Rubble from the earthquakes still fills streets in southern Türkiye, but the lives of many people are already being rebuilt, thanks to you.
Following the series of earthquakes in February which decimated the equivalent of 140,000 square miles, your support earlier this year for FMI’s Hope Stands campaign brought relief to thousands of people and empowered the minority Turkish Christians to care for their countrymen with excellence. Their compassion and testimony of Jesus Christ introduced hundreds of people to new life in Christ.
What follows is a final report on what has happened through the ministry of FMI’s Turkish partners and to relay their gratitude for empowering them with your gifts and prayers. By God’s grace, your generous contribution to our Hope Stands matching grant campaign allowed us to significantly exceed the goal of $100,000. Since the weeks immediately following the earthquakes through today, this fund has helped our church planting partners in Türkiye and the volunteer service teams from their churches to accomplish the following:
- Pastor Dante and his team immediately set up 500 insulated tents as emergency shelters on the level and clear grounds of fairgrounds and soccer fields in the impact zone, as authorized by municipal authorities. As summer came, and it was realized that the rebuilding of the impacted zones would take a few years, teams from Pastor Enver’s church constructed 80 hard-frame tiny homes to replace some of the tents. An AC unit, a small refrigerator, and a two-burner stove were installed in each home. A larger, community unit provided showers and toilets, and there was also a larger community kitchen available.
- The youth group from Pastor Izzet’s church stuffed 500 backpacks with school supplies and items designed to help children cope with losses they experienced. Counselors were provided to the children. Izzet’s church provided a full-time youth worker in residence at one city’s new fairground community.
- Enver’s team delivered daily drinking water in the city of Iskenderun, as the municipal systems are broken and, as of a few weeks ago, still need to be repaired. Dante’s teams prepared and served tens of thousands of meals in Antakya, which also provided many opportunities to develop relationships with survivors and share the gospel. As the hard-frame houses and community kitchens were constructed, meal preparations stopped as a food warehouse was set up so that people could “shop” for their own fresh food and dry goods and prepare their own meals.
- With temperatures now falling, Pastor’s Enver’s church delivered 1,500 winter coats for children and adults to three cities in the earthquake zone in recent weeks. One thousand sets of gloves, scarves, and hats were also provided.
- Sabiha, an earthquake survivor who was a fiercely independent atheist was suddenly confronted with both her physical and spiritual neediness, placed her faith in Jesus Christ as church members reflected the compassion of Christ to her. She is now preparing for baptism. In August, her young adult son also recently placed his faith in Christ, too, following conversations with Pastor Safet.
- The evangelical church in Iskenderun had only 12-15 people attending its gatherings for the past few decades. But now, with many Muslims from the fairground shelters having placed their faith in Christ as fruit of the Christians’ testimony among them, there are now more than 50 new believers attending, with some weeks topping 80 people as many seekers also join them! Across the country, the Turkish Church is growing in quantity as more people are becoming Christians, and it is also growing in quality as church members flex their spiritual muscles in service to their countrymen as the relief phase of the crisis transitions into a rebuilding phase.
Please continue to pray for the patience of the survivors as their cities rebuild after rubble gets cleared. Last week, heavy rains in the impact region created some obstacles to the rebuilding process. Pray for the stamina of the Christians who serve so diligently. And pray for the growing Church in Türkiye to continue on a path to maturity.
While the Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke to a different audience millennia ago, the echo of his words can apply to you: Your people will rebuild what had been ruined and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings (Isaiah 58:12). We join our Turkish partners in thanking you for your role in all of this!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.