No more Abi -Bobby and other Drew Bits

One morning about a month ago, Drew began singing “Abi-Bobby” at the breakfast table. Andy and I couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be, but we were tickled at Drew’s enthusiasm in singing. Well over the last month the tune and the words have developed. Drew can now sing “Are You Sleeping?” in English and French, though despite Mathias’s best efforts the German version just hasn’t stuck. We are amazed that anything could displace “Tractor, Tractor” from the top of the charts on Drew’s Top Ten, but it seems we have a new favorite.

Drew is having a great time having toddler dinner dates with Ana Maria Lohmann. They are about the same size and play at the same speed: rough! Hugging, wrestling, running down the hill and pushing the toy baby carriage have been some of their favorite activities. It has been too wet the last two days to make it to the park, but they’ve made the most of some indoor play areas, as you can see.

I suppose the other moms will have a little patience with me if I ramble about verbal development for a minute. It is so amazing to watch!! When we arrived two months ago Drew rarely used two words together and now he is making noun verb sentences and describing things… Now, for truth in advertising, the descriptions are not always accurate – all colors are red and/or green, all food that is unappealing to Drew in some way is hard, and I’m really glad that most people who he calls funny don’t know the English language. While “Bye-bye” used to be a greeting for those arriving or departing, Drew now enjoys saying “Hi,” but often says, “Hi Drew,” to greet his friends, and may continue to repeat himself until someone else will say, “Hi Drew,” back to him! So, “Hi Drew!” to ya’ll out there! We’ll see those of you in DC soon!

More Visitors

After finishing our time in Adana, Ashley and Daniel stayed with us for a few days back in Istanbul. Here they are earlier on the trip to Antioch. We had fun introducing them to folks here and then to our house group on Sunday.

We have had an unexpected opportunity to share the guest house with some folks from the Eastern part of the country. The family needed to come into town for a medical emergency. We hope we have been able to be a little help to these new friends, and we are thankful to God that the medical issues have been dealt with very well at the hospital and that the whole family is together now with us at the guest house. It has been fun for Drew to have other toddlers in the house, and it has been good for his selfish heart to have lots of practice sharing.

That surprise meant a bit of a change of plans, since the Lohmann family was scheduled to stay with us this week. We are so thankful that Missy and Peter have graciously taken in our company. We have still had fun seeing the city and getting in some good chats together. It is a great encouragement to hear about the work Sarah and Mathias are investing their lives in and we’re so glad they could join us for a little rest!

In between we’ve been fitting in some lunches, language work and meetings as we prepare for the end of our time here. Andy has had some good meetings with other friends connected with work here in the country. Next week he’ll have some planning meetings that will hopefully help shape work here for several years to come. And of course, there are still some of Andy’s occasional meetings with a local friend to try to keep improving his Turkish.

Adana on Daddy's Back

Drew is seeing the city from a great perch on Daddy’s back in the Ergo Baby – which he excitedly refers to as “the special,” his short version of our pep talk on what a special carrier it is and what a privilege it is to get to ride in it. Thank goodness Andy used to be a hiker, Drew passed 30 lbs some time ago and he certainly can’t ride on my back with his sister already requiring full time transportation. Many thanks to the Dunlops for their forsight in giving us such a great gift nearly two years ago!



Drew’s favorite part of Adana is his new friend Julia. We can’t fully explain the connection, the whole group has been so kind and helpful to us in caring for Drew, but he has taken a special liking to her that is really cute! Drew hadn’t really been with other people that much for a few weeks, so he loves the extra attention, especially the orange slices and other snacks from the girls!

Tonight Drew was able to hang out with some boys closer to his own age. It was great for our family to check in with friends who live in this city, but the little boys certainly had the most fun and created the most mess! Praise God that he has people in this city who love him and love to share the good news!

Adana Trip

We are so thankful to be joined by 6 wonderful brothers and sisters this week for a trip to Adana, Turkey. You might think of Adana like you would Cleveland, but with the bonus of being near the Mediterranean. It is an industrial blue collar town, not the kind of place where many tourists come, but there are lots of Americans in the area at an Air Force base just out of town. I'll have to take some pictures of the nicer spots in town too, but the ones here are indicative of the part of town we've spent most of our time in.

God has been very faithful in giving all of us opportunities to meet people in shops and tea houses. The group is doing very well playing the dictionary game and using the bit of Turkish they have already learned to get to know folks. We have been shown great kindness in the hospitality we have received, and it can be quite natural to share a gift of the word and other materials with the new friends we’ve made. Pray that our conversations will continue to be fruitful and that the word will not return void. Praise God we can pray what he has already promised to do!

Visit to Beirut

We are just back to Istanbul after a really incredible trip to Lebanon. It’s funny to fly into Istanbul and feel like we’re home again – we’re thankful that it has been an easy place to make ourselves at home.





We were in Beirut to visit our friend Sarah. She is living there to study Arabic, and we were so impressed with how much she knows and how comfortably she speaks after just 6 months. Our first evening in town found Sarah and I off to dinner, and Andy stayed back to get Drew to bed after a long day of travel and to meet up with another old friend Johnny. They had a great time catching up over tea at our hotel – thank goodness for hotels with inexpensive suites! Johnny is doing great, he just started an MBA program online, and he introduced Andy to a very nice girl he’s been spending time with.





Tuesday we had a great time wandering around Sarah’s neighborhood, seeing where daily life takes her, meeting her teacher and fellow students, etc. It was a privilege to get to meet some of her new local friends and to hear more about some volunteer work she has been able to do through a local women’s center and the good responses she has seen. We ate lunch at a diner (pictured below) that makes its claim to fame that it stayed open throughout Lebanon's 15-year civil war – and we can see how – the food was delicious! I just wish we could have brought back some of the hummus!





We knew Sarah was a social butterfly, but discovered one of the ways that we can pray for her is to thank the Lord for the way he has provided for her to have great relationships in many different circles and ask him for wisdom in how to manage the limited time she has to spend with each of these. We can also pray for her to manage student life well. She has the privilege of a lot of freedom with her schedule, but needs wisdom in how to use her time best. Sarah also spent some time sharing with us about some of the challenges she faces living in another culture. Pray that her heart will not be tempted by the materialism and sensuality of the culture. Pray also that she will be able to love others and reach out to them even when she is looked down on because of her ethnicity.

Now we are back "home" in Istanbul looking forward to a group from CHBC arriving on Saturday. We're getting groceries, putting sheets on the guest beds and packing our bags again for our trip with them to Adana. Tomorrow, we hope to spend time with our local friends, ZsaZsa and Sami. Please pray that we will be able to connect with them and continue to build good relationships.