Christianity,  Theology/Bible

Men of Whom the World Was Not Worthy

Ugur Yuksel

Tilman Geske with his wife and three children

Necati Aydin

Two weeks ago, I saw a little story in the Associated Press about some Christians who were murdered in Turkey. The story was relatively non-descript. It briefly noted that three Christians had their throats cut by some Islamic radicals. The rest of the piece talked about how religious persecution might hurt Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. Little did I know then the horror and the glory of what really happened.

On Wednesday April 18 many people in America were still focused on the aftermath of the massacre at Virginia Tech and had already moved on to inane debates about who to blame (besides the gunman) for the awful tragedy there. On the same day in Turkey, 46 year old German missionary Tilman Geske made his way to his office along with two other Turkish Christians, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel. The three men were heading to a previously arranged bible study with some Islamic “seekers” who had expressed interest in the Christian faith.

It turned out that the “seekers” weren’t interested in Christianity at all. After Necati read a chapter from the Bible, the “seekers” assaulted the three Christians. The assault turned into a gruesome three-hour torture session. According to various news reports, this is what happened:

[Warning: Graphic description follows.]

Their throats were cut and their bodies marred by multiple stab wounds (source). Tilman’s body showed 156 knife wounds, and Ugar’s genitals and fingers were slashed (source). World magazine describes the ordeal as follows: “What unfolded between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 18 could add another chapter to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. As the three men joined together for Bible study, a dozen assailants tied them to chairs, then brutally interrogated and tortured them for two hours about their church activities. A videorecording made with a cell phone shows the men being disemboweled, dismembered, and stabbed hundreds of times. Their throats were slit when police arrived.”

Necati is survived by his wife Semse and a preschool-aged son and daughter. Tilman is survived by his wife Susanne and two sons and a daughter, ages 8 to 13. Ugur was engaged to be married within a few months.

On April 26, the Voice of the Martyrs received a letter describing the entire ordeal and the aftermath of the martyrdoms. The letter begins with the following address: “A letter to the Global Church from the Protestant Church of Smyrna.” You must read this letter in its entirety as it contains a beautiful testimony to the glory of Christ in His saints. Not only does it recount Tilman’s wife’s forgiveness to her husband’s murderers, but it also asks for the global church to pray as follows:

“But 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.”

I am amazed that the martyrdom of these three men has been so underreported. I am happy to see that World magazine has picked it up in their most recent issue, but I am hoping for more. I think that word of their testimony would bring great glory to Christ.

The sacrifices of these three brothers has had a profound impact on me personally, and I have many more reflections that I would like to share about them and martyrdom. So I will be devoting all of my daily blog posts to this topic for the rest of the week. I am hoping and praying that it will be a blessing to you and that I might generate some more interest in their testimony.

Maranatha.

36 Others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword . . . 38 men of whom the world was not worthy.” -Hebrews 11:35-38

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Sources:

“3 Killed in Turkey Bible Attack” – Associated Press (April 18, 2007)

“Three killed at Turkish Bible publishers” – Reuters (April 18, 2007)

“Christian Turks fear more attacks” – Associated Press (April 20, 2007)

“Young Muslims in Turkey Murder Three Christians” – Christianity Today (April 20, 2007)

“Bloodbath in Turkey: Widow Forgives Murderers” – Assist News Service (April 20, 2007)

“Slain Missionary Highlights Christian Plight in Turkey” – The Christian Post (April 24, 2007)

“Turkey’s Christians face backlash” – The Christian Science Monitor (April 25, 2007)

“Turkish church requests prayer after three Christians martyred in Malatya” – Voice of the Martyrs (April 26, 2007)

“Turkish Believers ‘Satanically Tortured’ Before Being Killed” – BosNewsLife News Center (April 26, 2007)

“Widow of Slain Christian: ‘Forgive Them'” – WorldNet Daily (April 28, 2007)

“Turkey: German Seminary investigates Malatya murders” –Journal Chrétien (May 2, 2007)

“No Turning Back” – World (May 5, 2007)

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