Dear all

My time here is coming to an end and thought I’d squeeze in one final prayer letter.

 

Firstly please note my change of email; I will shortly be closing my hotmail account, so please save and use my new address :  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Thank you. 

 

I hope you’re all well and had a good summer.

 

Thank you all for your continual support during my time here, I honestly would have not made it through the difficulties without it.  I can’t thank you enough.  Five amazing months are coming to an end and this is the verse which sums up how I have felt God’s awesome presence with me in this adventure.
 

Psalm 18:1-2:

1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

 

The one biggest thing I’ve learnt in my time out here is to rely on God daily; without Him I can do nothing, but as the Bible says, with Him, all things are possible.  I’ve known His intimate presence and known His great love as I daily walk and talk with Him and look to Him to guide me.  I finish work Saturday night and have a few days holiday before flying back.  I am planning on visiting Izmir for a few days, where there is a church that I have applied to work with for a year from January.  Please pray that God speaks and guides me during this visit.  I fly back to the UK late on Thursday 7th October.  I am looking forward to seeing you all.

September has quietened down a lot work wise with there being less guests.  This has meant I have had more time to relax and take guests on trips to nearby towns, it has been really enjoyable to explore more of Turkey.  I have been blessed with some of the guests these past weeks and how grateful they have been to me for my work.  I particularly enjoyed one evening going out to a nearby bar with two guests, at the end of the evening we prayed together and they prophesied over me, which was really encouraging.

Thank you for all your prayers with the UK staff going home, I have definitely felt God’s presence and strength with me in this transition.  I greatly enjoyed the remainder of my time with the Turkish staff and the close friendships I formed with them.

The final month with everyone here was also an amazing time where I saw God at work.  I felt stirred to spend more time seeking the Lord a few weeks back and started just spending more time worshipping and praying - nothing radical, but it started to focus my attention more on Him and trust Him more, which seemed to radiate out.  I had the opportunity to pray for a couple of the Turkish staff for healing, which was amazing. Two of the occasions were by the person coming up to me and asking me to pray for healing !  One morning I was reading Smith Wigglesworth’s biography ‘Baptised by Fire’ and my friend Billy asked what it was and I explained about healing. The next day he came up and started to read it.  He asked if I could pray for him to be healed of asthma, I did and it seems to have improved, praise God !

Last week my boss’ mum had a heart attack, meaning my boss Nuket had to go back to her hometown to be with her.  I was left to hold the fort down at the hotel for one week until she returned.  Thank you for your prayers, I knew God’s hand with me daily that week and knew He was equipping me daily.  Nuket’s mum is now much better and will be able to go home the next few days.  Nuket returned for this week to help pack away everything and sort out the guest’s transfers.

 

This week has been another transition time.  All of the Turkish summer staff left on Monday, including all my closest friends. This was initially hard and I was left lonely, however I knew God’s presence with me so put my trust in Him.  The next day I moved to the hotel for my remaining week.  This is good as means I am not walking back to the apartment by myself at night, there are always people around and feels a bit like a holiday now !

I am now the only Living Sun staff for the remaining two days of work. Yesterday the waterfront guy Ibrahim finished work and this morning my boss Nuket left.  However there is only one guest left in the hotel and my only job to do is see that her transfer picks her up with no problem tomorrow evening.

 

Please pray for me returning to England and settling back to life at home.  I return back to England in the early hours of Friday 8th October and am going back to work on Monday 11th October.  I am rreturning to my previous temping job, with Santander, so is great they’ve kept my job open for me.  Please pray I’d be a light there.

 

Please pray for God guidance for my future and to discerning His call on my life and how this works practically and timing wise.

 

To sum up my time in Turkey has been a journey to say the least.  I have been through highs and lows.  I have had hard times and also so much fun.  I’ve made some great friends and shared some amazing memories here.  My God has been with me during this whole experience, I have known His hand upon me, His loving arms protecting me, His warm embrace to run into, His joy filling me to radiate my smile and laugh and His spirit of boldness in me.

Bring on many more adventures with my King Jesus! :D

Much love

Rachel XxX
p.s. Check out my blog: www.rachy4jesus.blogspot.com