God at Work in Turkey!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to pass along an incredible article about what God is doing in Turkey. Turkey is pretty much entirely Muslim, but God is doing incredible things for the past 20 years. Lisa went on a short-term missions trip there in '94, and I went in '95, and have been praying for it since then, but honestly, haven't seen much detailed coverage of what's been happening since that time. But praise God! He has been working in wonderful ways, and the church's rate of growth is higher than I thought it would be. I often wondered if it would be "better" if Turkey was not as free, because sometimes where there is persecution, growth is more rapid (such as we hear about from inside Iran). I am ashamed to say that sometimes in praying for Turkey I felt like I was "tossing" prayers up in the air, with little to no hope. I know that discouragement caused me to lose heart and not pray as much. Often a lot of time would go by before I prayed for Turkey again.

But after reading this, I am really encouraged! Never give up in prayer! And keep praying!

It may interest you to know I've been to Besiktas Protestant Church (mentioned in this article), sitting in the smoky foyer while a Turkish brother and ministry worker met a new convert and gave him some very important follow-up. I also have met Carlos Madrigal, the Spanish missionary mentioned in the middle of the article. One of my Turkish friends mentioned that they thought his Turkish was either "as good as" or "even better" than some Turks'! (I can't remember which.) I think I might also have met Turgay, the guy mentioned throughout this article, and Lisa probably did too.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5, ESV)

Pray, pray, pray! A good day to pray for Muslim-majority countries is Friday, which is the day mosques have worship services.