A university student in Turkey often saw the cross on a native ministry’s church building while walking with her boyfriend. Though she was from a strict Muslim family, she suggested they check it out.
Her boyfriend of three years, Ahmet Korkmaz*, saw no point in doing so.
“There’s nothing in this church,” he told his girlfriend, Beyza Yavuz*.
In the front of the church building was a stand stacked with New Testaments, and Yavuz picked one up. She soon read the Gospel of John, leading Korkmaz to do the same.
“After reading it word for word, they made a list of questions to ask us,” the ministry leader said. “Both of them came together, and we answered their questions as best we could, then prayed for them.”
That night he received a text message from them asking whether John 5:24 – “…whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life…” – could really be true.
“I answered, ‘If God says it, it is indeed true; don’t ask me about it, ask Him. If it is a lie, then God is not being truthful. I don’t believe God tells any lies.’ Then she replied, ‘I don’t believe He lies either. So, I am going to believe it.'”
The next day Yavuz and Korkmaz met with the leader and prayed to receive Christ. They have since been baptised, and Korkmaz not only takes turns playing piano with the worship team but has also composed a hymn, the leader said.
Great Awakening
In a country where the population equates being Turkish with being Muslim, the Lord has awakened many to the truth of the gospel, the leader said.
A refugee who had been persecuted as a Shiite Muslim in her country regularly attended the leader’s church, where she received material help and prayer, but vowed she would never change her religion – until she dreamt of Christ.
She told church workers that in her dream she saw a man with pierced hands reaching out to her asking, “How long will you wait to come to Me and accept Me? If you want to go to Heaven, you must follow Me.”
“When she woke up, that man’s hands were like those in the picture of Jesus at our church, so she knew that it was Jesus,” the leader said. “We prayed with her the prayer of faith, and she became a member of our church.”
She now shares the gospel with anyone new to the church and has been baptised, he said, adding that when she came up out of the water, she said, “Yes, I am not making you wait any more, Jesus, and I’m so thankful that I will be with you in Heaven.”
*Names changed for security reasons
(This story was shortened.)
Source: Christian Aid Mission
