January 01, 2000 by Carey Wallace

The Church Responds

In the latter half of 1999, Turkey suffered two severe earthquakes (with inumerable, but subsantial aftershocks). The first quake, measuring 7.2, struck Izmit on August 17. The second major quake measured 7.4 and struck Düzce on November 12. This story deals with the aftermath from the first, Izmit quake.

Editor

In the dead of night, it must have seemed like an act of God. From miles below the earth, ancient rocks groaned with inhuman voices. On the frail surface, steel twisted and shrieked, glass shattered, concrete crumbled like sand. For a moment, silence. And then the human voices: whispers, whimpers, shouts and cries-- the people of heavily populated, industrial northwestern Turkey, waking at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, August 17, 1999 to the end of their world.

But how is God at work in this country? The earthquake zone can be easily marked on any Bible map of Paul's missionary journeys. Turkey was home to the seven churches of Revelation, including those at Ephesus and Philadelphia, and once boasted the seat of early Christianity at Constantinople. Yet today the Evangelical Protestant population has been estimated at less than 2,000 believers. How has God been at work through His church, both national and international, in the aftermath of August's earthquake?

In the first days following the disaster (a terror that many Turks believe was the direct work of God's hand) workers from around the world flooded into the earthquake zone with cranes, trucks, medicine, water tanks, food, dogs, and other emergency supplies. Among the relief workers came Christians from both the international arena and the local church.

An Opportunity to Serve

The Turks are a strongly relational people, deeply loyal, but also suspicious of preaching outside the context of a relationship. In some ways, this makes them especially resistant to hearing a Gospel preached by foreigners in the midst of a national emergency; in other ways, it makes this particular emergency perfect for the growth of the small Turkish church.

"Nobody likes an earthquake," says Clive Calver, Director of World Relief. "An earthquake is only a fund-raiser for the amount of time the body count is rising." But the repercussions and the attendant relief work can last for years. "How long will the aftermath last?" Calver asks. "Probably a decade." But it is exactly this long-term, committed Christian presence that may best impact the Turkish people with the reality of the Gospel. What is the potential impact? "It could be wonderful," Calver says.

Because of the tricky nature of earthquake intervention, World Vision, World Concern, and the Tear Fund made a decision to partner with World Relief, channeling the funds they received for Turkey directly to World Relief, which is dedicated to helping local churches help meet local needs through sustainable long-term projects. With these funds, World Relief began work with believers in the province of Izmit where the entire local church consisted of a family of four. "The governor of Izmit gave us a plot of land and a couple of vehicles and said, 'Provide for a thousand families, five thousand people. Provide tents or dwellings, sanitation, food, security, medicine, treatment, the lot.' And what he was really doing was challenging the churches: 'Can you do that? You're talking, helping, working--but can you?'" Calver says.

In the midst of the wreckage, Calver sees great hope in the governor's action and in similar government responses throughout the earthquake zone. He recognizes that the government was is no way supporting the Christian relief work. In fact, the church was restricted, but Calver says the Church was "winning out each time because they were making such a significant input. It was the first sense of legitimization of the Turkish church in this century." He sees precedent for this legitimization in similar disasters in which Christian minorities gained respect through their relief work. "The Albanians who cared for the refugees in Kosovo got legitimacy. We got the same in Turkey. The implication is that this could be the big breakthrough for the Turkish Church."

Turgay Ucal also sees opportunities for grace amidst the tragedy. He is pastor of Istanbul Presbyterian Church, which, with a membership of over 100, is one of the largest national Protestant congregations in the country. Üçal also sees his church gaining legitimacy from the astonishing relief efforts it has orchestrated in the past months.

Through the psychologically devastating aftershocks--and despite the deaths of friends and relatives--this small body gave unceasingly in the days and weeks after the quake. They began with funeral perparations and food and water distribution. Then they created an open air hospital (and a kitchen to support it) which eventually became the general hospital for the whole area. When the weather began to turn cold, Istanbul Presbyterian brought clothing, socks, and underwear. At the end of the month, when the government closed the tent camps, the congregation went mobile, offering their services from the back of several vans.

Üçal sees his congregation's commitment to working within the parameters of existing Turkish organizations and laws as central. His congregation contacted the government and hospitals and met their requests, providing everything from wool blankets to washing machines for the relief effort. In so doing, they gained the respect of the government, and forged relationships with hospital workers, soldiers, and patients. Like World Relief, Istanbul Presbyterian plans to give economic aid to about 20 families--the poorest in their area--for six to twelve months. Through this action they hope to build relational bridges over which they can bring the love of Christ. Üçal also recognizes an increased willingness among his fellow Turks to talk about spiritual things: "People really were thinking, 'we should check our lifestyles.' People were more open to talk about God."

Although Üçal is deeply grateful for the work of all the Christian organizations that ministered in Turkey, he suggests that the Western church would do well to better account for the relational nature of the Turkish people when presenting the Gospel in Turkey. In a shock situation, Turks are unlikely to respond well to a Bible being presented to them along with their food. But in the course of long-term relief work, he found that "a great respect started to come to us. And even more interest in the Gospel. They were really questioning, why are Christians interacting with our nation this much?" As follow-up, Üçal had a dinner for all the people who had worked with them over the course of the relief effort, and explained to them the faith of his church. During this crisis and done in this way a great number of people had the opportunity to hear the Gospel, he says.

Istanbul Presbyterian is involved in a partnership with Knox Presbyterian of Ann Arbor, Michigan. In response to the relational needs of the Turkish world, Knox has committed to a long-term sister relationship with Üçal and his congregants. He points to this as an effective model for the Western church to work with local Christians in reaching Turkey for Christ.

As part of this partnership, Knox sent three of its members to aid Istanbul Presbyterian in its response to the crisis. David Lee, a doctor who worked for a week at the open-air hospital, also attests to the effectiveness of the long-term model in his brief experience. "I really felt that the relationship between the Knox church members and the Turkish people there was qualitatively different from the relationships between the other Americans and the Turks," because the local Turks recognized a deep level of relational commitment on the part of the Knox members. Üçal echoes this sentiment with his advice for future missionaries: "We should each really carry our hearts to the other nations."

Whether the Tuesday morning earthquake was indeed an act of God is a mystery for eternity, but God's acts continue to multiply through the tragedy--in the hearts of the Turkish people and through the hands of His servants, both in Turkey and around the world.

Four Months Later:
The Numbers Continue to Rise

Four months after the August 17 earthquake, the official numbers are beginning to solidify. The death toll ranges from the Turkish government count of 17,000, up to 40,000, the U.N. Humanitarian Affairs estimate. Red Cross Red Crescent reports 44,000 further injuries as well as massive damage to local infrastructure: 214,000 homes and 30,500 businesses damaged. Of these, 67,000 homes and 11,000 businesses collapsed outright in the quake or aftershocks and are completely unsalvageable. In early October, the Turkish legislature passed a law which gave Red Crescent the right to appropriate all donations (both of equipment and money) brought into the country for earthquake aid. By November, Red Crescent had shut down or taken over administration of the majority of kitchens, hospitals, and camps.

The bulk of foreign relief workers have left the country. As winter closes in, remaining volunteers are turning from the acute initial needs to long term problems presented by the hundreds of thousands for whom thin tents are still the only home. In Derince, World Relief, which will stay in the area for at least six to eight months, has set up 90 pre-fab houses, with plans to complete 300. Local churches continue to send members to the earthquake zone with food, clothing, and medical help. Foreign organizations continue to struggle through an inconsistent bureacracy: half of the thousand tents the Salvation Army recently delivered were confiscated by local government officials.

In the midst of the tragedy, Turkish Christians are experiencing some of the most flagrant police harassment in years. Although Turkey's constitution guarantees limited freedom of religion, two congregations, one in Izmit, and one in Istanbul, have had their members arrested during worship services in the past two months. Both congregations were subsequently released.

There seems to be no direct link between earthquake relief work and the arrests, but the government's instability in the aftermath, as well as the heightened exposure of the church in relief efforts, may have contributed. The majority of Turks seem embarrassed by the arrests, and the Turkish press has given some positive coverage to the national Christian church as a result.

Carey Wallace is a freelance writer living in Spring Arbor, Michigan.