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I thank God for his kindness and love for us and for me personally. It gives me great joy to think about God's love which sustains me in spite of all my failures and weaknesses. I can understand better and better that God's faithfulness in his love, good will, and promises is what sets a strong foundation for my life.

In Turkey, I also learned how to be content with little. The small successes and miracles of God are very important because those are what big victories consist of. I want to rejoice with you and share with you some events which took place here.

First, we are very happy for our Sister H. who stopped running away from the church every once in a while. She became very faithful in the ministry and in her love for God. She is living a beautiful life, honestly repenting of her sins and struggling. When we look at her, we can see that God's word in not in vain. God’s love is working through his word and patience. This year we are praying for her to establish a house church.

Secondly, Brother Y. began to repent of his sins and wants to change his life. He is struggling right now to become a responsible man who can live as a source of blessing for others.

Thirdly, Sister Z. used to live together with M and C, but left, dreaming about romantic love. But romantic love does not exist and real life is different. She moved from Istanbul and got married to a nonbeliever. Now she has a baby. We received some news from her that her mother wants to divorce her husband after many years in marriage, despite the fact that she is a Christian. This news troubled us. Moreover, we had to take some clothes for the newborn baby, a baby bed, and a baby carriage. We traveled there, 200 km from Istanbul, and to our great amazement, found that Z. didn't reject God's love and actually became very faithful to God. During her pregnancy, she attended a local church until the baby was born. Her husband did not refuse. Her mom told us that Z. was well trained in our church and holds on to the word of God. Z. understands that she sins when she lets her desires drive her, but now she is trying to seek God. We rejoice even though these are small things because we know that God works through patience.

We then talked to Z’s mother. We explained that divorce is a grievous sin. She was trying to excuse herself, bombarding us with some economic reasons for her divorce, but was later convicted through the word of God and prayed with tears confessing her sins. She decided to fight for her marriage and for faithfulness. We could see God's hope through this visit. The word of God most definitely does not go out in vain. It works slowly, but if a person humbles him/herself, it can drastically change them.

Fourthly, Sister H. is still on the way. Two weeks ago, she went back to Norway to finish her Master's. She is in her final semester. Before her departure, she told us that she wants to study the Bible again. She did not receive Jesus as the only way and Savior, even though she was baptized. I could hear her soul's cry when we were talking. She tried almost everything, but didn’t find salvation anywhere. We pray that she may find Jesus as the only way, kneel at his feet, and accept him as her Lord and Savior because there is no other name under the sun for salvation. She will soon move back to Istanbul.

Fifthly, one sister from Mongolia UBF is studying in Ankara (the capital of Turkey) now. Her name is O. She is an exchange student. She visited us last week to attend our SWS. She told us that she was afraid of praying, preaching, and professing her faith in Turkey. Some people had told her that Muslims are very dangerous. We explained to her that Muslims are not dangerous at all, that they are normal people just like us who want love and salvation. However, it’s politicians who are dangerous, who deliberately produce hostility between religions for their own benefit. But Muslims respect Christians who are faithful to God. Even my 9-year-old daughter is preaching in her school and even invited one friend to our Christmas event. Sister O. was strengthened and decided to preach and suffer for the gospel's sake with courage. Please pray for her to keep her decision.

And lastly, I rejoice for our brother J in C. He began to faithfully study the Bible and honestly and deeply write his testimonies. Even though he is all alone there, as a faithful soldier of Christ, he is struggling to serve and live a holy life. God has led him through some trials and he suffered with his Bible students because of his young age and lack of experience. Now he is going through desert training like the Israelites and is becoming a mature man. I pray that he can become a man of the Bible. May God greatly use his life. He is looking more and more like a real missionary.

I study the Bible now with one of his Bible students whose name is I. He is older than Joseph and did not take Joseph seriously as a Bible teacher at first. But later he changed and asked Joseph to pray for him. Recently, he agreed to accept Christ, but did not know how. He began to pray even though only a couple of weeks ago he was an atheist. God is working in him in a wonderful way. Please pray for Brother I. to accept Christ with all his heart. After this semester, he will be done with his Master's and will probably move to Istanbul.

I thank all of you for your emails, gifts, and love which can be very keenly felt here. Personally, I ask for your prayers for us so that without laziness, we can preach the gospel of Jesus' blood and the power of his resurrection to the people who die in darkness and deception. May all glory belong to Jesus. He is worthy!

His servant and your great debtor, J.P.