Baptisms are always a time of great celebration in the Turkish church. They are also a huge step for the believer being baptised. For believers who were born and raised as Muslims, baptism is like a point of no return or a final once-and-for-all crossing of the line.
Turks are expressive and emotional. Those giving their testimony before their baptism are often very nervous and stories are told with lots of tears as well as exclamations of hope and thankfulness. Their brothers and sisters react with joy and excitement to the story of what God has done in their lives. Applause follows every declaration of faith in response to the Pastor’s questions. A thrill goes round the congregation gathered as each friend is plunged under the water’s surface and as they are raised up again a joyful song of worship is sung with great enthusiasm.
It is the same whatever the scene: whether at a beach, by a stream, or as in our case around a specially built baptismal pool in a church building.
What is different every time are the personal stories of how someone came to this point. But a common thread I have noticed is that this story always contains a lie that Satan used to keep them from finding the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
And it was the same today: as I listened carefully to the stories of two very different women I heard two very different, but very common, lies that had held them in blind captivity until the light of the gospel shone through.
Zehra* is in her forties. She has had a hard life with lots of problems. “Before I knew Jesus I wasn’t happy with anything in my life,” she said. She couldn’t understand why she didn’t have anything she wanted. She had suffered pain and hardship ever since being a little girl. The only conclusion she had come to, and the lie that blinded her, was that God didn’t love her. God didn’t care. He was distant and unfeeling and if He did take any notice of her it was to punish her.
Zehra believed this lie until the light of the gospel broke through in a dream. She had suffered one more tragedy: losing a baby. But she then had a dream where she saw Jesus and he held her hand and comforted her. (Cont p.4) This started her on a quest to know Him. She eventually telephoned an evangelistic hotline and the Turkish brother who answered the phone spoke to her from 10pm until 3am and led her to the Lord.
Maryam is in her late teens and she came from an Alevi family. She decided that she didn’t like many of this Muslim group’s rituals, finding them to be superstitious; so she decided to be an atheist. Then her cousins became Christians. Maryam enjoyed talking about faith with her cousins when she visited them and began to sense that the Lord was speaking to her. She wondered whether she would be able to find somewhere in her own city where she could find out more. But she believed the lie that there were no churches in Turkey and that Turks couldn’t really become Christians like her cousins said they had.
Maryam believed this lie until a further visit to her cousins, who lived in an isolated situation without much fellowship. “You’re lucky Maryam,” they said. “We looked up on a website and there is a church right near where you live.”
So, with one lie debunked, Maryam was blinded by another. “They won’t want me. I am a Turk and an atheistic ex-Alevi. Church is for the Armenian and Orthodox minorities and they will turn me away.” But eventually she did pluck up the courage to go and was amazed to be welcomed in like an old friend by Turks just like herself.
We seek to unveil the glory of God to the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. Unveiling involves breaking down those lies that keep people blinded. But what really thrilled me about hearing Zehra and Maryam’s testimonies wasn’t just the fact that God’s glory was unveiled to them. Did you notice it too? It wasn’t a foreigner who was the one who told them about Jesus, but another Turkish believer. This is what we are praying for and working towards: opening the eyes of the blind who will themselves then open the eyes of others … until God’s glory is fully unveiled in this land.
Baptisms are always a time of great celebration in the Turkish church. They are also a huge step for the believer being baptised. For believers who were born and raised as Muslims, baptism is like a point of no return or a final once-and-for-all crossing of the line.
Turks are expressive and emotional. Those giving their testimony before their baptism are often very nervous and stories are told with lots of tears as well as exclamations of hope and thankfulness. Their brothers and sisters react with joy and excitement to the story of what God has done in their lives. Applause follows every declaration of faith in response to the Pastor’s questions. A thrill goes round the congregation gathered as each friend is plunged under the water’s surface and as they are raised up again a joyful song of worship is sung with great enthusiasm.
It is the same whatever the scene: whether at a beach, by a stream, or as in our case around a specially built baptismal pool in a church building.
What is different every time are the personal stories of how someone came to this point. But a common thread I have noticed is that this story always contains a lie that Satan used to keep them from finding the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
And it was the same today: as I listened carefully to the stories of two very different women I heard two very different, but very common, lies that had held them in blind captivity until the light of the gospel shone through.
Zehra is in her forties. She has had a hard life with lots of problems. “Before I knew Jesus I wasn’t happy with anything in my life,” she said. She couldn’t understand why she didn’t have anything she wanted. She had suffered pain and hardship ever since being a little girl. The only conclusion she had come to, and the lie that blinded her, was that God didn’t love her. God didn’t care. He was distant and unfeeling and if He did take any notice of her it was to punish her.
Zehra believed this lie until the light of the gospel broke through in a dream. She had suffered one more tragedy: losing a baby. But she then had a dream where she saw Jesus and he held her hand and comforted her. (Cont p.4) This started her on a quest to know Him. She eventually telephoned an evangelistic hotline and the Turkish brother who answered the phone spoke to her from 10pm until 3am and led her to the Lord.
Maryam is in her late teens and she came from an Alevi family. She decided that she didn’t like many of this Muslim group’s rituals, finding them to be superstitious; so she decided to be an atheist. Then her cousins became Christians. Maryam enjoyed talking about faith with her cousins when she visited them and began to sense that the Lord was speaking to her. She wondered whether she would be able to find somewhere in her own city where she could find out more. But she believed the lie that there were no churches in Turkey and that Turks couldn’t really become Christians like her cousins said they had.
Maryam believed this lie until a further visit to her cousins, who lived in an isolated situation without much fellowship. “You’re lucky Maryam,” they said. “We looked up on a website and there is a church right near where you live.”
So, with one lie debunked, Maryam was blinded by another. “They won’t want me. I am a Turk and an atheistic ex-Alevi. Church is for the Armenian and Orthodox minorities and they will turn me away.” But eventually she did pluck up the courage to go and was amazed to be welcomed in like an old friend by Turks just like herself.
We seek to unveil the glory of God to the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. Unveiling involves breaking down those lies that keep people blinded. But what really thrilled me about hearing Zehra and Maryam’s testimonies wasn’t just the fact that God’s glory was unveiled to them. Did you notice it too? It wasn’t a foreigner who was the one who told them about Jesus, but another Turkish believer. This is what we are praying for and working towards: opening the eyes of the blind who will themselves then open the eyes of others … until God’s glory is fully unveiled in this land.
*Names have been changed.
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