June 2013 Council Agenda - International Pentecostal Holiness ...

Despite its rich biblical heritage, it was said that in 1960, no record was found of any Christians
living in Turkey. This population of 71 million has had little exposure to the Gospel and is probably
the largest unreached people nation in the world. This is a 99.8 percent Muslim country. The most
recent record estimates that there is fewer than 5,000 Evangelical or Protestant Christians in the
country today.
In 1997, Matt Bennett, WMM’s current Director of People to People Ministries, heard a presentation
by Mark Wilson, adjunct professor at Regent University, about Turkey. The presentation touched
Matt’s heart. Shortly after graduation from Regent, Matt made a proposal to the WMM Board (at
that time) that focused on reaching Turkish people. At this time there were no more than 400
Christians in Turkey. In 1999, Matt met Ismail Serinken for the first time. Ismail and his wife, Angela
(a missionary to Turkey from Theodor Bulzan’s church in Oradea, Romania) lead our work in
Turkey today. John Maxwell has said that ‘everything rises and falls with leadership.’ Many of you
have had the privilege of meeting Ismail. He is a dynamic and impressive leader with an apostolic
anointing on his life. Ismail and Angela pastor our ‘mother’ church in Ankara. We were privileged to
worship with our congregation there. Derrick Gardner preached a message from Haggai on ten
Prophetic Promises to those of us in attendance.
Later in the week, we found ourselves in Laodicea for a service at our church there. What a
beautiful campus! Bishop Mike Gray spoke prophetically to the assembled congregation. Following
his remarks, I led the congregation in dedicating the church to the Lord. During the remainder of
our trip, we visited each of the sites of the former seven churches. At each site, we paused to hear
from God through an assigned speaker/devotional and to pray that the Lord will direct, give us
favor, and a key strategic initiative for each city.
I cannot begin to describe to you how providentially God has positioned the IPHC in Turkey. In
Laodicea, we have the only Christian Church building. In Ankara, there are only two buildings that
are recognized Christian churches, one of those is ours. God has positioned us in Turkey for a
purpose. May He give us discerning hearts and minds and spirits that are sensitive to His voice and
leading.
We have two special projects in Turkey that need your assistance:
1. ANKARA (Capital City of five million, with only six Evangelical churches currently).
We are in a Strata titled building and own the church and Coffee House sections on the top floor. We
need to purchase the three rooms that separate the Church and Coffee House. The church would
develop the following resources in these rooms; a media center, children’s ministry center, and a
training center/book room. We can purchase a room for $10,000 USD. We desperately need to
develop this ‘home campus.’ By purchasing these three adjoining rooms for a total investment of
$30,000 USD, the church will own over half of the top floor of this complex and will position itself to
serve as a base of operations for our work in Turkey. The designation to use for contributions to
this project is - Ankara Project # 43500P.
2. THYATIRA (Our third ‘Seven Churches of Revelation’ Church Property Acquisition Project).
Our plan is to buy a multipurpose building in the adjoining city of Akhisar that can be used as a
Church, Coffee House/Internet Cafe, Business Center, Training/Resource Center, and Apartment
(complex similar to the one that has been developed in Laodicea). Estimated building purchase cost
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