Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

A Syrian seeker after truth in Turkey – March 16th 2022

Voice of the Martyrs, 10 March 2022 (excerpts)

Reem is a Syrian Muslim who lives in Turkey with her husband and children.  After having dreams about Jesus, Reem reached out to front-line workers to learn more about Him.  “If there is anything about God that I do not know, I want to know it,” she said. 

Reem began reading the Bible online, but her family have discouraged her and warned her against believing in Him.  Front-line workers connected her with a pastor and his wife, who prayed with Reem and gave her a Bible.  Reem asked the pastor and his wife to keep praying for her. 

The gospel spread throughout what is now Turkey in the first century, and the region remained under Christian rule for centuries.  Now, however, fewer than 1 percent of Turks are Christians. 

Unfortunately, Islam is considered by most Turks to be part of their national identity.  Christians in Turkey have limited freedom of worship.  While there are few Turkish churches, believers boldly share Christ with their countrymen. 

A missionary was murdered in 2019.  Another missionary and two Turkish believers were brutally murdered in a highly publicized 2007 incident.  Christian converts from Islam are harassed and pressured from all sides. 

Mature expatriate believers — many of whom have lived in Turkey for decades — have long served in Turkish churches; however, the Turkish government has recently targeted these foreign workers for expulsion.