Carelinks | Turkey

There have been around 50 baptisms performed this year of asylum seekers in southern Turkey.

Brother Andy Taylor reports on his trip as follows: “If anyone would like to help the work in Denizli, Turkey they are guaranteed an interesting and most rewarding time. Following a Bible talk, a question and answer session and a meal together, some 28 Iranians put on the saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ in baptism. The total number of brothers and sisters who then broke bread together was not far short of 50. This represents the latest exciting development in the conversion of mainly exMuslim refugees. As well as being a great blessing, this also sets strong challenges for us. The growing number of converts need help with their spiritual development.

Maybe the biggest challenge is to help our dear brothers and sisters find somewhere to meet together. Following Sunday’s baptisms, we met together Wednesday at Bro Afshin and sister Mitra’s small flat to break bread together again. Large numbers meant that two rooms were filled with Bro Reza effectively sitting in the common doorway to deliver the translation of my address. The brothers and sisters of Denizli have such interesting stories to tell and we could not fail to learn much from them; some have suffered serious persecution and have given up a lot to be able to live lives of relative freedom in Christ in Turkey. Denizli itself surpassed all my expectations. It is a growing city of around 600,000 inhabitants almost surrounded by high mountains which are snow-covered in winter. Anyone considering visiting to help would be guaranteed a warm welcome, not least by the wonderful Iranian cuisine. My suitcase was much lighter for the return flight from Bodrum to Gatwick. The absence of 49 Farsi Bible Basics accounts for the weight reduction. They were very much a highlight for all the baptismal candidates, who were very grateful to receive them. There are more residents of the city seeking baptism so they will probably need still further copies soon. The city of Denizli is near the biblical sites of Laodicea and Colosse, as well as the amazing UN sites of Pamukkale and Hieropolis. Bro Elmad and Bro Afshin (aka Daniel) enjoyed showing me around”.