Thursday, August 14, 2014

A Cop Out?

This tour has kept me very busy so far.  Too busy to write a post here, unfortunately.  David Pierce, the leader and lead singer of the band, No Longer Music, that I'm touring with, writes a blog and currently has two posts up that tell about their arrival in Istanbul and the two concerts we've had so far.  Please take a look.  He has better pictures than I do.

http://steiger.org/nlm-blog-14/316-a-fight-from-the-start-first-concert-in-turkey

http://steiger.org/nlm-blog-14/317-the-holy-spirt-moves-in-a-conservative-muslim-neighborhood

Monday, August 11, 2014

Going Home and Leaving Home

Arriving in Istanbul has definitely changed for me.  The first time I showed up here, I was full of wonder and suspicion.  My eyes were huge as I tried to take everything in.  My curiosity was overwhelming.  I also had some fear of the unknown.  Over the next few trips my suspicion and fear subsided.  My wonder remained.  In preparing to return I got excited, like a kid on Christmas morning.  I couldn't sleep well before the flight.  Every new experience was like a gift to unwrap.   But now... now the experience is like walking into a different room in my own house.  It's still home, but it's just different. 

I arrived on Friday, got settled in a picked up a few things, like cookies, that I needed to get back into the house when I return to New York.  Saturday was a little more of the same until the band showed up.  This tour is with a band called "No Longer Music."  I've heard about them because they come to Turkey quite often, but this is my first chance to work with them.  I've used a few different term to try to describe what kind of music they perform, but until I hear more of it over the next 9 days I can't really describe it well.  It's edgy, intense and comes with quite a stage show. It's been good getting to know them.

Our first concert was scheduled to be here in Istanbul, but as with all things in Turkey it wasn't definite.  Since Sunday was election day, getting permission to do a large event was difficult.  Sometimes riots break out.  The people here are actively passionate about politics in a way Americans can only dream about.  As of Half an hour ago our concert is back on after having been cancelled.  This is a result of perseverance and prayer, lots of prayer.


So we're about to go into our first concert with a band of people I don't know well, and a bunch of gear that the band doesn't know well.  A lot is going to depend on grace, patience and professionalism, and everything is going to depend on God.