Love and forgiveness shine like the sun in a place where there is no light.
On April 18th, three Christian missionaries in Turkey were brutally tortured and murdered. The Church in Smyrna has released a letter to all Christians, the global church. The letter recounts the details of the tragedy (at some points graphic), it calls for our prayers, but most importantly it shows us the power of love and forgiveness in a fallen world. These brothers and sisters in Turkey are a shining example of what it truly means to be a Christian.
(NOTE: A small section of the letter will appear in italics, marked off by stars. That section contains a brief description of the torture that these men endured. It is very graphic, so please skip it if you feel you need to, it won’t affect the rest of the letter)
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.
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[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.
Simultaneously disgusting and depressing. Their families have my sympathies.
Though in my standard capacity as the voice of dissent, I take issue with the rather disturbing trend in the language of the narration prior to the description of the crimes themselves.
Surely you realize, these men were no more tortured and killed for Allah than Matthew Shepard was tortured and killed for Jesus.
Mustn’t promote additional fear and hatred while demonstrating love and forgiveness.
Ben, I appreciate the dissenting opinion. I think I see your point, and it’s certainly something worth devoting a lot of thought to, but surely you must admit that there is something of a significant difference between someone who does some terrible act in the name of Jesus, when Jesus himself NEVER commands or condones any such acts, and a Muslim who does something in the name of Allah that IS explicitly condoned or commanded by Allah in the Qur’an. The Christian has no command to make holy war on the unbelievers, the Muslim does. That seems to greatly complicate the point you’re trying to make. I’m not saying you’re wrong, your point is a good one, it’s just a bit more complicated I think.
Sorry, this may be a distasteful place in which to say so, but on this point I admit nothing of a significant difference.
Numbers 31:1-7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
This is Moses talking, here.
Numbers 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
Samuel 15:2-3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Deuteronomy 7:2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:
Deuteronomy 13:6-10 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which though has not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth, Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
This last one basically commands all good Christians to do precisely what the youths in Turkey did. Like, exactly.
Frankly if I did believe in your god I think I’d fight against him as the most powerful tyrant that ever lived, myself being a vastly better Christian than God.
Now, I know that I don’t know your Bible very well, I haven’t read the whole thing through, and I don’t know the complete context of the verses that I quote here. But, I challenge that I know the intricacies of your Bible approximately as well as you know the intricacies of the Qur’an.
Specific commands to the nation of Israel to make war on specific nations that no longer exist are not at all the same as continuing commands to continue to make war on anyone who isn’t of your religion. That’s a significant difference. Now, you can certainly turn this into a criticism about a possible inconsistency between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, but that’s a separate argument that doesn’t have any bearing on the current discussion. Jesus’ commands are very clear, and none of them give us license to continue making war on all non-Christians (you’ll also note that nowhere in the Old Testament is such a command given either, the verses you quoted are far more specific, but again, that’s another topic).
As far as my own knowledge of the Qur’an, it is admittedly not as intricate as that of a practicing Muslim, but I’m not making assumptions based on my own limited study. Rather, I’m basing my claims on first-hand information from former practicing Muslims who are well aware of the intricacies of their religion, as well as books and other works by scholars who have devoted significant study to these issues. A basic knowledge of History and observations of current events also lend credence to the information I’ve heard and read.
Thanks, Ben, I really appreciate the comments.
Thanks, Dave, for posting that. I had heard about it but I did not have the chance to read the letter. I was going to make a comment about the vast differences between violence in the Bible and violence in the Qur’an, but I’m not qualified for that because I have not studied the Islamic religion much.
Sarah, I’m glad I could be helpful!
I’m not really qualified to speak on the issue in any broad or deep sense either, I only know with a good deal of certainty that the Qur’an DOES command that Muslims continue to make holy war against non-Muslims, and that it isn’t a question of intricacies or differing interpretations. (Did you go to Dr. Solomon’s lecture at Westminster last year? That was very informative.)
I assume you’re referring to Qu’ran verse 4:89, which states “They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah’s way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.” which I’m pretty sure commands them to drive us away, not kill us. In any event, the very next verse 4:90 states “Except those who reach a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people; and if Allah had pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they should have certainly fought you; therefore if they withdraw from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then Allah has not given you a way against them.” Which seems rather decent.
And I feel I should point out that any brother, mother, son, etc. of a believer hardly constitutes a specific nation that no longer exists. The Deuteronomy verse seems to say that if I were to say “Hey, David, try being an Atheist with me” then you have to try to bludgeon me to death with rocks.
Now, I do very much believe that organized religion gets a lot of people killed, but trying to pin it all on the “them” simply won’t fly, especially considering that Christians (or at the very least those commanded by Christians) are killing thousands more people in Muslim lands than Muslims are, currently. Albeit more humanely than in the case of the Turkish churchgoers.
Apologies, but if it sounds like I’m getting heated, it’s just because I am. Villifying a people for the acts of a few simply isn’t okay, as it tends to have an ugly way of turning into justification for doing things you’d otherwise realize were evil.
Since, as we’ve pointed out already, neither of us are experts on Islam, I’m going to trust the experts over your interpretation of a single verse quoted without context.
Secondly, if you mean to say that America’s current wars in the Middle East are “commanded by Christians” in the sense that our Commander In Chief is a Christian, then you’re technically correct. But that isn’t saying much of relevance. If you meant it in the sense that America is a “Christian” nation, then you’re mistaken. Unlike some Muslim countries, America is not a Theocracy, and not even our alleged 80% Christian majority lends anything to such a suggestion. This is made obvious by the fact that some of the most outspoken pacifists in the last 50 years have been Christians, and not even all Christian non-pacifists fall into the pro-war camp when it comes to Iraq. It’s a simple matter of disagreement over a practical issue that doesn’t make anyone on either side a “bad” Christian, but it does dispel any possible notion that America’s wars are “Christian” wars.
I’m also not vilifying anyone for anything they haven’t done. If by “vilifying” you mean “condemning the heinous crimes of”, then yes, I’m vilifying those “few” who have committed such heinous crimes. People who are devoted followers of Islam, but who have committed no such heinous acts, are not evil, and I’m not claiming that they are. I simply believe their religious truth-claims to be mistaken. I disagree with them on some basic levels, I’m not vilifying them. You’re obviously of the “all religions are basically the same and all cause equal strife in the world” mentality, and I’m simply arguing against that by comparing the truth-claims of the two religions in question. I’ve said absolutely nothing about the people who practice either of the religions, Christians included, I’m only commenting on the beliefs of the religions themselves. And as I’m not an expert in Islam, I’m taking the word of credible and reliable authorities on Islam to determine what their truth-claims actually are.
One final thing I’d like to point out is that my original premise was the need to show love and forgiveness to one’s enemies and I praised these Christians in Turkey for doing just that. Far from seeking justification for committing more violence in retaliation, I’m asserting just the opposite, all the while remaining faithful to the religious truth-claims I’ve been trying to defend.
I do, however, agree that vilifying (or “dehumanizing”) people as a means of creating justification for doing violence to them is a bad thing, and I appreciate your bringing that up. Thanks again for the comments, what we’re doing right now (dialectic) is very important and I’m grateful for your willingness to keep at it, even when it gets tough.
Oh, you’re quite right, I’m no expert. Islam could be very pro-war. But Christianity’s very pro-stoning, at least in the Old Testament. It falls to the individual to decide which bits of “Divine Truth” can be ignored.
Regardless of whether or not the wars themselves are in the name of Christianity, the fact that a vast majority of the killers in said wars claim to ascribe to a religion whose primary set of rules includes “thou shalt not kill” makes me wonder if the supposed differences in doctrine even matter. At the very least, I hope it worries you.
We (or maybe just I) tend to get sidetracked and argue the details, though. I trust I’ve made my point, and I thank you for indulging me.
It does worry me. And if I thought that liberals were 100% right in all their claims that the war in Iraq is just for oil, or that it’s just an act of imperialism, then I’d be as opposed to it as you are. As it is I’m not really in favor of the war so much, at the very least I think we rushed in too quickly and a bit ill-prepared. And as I pointed out, many modern pacifists are Evangelical Christians, and technically speaking there are more Christians opposed to this war then there are fighting it, but now I’m just nit-picking.
We both get side-tracked (there are so many good topics we could explore, after all!) I’m just glad we have the opportunity to discuss these issues. I’m happy to indulge you anytime.
There was a little bit of side-tracking, but I am glad you got this out for people to read. A lot of things go on in the world our mainstream press doesn’t report.