Posted on 04/28/2007 9:57:35 AM PDT by kellynla
In an act that hit the front pages of the largest newspapers in Turkey, the widow of a martyred Christian told reporters she did not want revenge against the Muslims who killed her husband and two others, according to a new report from Voice of the Martyrs.
"Oh God, forgive them for they know not what they do," she said, agreeing with the words of Christ on Calvary (Luke 23.34), according to a letter Christians in Turkey have written to the worldwide church, a letter released through Voice of the Martyrs.
"In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing, many many reports have come to the attention of the church of how this comment of Susanne Tilman has changed lives," the letter said. "One columnist wrote of her comment, 'She said in one sentence what 1,000 missionaries in 1,000 years could never do.'"
Necati Aydin, Tilman Geske and Ugur Yuksel, (L to R) who were martyred by Muslims in Turkey
She is the widow of Tilman Geske, a German citizen who along with two Turkish Christians were martyred recently – allegedly by five Muslims who met the three victims at a Christian publishing company for a Bible study.
Authorities have taken several suspects into custody, and their cases remain pending.
The letter titled "A letter to the Global Church from The Protestant Church of Smyrna" was received by VOM shortly after the slayings, and the ministry organization that works with the Persecuted Church worldwide is publicizing it.
"The Voice of the Martyrs has already been actively involved in assisting the families of these courageous Christians. We encourage you to pray for them as they grieve, and to pray that this will be a significant turning point for the gospel in Turkey," the organization said.
(Story continues below)
VOM noted that 2,000 years earlier, this location of Christians was addressed in Rev. 2:8-11: "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write… 'Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.'"
The letter describes the work Geske, 46, was doing on a new Turkish Study Bible. That morning, he went to the offices of Zirve Publishing, which produces and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and other parts of eastern Turkey, for a Bible study. Pastor Necati Aydin, the father of two, also left for the same office, as did Ugur Yuksel.
"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," the letter said.
Also heading to the Bible study were five men thought to be "seekers" who had been guests of Pastor Necati at an invitation-only evangelistic service earlier.
"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," the letter said.
"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," the letter said. "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 letter included the following graphic details of the torture:
"Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur’s stabs were too numerous to count. They were disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated."
The letter released by Voice of the Martyrs said neighbors thought the noise was a domestic argument so they did not respond.
Another believer, Gokhan, arrived about 12:30, but couldn't get in, so he called.
"Ugur answered his phone. 'We are not at the office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there,' he said cryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone's background weeping and a strange snarling sound," the letter said. He called police.
When officers entered, they found, "Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered, practically decapitated with their necks slit from ear to ear. Ugur's throat was likewise slit and he was barely alive," the letter said.
Several assailants were caught in the room, and two nearby, including one who apparently tried to jump out a window to flee and was seriously hurt.
The letter said persecution of Christians – bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written abuse as well as media propaganda -- moved into the intense range following a decision in 2001 by the National Security Council of Turkey to consider Christians a threat to national security on the same level as al-Qaida.
The letter described cameras in churches to promote fear and antagonism towards Christians.
What Turkey witnessed from its Christians was something else. "Hundreds of believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of legal issues, and represent Christians to the media," the letter said.
When Susanne Tilman desired to bury her husband in Malatya, the local officials spread rumors it was a sin to dig a grave for a Christian, so volunteers from the church in Adana dug the grave in an untended 100-year-old Armenian graveyard, the letter said.
Ugur was buried with "his believing fiancée watching from the shadows as his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so long professed and died for," the letter said.
"Necati's funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from Malatya, it went through two separate X-ray exams to make sure it was not loaded with explosives," the letter said. "Necati's funeral was a beautiful event. Like a glimpse of heaven, thousands of Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ. Necati's wife Shemsa told the world, 'His death was full of meaning, because he died for Christ and he lived for Christ… Necati was a gift from God. I feel honored that he was in my life, I feel crowned with honor. I want to be worthy of that honor.'"
Then Susanne Tilman expressed her forgiveness in a television interview that was reported on front pages across Turkey.
The letter said the Malatya missionaries most likely will move, as they've been identified as targets in that hostile city, and the remaining 10 believers have gone into hiding.
"What will happen to this church, this light in the darkness? Most likely it will go underground. Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead the leadership church," the letter said.
"Please pray for the Church in Turkey," wrote Pastor Fikret Bocek. "Don't pray against persecution, pray for perseverance."
"This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their lives for Him. He was there, like He was when Stephen was being stoned in the sight of Saul of Tarsus," the letter said. "Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer for their beloved Savior. But we know He did not leave their side."
"We pray – and urge you to pray – that someday at least one of those five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilman Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to his beloved Turks, and the testimonies in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the first martyrs for Christ out of the Turkish Church," the letter said.
Susanne said she planned to remain in Turkey with her children, Michal Janina, 13, Lukas, 10, and Miriam, 8.
Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.
It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.
He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.
The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.
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Yeah, turkey's ready for the eu. They may well deserve each other.
That is clearly closer to the spirit of the Lord than the shriveled, dessicated, sick and twisted professions of hatred for those who killed him. Can’t you agree to that?
While I'll agree that hatred is usually extremely destructive, I can't in good conscience agree with this concept of blanket forgiveness for people who haven't asked for it, don't seem to want it, and haven't said they won't do it again. Where's the Godliness in that?
These thugs murdered a man because he was a Christian. Then they seem to be extrememly prideful about doing it. You want me to forgive that? Sorry, not gonna happen.
you seem to be implying that forgiveness implies that I affirm some kind of repentance/faith on the persons part
That's not my position, that's the position espoused in Luke. Don't argue with me, take it up with Luke.
I can understand this poor woman not wanting to be consumed by hatred. But to say that she 'forgives' them isn't based on Scripture. It would have been better for her to say that she loved them anyway and that she would pray for them to see the light, repent, and ask for forgiveness from her and from God.
That would be Scripturally based.
And just for the record I don't hate the thugs who murdered this poor man. I just want them dead.
L
The Christian Bible states that forgiveness is acting as though the sin or transgression never happened. That's stated quite clearly in Matthew I believe.
I thunked it, but wasn't sure of it. Lurker, you have a problem with your definition of forgiveness. This is not a biblical definition of forgiveness. However, If you use that definition, yes, it would be raw stupidity to extend that to wicked men. Jesus said not to throw pearls in front of pigs, implying that we show discretion. I would need VERY specific guidance from God (knowing that my life was soon to end and that I was called to lay it down in this way) to stand at the Dome of the Rock or the gateway to Mecca and proclaim the gospel. My life would be short, and my "forgiveness" would be stupid, if I thought the muslim history of attacking Christians was magically erased. Again, if I used your definition, I could see why you would hesitate to say we should "forgive" the unrepentant, and I would agree with you.
That said, I don't think your definition is biblical, and I don't find it in Matthew, or anywhere else. I do agree that forgiveness means that we no longer HOLD THE PARTY GUILTY as having a debt to us, and in that sense (alone), we treat it as though it never happened. However, forgiveness is not some spritual shock therapy that expunges events from memory and allows us to enter every situation as a virgin. That would be silly.
I believe that Christ died for our sins, so that we are forgiven. By accepting Christ as our Savior, we become a party to this forgiveness. It is Christ who met the conditions of our forgiveness and gives us everlasting life through him. It is not through the power of our actions that we are forgiven, but through the love and grace of God, in spite of our actions.
Your faith requires some kind of qualification process for forgiveness. To me this seems to put the process of forgiveness in control of the sinner and not of God. If God only grants forgiveness to those who ask, isn’t it the sinner that makes the determination of salvation instead of God?
Sure it is:
"I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more." Heb 10:17
It's been really nice chatting with you, but I've got some work to finish. Thanks for the very civil conversation.
Best to you and yours,
L
I understand the revulsion for evil. But I am reminded of yet another story. This one is from John Perkins, who is one of the coolest guys I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. John is a conservative, grass roots libertarian kind of black Christian. He saw years ago that the roots of black poverty and despair come from years of gov't dependency, and that self-reliance was an integral part of the gospel. He became a pastor in Mendenhall MS, and formed a black grocery store, a black dry cleaners, a black service station, sent some nurses and doctors thru school and started a clinic...., all infused with the redemptive message of the Gospel. Mendenhall was 96% black, and this was a REAL threat to the white business community, and John was targeted by the sherriff. Long story short, they brought him in on nothing charges and just beat the living shit out of him. The interesting thing was John's rxn. He said "as I looked up into the face of that man who was raging and hitting me so that I thought I was going to die, I thought 'You are doing this because you are a slave to Satan. You hate me because you don't know the love of God.' And, I felt SORRY for him, and began to pray for him, that God would deliver him from the kingdom of darkness."
That is what I am talking about. It is a supernatural response that is only possible when the Holy Spirit emulates Christ within us, and we cease thinking about the wickedness of men, and start to pray for the One who delivers from wickedness to deliver this man or woman. This is the history of the church when it is persecuted. It is lovely, and it is powerful beyond words.
No idiot prays for persecution, but Christ makes his people absolutely beautiful when it happens. Join me in praying for this woman, and for the conversion of the men who killed her husband, no? If ANYONE has cause to call down the justice of God on them it is her, and yet she prays for mercy for them. Can you or I do less?
almost used the word "dithyramb" but I restrained myself. Good luck with your work. I guess it is obvious to the world that I can't bring myself to get mine started!
Thank you for the story and the comments. You have been an inspiration. I think it is a good thing for me that you haven’t been able to get started on your work.
forgive well, sorta - the idea isn’t to do nothing and let the nutcases kill off all the Christians.
>> The ability to forgive our enemies .....
Screw that. Don’t forgive them. Find them, and kill them.
But also, do not send your missionaries there to teach the nations that they are not Turks. That’s indeed what many of them are doing. Fomenting seperatism.
This is VERY twisted.
Christ is God. He forgave those that crucified Him. We are NOT Christ.
When a mortal commits a crime they need to be PUNISHED if caught. I’m all for forgiveness however that is most likely to happen when the criminal is PUNISHED. It is NOT a sin to punish a criminal when caught. To NOT punish a criminal when caught is WRONG and stands Christianity on its head.
“She didn’t say that. She said she forgave them. Big difference.”
Maybe she meant by forgiving was to not hold anger, rage, or hatred in her heart towards those thugs.
Without repentance, what purpose is served by forgiving? Enabling Moslem murderers to kill again and again doesn't show weakness, it shows stupidity.
Exactly. Further, forgiveness doesn’t relive them of paying a penalty to society. That is part of repentance.
“This is VERY twisted.”
Not really, we Christians are taught to hate the sin and love the sinner.
If the muzzies spent more time “taking out their own trash” instead of making life hell for the rest of us;
we wouldn’t have to “take out their trash” for them.
`
Your answer is both unbiblical and unchristian. sorry. just the way it is.
It has nothing to do with “repentance.” Possibly these men will face justice in this life. If not here, then definitely in the next life, where they will either suffer for this murder or forever extol the praises of Christ who suffered for them. All the folks who object to this woman are VERY confused over the duty of the state, which is to execute justice, and the duty of individual Christians, which is to emulate Christ by forgiving those who trespass against us, praying for their forgiveness, and extending love for hatred. Unless you understand that, you are not a Christian, and I don’t care how orthodox your profession is on other areas.
ping
You are (again) confusing the job of the individual (which is to return good for evil, forgiveness for hate, and blessing for curses) with the state, which is to use the sword to punish evildoers.
Furthermore, the unmitigated GALL of freepers here is astounding. It is unbelievable arrogance for a bunch of biblically and theological semiliterates to come charging in on their white horses critiquing this woman, who has suffered more than you can dream of at the hands of wicked men. To wag your fingers at her from across an ocean, citing some half baked theology that is not scriptural in the first place, correcting a person who is in fact exhibiting the fruits of the Holy Spirit in a supernatural, only shows me how dry, dessicated, and devoid of understanding the "Christian" community is in the USA.
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