Turkey is the first country I will visit during my August 2020 missions trip. Therefore, I have been learning about and praying for Turkey and my time there! One thing God has been doing is strengthening my prayer life, and I know God is preparing a great harvest of souls for me and my team to reach in Turkey and everywhere else we will go.
My team and I will be joining partners established in this country in sharing the Gospel. As with this entire missions trip, letting the Holy Spirit guide us to the people, the place, the action, the situation, where He wants us to be, and what He wants us to do! Here is a little about the history of Christianity in Turkey that I found:
“Since up to 98 percent of the population are Muslims, Christians are obviously a minority religion in Turkey. Because it is a secular country, the only Muslim country in the world that has no state religion, the Constitution guarantees religious freedom, and tolerance is the rule. The population includes members of the Armenian Apostolic and Greek Orthodox churches, Roman and Eastern Catholics, and Jews. Today, approximately 120,000 Christians and 26,000 Jews live in Turkey, out of the about 80 million total population.
After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, many of the early Christians, escaping from persecutions in Jerusalem, came to Asia Minor and settled in different cities like Ephesus, Hierapolis and Cappadocia. St. Paul preached in Perge, Derbe, Lystra, Psidian Antioch, Ephesus (see Letter to Ephesians) and Konya. St. John stayed for a while in Ephesus together with Virgin Mary and, after he returned from Patmos where he was exiled, died in Ephesus. St. Peter settled in Antioch and built the first Christian church carved in a cave. St. Philip settled in Hierapolis but was killed together with his family by the Romans.
Christianity was declared as the official religion in 380, during the reign of Theodosius I, and destruction of pagan temples was legalized. Even so, throughout the Byzantine era Christianity had great ups and downs in popularity. Many found the road to piety confusing and assorted schisms between the Roman Catholic church and the Orthodox Byzantine church certainly didn’t simplify matters. Add this inter-faith bickering to the “Dhimmi” tax (50 percent of earnings for non-Muslims as opposed to a small rate for Muslim believers) for those living on Ottoman-held lands, causing large numbers of peasants converting their faith to Islam.
Gradually, Christianity in Turkey disintegrated, so that when the Islamic Ottomans finally conquered the Byzantine Empire, it was inevitable that what had been a predominantly Christian region would be no more.”
(http://www.allaboutturkey.com/christian.htm) (https://www.privatephesustours.com/christianity-in-turkey.php)
While I was researching Turkey, I found that a pastor named Andrew Brunson, who lived in Turkey for 23 years telling people about Jesus and planting churches, was recently unjustly imprisoned for 2 years before he was released (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Brunson).
At the bottom of this post, I linked a video where he speaks about his experience there. In the video, he shares a message about presence and devotion. These two words have been ringing in my mind and in my heart ever since I heard his message– oh how amazing and beautiful it is knowing about and experiencing the presence of God! Yet, sometimes, God is silent in His presence; and we have to learn a discipline of devotion in our walk with Him.
Presence
1 the state or fact of being present, as with others or in a place.
2 attendance or company.
(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/presence?s=t)
Psalm 139:7-10 (ESV)
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
Devotion
1 profound dedication; consecration.
2 earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc.
(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/devotion)
Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
The following is a segment from the video I attached below (starting at 11:04 in the video), where Andrew Brunson expresses the teaching God gave him regarding presence and devotion:
Why?
Where is the lover of my soul in the dark night?
Why, although He’s present, because I know He is present,
Why doesn’t He give me…
Why does He keep me from sensing His presence?
Where is the comfort? Where are the loving arms?
I don’t know, I don’t know.
And that’s my question: why? where are You?
That’s my question.
But God also has a question for me–
Will you be offended?
Andrew, will you continue to love me?
Will you still devote your heart to me?
Will you pass the test?
And this is the truth: God tests His sons and daughters. I am not saying God causes evil, I am not saying He is the source for all of our hardships, but in the midst of hardships, He tests us. And God gives difficult assignments to His children.
And the more difficult the assignment He is going to give you, the more you want from Him, the more you will be tested to prepare you for those assignments.
This excerpt and teaching reminded me of the book of Job in how, regardless of our circumstances, we must learn to develop a discipline of devotion; living by faith. A house that is built on a strong foundation and thus immovable (Luke 6:46-49). A seed that is grown with longsuffering on good soil, growing up to produce a great crop (Luke 8:5-15).
My prayer today for me and for you is that we continually seek the presence of God (Psalm 14:2) and, at the same time, grow in our devotion to Him!
