Turkey (MNN) — TURK-7 is an
exciting Christian television channel broadcasting quality programming to
Turkish-speaking people worldwide.
TURK-7's Michael Glenn says it's a
good fit because the Turkish people are hungry for media. "They are second only to the United
States in the number of television channels. So they draw in this stuff, in an eager way.
Half the population is under the age of 30. They're more media savvy, more
in-tune to this kind of thing. Right now, we're doing four hours a day of broadcasting,
and our goal is that within two and a half years, we can go 24/7, pumping that
Gospel in."
At present, they're able to beam
their signal into 70 million viewers in the Republic of Turkey, plus another ten
million other Turks in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. In addition, TURK-7's web streaming service
makes the channel available to viewers throughout the world.
In an area that was nearly
25% Christian a century ago, the population of believers now falls under one
percent. Despite changes made to facilitate
joining the European Union, there is no indication of increasing religious
freedom.
While the Turkish constitution
includes freedom of religion, worship services are only permitted in
"buildings created for this purpose," and officials have restricted
the construction of buildings for minority religions.
Evangelism is difficult, so
working alone isn't practical. Because
they've partnered with 30 organizations and churches, they're able to do much more in scope. The programs being broadcast give a Christian
point of view on a variety of topics using different program formats including
documentaries, dramas, children's animations and teaching.
Although not without its risks, Glenn
says they're helping to rebuild the body of Christ. "The foot is in the
door, and I think they're eager to receive more. I just think it's God's time.
He's putting a beacon on an area that was foundational and the birthplace of so
much of our civilization of the world. It's incredible."
Pray for opportunities for
Christians in Turkey to share the truth of who Jesus is with those around them.
