While touring a Kurdish city in Turkey, we were walking and a man named “H” yelled at us to come drink tea. We agreed and sat down with him and began to chat. When another man, “I,” joined us, the conversation quickly turned to spiritual things as the second man started sharing his faith. This opened the door for us to share deeply the good news of Jesus Christ. While the discussion continued, another man named “M” joined, and he was introduced as a sheik. We continued and talked about forgiveness for sins and “I” said only God could forgive. When I asked if anything else is required he said that good works are required and discussed the balance between good and bad deeds. I then turned to Ephesians 2, and he read aloud verses 1-10. While reading, the men kept agreeing with what was being read. We continued talking for almost 2 hours, and I continued to tell and show them that it is only through Christ and the price that he paid for our sins could we know and draw close to God. As the conversation died down, we offered them a gift packet of a New Testament and DVD. I and H accepted, and we said goodbye.
The next day we went back to see the men again. They quickly invited us in and even served us a meal. Both said they had been reading the New Testament, and “I” showed how he had it in his desk in his store so that he could read it. He said his wife was wanting to read it as well. His young daughter came in while we were sitting there and he had her take the DVD to their house saying they would watch it when she got back from school.
Pray that these men would believe what they have heard, read, and watched! Pray that they would lead their families to do the same! Pray that the work of these foreign workers would not be in vain!
