IRANIANS, TURKEY March 2005
There are still a number of Iranian brethren seeking asylum
in the West, who are currently based in Turkey. A visit was made
to them, and also to a contact in Izmir.
Six years ago, a young Evangelical called Fabian in Honduras
[Central America] was chosen to leave his native Honduras and
work for Campus Crusade for Christ in Turkey. He eventually
became unhappy with their doctrinal position, and began working
for an independent Evangelical church in Izmir [Biblical Smyrna]
as an evangelist. He learnt Turkish and did his work, and yet he
was growingly uncomfortable with the idea of God being a
trinity. He obtained a Turkish copy of Bible Basics and
has been in contact with us for some time, although not willing
to break with the church. However, he decided that he fully
accepts the Biblical truths about the nature of the Lord Jesus,
death being unconsciousness, hell being the grave, the Kingdom
coming on earth etc.- and started preaching those doctrines. He
was soon expelled from the church, and then started thinking
about re-baptism. He became convinced of the need for
re-baptism, and it was a great pleasure to interview this
dynamic young man and baptize him.
He has obtained part time work in a hospital, but is in a
hard financial position as his previous relationship with the
church has now ended totally and he has no support. However he
is actively preaching and already has a number of others
seriously interested in the Truth and studying Bible
Basics. He's also keen one day to spread the true Gospel
to his homeland of Honduras, and as there are no brethren there
[to our knowledge] we see this as yet another opening to spread
the Truth to the whole planet.
He's in touch with the local brethren in Turkey and
between them they're planning a campaign in Antakya,
Biblical Antioch. They've got permission from the local
Police to display a bookstall in the town centre- Antakya is the
most 'Christian' city in Turkey and the most tolerant of
Christian preaching.
Our new brother believes, based on 6 years preaching
experience for other churches, that the best way to establish an
ecclesia is to invite Turkish people to regular meetings in a
home, having first engaged their interest on the street or in
cafes, and having given them literature to read. The CCM stand
totally behind him in this initiative. And so if anyone is
interested in funding the rental of a meeting place for a few
months, please let us know. We suggested that he invite a more
experienced brother or sister to stay with him for a while if
indeed this project goes ahead, and he was most supportive of
this idea. So… if anyone is willing to spend some time in
Turkey working together with us and him, do let us know!
We were able to deliver him many copies of the Turkish
edition of Bible Basics For Moslems but he needs more.
We're grateful to the Christadelphian Advancement Trust for
their initiative in producing this book in Turkish, and for
their generosity in providing so much literature so freely. He
also asked if we could provide 200 Turkish New Testaments. They
cost around $1.50 each if bought bulk from the Bible Society in
Istanbul. However, we're wondering if anyone would take this
project on board. What is needed is to search the internet to
see if there are any sources of free or heavily discounted
Turkish New Testaments, and then to arrange for them to be
shipped out to him.
Above all do please pray for this knowledgeable, talented and
capable brother as he embarks upon his mission to establish
ecclesias in Turkey- in the very cities where there once were
ecclesias in the first century. We were able to provide him with
welfare funds.
Photo: 
Photo: Bro. Fabian with a Turkish New Testament- he's
looking for another 200 of them
Photo: 
Bro. Fabian with his Turkish Bible Basics and the
latest delivery of Turkish Bible Basics For Moslems.
IRANIANS IN TURKEY
We continued on to visit our dear brother H and sister C.
They are Iranian refugees, persecuted for their faith, who are
threatened with deportation to the supposedly ‘safe’
area of Northern Iraq. A huge amount of effort is being expended
by various brethren and sisters in order to reason with the
UNHCR and other agencies, and to help get them to Canada. Please
do pray for these efforts. They’re very and genuinely
appreciative of your petitions and support in many ways. The
refugee life in Turkey isn’t at all easy. Not allowed to
work legally, hassled by the Police and a Moslem Government ever
eager to deport Christian asylum seekers, threatened by Moslem
and racist vigilantes, frequently having to move home, not
knowing the language, aggressive and unsympathetic officialdom,
endless red tape, no free medical care, far from your family,
some of whom are leading the persecution against you in your
homeland… the stress and emotional pain is incredible.
Please spare a prayeful thought for our Iranian brethren and
sisters in Turkey. Brother H and Sister C all have significant
health issues that need our prayers.
Brother S and Sister C are still awaiting approval to leave
for Canada, where they are already in regular contact with the
ecclesias. But they face a host of significant problems. One of
them is that their residence permits in Turkey expired recently,
and if they’re not renewed, then they can be instantly
deported by the Turkish Police, regardless of their status with
the UNHCR or eligibility to emigrate to Canada. We arrived the
day their residence permit expired, and were able to do what we
could to persuade the Police to extend it. We give true thanks
to the Father that this was eventually possible, despite a 3
hour interview, and very abusive and needlessly intrusive
fingerprinting and body checks by the Police.
Photo: not available
The expired residence permit. You can see by the date stamp on
the photo that we were with them the very day the permit
expired. You’ll also see the price- 380 million Turkish
Lira. The Turkish Government have raised the price from 135
million Lira which it was previously- as witnessed by the
previous residency extension in their permits [see photo
below]
Photo: not available
This price rise is another indication of Turkey’s
frustration with the many Iranian and Iraqi refugees which they
host. Not allowed to work legally, the refugees have to provide
for themselves financially- and this is where our support for
our brethren is so vital.
There are some problems which humanly speaking only hard cash
can solve. And so it is with paying for the extension of the
residency permits. We were able to give them $300 in order for
them to get the extensions.
Here’s a photo of our very relieved and grateful [both
to God and you] Brother S and Sister C, with their blue
residency permits and the cash.
Photo: not available
Incidentally, we try to get receipts for any item over $10
, and so as usual we got a receipt from them [we’ve
obliterated their name and signature for security reasons]:
Photo: not available
So we continue trying to prayerfully support them as much
as we can, and ask your fellowship with us in this.So we
continue trying to prayerfully support them as much as we can,
and ask your fellowship with us in this.
It was a pleasure to interview and baptize MUCHTABA, another
Iranian, to whom our brother S has been preaching for around a
year. He is an Iranian Christian who fled Iran 20 months ago
after major persecution. Since coming to Turkey, he has learnt
the truth about the nature of Jesus from Bible Basics and from
our local brethren, and desired to be re-baptized. His situation
is really tough. His [supportive] wife is still in Iran, and his
appeal to the UN for asylum was turned down in January. He
subsequently appealed the decision, and was turned down and had
his case file closed, with the tough words “You are
therefore not a person of concern to UNHCR. As a result, we have
closed your file and are unable to assist you”. The letter
goes on to say that his temporary asylum application to the
Turkish authorities is unaffected- but Turkey only allows
refugees to stay in Turkey if their case is ongoing with UNHCR!
So that’s meaningless comfort.
Photo: not available
Our brother is very earnest in his beliefs, forehead already
heavily lined, and clearly suffering from great nervous stress.
Please do pray for him. We are pressuring UNHCR to re-open his
case file and we can only pray for that to be granted and for
them to consider his very genuine case more. Please also pray
for our wisdom as we try to patiently wade through a jungle of
red tape with officialdom who appear disinterested and biased
against Christians.
With love from your brothers and sisters of CCM