Welcome to our new website. New beginnings are often a time to pause and reflect. As we worked on this website, we revisited our vision statement. Why are we here and where do we want to go?
Working towards a strong and growing church in Turkey.
These words encourage and motivate us.
They contain hope
God is at work; his desire is to see groups of Jesus followers meeting together in ever increasing numbers bringing glory to Jesus and proclaiming his salvation.
They bring a challenge
Seeing God’s Kingdom grow is not an easy task; his people are called to join God in his work, taking the initiative and being proactive both in discipleship and in outreach.
They give a focus
We are looking at Turkey; a country where the church of Jesus was born; the location of councils which hammered out doctrine; and the residence of many church fathers and mothers living out a radical life for God. However, it is now a country where Christians are a small minority and living for Jesus is not easy. It is a country where there are many millions of people who have never heard the truth about Jesus.
How do we address the challenges of Turkey?
It is a majority young population with almost half the people under 30. Islam has become quite politicised with President Erdoğan pushing a nationalist Muslim agenda as he starts another 5 years in office having been in power as prime minister from 2003-2014, then as president with enhanced powers since 2014. Many young people in Turkey are attracted by the West and leaving for a ‘better’ future, this includes young Turkish Christians. For the church in Turkey to grow we are looking to God to raise up young leaders who are willing to face the challenges of living in Turkey as followers of Jesus and carry the church in Turkey into the future.
When we think of emerging leaders, we recognise the importance of training and discipleship. The church in Turkey needs leaders well-grounded in Scripture, who will in turn raise up new leaders. Access to Christian teaching in Turkish, by Turkish people with a Turkish perspective will empower these people to impact their country and speak relevantly to their compatriots. This kind of training is one of the projects we at Friends of Turkey are most excited to support in every way we can. We look with expectancy to what God will do as we work to be a channel of his blessing to the growing church in Turkey.