Turkey (MNN)–Turkey’s attempts to enter the European Union are stirring up anti-Christian sentiments.
Interserve has a presence in Turkey, but for security reasons, we’ll call our contact ‘Terry.’
He says the attitude may actually be mixed with nationalism, a traditional obstacle to the Gospel in Turkey. “Christians should expect this kind of thing. It’s not abnormal, it’s really the norm for people living godly in a dark world. I feel like we’re living the book of Acts in many ways. There’s seasons of calm and peace and church growth, then there’s seasons of opposition and persecution–sometimes the government, sometimes just social.”
It’s not all doom and gloom In fact, Terry says, “God has really been at work. There’s been quite amazing growth in the years that we’ve been there.”
Terry says sometimes the demands made on their team can be discouraging. He asks for prayer. “All of us recognize that the easy way out is to want to escape or to pray it to go away. My feeling is that what we should pray is that we would be strong through it and that God would do His work in us, through this time of difficulty, that it would strengthen character, lead us to greater hope in Him and greater faithfulness for Him.”
