Emmanuel Faith Community Church Missions Trip to Turkey
By Mark Tuttle
In the middle of June a group of seven of us from Emmanuel Faith Community Church flew to Turkey to visit Lighthouse Church. This was a first outreach trip from our church to connect with Lighthouse. As background, Turkey is a country that is 82% Muslim, 2% Christian. This church has a direct connection and direct reference in Revelation 2 and is one of the seven churches that Jesus wrote letters to in Revelation 2 and 3. For 1500 years there has been no church in any of these 7 locations. We were there for only a week, but what we found there was profound in my view.
We were blessed to take excursions around the area. Lighthouse Church is a congregation of some two hundred people led by a young Pastor. It also has another branch nearby and also in a city some hour and a half north. Plans are in motion for other locations.
But the real essence of our short time there was the people. Pastor Aly’s testimony was one of several we heard while there, and it is a remarkable story. At twelve years old he obtained a copy of the Koran translated to Turkish. I think it’s important to say that Islam doesn’t consider any translation of the text to be sacred unless it remains in Arabic. But after reading it as a young boy, he declared himself to be an atheist. This didn’t become a large issue in his home with his parents at that time. However, as he progressed through his teen years, he became acquainted with Lighthouse Church. Though skeptical, he gained interest in the scriptures and the foundation of Christianity in Christ Jesus. Eventually he committed himself to salvation in the Savior and was baptized. It was at this time that his family moved to disown him, and that estrangement lasted for sixteen years.
In February of 2023 a massive 7.8 earthquake struck Southeastern Turkey killing over 50,000 people. Pastor Aly and members of his congregation took the over 1000 mile trip to the area, staying for six weeks as volunteers in the disaster. They made the national news, and Pastor Amy’s father took notice. As a result, his father himself came to know Christ, in recognizing the authenticity of his son’s faith. After sixteen years a reunion occurred!
Other testimonies had one thing in common: all had encounters with dreams and visions. It is widely noted in Evangelical circles that dream sequences are commonly responsible for Middle Easterners who have come to know Christ. This was brought down to earth powerfully by personal experience on our trip. Certainly, the Holy Spirit knows no national boundaries in His pursuit of delivering the message of Jesus. At least four other moving testimonies of conversion included dream experiences which came to each unexpectedly. Also, Pastor Aly validated this common experience by testifying that at least once a month he has a non-believer approach him to explain a dream he or she had. At the Sunday worship service we attended, two women came forward after service and made a decision to follow Christ as their Savior.
Common to all was that their decision for Christ meant estrangement from their family. This a high price to pay for the decision made. Personally, I found it moving that though the price is high, these believers are filled with joy. Both the immediate environment and the country itself present a most difficult environment for the population to consider a change in belief. And this represents a stark contrast to the Western world where life as a follower of Jesus costs very little in most cases. I wonder if this difference doesn’t demand a deeper reflection on our part. With so little cost, how much do we value the forgiveness of our sins that opens the door for a relationship with the God who loves us so passionately? Perhaps that is a worthy topic of reflection for us all.
