Türkiye Recap

Country: Türkiye, Southeastern Europe/Southwestern Asia

Dates: 2/23/23 – 4/23/23

Team: stckd (Sarah Dodd, Alyssa Phillips, Cheeka Vang, Trisa Moser, Joana Quintana, Amy Scott – Honorable Mention: Jordan Jost)

Local Currency: Lira (1USD = roughly 18.8781TRY)



Favorite Local Food: Anything Mamma Rose made us





Local Language: Turkish

Common Phrases: tesekkürler (Thank you), merhaba (Hello), güzel (beautiful), gule gule (good bye), evet (yes), hayir (no), bilmiyorum (I don’t know)

Ministry Partner: TRM; The Holy Spirit

Ministry Location: Ayvacik, Türkiye; Izmir & Cappacodia, Türkiye



Ministry Host: Jordan & Kosti Yordanidis; The Holy Spirit



Debrief Location: Istanbul, Türkiye



What was difficult? Joana and I felt called to come along side our Muslim brothers and sisters and fast during Ramadan. So for 30 days we ate before the sunrise and didn’t eat again until after the sunset. It was hardest on the days that we were painting the church building because the manual labor left us physically tired. But it was a talking point with people who offered us tea or coffee and were surprised to see a westerner also fasting. We got to share that we are fasting for Jesus Christ and get to say His name! We wanted to be relatable and understand what the millions of people around us were experiencing and also use this time to intercede for them.



What am I thankful for? Every country it gets harder and harder to say goodbye! This time it was heart wrenching to say goodbye to our Turkish family. We met these lovely people because of a rain storm that forced us into their bakery on day 3 of being in Ayvacik. We instantly fell in love with our Turkish Mom & Dad and then the next day we were shown around town by their sons who became like brothers to us. We got to share so much time and priceless memories with this family from birthday celebrations, to breaking Ramadan fast together, to simply playing ping pong together. They have footprints on my heart now that will never be forgotten.



What did I learn about God? I learned (or re-learned) that God is fun! He wants us to have our hearts desires and He has made each one of us unique with different hearts for things. I learned that God can show up in a silly game on the playground as adults or He can ride along side of you as you soar through the sky in a hot air balloon after dreaming you would get to do so! God is so good!

Funniest moment? There are two moments that stand out in Türkiye as the funnest/funniest moments. One was a team time idea that brought us to the local playground where we then proceeded to play a game affectionately called groundies. Let me paint the picture: there are 7 American adults on a playground, 1 of us keeps our eyes closed and proceeds to try to find and tag the other players who sneakily move about the playground equipment. If the “it” person calls groundies while any part of your body is on the ground then you become it or if you are tagged. It became a staple for us and we were able to bring other bystanders in to the game and also our Turkish brothers. Many injuries did occur but all lived to play again. The second memory is the day we got a duck. Meet George! (No ducks were harmed in the making of this memory, he was gifted to our Turkish family and sadly was not able to make the rest of the World Race journey with us)




Favorite Ministry Moment? The first church service in the building after we finished painting the first room. It was what can be assumed the largest Christian gathering in Ayvacik, Türkiye thus far. We worshipped and had communion and had a teaching. There were over 5 countries represented during the meeting which was a beautiful snapshot of Heaven and the different nations that will all bow to the King of kings! The other memorable moment was the day we finished painting the last room in the building. That was the kids room which had fun shapes and multicolored walls. The sense of accomplishment was great and knowing that little Turkish boys and girls would learn about Jesus within these freshly painted walls made my heart happy!




Favorite Travel Memory? During our ATL time my team decided to visit some of the 7 Revelation churches that happen to have ruins in Türkiye. We made it to Ephesus, Smyrna, & Pergamon (see Revelation 2). The coolest parts were reading Ephesians in Ephesus and getting to sing the doxology in one of the amphitheaters with an audience. We also used this time to venture to Cappadocia to get the experience of a lifetime and ride a hot air balloon. It was breath taking and I had many “Amy Moments” while in the air just being overwhelmed by God’s creation and how we get to experience it in its fullness. 




Favorite Debrief Moment? Our debrief in Türkiye happened at the beginning of our time. So we were getting used to a new culture and a new country. We had some free time to explore Istanbul so me and some of my friends ended up at the Basilica cistern. Getting to see this historical site was neat but the coolest part was getting to talk to our “guide” who hustled us inside about our beliefs. It was my first encounter in Türkiye with a muslim based person. I approached the conversation with curiosity and a lot of questions which led to so many more. Hearing his questions about my faith and having the freedom to ask my questions about Islam was very cool and got me pumped for my time in Türkiye. 

Türkiye holds some of the best memories for me so far on the race! Its beautiful and the culture is hospitable and became family!