Turkey: Many wish to be baptized

June 23^rd 2022  

Stefanus Alliance supports an evangelical church in Antalya, Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea. Pastor Ramazan Arkan is himself a convert from Islam, as is the rest of the congregation. 

Ramazan was very excited before the two church sites that the congregation has, were reopened after the closure during the pandemic. Would people come back for services and other gatherings? 

"People did. And a lot of new people are coming. People come physically. And they visit the church digitally. 

Here is an excerpt from Pastor Ramazan's latest news and prayer letter: 

"We have record numbers of people visiting our church sites every single day. Church attendance is high, and almost weekly we see at least one person at both of our churches committing their life to Jesus. 

Baptized 18 in one service 

Last Sunday we baptized 18. They had finished their baptismal instruction. Never before have so many people been baptized in one service.  We don't like to focus on numbers in ministry, but now the numbers are so significant that it's hard not to notice them and examine the contributing circumstances. We are so thankful for what God is doing in Turkey and in our city. We pray that all the new believers will experience real and lasting life change." 

When the church celebrates its 30th anniversary this fall, a new group will be baptized. All have come to faith last year and this year. 

Pastor Ramazan asks for prayers for those being baptized. He also asks for prayer for the congregation when it will be divided again when a third church location opens after the summer. 

New center for evangelism 

The church is now planning a fourth center, for evangelism and discipleship training. 

Between 2000 and 2013, the church was allowed to evangelize on the streets and distribute materials in parks. These were the years when Turkey hoped to join the EU. These activities were protected by the police. The church staged small concerts or plays. Christian books and Bibles were distributed, and passers-by were invited to the church. 

But since 2013, local authorities have not granted permits for outdoor church activities. They are allowed to organize gatherings indoors in public buildings during holidays. There are several reasons for this: the government has become more Islamic conservative, there have been terrorist attacks, an attempted coup - and a pandemic. 

The church has used social media to reach out, in addition to the holiday gatherings in public buildings. 

Now the church wants to start a new center in Antalya, in the center of the city, in an area with many pedestrians. Here they will have a table with Bibles and invitations for a conversation inside, or to come to one of the church locations. There will be a café and language training. 

The center will also provide training. It is not allowed to open either theology education or Bible schools in Turkey, for any denomination. But the church in Antalya will find a form for this center so that it can provide leadership training for Turkish churches. 

Easter success 

The congregation is not allowed to register their places of worship as churches, with the legal status that would give them. But they continue to work comfortably. 

On Easter Sunday, the congregation had rented the large auditorium in the town hall in Antalya for worship. The congregation was excited and handed out 10,000 invitations. But the week before, they were told that the congregation was not allowed to use the large auditorium after all. They had to make do with the foyer. They were nervous about how this would turn out. 

But it went much better than expected. They had 370 visitors and handed out almost 200 New Testaments. 

Please join us in praying for the congregation.