Turkiye (MNN) — With 57 unreached people groups, Turkiye has a great need for evangelism. Yet an increasing number of Christian expats are departing from the country. Bruce Allen with FMI says their exit is part of a systemic attempt to remove foreign Christians. He says what’s happening is not as explicit as imprisonment or deportation. 

“It’s a little bit more sly. It’s that, ‘We are not renewing your visa.’ So it doesn’t look like you are being expelled. It’s just that you’re not getting a renewal to come back.”

People may not know they are in danger of losing their visa until they have very little time to plan accordingly. For example, a family who has vacationed in another country may return to a closed door in Turkiye, or they may be told on the way out that they will be refused reentry. Allen says he recently spoke with one woman in Turkiye who told him,

“You don’t know until you get to the airport if they’re going to say, ‘And never come back.’”

In the case of being refused reentry before departure, some people decide not to leave the country at all. 

“Those are the people who, two weeks later, the police are at their door saying, ‘We arrest you,’” Allen says.  

Please pray for Christian expats in Turkiye facing uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Turkish pastors see potential in this situation. Allen thinks it has to do with the second part of the Great Commission. While the first command is to go and make disciples: 

“The other half is, ‘And teach them to do everything I’ve told you to do.’ And often we’ve said, ‘We have this manpower, we have the purse strings, we own the ministry; and we’ve not empowered the local believers,’” he says. 

Indigenous church planters see the opportunity to step up to the plate as a breath of fresh air. For his part, Allen says adjacent ministries must still come alongside the local congregation to facilitate, mobilize, and inspire. 

Believers in Turkiye face challenges. With a rich history of Christian tradition, the country is often sought out by Christians seeking to visit the seven churches of Revelation; but the present-day situation differs from the historical scene. Allen says most of Turkiye’s Christians face meeting space insecurity. 

“The government appreciates the tourism, but the reality is you cannot build a Christian church building today in the country.” 

Please pray that believers would find places to continue meeting. Pray that as they continue to do the Lord’s work in Turkiye, ministries like FMI will effectively equip and fortify them. Please pray also for church planters being sent out from local Turkiye churches. Pray for the training and mentoring of new pastors, and pray for the hearts of the people in the communities they serve. 

Images in this article courtesy of Unsplash.