Friends of Turkey began in the early 1970s, with a group of Christians praying for Turkey, and sending invitations to sign up for a Bible Correspondence Course to people in Turkish telephone directories. Some people involved in this work put out a bimonthly Prayer letter. This Prayer letter became Call to Prayer.
The American group became Turkish World Outreach, which merged with Crossover Communications International in 2013. At the same time interested Christians in the UK continued to send out the bimonthly newsletter, retaining the name Call to Prayer. As well as sending out the Call to Prayer, prayer days were arranged around the country, raising interest in the work of God in Turkey; the need of this great unreached land; and the slowly growing number of believers there. At that time there were few foreign workers and even fewer Turkish background believers.
As Friends of Turkey in the UK began to grow, people saw it as a way to send money to support God’s work in Turkey. So, it was registered as a charity in 1996. Among the ministries supported through Friends of Turkey was relief work following the 1999 Izmit earthquake.
During this time an American couple who had much experience working in Turkey alongside the Turkish church saw the need of Turkish church leaders who were struggling financially. They set up the Silas Fund to help support these underfunded Turkish Pastors with a small addition to their income. The Silas fund was initially under the Firm Foundation Trust, but in 2011 Friends of Turkey took over responsibility for administering it. The fund was administered separately from other Friends of Turkey funds until 2022, when all funds were merged.
Over the years Friends of Turkey have prayed for and supported many churches and church leaders in Turkey. Now Call to Prayer is available both by post and, since 2010, by email. Also, the regular prayer gatherings are no longer face-to-face but on Zoom; helping many people across the country to join in.
A recent development is that along with established Turkish pastors, Friends of Turkey has started to help younger people just starting out on their life of service, enabling them to get training and experience under the supervision of more mature Turkish leaders.