Andrea Jones, Pastor at Chestnut Grove Baptist Church, sharing her experience in Turkey during a trip with RumiForum:
My name is Andrea Jones and I am a Pastor in Earlysville, Virginia, and I am also a doctoral student at Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond. Some of the things have already been said but I did notice also that the people on this group seem to have a deep appreciation for each other’s sacred spaces, and that meant a lot to me. Christians could step into Blue Mosque and be moved by it, and Muslims can step into the churches in Cappadocia and be moved by that; just a high reverence for each other’s sacred space was meaningful to me. Because even as a Baptist I don’t feel like my space is always appreciated by other Baptists even, so it was very… but again it goes back to the uniqueness of the group. I think this group was just Baptist, we would have a lot of fights (laughs), or if it was just something else. The uniqueness was wonderful. Secondly, I loved being in the homes and getting to see the children interact with their parents and the men serving us at night at the table. Anyways just really felt special inside the Turkish homes and thank you again for the opportunity.