Turkish News

(Due to technical difficulties, we weren’t able to post to this blog while we were in France this last week, so this is a summary of what God did during the time we were there.)

Team Members:  Gary & Tammy Bailey, Tim & Adrienne Terrazas, Woodie & Shelly Blakeley, Gary & Nancy Peevy, Leyla Sagdich (Turkish partner/translator from Belgium) and Matthias Knoedler (German partner/translator/missionary from Germany)

To God be the Glory!  Again, we had the privilege of seeing Him at work .  This was probably one of our most fruitful trips over the last three years of working with the Turks in France!!!

God allowed us to share the gospel with three muslim men who had contacted us through the ad in the Turkish newspaper.  All three are very interested in Jesus.  One of them, Alan, is reading through the Bible and was unfamiliar with Jesus because he hadn’t gotten that far yet!  We encouraged him to continue reading in Genesis, but to read the gospels at the same time.  He agreed and, after we told him about Jesus and how he could follow him, he asked to be given time to read the gospels.  As he put it,  “How can I follow someone I do not even know?”  Please pray for Alan… that Jesus will speak to him through His living Word and draw him to Himself.  Alan is very interested in knowing more.

We met with two other muslim men at a restaurant and both were very interested in Jesus and knowing more.  We believe that if our teams build a relationship with them, that they will eventually accept Christ. 

Two other Armenian-background Turks are already believers, Kaspar and Kirkor.  Both came to Christ simply by reading the Bible and realizing that it was the truth.  Kaspar has an especially compelling testimony.  He was imprisoned for murder and while there, he saw evidence that God was working in his life and was revealing Himself to him.  During this time he was given a Bible and, through reading it, Kaspar realized that he was a sinner, but that if he accepted Jesus, God would forgive him of his sins.  He did this and became a true believer.  At present he is the only one in his family who truly follows Christ.

We are prayerful that God has also given us a new Turkish partner in this ministry.  His name is Sabak and he speaks 4 languages, including English and French!!  He is of a minority Turkish people group, not muslim, and is originally from a town very near to where Leyla’s family came from.  He has much in common with her.  He grew up in the Catholic church, but through a dream and through reading the Bible, came to realize that he needed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  He and his wife and two small children live in Garges-les-Gonesse, a suburb of Paris.  The day we met him he had been to Strasbourg, a town about 2-1/2 hours outside of Paris.  He’d been there to visit a muslim friend and had spent about 4 hours witnessing to him about Jesus.  He said the friend came right up to the point to accept the Lord, but something held him back.  Because of our conversation, we believe that Sabak has a great heart to share his faith with all peoples.  Sabak is thoughtful, soft-spoken, educated and seems to be spiritually mature.  He told us that he would be willing to help us with our mission in any way!  We believe that he may be a huge answer to our prayers!

God’s timing was perfect in us reaching Sabak….  On the train going back to his home from Strasbourg, he received the call from Leyla at just the right time to be able to get off the train and meet us in Paris.  If she had called just 15 or 30 minutes later, he would have been past Paris and could not have seen us. 

Again we visited with Hassan and Nermin in their tailor shop and, through them, met a young Turkish woman named JoJo who is from Holland and spoke English quite well.  We shared that we were followers of Christ and she was amazed that we would come all the way from the U.S. and from Germany to visit with Turks.  She was especially amazed about Matthias, because as she said, “Germans hate Turks!”  We gave her the Jesus film and other materials and exchanged email addresses with her.  We believe that we will be in touch with her again, although she is leaving Paris at the end of the month.

We also had good, indepth visits with the Antioch family and with Shukru.  One group visited with the Antiochs on Sunday afternoon and had a wonderful time of Bible study and encouragement.  The other part of the team had Bible study with them on Wednesday.  The women among us especially enjoyed their sweet wives and beautiful children!  Their exciting news is that Charlie and Ellen are expecting a baby in January!

We were extremely encouraged because Yusef, the leader, asked us for the names and contact info of the people we’d met.  He wants to follow up with each of them.  This is another huge answer to prayer. 

Shukru and his family were unable to come in to Paris and so the Terrazas and the Peevys made the 8 hour round trip to see them.  It was worth every kilometer and every minute of the time!  We had such a joyful time with them — the most comfortable time yet.  We spent time in Bible study, in prayer, eating and fellowshiping together, walking through their town, and a lot of time just laughing together.  We found that Elif is a very funny woman (comik kadin!).  She is feeling much better and was much more personally open with us this time.  Shukru also shared more of his story and experiences from Turkey.  To say that their life there was difficult is an understatement. 

Shukru continues to work as a laborer and was granted a work permit for one year.  It expires July 15th and then the government will either give him another year’s permit, give him permanent citizenship or could send them back to Turkey.  Leyla believes the odds are good that he will soon be granted citizenship. 

Shukru and Elif asked for prayer that they would grow in their faith, that they would be godly parents to their children (Hayriye, age 4 and Ali, age 2) and for the health of their children.  Ali has something wrong with his legs and needs to go to a specialist in Paris.  They do not have the means to do this.  Hayriye has a “weak heart” because she doesn’t eat enough meat.

They also continue to need prayer that citizenship would be granted quickly and that they could move from the small town where they live.  There are no other Turkish people living in this small town, so it is very lonely and difficult to share their faith.  Neither Shukru nor Elif speaks much French.  Please pray that he will find work wherever they move.

Having Leyla and Matthias with us to translate Turkish was such a blessing and so helpful to the work there.  We had a great time with both of them and love them so much, and we can’t thank them enough for joining us.  Americans… Turkish… Germans…. all working together for the Kingdom!

Thank you for praying for us, for keeping kids so we could go, for giving money to finance the trip, for encouraging us, for loving us.  This trip would not have been possible without our wonderful friends, family and church family.

Thanks be to God for allowing our church to be a part of this wonderful mission and for going ahead of us to prepare the work.  It is His work, he just allows us to receive the blessing of being on mission with Him!

(These are just highlights of the trip…. if you’d like to hear more, just ask one us!! )

God’s mission in France

Our Paris mission team has all arrived back in Rogers now and we want to give a final update on the mission trip to the Turks.  The end of the week was extremely busy with late, late nights and so we didn’t get an opportunity to post here.  So, let us fill you in now on the happenings!

On this trip we spent a great deal of time encouraging our Turkish brothers and sisters in Christ to walk strong in their faith and to persevere — whether that be in taking the next steps to grow a church, as the Antioch family is doing — or to continue without having any support from brothers and sisters in Christ, as Omer and Shukru and Elif are doing. 

In turn, all the Turkish people we visited — the church in Brussels, Leyla’s extended family, Leyla’s sister, Fedva; the Antioch family, Omer, Shukru — challenged and encouraged us by their example of boldly living their faith and boldly sharing their faith with whomever they come into contact.  Leyla’s sister, Fedva (who traveled with us), shared with everyone along our way – waiters, the clerk in the grocery store, the muslim bathroom attendant at the Louvre, people on the subway, the young Turkish couple who took our picture at the Arc du Triomphe, etc…  In fact, the muslim bathroom attendant at the Louvre only spoke Arabic and we only had the Jesus film in Turkish.  But, she gladly took the DVD and said it didn’t matter, because her neighbor speaks both Arabic and Turkish and they would watch it together and the neighborhood would translate it for her!  So, two people will get to see it instead of one!  Only God could arrange that!

On Wednesday we rented a 7-passenger Renault mini van and drove 4 hours one way down to Digoin, where Shukru, his wife Elif and their two children, Hayreah (girl, age 3-1/2) and Ali (boy, age 16 months) live.  Shukru got off work at 5 and we were to arrive at 4:30 to visit with Elif and the children and then be there when he got home. 

We had an address, but didn’t know exactly where their apartment was located.  A lovely older French woman on a bicycle was so helpful in pointing us in the right direction and then we saw a map of the city by the side of the road.  Gary P. got out to look at it.  Then, imagine our surprise, when the rest of us saw Elif and the children standing outside their building just a few yards away! Gary P. said that it hit him that what God was trying to say to him was “Gary, why do you need a map?  Open your eyes!  I brought you right to them!”

They were so thrilled about us coming that they had been outside waiting for us for an hour and a half!  Elif shared with us that she had been feeling very sick, but when Shukru came home and told her that we were coming, she immediately felt better and began to prepare for our visit.  She said it was a great encouragement to her that we would come to see them.  Their neighbors are all muslims and they have no spiritual support, except from each other.

Elif had prepared a typical Turkish meal for our supper that night.  Delicious!  The Turkish way is for the hostess to serve your plate for you and to never let is get empty!  We were stuffed and she still tried to get us to eat more!

For about 5 hours that evening we visited, laughed, cried, shared scripture, took pictures, ate and encouraged each other.  Shukru is doing Bible study by correspondence with our IMB missionaries in Germany who speak Turkish, and now is going through the book of Genesis. He shared that he spends a great deal of time in Bible study.  He is eager to grow and mature in Christ.  He was so thrilled that we came, and shared prayer requests with us of his desire to grow more in the Lord.  They have cleared one hurdle with the French government, but there are still complications and barriers to being able to stay in France as refugees.  Please pray that all hurdles will be cleared and they will be granted citizenship.

Shukru and Elif shared about their friends who were denied asylum by the French government.  This couple and their children were sent back to Turkey and were met at the plane by Turkish authorities who seized the husband and took him away.  To this day his wife and children have no idea where he is.  They are fearful that he has been killed.  Of course these kind of examples are so scary to Shukru and Elif.

We left their home about 9 or 9:30 p.m. and drove back to Paris.  We did fine until we got almost back to our hotel.  Then we couldn’t ever quite get there because of all the one way streets!  We drove around Paris for an hour and a half — passing the Louvre, the Pantheon, the Seine river many times!  It just got funnier and funnier as we knew where the hotel was, but just couldn’t get to it (kind of like the movie “Groundhog Day”).  Finally we found a parking garage and just parked and walked — at 3:00 a.m. in the morning!  A crazy adventure, but one that bonded us as a team!

The next day Gary visited with one of our IMB missionaries, Terry Wilbanks, and then we met Yusef at the Antioch Brothers restaurant.  We ate there and then took the train out to where they live, south of Paris.

All the extended family met us at their new church building for a time of worship.  They are now meeting in the facility of a evangelical French church.  It is a beautiful building and they have lots of room to grow. 

Our worship time with them was moving as they sang with drum and tambourine and worshipped with eyes closed and arms raised high to the Lord.  Then they shared scripture and testimonies and prayed with great fervor and emotion to the Lord — all in Turkish.  They were eager for us to share a word from the Lord with them and so Gary P., David and Gary B. took turns challenging and encouraging them to take the next steps as a church — to recognize a pastor who is a servant leader, to reach out to the community as a church, and to trust in the Lord.  It is their vision and ours, that they would soon fill the 500 seat auditorium in their church building.

After worship and teaching they asked us to gather in their prayer room and pray for each of them individually.  We had the privilege of praying especially for Yusef as he leads out as pastor and for his wife, Rami as she is his helpmeet.  Others in the family had us pray for their boldness in sharing Christ, their growth in the Lord and for some who are experiencing illness. 

We reluctantly left them in time to take the last train back to Paris, arriving at the hotel about 1:30 a.m.  All of us agreed, however, that both late nights were than worth it as we experienced God at work.

The Lord showed us so much during this week.  We saw God’s hand throughout the entire trip.  God is at work among the Turkish people in France and we believe that we are seeing the beginnings of a church planting movement among Turks from Assyrian and Armenian backgrounds (like the Antioch family) and among Turks from Kurdish/Muslim background (like Omer and Shukru and Elif).  That is our prayer — that God would raise them up and that they would continue to reach out to their own people and that many, many churches would be birthed in the coming years. 

We are so thrilled that the Lord is allowing our church to have a small part in birthing this movement and we encourage you to pray about what part the Lord would have you play in it!  It will take us all working, praying, giving, going, encouraging….

Blessings and Greetings from our Turkish Christian Brothers and Sisters in Belgium and France,

David & Misty Porter, Gary & Nancy Peevy, Gary and Tammy Bailey

Tuesday’s Turkish News

Selam (Hi) from Paris,

Today we visited with our friends Hassan and Nermin and their three sweet children.  They’ve had a baby boy since we were here almost a year ago!  Gary Peevy and Gary Bailey shared again with Hassan the need to become a true follower of Christ.  Our friend, Fedva (Leyla’s sister), shared with his wife, Nermin.  We believe that she is a true follower of Jesus.  Fedva gave her her phone number and believes that she will call her in Brussels for spiritual encouragement.  We had a good visit with both Hassan and Nermin.

We also delivered Bibles to Turkish addresses in Paris that we found in the white pages and prayer walked as we did so.   Also, Notre Dame, the Champs Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe were on our sightseeing agenda for the day!

We have rented a car for tomorrow to drive to where Shukru lives.  He is so excited that we are coming and is looking forward to studying the Bible with us and being encouraged in his faith.  The trip is about 200 miles south of here.  We cannot see him until he gets off of work at 5, but will visit with his wife and their Turkish friends until he gets home.  Please pray for us as we travel and that our visit with him will be an encouragement to him and to us.

Today we also arranged to meet the Antioch family on Thursday evening for their worship time.  They are now renting a building each week to worship in and so we will go there for our time with their extended family and others in their new church.  We are really looking forward to that.

Misty Porter travels home to Rogers tomorrow, ahead of the rest of us.  Please keep her in your prayers as she travels.

Thank you again for your support of this mission.  God is at work!

Blessings,

David & Misty Porter, Gary & Tammy Bailey, Gary & Nancy Peevy

Merhaba from Paris!

Thank you for your prayers for our mission to the Turkish people.  This has been a whirlwind trip so far. We arrived in Brussels, Belgium on Saturday morning and were met by our Turkish national partner and translator, Leyla and her brother, Gabriel.  That day was spent sightseeing and visiting in the homes of Leyla’s family and friends from Turkey.  We enjoyed sharing, eating (a lot!) and laughing with them and we were glad to hear the testimony of the mother of one of our friends who was visiting from Turkey.  She spoke of personally leading three muslims to Christ just in the last couple of weeks and she also spoke of her burden to share her faith with others.  That was an encouragement and a challenge to us to share our faith when we return home.

We were also amazed as we they told us of how Christians in Turkey are put in prison because of their witness for Jesus and yet they boldly continue to share their faith without regard to personal safety.

On Sunday we joined with Leyla and her family in worship at their church.  The pastor blessed us by sharing the main reason that we all came together that day — to glorify our Lord.  Gary Peevy was privileged to thank that congregation for praying for our church and our mission to the Turks and telling them more about this work.  After the service was over there was a time of tea, coffee, treats and fellowship and we enjoyed visiting with everyone there.  We were especially touched by a young muslim woman, Ebru, whose husband is a Christian and who attends the church, but she has not yet decided for sure about her relationship with Jesus Christ.  If she decides for Christ and makes public her decision, her family will disown her. She asked that we pray for her.

That afternoon we arrived in Paris by bullet train and enjoyed seeing the Eiffel Tower and taking a cruise on the Seine River.  Beautiful!

Leyla’s sister, Fedva, has traveled with us to Paris and has been such a blessing.  She regularly calls Shukru and his wife and is such an encouragment to them.  She wanted to come with us in order to meet them in person and share more.

Today we’ve visited again with our friend, Omer.  He is a former muslim who came to Christ in Korea.  He shared with us about his loneliness and how he doesn’t know any other Turks in the city who are Christians.  He feels isolated in his faith.  Please pray that he will be encouraged in the Lord.

We also saw our friends, the Antioch family, and will go one evening to worship with them at their home in a suburb south of Paris.

Please continue to pray for us.  It looks like we will need to travel south of Paris by train for several hours to see Shukru and his family.  We don’t think he will be able to get off work to come see us in Paris.

Also pray for Lokman, his wife, Fatma, and their friend Ridven.  We shared Christ with them last summer and feel that they are close to accepting Jesus.  Pray that they will have time to see us while we are here.

Thank you again for liftiing us up!

Gary & Tammy Bailey, David and Misty Porter, Gary and Nancy Peevy