April 2021
MISSION MOMENT
Laura and Rich Freeman are associate development workers appointed by International Ministries and its nonprofit organization, Turkish Connections International, to serve in Turkey.
They help establish new churches in one of the least-served countries on earth.
Laura and Rich also work with Turkish pastors and other Christian leaders to accomplish three main goals: first, identifying new potential pastors who are well-trained and highly respected; second, gathering the financial support needed to sustain these pastors; and third, maintaining ongoing contact with each new church in order to nurture the new pastors. In addition to establishing new churches and developing new pastors, Laura and Rich produce a quarterly prayer newsletter and help in the development of a number of community projects in Turkey.
In their recent letter, they write that a report by International Christian Concern, and Middle-East Concern, states that during the period from 2016 to 2020, the civil rights of Christians in Turkey were reduced to almost nothing. This is also true regarding the legal status of Christian institutions and buildings that are dedicated to worship.
Here are the names and activities of some of the pastors Laura and Rich work with: Pastors Vahit and Emre have been greatly interested in the online services that have been presented during the pandemic. These two pastors have also had seven new believers seek baptism in the past month.
Pastors Refik and Armanj are active in ministering to refugees and other Turks who are in need of help. So far, Laura and Rich have helped to distribute 20,000 aid packages.
Pastor Orhan reports that 18 years ago there were no churches in the Black Sea region of Turkey, while now there is a well-established church in Samsun, as well as new churches being planted in three nearby cities.