Photo by Robin Stokrom
Turkey (MNN) ― This Sunday, Turkey, still in the early days of democracy, goes to the polls.
This vote was forced four months ahead of schedule when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's political party (Justice and Development Party, or AKP) failed to get its presidential candidate elected in a parliamentary vote boycotted by the secular opposition.
IN Network's Rody Rodeheaver says while there's a lot of talk about the future president, there's a more immediate concern. "The general election is not to elect the president, but it is to elect the members of parliament, 550 of them. Then, once that new government is constituted, then they, in turn, will elect a president."
Tensions are high between the government and secularists, as well as the army, which threatened to take action if the government failed to ensure the separation of religion and state. That's brought outside watchers to bear on the elections. Turkey is trying to get into the European Union. The land is of huge strategic importance to the European Union, Iran, Iraq and Syria, but there are underlying tensions over which way Turkey's new government will go.
Rodeheaver says, "The prayer here is that the country would not head toward becoming an Islamic state. There have been some tensions because of that and fears that might have been some sort of secret agenda in the original Parliament here, in their choosing of a president."
A move toward an Islamic state would make outreach difficult. IN Network has church planting and evangelism ministries which are carried out by a small church that was planted in Istanbul through personal visits, discipling church members and building them up in their faith.
The IN Network Turkey also has an Internet Evangelism--a "door-opening" forum to chat with those who do not know Christ, sharing with them the truth of the good news of Jesus. Those who express a deeper interest are invited to seminars and sent literature for personal study.
According to IN Network, the Church in Turkey is now ready to release a limited number of its members to become involved in a full-time ministry. It is anticipated that this will result in a much-needed faster growth of the Church.
However, recent events indicating anti-Christian sentiment is rising is just one more reason their team and other believers need prayer support. Christian believers have declined from 22% to only .2% between 1900 and 2000, and most of these Christians are non-Turkish. IN Network Turkey is committed to sharing the Gospel and love of Christ with these people.
With a population of 70 million people of whom 99% are Muslim, the evangelical church of the 21st century desires to build relationships with their Muslim neighbors. They are also planning a vision tour for October. Click here if you want details.
