I think that it is really funny that I am going to write a blog about this but since I am so far away from everyone at home I thought that it would be best to write this than to make all the phone calls!
Most people know the background to the story but I will give a short summary. I met Avat at church the first Sunday I was here in Istanbul. A friend told me a bit about him and his story and I was intrigued. We then met formally at a baptism and I just had this funny feeling about him. I started to pray and pray and pray about it and God kept, and still is, opening doors for us to get to know each other.
After that Sunday we have talked almost everyday, even when I was at home in the states!
Since being released from his detention he has had the opportunity to talk with his pastor and his mentor who both gave him the same advice, and asked him the same questions. One of which is, "Do you just want to be with Rachel to go to America?" This question is interesting to him because he never desired to go to America, he always wanted to go to Germany, so his reply is always, "I just want to go where God sends me and I pray that it will be with Rachel!" Today when I talked with him he asked me why people don't ask me, "Rachel, do you want to be with Avat so you can go to Kurdistan." He then laughed and told me, "Well I don't even want to go there so I guess that is why!"
As for his current situation now that he has been released. He is being sent to a city that is 8 hours from Istanbul. It is a small city and conservative, meaning religious. This is going to be a trying time for him in his walk as well as for us and our relationship. PLEASE pray for him and his safety and for God to bring other believers across his path. He will need to find a job and a place to live. So those are the three requests he needs answered soon. He leaves in about 6 days. Next is that God will open the doors for either the UN to find him a country to accept him as a political refugee. If this happens he will be able to go to another country where he would love to go to school and grow in his faith and understanding of the scripture so that he can go into full time ministry.
This is a lot I know. God is continuing to answer our prayers by keeping him safe in detention, having the UN accept his case so he was not sent to his native country, and we have continued to grow closer to each other through great conversations. His English has really improved so much since I first met him. (He also speaks 3 other languages!)
Thanks for caring, praying and reading. I will try and keep this more updated as to what is happening and how God is working in our lives. Love to you all. It is a great comfort to have people so far away and who have not even met Avat to be praying for him.
