Pray For Turkey

Turkey

Istanbul is the European gateway to the Islamic world.

History of Turkey In 334BC Alexander the Great conquered the region and Byzantium (later Constantinople and then Istanbul) became the foremost city. Following the death of Alexander the Great several small Greek speaking kingdoms arose which were subsequently taken into the Roman republic. It is these regions that feature so prominently in the New Testament accounts of the spread of the gospel through the labours of the Apostle Paul. In AD324 Constantine made Byzantium the new capital of the Roman Empire calling it ‘New Rome’. It subsequently became known as Constantinople. In the split of the Roman empire in AD395 Constantinople became the capital of the Byzantine empire until the late Middle Ages. In 1071, the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert. This laid the foundations of what became the Ottoman empire and what is now Islamic Turkey.

Officially the protestant population of the whole of Turkey is just 5000!

Islam is the overwhelmingly dominant religion of Turkey and makes its presence felt in every area of national life. Over 99% of the population are registered as Muslim.

Mt. Ararat is the highest mountain in Turkey…the site of the start of the repopulation of the planet after the Flood.

The Hagia Sophia illustrates something of the mixed religious history of Turkey – Originally it was built as a church, then it was converted to a mosque. Now it is a museum.

Turkey is rich in Christian history. This is the site of the Temple of Artemis whose worship was so prominent when Paul established a church in the city of Ephesus. All the seven churches of Asia were in what is now Islamic Turkey.

The ancient theatre in Ephesus - the scene of the riot that Luke describes in Acts 19:29

Points for Prayer Pray that the secular nature of the Turkish government may not be lost as politicians with a secret Islamist agenda seek power. Pray for a sense of restraint on radical and militant Islam in Turkey and on the secularist response to it. Pray that the proposed entrance of Turkey into the European Union may have a positive impact for the spread of the gospel in Turkey. Pray for the continued influence of the testimony of the 3 Christian martyrs tortured and killed by young radical islamists in Malatya. Pray for an increase in the production and distribution of good Christian books in Turkish.