After arriving in Istanbul for the third – and last – time this year, the team stayed at a local church for about a week. The church is located in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, which is where the old city of Constantinople is located. This area is a beautiful blend of rich historical architecture and the convenience of a highly developed urban area. Although famous for tourist attractions like the “Blue Mosque” and “Hagia Sophia”, this district also holds “The Grand Bazaar” and bustling street markets which offered some more budget-friendly adventures during our stay. Eventually, this time of rest came to an end however, and the long awaited Türkiye Travel Challenge was announced.
Unlike the previous Travel Challenges this year, this one was split into 3 legs.
• The first leg: Istanbul to Göreme, Cappadocia (+- 730 km)
• The second leg: Göreme to Kuşadası (+- 800 km)
• The third leg: Kuşadası to Istanbul (+- 550 km)
This estimation is a bare minimum, as most of the teams traveled much further in total.
Once the groups were revealed for this challenge, the team found out that it would be a race, as there was a mystery prize for the first team to arrive in Göreme. There was also an additional rule that one team can temporarily immobilise another by splashing them with water. With the addition of friendly competition and (mostly) harmless sabotage, the team’s excitement grew for this challenge. The team had three days to complete the race.
“Although my team lost the race by far, we had an amazing trip. Not only did I see the Lords provision and His guidance on this journey, but I also how He can use anyone to bless someone else.
On the very first day of our Travel Challenge, my team was picked up by a young Turkish man. He was eager to give us a lift, but he also wanted bless us by taking us to a coffee place. We felt that this was an opportunity to share the Gospel with him, so we asked him questions and told him about our journey. He seemed very interested and invited us to lunch and to spend the night at his family’s house. The hospitality this man showed us was truly incredible, especially as we were strangers and we were not even of the same faith.
Without us having to ask, he arranged for a friend to pick us up the following morning, and he decided to go with us to Ankara, which is where the friend was taking us. We had been blessed with dinner, as well as a great breakfast before leaving the family. It was a long drive, and the two men stopped multiple times to buy coffee, snacks and food. They did not just buy for themselves however, but blessed us as well. Once we reached Ankara, they were unwilling to drop us off at the side of the road. They wanted to buy us bustickets, but due to the rules of the race we were unable to do that. Eventually, they decided to take us all the way to Cappadocia. This meant that they would have to stay the night in Cappadocia and then drive for seven more hours just to get back home.
We arrived in Cappadocia on the second day of our journey. They bought us a massive dinner, and we requested to be taken to the caves, where some of the other teams were already spending the night. When they heard this, they politely argued with us, saying that it was not safe and that we should books a hotel room. In the end, we found an available room, but it was more than our entire food budget, so our friends offered to help us pay. It was very expensive, but they decided to pay for everything and bless us with the money we would have spent. That evening, we said goodbye to them.
I really saw how God can even use non-believers to bless or care for His children. I also believe we were there to show him the Gospel, and I pray that the Lord used us to sow seeds of faith in his life.”
– Marnus
The winning team got to stay in a hotel for a night, while the other teams stayed in the caves. These caves were houses carved out of soft volcanic rock and looked like something out of a story book.
After regrouping and a few day’s break, we were briefed on our next adventure. We were divided into new teams and this time we had 5 days to get from Göreme to Kuşadası.
“During the second leg of the travel challenge we had just gotten off from a hitchhike with a truck driver. It was already dark but it wasn’t long when a man picked us up. He was so kind and we saw him as our person of peace. He called his daugter to ask us in English what we would like for dinner. He took us to a nice restaurant and then to his home to show us the view from there. He then proceeded to take us to his second apartment to allow us to sleep there for the night.
The next morning he came to pick us up for breakfast. He said he almost had to go somewhere but before we said goodbye wanted to show us his banana farm. Afterwards he took us to a gas station so we could carry on with our journey. He blessed us with money for accommodation later on and help fellow teammates as well. We prayed for him and when he said goodbye he was crying.
Personally, I was stunned and overwhelmed with this man’s kindness and generosity, treating us like his children.”
– Elize
The rendezvous point in Kuşadası was more of a halfway mark than an end to the second leg. This was because we had a day’s rest before heading out and we stayed in the same teams as in the second leg. The final leg was only three days, as the day of our departure was rapidly approaching. If you got there too late, you would miss the flight to South Africa.
The final stretch did not seem very far, but this leg took some teams through Izmir, a huge city, and into Istanbul, an even bigger city. It is easy to get stuck in these cities where you are unable to get any hitchhike to get out. One of the teams had been unable to get out of Izmir for two days, as nearly nobody gave them lifts. On the very last day, their “luck” changed. It seemed like all of the sudden, God gave them lifts and they made great progress. Little did they know, however, that they had a divine appointment, and they were about to witness God’s awesome timing and power…
“We finally caught a hitchhike and the driver stopped for a bathroom break and kindly bought each of us a small bottle of water. Water is always appreciated—especially when you’re not sure what’s safe to drink. But this time, I sensed something deeper. I felt God say, “This is all you’ll need for what’s next.” I did not know what that meant.
The driver didn’t take us all the way to our destination but dropped us under a highway bridge, thinking it would be a good place to catch our next ride. We didn’t complain—just quickly offloaded our bags.
As we climbed over the railing onto the side of the highway, there was a sudden sound of crunching metal and shattering glass. We spun around and saw that a car had slammed into the back of a truck. Luckily, it was slow moving traffic, but both the car driver and passenger stumbled out of the car. The passenger, a lady was covering her bleeding mouth with her hand and she was struggling to breathe.
I grabbed Google Translate and approached her. “How do you feel? Tell me if you need anything,” I translated into Turkish. She pointed toward the car, her eyes doing the speaking. I understood—she needed her belongings. I retrieved her phone, handbag, and whatever else I could find.
Then it hit me: the water. The bottles weren’t for us. They were for her. We gave her the water to gently rinse her mouth again and again. It was all we had—but it was exactly what she needed.
The man with her had a cut on his arm and a badly dislocated finger, but he was not in any immediate danger. He and the truck driver spoke to the police and ambulance staff, who arrived on the scene, while I sat beside her. “How do I love her well right now?” I asked myself. The answer: Just be there. God often works like that—through simple presence.
I asked her yes-or-no questions through Translate, helped her point to other places she was hurting, and then asked if I could pray for her. Her anxious face softened. Her eyes smiled. She nodded.
After she climbed into the ambulance, we quietly walked a few hundred meters to a safer hitchhiking spot. Not long after, we caught our final lift—just as the sun was setting—and ended our travel challenge with warm hugs from the team waiting for us at the church in Istanbul.
This was one of those beautiful mysteries of God’s sovereignty: He told me what we’d need before the accident happened and placed us exactly where we were needed, right when we were needed.
We didn’t perform a miracle. We didn’t save a life.
But I hope she remembers that, in her moment of fear and pain, she was seen and loved—by strangers who stayed. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll associate us with the Jesus we prayed to. So that the next time she calls out, she’ll call on the God who sees, who hears, and who is with us.”
– Carike
And with that, the Türkiye Travel Challenge and our time in the nations draws to a close.
However, the Mission continues, as there are still many people who do not truly know Jesus.
The harvest is ready. The workers are few. Our time is now.
There is much work to be done…and very little time.
What is God calling you to do?
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