Sunday, March 4, 2012

ENCOUNTER THE PROBLEM DURING THE TRAVEL JOURNEY

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

1 Corinthians 16 verse 13 says : “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong”.

Most recently.

e arrived at Diyarbakir (Southeastern Turkey, near to the border Iraq) yesterday and we took a walk near the old city along the Tigris River. Here, a most unfortunate thing happened to me. I lost my tablet PC! The only tablet PC I have brought along with me for this travel, which stores and keeps for me the Bible, travel, emails and related documents for my personal reading, was suddenly and forcibly snatched and taken away from me by thieves near the old town. Realizing this, I immediately gave chase, shouting very loudly … “Thief! Thief” ... with some local people trying to help by showing the direction the thieves were heading.

But I soon realized this chase would be pointless and so I decided to stop chasing, thinking of Jenny whom I have left behind, afraid that she would be lost in this unfamiliar surroundings. However, she soon caught up from behind and came to where I was standing. Some helpful men then brought us to a school building nearby to wait for the arrival of the local police. A few minutes later, the policemen came and took us to the police station. Three police cars escorted us along the way as if we were some kind of VIP!. At the police station, I made a report. The local police were very friendly and helpful. Of course, I felt very sad losing the only tablet PC I have with me, but thankful Jenny and I were unharmed and safe. Praise the Lord for His deliverance!

And now for the other reports;

Taking up this intended missionary journey to Iraq via Turkey had not been easy at all. There were many obstacles we had to overcome. Faith is the keyword in our life ... yes, we trust and love God, will obey and follow Him and keep praising Him whatever the circumstances.

On January 29th, 2012, we left Bangkok in transit to Kiev (Ukraine), before arriving at Istanbul (Turkey). The flight took 14 hours. At Istanbul, we waited for our luggage (containing clothes, toilette, electrical items, food and beverage) and waited there for almost an to two hours, but the luggage never came. Next, we went to the Lost and Found Department. The officer told us that our luggage was still in Kiev and asked us to get it the next day, (noon - 18 hours later). Had I taken travel insurance, I could claim for luggage delay, but I didn't buy it because we have no budget for it.

So reluctantly, we left the airport and headed towards the city. It snowed heavily as we reached the city. We felt so cold without much warm clothing. Then we tried to locate the Austrian who had agreed to sub-let a room to us for EURO 150 (RM 600/THB 6,000) for two weeks. We waited for him for almost an hour and he still had not shown up. This made us worry, as the time was getting closer to 5.30pm and the weather getting colder and colder, and freezing too. Our Thai mobile was almost out of credit. Then we decided to walk to a Chinese Restaurant to seek help to call our Austrian contact, so we would not end up sleeping in the street. Our Chinese friend tried many times to reach him ... at last, he was able to reach him! The LORD is my shepherd, I have all that I need - Psalm 23 verse 1.

The following day, we went to the airport to collect our luggage. Then another unfortunate accident happened. On the second day of our arrival, Jenny slipped and fell down on a slippery snow floor, injuring her tail bone (known as coccyx). For many day, she was and is still nursing this pain and has yet to fully recover from the pain from this fall.

During the past two weeks, we have met and talked to a number of local folks and have tried to befriend them. One day, I tried to shop around a CD Cleaner to help my Austrian friend to repair his notebook. While we were searching for this, trying to get the lowest price if we could, we found there was only one shop selling it. So without a choice, I decided to go back to this only shop to buy it, bargaining from TL 10 (RM 20/ THB 200) to TL 5 (RM 10/THB 100). Then the shopkeeper asked me where I came from. I replied “Malaysia”. He faced changed immediately and with a cheerful heart, he said “Free for you” ... Malaysian is a brother to Turkey. Thank God for this good man ... we never know when God will choose to bless us!. Praise the Lord!

Everything in Istanbul is so costly ... even the foods, transportation and accommodation. For example, a guest house costs EURO 30 (RM 120/THB 1,200) per night, cheap food like Kebab Chicken costs TL 3 (RM 6/THB 60), fried fish costs TL 9 (RM 18/THB 180) and public transportation costs TL 2 (RM 4/THB 40). During my birthday, February 4th, we decided to have Chinese noodle, just vegetables without meat ... that costs TL 10 (RM 20/THB 200) per bowl!

Twice a week, we had fellowship with the Armenian brother who serves in the Bible Society of Turkey.

On February 3rd and 5th, 2012, we spent time in a the local Turkish church known as Istanbul Pentecostal Church. The elder of this church introduced us to his Church Pastor, who has served in this church for the last 15 years. He is from Spain. This church is the last Church approved by the Turkish Government, with its own church building design.

In the next report, I will talk about our mission in Antalya.

Due to Jenny’s injury (tail bone and panic attack) and also the visa issue we have decided to return to Bangkok as soon as we can get the air-ticket and our budget is very tight.

About Iraq Kurdistan Region.

There is not information I could get in the internet about this region, even after one month's search and contacted Iraq embassies.

To get into Iraqi Kurdistan, all travelers (except nationals of US, EU, Britain, Canada and NZ and recently Iran) are not allowed in. People wishing to enter here are required to get an invitation letter from a local resident or company. There are some other procedures that must be observed by the local resident or company ... such as, they must refer to the Ministry of Interior of Iraqi Kurdistan Government Region. It is not easy at all to get the necessary approval and there is always a long delay.

When entering Iraqi Kurdistan Region by land or air, one must show this letter of approval (most importantly, the letter must be stamped and signed by the Ministry of Interior of Iraqi Kurdistan Government) ... seeking/visiting an Iraqi Embassy or Kurdistan representative is no use.... they will never be able to help on the application.

To enter Iraq, only nationals from two countries are allowed in ... one is the American army with the valid military ID and another is Malaysian! But for Malaysians, you still need to get the aforementioned invitation letter from a resident or company from Iraq, then you can proceed to the border or airport, to get in on a 14 days free visa.

Next plan.

Maybe later this year, I will make a personal trip to Mosul, Iraq as I sense that the Lord is calling me to be there since 5 years ago ... for a reason, as the small community is waiting for me there, even though I don’t know them.

May the Lord guide and lead me ... in His time ... when and where He chooses ... for me just to follow Him and His Will.

All Praise to His Glorious Name!

Thank you and God bless!

Blessings,
Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok