I have two friends who are missionaries in Turkey, and so when I read this news and also the horrific news from last week I always wonder if they are my friends. In this case, they aren't, but these stories have been bringing what my friends do closer to my heart. I admit, sometimes I forget the nation they chose to go to be witnesses in...well, what a wake up call these past few weeks have been.
Our friends at Compass Direct have produced this story and we thank them for letting us use it here.
ISTANBUL, April 27 (Compass Direct News) – Police jailed four Christian street evangelists in Istanbul for “missionary activity” this week, even as government officials openly defended the right of all religious groups to carry out evangelistic work in Turkey. Officials released U.S. citizen David Byle this evening, more than 48 hours after he was arrested along with a Korean and two Turkish Christians, his wife said. Christian sources maintained that Turkey plans to deport the Korean believer, though further details remain unknown. The four men were detained Wednesday afternoon (April 25) while sharing their faith with passersby at a park in Istanbul’s Taksim district. The arrests occurred in the midst of tense national debate over the legitimacy of Christian missionary activity, sparked by the gruesome killing of three Christian men in southeastern Turkey last week. “Missionaries are more dangerous than terror organizations,” Niyazi Guney, Ministry of Justice director general of laws, reportedly commented only a day after the murders.
Read the full story online here.
