before you read ahead....
A letter to the Global Church from The Protestant Church of Smyrna
Dear friends,
This past week has been filled with much sorrow. Many of you have heard
by now of our devastating loss here in an event that took place in
Malatya, a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city
where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46 year old German missionary and
father of three Tilman Geske prepared to go to his office, kissing his
wife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the priceless
memory, "Goodbye, son. I love you."
Tilman rented an office space from Zirve Publishing where he was
preparing notes for the new Turkish Study Bible. Zirve was also the
location of the Malatya Evangelist Church office. A ministry of the
church, Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and
nearby cities in Eastern Turkey. In another area of town, 35 year old
Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife, leaving
for the office as well. They had a morning Bible Study and prayer
meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending. Ugur
Yuksel likewise made his way to the Bible study.
None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study
was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would
conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of
righteousness from Christ and honor from all the saints awaiting them in
the Lord's presence.
On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into
place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out
their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined
Islam.
On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a
by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men
had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known
to the believers as "seekers." No one knows what happened in the hearts
of those men as they listened to the gospel. Were they touched by the
Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in
their heart of hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story.
These young men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the Province of
Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of "faithful believers" in
Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it's like a
fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into
public office without membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived
in the same dorm, all preparing for university entrance exams.
The young men got guns, breadknives, ropes and towels ready for their
final act of service to Allah. They knew there would be a lot of blood.
They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 10 o'clock.
They arrived, and apparently the Bible Study began. Reportedly, after
Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The boys tied
Ugur, Necati, and Tilman's hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed
their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for almost
three hours*
[Details of the torture--
* Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur's stabs were
too numerous to count. They were disemboweled, and their intestines
sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as
those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses
and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was
watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their
throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated.]
Neighbors in workplaces near the printhouse said later they had heard
yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so they
did not respond.
Meanwhile, another believer Gokhan and his wife had a leisurely morning.
He slept in till 10, ate a long breakfast and finally around 12:30 he
and his wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside,
and his key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on
his end he did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones
of his brothers and finally Ugur answered his phone. "We are not at the
office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there," he
said cryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone's
background weeping and a strange snarling sound.
He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about five
minutes. He pounded on the door, "Police, open up!" Initially the
officer thought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard
another snarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as
human suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and tried over and over
again to burst through the door. One of the frightened assailants
unlocked the door for the policeman, who entered to find a grisly scene.
Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered, practically decapitated with
their necks slit from ear to ear. Ugur's throat was likewise slit and he
was barely alive.
Three assailants in front of the policeman dropped their weapons.
Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone had
fallen from their third story office. Running down, he found a man on
the ground, whom he later recognized, named Emre Gunaydin. He had
massive head trauma and, strangely, was snarling. He had tried to climb
down the drainpipe to escape, and losing his balance had plummeted to
the ground. It seems that he was the main leader of the attackers.
Another assailant was found hiding on a lower balcony.
To untangle the web we need to back up six years. In April 2001, the
National Security Council of Turkey (Milli Guvenlik Kurulu) began to
consider evangelical Christians as a threat to national security, on
equal footing as Al Quaida and PKK terrorism. Statements made in the
press by political leaders, columnists and commentators have fueled a
hatred against missionaries who they claim bribe young people to change
their religion.
After that decision in 2001, attacks and threats on churches, pastors
and Christians began. Bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written
abuse are only some of the ways Christians are being targetted. Most
significant is the use of media propaganda.
From December 2005, after having a long meeting regarding the Christian
threat, the wife of Former Prime Minister Ecevit, historian Ilber
Ortayli, Professor Hasan Unsal, Politician Ahmet Tan and
writer/propogandist Aytunc Altindal, each in their own profession began
a campaign to bring the public's attention to the looming threat of
Christians who sought to "buy their children's souls". Hidden cameras in
churches have taken church service footage and used it sensationally to
promote fear and antagonism toward Christianity.
In an official televised response from Ankara, the Interior Minister of
Turkey smirked as he spoke of the attacks on our brothers. Amid public
outrage and protests against the event and in favor of freedom of
religion and freedom of thought, media and official comments ring with
the same message, "We hope you have learned your lesson. We do not want
Christians here."
It appears that this was an organized attack initiated by an unknown
adult tarikat leader. As in the Hrant Dink murder in January 2007, and a
Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006, minors are being used
to commit religious murders because public sympathy for youth is strong
and they face lower penalties than an adult convicted of the same crime.
Even the parents of these children are in favor of the acts. The mother
of the 16 year old boy who killed the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro
looked at the cameras as her son was going to prison and said, "he will
serve time for Allah."
The young men involved in the killing are currently in custody. Today
news reported that they would be tried as terrorists, so their age would
not affect the strict penalty. Assailant Emre Gunaydin is still in
intensive care. The investigation centers around him and his contacts
and they say will fall apart if he does not recover.
The Church in Turkey responded in a way that honored God as hundreds of
believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand
by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of
legal issues, and represent Christians to the media.
When Susanne Tilman expressed her wish to bury her husband in Malatya,
the Governor tried to stop it, and when he realized he could not stop
it, a rumor was spread that "it is a sin to dig a grave for a
Christian." In the end, in an undertaking that should be remembered in
Christian history forever, the men from the church in Adana (near
Tarsus), grabbed shovels and dug a grave for their slain brother in an
un-tended hundred year old Armenian graveyard.
Ugur was buried by his family in an Alevi Muslim ceremony in his
hometown of Elazig, his believing fiance watching from the shadows as
his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so
long professed and died for.
Necati's funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he
came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the
churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not
to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from
Malatya, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not
loaded with explosives. This is not a usual procedure for Muslim
coffins.
Necati's funeral was a beautiful event. Like a glimpse of heaven,
thousands of Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love
for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ.
Necati's wife Shemsa told the world, "His death was full of meaning,
because he died for Christ and he lived for Christ… Necati was a
gift from God. I feel honored that he was in my life, I feel crowned
with honor. I want to be worthy of that honor."
Boldly the believers took their stand at Necati's funeral, facing the
risks of being seen publicly and likewise becoming targets. As expected,
the anti-terror police attended and videotaped everyone attending the
funeral for their future use. The service took place outside at Buca
Baptist church, and he was buried in a small Christian graveyard in the
outskirts of Izmir.
Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the event
from the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting the
events with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeral
had on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well.
Pray for them.
In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey,
Susanne Tilman in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. She
did not want revenge, she told reporters. "Oh God, forgive them for they
know not what they do," she said, wholeheartedly agreeing with the words
of Christ on Calvary (Luke 23:34).
In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing,
many many reports have come to the attention of the church of how this
comment of Susanne Tilman has changed lives. One columnist wrote of her
comment, "She said in one sentence what 1000 missionaries in 1000 years
could never do."
The missionaries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their families
and children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostile
city. The remaining 10 believers are in hiding. What will happen to this
church, this light in the darkness? Most likely it will go underground.
Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead
the leaderless church. Should we not be concerned for that great city of
Malatya, a city that does not know what it is doing? (Jonah 4:11)
When our Pastor Fikret Bocek went with a brother to give a statement to
the Security Directorate on Monday they were ushered into the
Anti-Terror Department. On the wall was a huge chart covering the whole
wall listing all the terrorist cells in Izmir, categorized. In one
prominent column were listed all the evangelical churches in Izmir. The
darkness does not understand the light. "These that have turned the
world upside down are come hither also." (Acts 17:6)
Please pray for the Church in Turkey. "Don't pray against persecution,
pray for perseverence," urges Pastor Fikret Bocek.
The Church is better having lost our brothers; the fruit in our lives,
the renewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench
more darkness in Malatya …all these are not to be regretted. Pray
that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray
that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true
debilitating weakness.
This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their
lives for Him. He was there, like He was when Stephen was being stoned
in the sight of Saul of Tarsus.
Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us
about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last
cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer for
their beloved Savior. But we know He did not leave their side. We know
their minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as
darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know,
in whatever way they were able, with a look or a word, they encouraged
one another to stand strong. We know they knew they would soon be with
Christ.
We don't know the details. We don't know the kind of justice that will
or will not be served on this earth.
But we pray-- and urge you to pray-- that someday at least one of those
five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilman
Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to his beloved Turks, and the
testimonies in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the first martyrs
for Christ out of the Turkish Church.
Reported by Darlene N. Bocek (24 April 2007)
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