Today began walking in the footsteps of Paul.  We walked through the mountains of Galatia, which are amazingly beautiful, tracing closely the road that Paul would have taken on his missionary journeys when going from Antioch to Lystra.  After a couple miles we came to a sheep pen.  A stone walled, timber roof with mud and straw, pen where they still keep sheep at certain times of the year.  We did not see any sheep while we were there but they were nice enough to leave their scent.  It was dirty and wet, since it had rained the night before.  It was not the kind of place you wanted to crawl into, but crawl we did.  You realize that where Jesus was born was no great place and was definitely not a place anyone I know would want to have a baby.  But that is not the most amazing part, the most incredible piece is that Jesus gave up heaven to be born in a water trough in a place that reeked of urine and feces in the shadow of the greatest palace in the roman empire.  That to me is humbling, how often are we willing to even give up our air-conditioning to go out and help someone in their yard?  It is hard for me to even fathom the sacrifice it took just to leave heaven and come down here.  I wonder what we are willing to sacrifice to bring the Kingdom of Heaven?

 

As we continued on in our walk we came to a small village of not more than 200 people, named Kayali.  As we walked down the street we came to an old building made of concrete, which they were using for a school.  The mayor came out of the school, along with the teacher and they invited us in.  the kids were moved out of the classroom and we were brought in and served an amazing lunch from only things they had grown in the village.  It could even mean that some of them went hungry tonight so that we might eat and be shown the hospitality of the village.  It was an amazing place.  Fifteen to twenty small children smiling and waving at us as we entered their school, that they were so proud of.  Think of it, we brought fifty people into a town of two hundred, we were one fifth of the town at that point and they were thrilled that we would honor them by coming to their village..  I wonder what would happen if fifty Muslims walked into my neighborhood?  How would we greet them?  Would we send our children to welcome them?  Today, in us Jesus came to a little village in Turkey named Kayali.  Where will he show up next?

 

Last we traveled to the city of Lystra, there is not much to see as it is unexcavated, but powerful nonetheless.  There was a young boy from Lystra, one who was born out of wedlock between a Jewish woman and a pagan man.  The Text says that these people, called mumzers, cannot enter the temple of G-d, go to synagogue, be schooled, go to weddings or funerals, they were completely outcast even to the tenth generation.  These kids new brokenness, but a man named Paul comes through, and now he is looking for disciples.  He leaves with a young boy named Timothy, a mumzer.  The most powerful moment were the stories of those in the group who shared similar stories.  To know that our G-d is one that loves the unloved and the outcasts of the world.  That he often chooses the most unlikely of people to be the ones to bring shalom.  Look again at how Paul addresses Timothy in his epistles, My son, this is huge for a boy who has had no father.  In Jesus we all are one, even those who feel as though there is no way anyone could love them.  How big is our G-d?  

 

Bless G-d for his great goodness, and his love that endures forever.

 

Tben