The Turkish Baptist Alliance is not a name known by most Baptists. The organization is relatively new and small with only five churches. One of those churches sits on the Black Sea in Samsun, a city with about 600,000 residents.
Pastor Orhan is the courageous pastor leading this isolated group of Christian believers in a Muslim majority country. It is the only Christian church of any kind within a three-hour drive of the city.
Not only is Turkey a majority Muslim country, the nation is increasingly moving away from its foundation as a secular state and leaning more and more toward becoming a state directed by Muslim religious teachings.
Amid these growing tensions one might expect the church to be protective of itself and its members. Not so.
According to a report shared at the March 6–8 meeting of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) executive committee in Falls Church, Virginia, the church has “determined to explore the full meaning of what it means to be ‘witnesses’ to Christ” in the midst of persecution.
The church has a lighted cross atop its rented church building so all who see it will know Jesus is proclaimed in that place.
Supporting each other
A donation by a Swedish Baptist church is helping the congregation complete a new building and the European Baptist Federation Mission Partnerships program is helping underwrite efforts to plant a second church.
Leaders from the European Baptist Federation recently joined Pastor Orhan in baptizing three Iranian refugees who publicly declared their newfound faith in Jesus Christ by being openly baptized in the Black Sea.
The Turkish Baptist Alliance will be recommended for membership in BWA when the BWA General Council meets in July. That will be another assurance that when times are difficult and challenging, members of the new group will know they are part of a praying, supportive community of Baptists all around the world.
Learning about what God is doing around the world is always a highlight of a BWA meeting. One of the most unusual stories at this meeting was a report about the Nagaland Baptist Church Council. Nagaland is another place few westerners have heard about. It is a state in the far northeastern part of India.
What surprises most people is that 90 percent of the population of Nagaland is Christian. In fact, statistics say 85 percent of the population is Baptist. The 2017 annual meeting was hosted by the Nagaland Police Baptist Association.
Nagaland Baptists have 1,585 local churches and 586,593 baptized members.
The group also supports about 20 churches, mostly in India’s largest cities, to minister to Nagas living away from their native area and others.
The Nagas sponsor schools, colleges, seminaries and a host of ministries including sending missionaries to India and neighboring countries.
Assam is a state bordering Nagaland. When Baptist missionaries first came to this part of India they headquartered in Assam and sent workers to Nagaland and other surrounding areas.
The Assam Baptist Convention reports roughly 300 churches and more than 30,000 members but the gospel never found a reception in Assam like it did in Nagaland, even though the same people preached the same gospel about the same time in both areas.
It may always be a mystery of God why the gospel finds overwhelming response in one area and not another.
Assam is a place of persecution for some Christians, especially those who convert to Christianity from other religions. Naga missionaries and others have been beaten and threatened with death. Christian villagers have been beaten and meeting houses burned. Like other places in India tensions are growing as the national government increases the barriers to Christian work anywhere in India.
But Indian believers are not backing down. Reports told of a house church movement in Assam that is bringing many to Christ and supplements the work of the churches.
Can you imagine a Baptist convention in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam? A report of the third General Assembly of the Baptist Churches in Vietnam was another inspiring report. About 600 delegates gathered in the town formerly known as Saigon for the four-day meeting.
The general assembly has work in 44 of the nation’s 63 provinces, the report said. Most of the work is through house churches. Only 11 established churches are reported but there are more than 500 house churches scattered across Vietnam.
Officials said 164 of the house churches have a government license to meet but the government knows about all of the meeting places and the house churches are not encountering resistance at this time. The national organization also is recognized by the Vietnamese government.
The 600 delegates to this assembly participated in the graduation exercises for pastors and church planters who completed their theological studies. As the organization’s history was recalled speakers gave thanks for organizations like BWA who stood by Vietnamese believers during their lean years.
Like in America and most other places of the world, Baptists in Vietnam have more than one Baptist convention. A second group is called Vietnam Baptist Uniting Churches but this group has not yet been recognized by the government.
Mystery of God
Imagine what it was like to hear these and other stories and meet some of the people who lived the experiences. It remains a mystery of God how He makes a witness for Himself in the face of Muslim resistance, Hindu persecution and Communist opposition.
Hopefully God’s Spirit will move as mightily in the face of western capitalism and present-day indifference.
The recent BWA meeting was a reminder that the Baptist fellowship is not limited by geography or language or the tone of one’s skin. It is not limited by culture or system of government. Baptists are a family of believers who belong to God and to one another because of a common faith in Jesus Christ.
That is one of the blessings evidenced through Baptist World Alliance.
Share with others: