Hi All,
I'm posting the following as an appeal to the Christians in the AH2 community who pray, because the tiny (less than 0.2%) Christian population in Turkey desperately needs your prayers. Of late a wave of Islamic extremism has been rolling through that country, and Jihadis are becoming more and more active in their efforts to eliminate all Christian witness in that country. National feeling has turned decidedly against them, and pastors I know are saying simply holding church services on Sunday or finding a place to worship is becoming increasingly difficult.
With the shootings at VA Tech understandably grabbing the headlines, most people missed the story of the brutal torture and slaying of three Christians at a bible publishing house (1 German and 2 Turks) by Jihadis in Malatya, Turkey. But it has shaken the Christian community there to the core. I'm posting the following email I received from Fikret Bocek, a Turkish fellow Pastor who graduated from the sister seminary of the one I went to. While I've never met him personally, we have a lot of friends in common.
I'd urge those members of the board who refuse to believe there is a worldwide Jihad going on, or who feel that Islam and Christianity are "equally bad" to please not read the following, I'm posting it simply to encourage prayer. Unlike the Jihadis who brutally tortured and killed his friends, Fikret does not hate these Jihadis, nor does he want revenge: In fact this is the core of his request:
Please pray for the Church of Christ in Turkey. Don't pray against persecution, pray for perseverence. ... Pray that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true weakness.
...
But we pray- and urge you to pray- that someday one of those five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilman Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to the beloved Turks...
I've removed the descriptions of the torture of these men for the sake of the BB and young eyes, an Agence France Presse article should explain why:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=81616Anyway, here is Fikret's letter:
A Letter to the Churches in America from The Protestant Church of Smyrna
Dear friends,
This past week has been filled with much sorrow. We send our condolences for the slaying of all those university students in Virginia. May the Lord comfort the families and friends of the victims and all those impacted by the tragedy.
Many of you have heard by now of our devastating loss here.
On Wednesday morning, 46 year old German missionary and father of three Tilman Geske kissed his wife goodbye as he left to go to the Turkish church office, which was also the location of the church's ministry Zirve Publishing. Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and nearby cities in Eastern Turkey. In another area of town, 35 year old Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife leaving for the office as well. They had a morning Bible Study and prayer meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending. Ugur Yuksel also made his way to the Bible study.
None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of righteousness from Christ and honor from all the saints awaiting them in the Lord's presence.
On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who undermined their religion.
On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known to the believers as "seekers." No one knows what happened in the hearts of those men as they listened to the gospel.
These men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the provence of Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of "faithful believers" in Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it's like a fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into public office without membership in a tarikat. These men all lived in the same dorm, possibly owned by that tarikat.
The men got guns and knives ready for their final act of service to Allah. They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 11.
They arrived, tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilman's hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for two hours
Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur's stabs were too numerous to count (i.e. over 200). They were disemboweled, emasculated, while they were still alive Possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their throats were cut
Neighbors in workplaces near the printhouse said later they had heard yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so they did not respond.
Meanwhile, another believer Gokhan and his wife had a leisurely morning, he slept in till 10, ate a long breakfast and finally around 1 he and his wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside, and his key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on his end he did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones of his brothers and finally Ugur answered his phone. "We are not at the office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there," he said cryptically. Meanwhile in the background Gokhan heard weeping and a strange snarling sound.
He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about five minutes. He pounded on the door, "Police, open up!" Initially he thought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard another snarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as human sufferening, prepared the clip in his gun and burst through the door, to find a grisly scene.
Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered....Necati and Ugur's throats were slit in the previous minutes before the door was kicked in. Ugur was barely alive.
Four assailants dropped their weapons.
Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone had jumped out of the third story window from the office. Running down, he found a man he recognized named Emre. He had massive head trauma and strangely, was snarling. It turns out that he was the main leader of the attacks.
What follows is almost as disturbing as the act itself. Amidst public outcry against the event, public officials from the Prime Minister to the local government and mayors of Malatya, Ankara, Izmir. Media and Muslim leaders alike, judges, prosecutors. All the leaders blame the Christians for the act. Interviews with these leaders are filled with the same idea, "We hope you've learned your lesson. You shouldn't be doing these things." Even the Public Prosecutor of Malatya, who will prosecute these murderers shares the view that these "young men" are not to blame for their savagery. The Malatya Governor smirked as he spoke of the attacks.
The church of Christ in Turkey responded in a way that honored God, hundreds of believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of legal issues, and represent Christians to the media.
When Suzanna Tilman expressed her wish to bury her husband in Malatya, the Governor tried to stop it, and when he realized he could not stop it, he told all people that "it is a sin to dig a grave for a Christian." In the end, the believers who had come up from Adana grabbed shovels and dug a grave for him in an untended hundred year old Armenian graveyard.
Yesterday was Necati's funeral. It took place here in Izmir since he was initially from here. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not loaded with explosives.
Though it took a lot of late-into-the hour planning, the funeral was a beautiful event. Thousands of Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ. Like a piece of heaven. It took place outside at Buca Baptist church. Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the event from the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting the events with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeral had on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well. Pray for them.
Please pray for the Church of Christ in Turkey. Don't pray against persecution, pray for perseverence. The church is better having lost our brothers, the fruit in our lives, the renewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench more darkness in Malatya …all these are not to be regretted. Pray that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true weakness.
This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their lives for Him. He was there, like he was when Stephen was being stoned in Saul of Tarsus's sight.
Cont'd
