Letter from Turkey asking for Prayer
As you may have already seen, our Facebook page has a virtual event for the upcoming global day of prayer for Turkey. Here at Smyrna we do a lot of writing about the persecuted church, so it is exciting to receive writing from the persecuted church. This letter from the other side of the world begins, “Greetings from the church in Turkey--from the land of Noah, of Abraham, of Paul, of Ararat and Harran, of Antioch, Ephesus, Galatia, of the Seven Churches of Revelation . . . .Yet today, the body of Christians in our land is less than 0.1% of the population of 72 million.”
The church’s presence in Turkey dates back to the days following Jesus’ ascension. At Pentecost, people from Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia came to Jerusalem and heard the Gospel (Acts 2:9-10). The city of Antioch (present day Yalvac) is where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
Persecution also has a long history in Turkey. The city of Smyrna (modern day Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city), is the inspiration behind Smyrna Ministries’ name. The book of Revelation says of the church in Smyrna, “I know your afflictions . . . be thou faithful unto death . . . I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:9-10).
Today Christians continue to face many challenges and are viewed with suspicion. Operation World reports, “Family pressure, police intimidation and threats from Muslim extremists keep many from coming to Christ, and force others to remain secret believers.” Public opinion and media coverage both oppose the church: “Evangelical Christians are lumped together with Armenian terrorists and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sensational articles in the Press and biased television programmes spread untruths about Christians, further inflaming public opinion. Muslim misconceptions about Christian doctrine present another major barrier.” Turkish Christians need our prayers!
The churches of Turkey are lifting up this prayer, and are asking us to pray with them: “Pray the Lord breaks down the lies and the endless disinformation about Christ, the Bible and Christians that has blinded and hardened hearts in our land. . . Pray [for] the Turkish believers who are always on the frontline to walk close to the Lord. Pray for refreshing, emboldening, strengthening, protection and encouragement.”
Thank you for joining with us in prayer!
To see a 6 minute video about how the martyrdom of three Christians has emboldened Turkey’s Christians, click here.
To see 4 minute video about the global day of prayer for Turkey, click here.
To RSVP to the virtual Facebook event, click here.
Sources:
Operation World by Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk
Praying through Turkey by Andrew Jackson and George Otis, Jr.
