Sharing the Gospel in Turkey
Recently, we caught up with two of our partners who serve in the nation of Turkey. As before, due to the Turkish government’s hostile position against Christianity, their names and faces must remain hidden for their safety. In this interview, we refer to them as “Gwen” and “David.”
This is a snapshot into their lives as missionaries in a predominantly Muslim world.
How do you see God moving right now in Turkey?
We really see God moving in this past two years in a few different ways. First, it has been amazing to see how God has used livestream church services to teach Muslims about him. We have been locked down much of the past year and a half, so boredom has been a real problem—which has led to people just searching for stuff online to look at.
Many of those people “stumbled” upon our live church services and have come to visit, ask questions, and discover Jesus. We love getting to see how God has used a very difficult time to bring people to Christ.
Another area we are really seeing growth is among the youth. More people age 16-25 are coming to Christ in our city than any other age. It is amazing to see God build his future church by drawing many young people to Him.
The last area we are seeing much growth is in people really experiencing true inner healing in areas where they have been deeply wounded. Most of the ladies in our church have been abused sexually, physically, and emotionally by their family. We spend a lot of time talking about how God is a good father and talking about deep hurt, pain, unforgiveness, and great grief.
It has been beautiful to see God mature his church by allowing people to deal with those dark unspoken places. When Jesus shines his light and truth into their hearts, the transformation is amazing!
We last interviewed the two of you in 2017, a year after the unsuccessful coup attempt to overthrow President Erdogan. Speaking broadly, what has the situation in Turkey been like during these last four years? How has the nation recovered or not recovered?
Broadly speaking, things have not gotten better in Turkey. The leader has become more powerful and has a very conservative Muslim bend to his policies. Turks do not feel safe openly opposing the government for fear of being arrested.
In the last two years, hundreds of missionaries have been kicked out of the country and labeled as terrorists. The economy is really struggling and many people can’t find work. The government’s current policies are not leading to things getting any better.
Being that Turkey is heavily dependent on tourism, Covid has made a huge impact on the economy and jobs. Turks regularly talk about having no hope, but those conversations have given us opportunity to talk about our hope being firmly set in Jesus alone.
The last time we spoke, you told us that people you knew, worked with, or were close to, were detained indefinitely by the government. Have those people been released?
Many of our friends have been released, but unfortunately some of them are still detained. The pastor who was detained for a year and a half was finally released, but he had to return to America. Many of those who are still detained now are not believers in Jesus. They were arrested because they were perceived to be against the government. Many of them have been held for years without being brought to trial.
It is widely understood that Erdogan’s government has become more authoritarian over the last several years. How has that affected the two of you as missionaries?
It has affected us in many ways, but the primary one is the missionaries who have been deported. We lost a teammate, and many other people we love dearly have been kicked out.
This has brought great sadness—and sometimes creates anxiety and fear for all of us about how long we will be able to stay in the country. We are thankful that for now God has allowed us to stay.
What methods are you able to employ to share your faith in Turkey?
We share our faith the same way many of you do. We live very intentionally in our community; we put our kids in community schools, we shop at community grocery stores, we get our school supplies from the guy right behind our house, and we get our clothes dry-cleaned and buttons sewed on by the lady right next-door to us.
We regularly visit the same parks in the same areas so that we regularly come into contact with the same mothers and children over and over again, so that we can build those relationships. We look for opportunities to pray in Jesus’s name for people as we listen to what’s going on in their lives.
My favorite story from this past year was our six-year-old son who goes to Turkish kindergarten. He has a girl in his class he really got close to. One day in class, they talked about superheroes, and when the teacher asked who his favorite superhero was Josh said that Jesus was the greatest superhero and that there was no greater superhero than him.
When the little girl that Josh is close to got home that day, her mom asked what she learned in school and she said, “I learned about superheroes.” Her mom proceeded to ask her who her favorite superhero is, and she said, “Well, if Josh says that Jesus is the greatest superhero then he’s my greatest superhero.”
I didn’t initially know about that story, but not long after it happened, the girl’s mom invited me over for tea. I spent the afternoon with her, and I was able to share the Gospel with her and her husband. During that time, she told me about what Josh had said. What an impression that six-year-old boy made on a little girl who went home and shared with her parents that Jesus was the greatest superhero!
It opened the door for this family to hear about Jesus, and they plan on attending church with us when we get back to Turkey. We have been able to pray in the name of Jesus for the father who didn’t have work, and God provided him a job. We have gotten so close that our kids will go to first grade together next year. The mom even went to the school to appeal that they could be in the same class, because she so much wants Josh and her daughter to be together (because of the relationship that we all have). That relationship came about just because we live intentionally in our community.
What are the current obstacles you face in sharing Christ with Turks in your community?
The biggest obstacle we face is probably not much different than what you face here in America in that Turks are very secular. Many of them, especially the younger generation, are not really interested in religion and they see it as an oppressive ignorant choice.
David, being a very intelligent computer science professor, can really break down some of those walls when they realize that he’s a follower of Jesus and believes in faith and science. This can open some doors to speak into things we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. But it’s still an obstacle, because religion has been used in the Middle East in so many ways by both Christians and Muslims to oppress, control, and create great fear.
Another large obstacle for those who are interested in God is their misunderstanding of who God is, His grace, and His love. Generally, they have been taught to see God as controlling and manipulative; someone to be feared and obeyed only. Following Islam gives them some baggage that makes it difficult for them to see God the way the Bible portrays; to see Him in His beauty, love, grace, mercy, and His desire
for true obedience and repentance out of a longing to have Jesus as your Lord and friend.
Do you still serve and minister to refugees?
We still serve and minister to refugees in the city in which we live, but not as much as we used to be able to. Legally, the government does not recognize that our city has any refugees at all.
Some other cities in Turkey are a little different and have refugees registered. But in our city, they do not register anyone as a refugee because tourism is a large industry. The refugees that do live in our city are wary of visits from foreigners due to not wanting to draw any attention.
So where we used to do more visits to the refugee camps to provide supplies, medicine, and education, the government has now done a better job of getting them the things they need; getting them residency permits so that they can get medicine and other necessities. They can now register their children for schools.
Where we work now is primarily in building deeper relationships with those who seem to be leaders in the community. There is one man who seems to be a very God-fearing man and is respected by all in the Syrian community. He spends his days trying to get kids enrolled in school and working with the UN to get the Syrians a better life. He, like Cornelius in the Bible, is God-fearing, so we spend time with him, his wife, and children. We want to develop that relationship. We believe that out of that relationship is where others will come to Christ, because he is so respected in the community.
So, the work has changed in that we don’t impact large groups of people on a more physical level, but our desire is that eternally more people will be impacted because of the relationship with a few key people that seem to be open impacting their own community as they come to Christ.
How can we, as well as other Americans, help you with your mission in Turkey?
There are so many ways that people can be involved in what we’re doing. One of the primary ways is through prayer. We genuinely believe that, as people pray, they go before us. People will often tell us we are on the front lines, but we believe that those who are on the front lines are the ones who pray and create a front line in front of us as we enter into the places we go.
Another way is to inform yourself and be educated about the things going on in the Muslim world. Whether through taking the course Perspectives on the World Christian Movement [at perspectives.org] or speaking with us or other missionaries who work in the Muslim world and educating yourself so that you can pray appropriately.
Also, letting us know that you’re praying for us, letting us know that you think about us, but not just us—that you are praying for unreached people groups around the world can remind us and other missionaries that we are not alone.
An obvious way to help is to visit Turkey. Come, see, and pray on-site with insight. Come and see what our lives are like; what our work is like. An additional way is that, as you have Muslim refugees coming to your country, not being so concerned about protecting the American borders. Instead, think about being more concerned about the kingdom of God advancing by love and sacrificially caring for those refugees who desperately need to know the love Jesus.
An additional way is to pray for more workers. The Bible says that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Without workers, the harvest can rot on the vine. Pray for workers to share and to be a light for Jesus and reap the harvest. There is definitely a great harvest, but we desperately need more people who can disciple new believers and people who can share so that the harvest can be gathered.
Obviously, giving financially is a big part of what we need as well. We heard someone challenge the American church one time saying that we ask our missionaries to live sacrificially. They do as they leave their family and friends.
We congratulate them and we appreciate what they do, but do we as senders live as sacrificially as we are asking our missionaries to live? This is an important question for all of us to ask ourselves. For the kingdom of God to advance wherever we are living and working, are we living as sacrificially as we expect missionaries? We are all allies in the same mission.
How have you been blessed in your ministry in Turkey? What has been rewarding?
This is such a hard question to answer with just a few words, because we have been blessed immensely to live where we live and to work where we work.
We’ve been welcomed by a community of Turks within our church that love us and care for us like family. We get to watch people live out their faith who have been persecuted for it over and over again, yet they still choose Jesus every day. We get to be in a community with a lady who is 84 years old and spends her day walking all over the city sharing Christ with people. This is a lady who—many times in her life—has been beaten. She was tied up at one point for so long she urinated on herself, because she couldn’t get loose and go to the bathroom. This was done to her because her abuser knew that she believes in Jesus.
It has been so good for our children; for their eyes to be open to the world, our faith, and what hard places really look like. It has been good for us and our faith to be challenged, to see what it looks like to live radically in the kingdom of God, seeing people whose primary focus is seeking His kingdom first. If it were up to us, we would never leave Turkey. God may have other plans for us in the future, but our lives have been so richly blessed by being able to live in this country and being able to be a light in a dark place.
One of the greatest blessings we have had is being able to know that for some people, we were the first believer that they had ever met. Most people we meet—unless they are members of the church or are part of the Christian community—have never met a believer before. To be the first person that follows Jesus that a person has met is one of the greatest honors of my life. One of the greatest blessings in our lives is to be able to introduce people for the first time to the one who loves them more than anyone else ever will. This is an honor that I can’t even begin to describe with words.