Turkish missionaries experience joy of baptizing many new believers

In the land in which Paul the Apostle was born and ministered Turkish missionaries partnered with Intercede International are planting churches, baptizing many new believers, and ministering to refugees from war-torn Syria. 

Intercede first started working with Turkish Christian Fellowship in 2011, after Intercede’s International Field Representative Rev. Eliud Herrera had the opportunity to visit the ministry leaders in February of that year. 

“I met with Pastor Najat and Pastor Joshua David [names changed for security reasons] in Turkey,” reported Herrera at that time. “Their house church movements were born in this last decade and since then, their works have been continually growing and many Muslims have come to know the true God and our Saviour.”

Few nations have as rich a Christian history as the land of Turkey. Many martyrs—both past and recent—have given their lives in this land for the Gospel. This is where the Apostle Paul founded some of the earliest churches, including the church at Ephesus. Seven churches in this region were addressed in the Book of Revelation. But the Christian church fell into much apostasy and the country came under Islamic rule in 1453 and the Christian message and true believers steadily declined for centuries. 

Dangerous Work

Early in their ministry, missionaries Najat and David often went to cafés to spread the Gospel. “We have had a good reaction from the young generation but sometimes we are not getting a good reaction,” reported David. “We had a problem one December: some radical Islamic group walked against us and threatened us with death. But we talked with them nicely and God protected us from them so we left the place.”

Because of the prevailing non-Christian atmosphere of Turkey, TCF missionaries have to be careful when accepting new people into their churches. 

“We are growing here and many people want to know about the Bible and Jesus Christ and also want to attend our fellowship,” explains David. “But we can’t receive them in our service just like that without consulting them and making sure they are coming for the Word of God. Sometime it is not secure talking with them in public—so whoever wants to know about Christianity, they are also scared of their own family and neighbourhood. So we need a safe place to consult them and make sure that we receive the right people for us and for our fellowship.”

Back in 2011, three evangelical missionaries, two of them Turkish, were murdered by radicals in Turkey. Please pray for the safety of TCF missionaries and the new Christians in their care.

TCF missionaries face challenges such as discrimination against them when they look for “tent-making” jobs. In 2013, David was fired from his daytime job as a physical trainer because he had been sharing his faith with clients. Now he can focus more of his time on mission work, but has low support. “We need very strong prayer for us,” he wrote to Intercede. “Our ministry is getting larger and Pastor Najat and I want to serve the Lord full time—which I am doing now because I don’t have another job.”

TCF’s missionaries have experienced the joy of baptizing more than 100 new believers in recent years. Praise God that this ministry is growing and reaching more families.

Ministering to Refugees

In recent years, refugees from Syria have been flooding into Turkey, and many still live in refugee camps. TCF missionaries have been reaching out to the people in two nearby refugee camps with relief supplies and the Word of God—and have seen some dramatic results. 

In October 2015, TCF reported, “We just wanted to share the good report about four refugee families (16 people) who accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour. We had been preaching the Gospel to those families, and after the last preaching we prayed for them. On July 7, we received the amazing phone call from them in which they told us 

come and pray for them and tell what to do to become believers. So after we went there we saw the joy and happiness on their faces. So we brought the Bible with us, and we shared the Word again, then we prayed for them. So they received Jesus as their God.”

Then in November 2016, an old man invited TCF missionaries into his tent. “When we sat down he started to cry and I hugged him and asked, ‘what is going on, is everything okay?’” reported David. “He responded, ‘I noticed that you are the one who keeps coming and talking with us and asking how we are doing at least every two to three weeks. Then you kept bringing us a heater, and wood for winter, baby formula and diapers for our children. You were doing this without asking anything from us. Sometimes we were discussing in the tent about Jesus with my family, to say to each other: look around us. We are in an Islamic country but no one is coming to ask how we are doing, are we okay, do we have clean water, does our newborn have baby formula or diapers?’ He said, ‘You are the one who kept your words and kept helping us and coming to listen to our sad story all the time. So we decided to read the Bible every day and prayed to Jesus, to open our hearts and eyes to understand your words and love.’ So now they are believers. He and his family wanted to pass on their thanks to you all who have been helping them.” 

In 2016 alone, 20 Syrians were baptized and many more accepted Jesus as their Saviour.

TCF missionaries have been visiting refugees regularly, and want to continue to help meet their needs and share Bibles and the Gospel with them. “Every week many refugees ask us about Christianity, and we are glad to answers their questions,” they report.

A Miracle of Healing

Turkish Christian Fellowship reported good news about COVID-19 in 2020. Rezan, a refugee in the care of TCF, recovered from COVID in the summer of 2020. 

“Rezan is now in very good condition with our prayers and unwavering faith,” reported TCF’s Joshua David in TCF’s August 2020 Field Report. “Of course, his process was not easy at all. The doctor said with astonishment that he was surprised how he got rid of it. It was a miracle. Because Rezan had been smoking for a long time, he explained that his lungs were not in good condition. But God is great. 

“The miracle is not only with this. Thank God that eight people among Rezan’s relatives declared their faith in Jesus. When he was treated after the diagnosis was made, the doctors said that they were not so hopeful and that they should be ready for anything. But we were in constant contact with them, and we have repeatedly confirmed that we have complete belief that Rezan would be healed. After a long period of time, Rezan defeated this disease completely. 

“After Rezan was healed, others were grateful. They thanked by calling us and said that we were with them more than anyone else in this difficult process. This is the best news we have received in recent years because for the first time, these eight people believed in Jesus. The seeds we sow bear fruit, and this happens entirely through Jesus Christ. We are just his workers. We pray for him to use us more for this purpose and we want you to pray for us.”

Rezan is the father of Savana, a young girl who had burns a few years ago and who has received medical treatments with the help of Intercede and its prayer partners. 

Last November, Intercede sent an Overseas Material Aid shipping container with clothing and other supplies for refugees to TCF, which arrived in Turkey in the third week of December. Since then, TCF’s missionaries have distributed these supplies to grateful refugees. 

Also in November, Intercede learned that Joshua David and his wife had contracted COVID-19 and gone to a hospital. Since then she has recovered, but he has sustained lung damage from the virus.

Christmas Celebrations

Christmas is an opportune time to share the Gospel, so TCF missionaries have presented several Christmas banquets in past years, which have drawn large crowds. 

In 2015, TCF reported, “Pastor Najat had an opening speech and talked about the meaning of Christmas and shared some verses about it. We had a really blessed Christmas Dinner 2015. We had invited 300 men and women, and more than 50 children attended the dinner. We used the money for missionary support for the 

Christmas dinner. We all prayed to the Lord to guide us to where to use the money and we decided to spend for the Christmas dinner and preach the Gospel to the unreached people. We gave Bibles away when people were going away and most of them had a good impression.”

Praise God for His powerful work in Turkey, and continue to intercede for these missionaries as they share their faith in a dangerous but spiritually needy nation.

Photo:  Turkish Christian Fellowship missionaries baptize new believers in a pool.