CHURCH PLANTING IN TURKEY
TURKEY REMAINS THE LARGEST UNREACHED NATION IN THE WORLD: "From Operation World, 6th Edition by Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk. Used by permission of Authentic Publishing."

Population: Approximately 70 million. Of these, 99.8% are Muslim 
Grace Community Church believes it to be the God given responsibility of each of the Lord's churches to be partakers in the Great Commission. No matter how small, no matter how minimal our resources may be, no matter how insignificant we might appear, we have been given our marching orders to evangelize the world. And though we may be small and insignificant, we serve a risen Savior to whom all authority has been given in both Heaven and earth. In addition to that, He has promised that He will be with us to the end of the age. What a great privilege God's people have to be blessed with the responsibility to be able to play a part in the spread of Christ's kingdom! One of the objectives of Grace Community Church is to obey this mandate of our Lord by seeking to plant a church in Turkey. Our desire is to witness the Lord build a church in that country with converted Turks occupying the membership of that church, converted Turks leading that church and converted Turks going forth from that church to start other Turkish churches. Please pray with us towards this end. If you are interested in this endeavor and would like more information or would like to become involved with our quarterly prayer and fasting for this ministry, please contact us.
Turkey remains the largest unreached nation in the world. Few of the 66 million Muslims have ever heard the Gospel. Turkish believers probably numbered about 10 in 1960. This had risen to about 2,000 in 34 fellowships by [the year] 2000. The Turkish Church has at last become a visible reality, but still only constitutes 0.003% of the ethnic Turkish population. Pray for courage in persecution. Social ostracism, harassment by police, arbitrary arrests, and disruptions of church services on spurious pretexts have all occurred - bringing some insecurity, fear and uncertainty, The courts usually throw out any charges made against Christians, but inevitably this is stressful.

Turkey straddles two continents; 3% in Europe, 97% in Asia. Turkey has the worlds 17th largest economy. It is, at the same time, one of Europe's poorer nations yet the richest and most developed of the six Turkic nations of west and central Asia. The Turkish Ottoman Empire once stretched across North Africa, Arabia, Western Asia and Southeast Europe. Its demise and final fragmentation in World War I led to revolution, the birth of modern Turkey and the formation of a republic in 1923 by the much revered Ataturk. Periods of social disorder and military rule led to a return to democratic government in 1983, but with the military still retaining considerable influence. Turkey is a member of NATO, but is in dispute with fellow NATO member, Greece, for long-standing historic reasons and over territorial rights in the Aegean Sea and the division of Cyprus. Suppression of the large Kurdish minority moderated during the 1990s. The long, bitter war with Kurdish separatists caused 30,000 deaths and the ravaging of the southeast, but after 1999 its intensity was considerably reduced. Turkey's economic links with Europe, cultural links with Central Asia and proximity to conflicts in Iraq, the Balkans and the Caucasus have enhanced its strategic importance. There are tensions between Turkey and nearly all its neighbours.

Turkey's Ottoman Empire was for centuries the guardian of all the holy places of Islam and its chief protagonist. Since the sweeping reforms of the 1920s, Turkey has officially been a secular state. In recent years Islam has become politically more important. The constitutional guarantee of religious freedom has not been fully upheld; instances of discrimination and harassment of religious minorities are many, but there has been a distinct improvement since 2000.

Turkey is a nation torn in opposite directions. It straddles Europe and Asia; some strive to bring the country in the EU, others to strengthen ties with Muslim states to the south and east, The constitution, judiciary and army are secular and uphold religious freedom, but many politicians, the police and the growing Islamist movement are hostile to anything Christian.

"From Operation World, 6th Edition by Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk. Used by permission of Authentic Publishing."