Young Turks Slaughter 3 Christian Missionaries

Floyd McClung writes this...Please read the whole thing and then pray and support those you know on the mission field.

A letter to the Global Church from The Protestant Church of Smyrna

Dear friends,

This past week has been filled with much sorrow. Many of you have heard by now of our devastating loss here in an event that took place in Malatya, a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46 year old German missionary and father of three Tilman Geske prepared to go to his office, kissing his wife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the priceless memory, "Goodbye, son. I love you."

Tilman rented an office space from Zirve Publishing where he was preparing notes for the new Turkish Study Bible. Zirve was also the location of the Malatya Evangelist Church office. A ministry of the church, Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and nearby cities in Eastern Turkey. In another area of town, 35 year old Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife, leaving for the office as well. They had a morning Bible Study and prayer meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending. Ugur Yuksel likewise made his way to the Bible study.

None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of righteousness from Christ and honor from all the saints awaiting them in the Lord's presence.

On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined Islam.

On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known to the believers as "seekers." No one knows what happened in the hearts of those men as they listened to the gospel. Were they touched by the Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in their heart of hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story.

These young men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the Province of Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of "faithful believers" in Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it's like a fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into public office without membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived in the same dorm, all preparing for university entrance exams.

The young men got guns, bread knives, ropes and towels ready for their final act of service to Allah. They knew there would be a lot of blood. They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 10 o'clock.

They arrived, and apparently the Bible Study began. Reportedly, after Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The boys tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilman's hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for almost three hours*

The rest of his letter is at the following link. It is very graphic but you should read it. We must pray for believers all over the world. Floyd's Blog
Times ONLINE

Read David Skiker's Post

David Sliker recently blogged on his ponderings after reading this book. You need to read this blog and let it stir you on! Click Here

Persistent Prayer Needed

Please pray for Caleb Sammuel Bennett. Rory and Noel Bennett are expecting his birth and recently recieved this news:We had an ultrasound that shows our baby has some enlarged points in his brain which could mean Down syndrome or a drain shunt put in at birth. Please pray for us… Our friends Dan & Lori and Brad & Erica have both seen God do miracles with a pregnancy that had the possibility of a difficult outcome. Please pray for them.

Ps 139:13-18
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. NKJV

Artwork by Debra Drake-Huff

This is Y we pray!

Generation Y's goal? Wealth and fame

Eighty-one percent of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed in a Pew Research Center poll released today said getting rich is their generation's most important or second-most-important life goal; 51% said the same about being famous.

Robert Thompson, a professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, says one reason money appears so important is that modern American life "has a lot to do with acquisition."

"The way to distinguish ourselves is by our stuff," he says. "In some cultures, you're born into a caste. You know who you are, and it doesn't change. Here, you have to carve out your identity, and one of the most obvious ways to do that is to climb the ladder. It's not about birth and class, but it is about financial status." READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

This is why we pray...this is what we want to impact. This statistic is probably no different for many raised with faith. What if our highest goal was to behold and bless the Lord? What if American Christ-Followers distinguished ourselves by how we live. By how we treated one another in the family of faith and those outside of our faith. What if we were known for extreme generosity? Insane generosity! What if we lived as those who had the answer! What if we viewed our primary mission as worshippers and our secondary mission as rescuers? The expression and understanding of Christianity will change in a generation because it must change a generation. Let it be this generation, Lord!