Pray for Turkey

Week of Dec. 1-7, 2014

A message from Jerry and Zuzanna :

We are so grateful to each of you as you join us in standing in the gap for the Balkan nations week after week, for 6 years now. This prayer blog has evolved through the years and it is evolving still. We now have a new section in the left column for European Initiative Balkans prayer needs called“Ministry Needs, Plans & Prayer” which will give each of you an opportunity to pray specifically for our ministry as European Initiative’s Balkans Base Leaders. In this region called the Balkans, one becomes very acutely aware of ones dependence on prayer. We believe our effectiveness hinges on the prayers of intercessors like you. We will share upcoming events and various needs. Thank you for taking the time to pray over our needs in addition to the country we feature each week.

I received the following letter and prayer request from a native brother in Turkey:

Dear Brothers and Sisters

I greet you in the name of the Lord.

During these last months in the Black Sea region and particularly in the regions where we are serving, many people inquiring about Christianity are inviting us to discuss and many are those who accept the Lord Christ. This is something I had not seen so far and I believe that the Lord is increasing the seeds of your prayers. May His name be exalted. Particularly young people are coming to our church and are telling us that are disillusioned with Islam, when seeing members of the terrorist organization so called Islamic State shouting “Allah’u Akbar” (God is great) and decapitating innocent people. We pray that they accept the voice of the Lord who is knocking at their hearts’ door.

To our house church in the city of Amasya we appointed as minister our brother Ali H. who is a native of this city, praying for the growth and the strengthening of this congregation. We are also praying for a meeting place in the city of Ordu. I am glad to say that the hearts of the people in Ordu are very open to the Gospel and if we reach a sizeable congregation, we may be able to ask the city authorities for the granting to us and the restoration of one of the old churches that there are in that city, which is now used either as a theater or a wedding reception hall. We ask you to start praying for this endeavor.

Once again during the Christmas season we shall be inviting people to our church celebrations through adds on the radio, newspapers and billboards. To those coming we shall be donating New Testaments and DVDs and we are praying for the Lord’s provision for the related costs and the salvation of many lost souls.

There are millions of refugees at present in Turkey and their number is increasing, especially those fleeing from the terrorist organization Islamic State, as in the case of the city of Kobani (Kobani is a city of Syria bordering with Turkey and its inhabitants fleeing from the massacre of the terrorists are seeking refuge in Turkey). In the city where I was born, Gaziantep, there are hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and many more are expected. May the Lord show His mercy to all of those in their terrible plight. May we Christians show them the mercy of God. The pressing needs are for tents, blankets, foodstuff and baby diapers. Please pray for the meeting of these needs. Many thousands are also coming to our city Samsun, to the extent that the city center is full of people speaking Arabic and Farsi (Persian). Many come to our church for help and we are trying to help them by your prayers and contributions.

Your brother in the Lord,
Orhan

Prayer Points:
1)    Let us thank the Lord for raising up Pastor Orhan, a native Turk. Lord, we ask that You protect him and his family, give them wisdom and understanding for this time of spiritual visitation in their land.
2)    Let us pray for this area of northern Turkey and ask for continual waves of the Spirit. (Although this is not part of the Balkans we pray for Turkey because of the past and present influence it has had on the Balkans)
3)    Pastor Orhan talks of the increase in people in his area seeking the Lord. Holy Spirit, it is exciting to see You stirring hearts to seek the living God. May mercy and truth convict many to turn to Jesus.
4)    Let us pray for the Christmas outreach effort through adds on the radio, newspapers and billboards. May God’s houses be full of those seeking salvation for their lives.
5)    Lord, we ask that You open up a place of worship for the people of Ordu, Turkey.
6)    We know that God always takes Satan’s plans and turns them against him. We are starting to see a reverse reaction in the Muslim world against the Islamic State, a radical offensive in Iraq and Syria. Let us pray for Christians to be there for those that are doubting Islam.

Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

7)    At this time it is estimated that 0.008% of the Turkish population is evangelical. Let us pray that this percentage will grow in our generation.

Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.