The three martyrs of Turkey

I received this email today. Kind of puts writing a doctorate on martyrdom into perspective:

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 believerswere first called Christians (Acts 11:26).On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46 year old German missionary grandfather of three Tilman Geske prepared to go to his office, kissing hiswife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the pricelessmemory, “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 theMalatya 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 otherbelievers in town would also be attending. Ugur Yuksel likewise made hisway to the Biblestudy.None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study wasthe ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of righteousness from Christ and honour 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 intoplace final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out theirlove for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined Islam.On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a by-invitation-onlyevangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men had arranged at ahotel 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 theylistened to the gospel. Were they touched by the Holy Spirit? Were theyconvicted 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 ofMalatya , are part of a tarikat, or a group of "faithful believers" inIslam.Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it's like a fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into public officewithout membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived in the samedorm, all preparing for university entrance exams.The young men got guns, bread knives, ropes and towels ready for theirfinal 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 videoedtheir workon 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 toonumerous to count. They were disembowelled, and their intestines sliced upin front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those bodyparts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths andes were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was watching as theirbrothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their throats were sliced fromear to ear, heads practically decapitated.]

Neighbours in workplaces near the print house said later they had heard yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so theydid 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 andhis wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside, andhis key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on his endhe did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones of hisbrothers 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 saidcryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone's backgroundweeping and a strange snarling sound.He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about fiveminutes. He pounded on the door, "Police, open up!" Initially the officerthought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard anothersnarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as human suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and tried over and over again toburst through the door. One of the frightened assailants unlocked the doorfor 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 wasbarely alive.Three assailants in front of the policeman dropped their weapons.Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone hadfallen from their third story office. Running down, he found a man on theground, whom he later recognized, named Emre Gunaydin. He had massive headtrauma and, strangely, was snarling. He had tried to climb down thedrainpipe to escape, and losing his balance had plummeted to the ground.It seems that he was the main leader of the attackers. Another assailantwas found hiding on a lower balcony.

To untangle the web we need to back up six years. In April 2001, theNational Security Council of Turkey (Milli Guvenlik Kurulu) began toconsider evangelical Christians as a threat to national security, on equalfooting as Al Quaida and PKK terrorism. Statements made in the press bypolitical leaders, columnists and commentators have fueled a hatred againstmissionaries who they claim bribe young people to change their religion.After that decision in 2001, attacks and threats on churches, pastors andChristians began. Bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written abuse areonly some of the ways Christians are being targeted. Most significant isthe 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 AytuncAltindal, each in their own profession began a campaign to bring thepublic'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 publicoutrage and protests against the event and in favour of freedom ofreligion and freedom of thought, media and official comments ring with thesame message, "We hope you have learned your lesson. We do not wantChristians 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 aCatholic 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 favour of the acts. The mother of the 16 year old boy who killed the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro looked atthe cameras as her son was going to prison and said, "he will serve timefor Allah."The young men involved in the killing are currently in custody. Today newsreported that they would be tried as terrorists, so their age would notaffect the strict penalty. Assailant Emre Gunaydin is still in intensivecare. 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 honoured God as hundreds ofbelievers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand bythe small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care oflegal 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, arumor was spread that "it is a sin to dig a grave for a Christian." In theend, in an undertaking that should be remembered in Christian historyforever, 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 hometownof Elazig, his believing fiance watching from the shadows as his familyand friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so longprofessed and died for.Necati's funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where hecame 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 loadedwith 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 mission aries came to show their lovefor 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 fromGod. I feel honoured that he was in my life, I feel crowned with honour. Iwant to be worthy of that honour."Boldly the believers took their stand at Necati's funeral, facing therisks of being seen publicly and likewise becoming targets. As expected,the anti-terror police attended and videotaped everyone attending thefuneral for their future use. The service took place outside at BucaBaptist church, and he was buried in a small Christian graveyard in theoutskirts Of Izmir.Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the eventfrom the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting theevents with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeralhad on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well. Prayfor them.In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey,Susanne Tilman in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. Shedid not want revenge, she told reporters. "Oh God, forgive them for theyknow not what they do," she said, wholeheartedly agreeing with the wordsof Christ on Calvary (Luke 23:34).In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing, manymany reports have come to the attention of the church of how this commentof Susanne Tilman has changed lives. One columnist wrote of her comment,"She said in one sentence what 1000 mission aries in 1000 years couldnever do."The mission aries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their familiesand children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostilecity.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 forwisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead theleaderless church. Should we not be concerned for that great city ofMalatya, 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 tothe Security Directorate on Monday they were ushered into the Anti-TerrorDepartment. On the wall was a huge chart covering the whole wall listingall 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, therenewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench moredarkness in Malatya .all these are not to be regretted. Pray that we standstrong against external opposition and especially pray that we standstrong 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 inthe 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 fortheir beloved Saviour. But we know He did not leave their side. We knowtheir minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know, inwhatever way they were able, with a look or a word, they encouraged oneanother 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 orwill not be served on this earth.But we pray-- and urge you to pray-- that someday at least one of thosefive 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)