terri, Margaret, Lisa, Leesa (she hosted our party) and Jennifer. Thanks Polly! for your creativity and desire to serve us in a fun way!