I always wanted to go back to Istanbul to see how it has changed. From yesterday's story about my flashback from Istanbul, I figured it would be interesting to explain how I managed to get Russian gospels of John into the country. I took the entire risk on myself to put the gospel into my red backpack. It was the one I owned, since I was 14 and hiked many times in the Cascade range. My memosphere is lacking, but I believe I had around 50 booklets. The plan involved putting them on Soviet ships passing through Istanbul (between the Black and Mediterranean Seas).
We traveled from Italy by bus through Yugoslavia to Thessaloniki, Greece. An earthquake hit the city that year and one could see many damaged buildings. I went swimming in the sea and was puzzled by the murky waters. It was not clean as the coast of Yugoslavia. Yet it was refreshing in the summer heat. I always liked to explore so I walked around the city. I am not sure why I was out again at 2 am, but I saw 2 men whom I noticed in the afternoon. They had a table in the street in front of a house. At that time at night, they we still talking, drinking, and eating.
We got up the next day and boarded the train to Istanbul. At the border we had to disembark onto a large area of dirt to change trains. The Turkish police came through and searched everyone. Since I was a veteran bible courier, I was concerned, but not terrified or discouraged. I believed God would get the gospels through just as I experienced in every trip. Right next to me was a middle-eastern (Turkish?) woman with some bags. I watched the police open her bag and then an exchange of words. The woman started screaming and all the border guards rushed over. Several hauled her out of the area. When they came back to resume checking, they somehow skipped me and went through the bags of everyone else. God protected his word! We boarded the Turkish train and proceeded to Istanbul.
We traveled from Italy by bus through Yugoslavia to Thessaloniki, Greece. An earthquake hit the city that year and one could see many damaged buildings. I went swimming in the sea and was puzzled by the murky waters. It was not clean as the coast of Yugoslavia. Yet it was refreshing in the summer heat. I always liked to explore so I walked around the city. I am not sure why I was out again at 2 am, but I saw 2 men whom I noticed in the afternoon. They had a table in the street in front of a house. At that time at night, they we still talking, drinking, and eating.
We got up the next day and boarded the train to Istanbul. At the border we had to disembark onto a large area of dirt to change trains. The Turkish police came through and searched everyone. Since I was a veteran bible courier, I was concerned, but not terrified or discouraged. I believed God would get the gospels through just as I experienced in every trip. Right next to me was a middle-eastern (Turkish?) woman with some bags. I watched the police open her bag and then an exchange of words. The woman started screaming and all the border guards rushed over. Several hauled her out of the area. When they came back to resume checking, they somehow skipped me and went through the bags of everyone else. God protected his word! We boarded the Turkish train and proceeded to Istanbul.
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