"THIS CAME TO ME FROM A MISSIONARY FRIEND IN ASIA.
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ IT IN ITS ENTIRETY. DESPITE THE AUTHOR'S ASSUMPTION THAT WE WOULD HEAR SUCH NEWS, I SUSPECT NOBODY HERE HAS HEARD A THING ABOUT THIS (AND SIMILAR ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE GOING ON IN SEVERAL PARTS OF THE WORLD AT THIS VERY MOMENT!") –ROGER BUTZ.
This came to me too from a missionary friend, Roger Butz. I do not know when this happened exactly, but not long ago. A living example to remind us that we have a life which is given to us freely at His own cost, and for those who accept this life it is costly indeed!
In Him, Peter T Kent--------------------------------------------------
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 in Turkey:
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 Muslims all under 20 years put
in to 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. Were they touched by the Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in their hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story.
These men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the province 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. They were disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, practically decapitated.
Neighbors in workplaces near the print-house 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 PM 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 suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and burst through the door, to find the grisly scene.
Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered, practically decapitated with
their necks slit from ear to ear. 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. The fifth man 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.
Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us
about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last
cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer
for their beloved Savior. But we know He did not leave their side. We know their minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know they knew they would soon be with Christ.
We don't know the kind of justice that will or will not be served on this earth. 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 and the testimony in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the martyrs for Christ out of the Turkish Church.
