About The Workers We Support
People often ask: "Who are these workers you support, what is the work they do, and how exactly is the money used?" A quick summary is that we currently support 6 workers with an annual gift, paid monthly, to supplement what they receive from their local church. In a few instances we also support workers who have another job, but with low earnings because of their involvement in Christian activities. Our goal is to double the number of workers supported and the level of gift in the near future, a four-fold increase in our current annual budget of £9,000 ($14,000). We also want to increase the number of active prayer supporters.
Workers need our supplementary support for basic household expenses, rent, taxes, national insurance, and similar items - Turkey is quite a European country in this respect. There are expenses for schooling (no free school buses in Turkey), and for medical treatment. Turkey is a big country and travel costs to visit and encourage isolated local groups of believers, or for outreach activities, can be considerable. Even a simple thing like providing hospitality for a home meeting can strain finances.
Supported workers have major responsibilities for Bible teaching and preaching, and for vitally important youth work. They also do a lot of counselling, marriage and general, as well as leading Bible studies and other small group activities. Literature distribution is another task carried out by workers - very often of items published by Firm Foundation Trust. Teaching, mentoring, and counselling are very important in the absence of an evangelical Christian tradition in Turkey.
You will find links to the detailed testimonies of supported workers on our Other Information page - along with useful summary prayer bookmarks for each one of them. You will find the latest news on our Blog Page and we encourage you to view the reduced size trailer of our 15-minute audio visual Silas presentation - opens in a new window. You may also request a DVD of the full presentation, for private showing. The guidelines we use in determining the workers we support are as follows.
- We maintain close consultation with both local Turkish Christian leaders and long term expatriates. These godly people have observed the person concerned - usually over a period of years.
- We look at the results of the person's work - while appreciating the difficulties of Christian work in Muslim lands. We evaluate the activities and effectiveness of each person under consideration.
- We look for faithfulness, integrity, and godly character in every case.
The Church at Diyarbakir - Led by Ahmet and Cigdem.
Diyarbakir is the main city (around 1.5 million people) of the Southeast Anatolia region of Turkey, which borders on Syria. Its historic black basalt walls are perfect examples of the military architecture of the Middle Ages (see the excellent website guide to Turkey: www.allaboutturkey.com for more details).
The church at Diyarbakir numbers about 50 people. It is fortunate to own its church building and be fully recognised officially as a church - a rarity in Turkey. It is active in following up seekers in the region's cities of Batman (60 miles to the east), Erzurum (150 miles to the north east), Mardin (60 miles to the south east), and Siirt (110 miles to the east) - with the aim of establishing fellowships there. It is also active in youth work and hosts the annual regional youth conference. Regular screenings of the 'Jesus' film are held for people in the neighbourhood.
Antakya (Antioch) Christian Church - Led by Hamdullah and Elmas.
Antakya (Antioch) is the main city (over 180,000 people) of the Mediterranean region of Turkey, just by the upper right corner of the Mediterranean Sea. It has been an important city since ancient times (see the guide to Turkey: www.allaboutturkey.com website for more details).
The church at Antakya numbers about 30 people. It has a strong focus on evangelism and is working to establish churches in the neighbouring cities of Iskenderun (30 miles to the north) and Samandagi (15 miles to the south west). It has also been very busy following up enquirers resulting from activities of the Turkey Afri-Asia Creative Outreach group (TACO).
Besiktas Church in Istanbul - Led by Kaan and Alexandra.
Istanbul is Europe's largest city, with a population of over 12 million. It is situated on both sides of the Bosphorus - the narrow strait leading from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. It is Turkey's cultural and financial centre and has been a leading city since ancient times (see the website guide to Turkey: www.allaboutturkey.com for more details).
Besiktas church numbers about 50 people. It is located in the same area of the city that is home to the famous BESIKTAS football team. The church is active in house groups, bible studies, seminars, and prayer meetings.
Visiting and Counselling Work Carried Out by Gul in Izmir.
Izmir is the third largest city of Turkey, with a population of over 3.7 million. It lies on the shores of the Aegean sea, about 200 miles south of Istanbul. It has been an important city since ancient times (see the website guide to Turkey: www.allaboutturkey.com for more details).
Gul is a widow with three sons, and provides counselling and visiting services within her own church. She is also developing a specialised ministry of Bible teaching to ladies. Turks love to meet in small groups that allow close relationships.
Supported Workers