Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 3 2010

Small ‘home church’ survives in Istanbul

Sunday, January 3, 2010
VERCÄ°HAN ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU – FÄ°RST PERSON
Istanbul: Hürriyet Daily News

Unlike Turkey’s Christian communities that often belong to a certain
Christian sect, one church founded mostly by Turkish converts from
Islam eschews any denominational categorization. A member of the
community says other Christian groups are far from the true path of
Christianity. The church has asked the government for land, a building
and security, but so far its request has gone unanswered
In the middle of Istanbul, there is a `home church’ with people from
various parts of the world praying together in joy. Composed of
worshippers from around the world, there are Turks, Kurds, Japanese,
Chinese, Brits and Canadians inside.

There are no candles lit by anyone and no icons or stained-glass
windows in sight. The crowd is almost entranced as hymns are sung
alongside a piano and guitar. Some are crying, some are kneeling and
some are clapping their hands with excitement. There are people with
their eyes closed while others have lifted up their arms, having lost
sense of time and place.

Bible verses are read for almost two hours. Interestingly, prayers are
said for the government, the military and the unity of Turkey toward
the end of the service. Meanwhile, a small pouch is passed around and
everyone contributes an offering. Addressing each other as `sibling,’
everybody hugs each other, regardless of whether they know their
neighbor or not.

This `church,’ on the entrance floor of an apartment building, is
connected to the basement by some stairs. The community goes
downstairs to the kitchen after the service to have soup or tea and
chat with fellow parishioners.

The problems with other churches

The `home church’ is called Dirisu and was named after a Bible verse.
Its doors were opened to the community with the permission of the
Istanbul Governor in 1999.

Almost all of the church’s founding members were Turks or Kurds and
came from Muslim families. The church’s elders ` in reference to their
founding membership in the church rather than their age ` said they
are generally people who became Christian in their 30s because of an
inner emptiness.

The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review spoke to Dirisu founders
Bedri Peker, Ercan Yıldırım, Alper Ã-zharar and Aden Baydemir, who all
come from different backgrounds. Peker is Kurdish, Yıldırım and
Ã-zharar are Turkish and Baydemir is Chaldean, one of the oldest
communities in the world. They define themselves as `shepherds,’ in
reference to Jesus Christ, and as `missionaries,’ in reference to his
apostles.

Baydemir and his family from the Pervari district of Siirt in
Southeast Anatolia were Catholic, yet he never saw a church building
before he turned 20, only encountering one in Mardin during the 1960s.

`We were one of the few Christian families in Siirt but they alienated
us because of our beliefs,’ said Baydemir. `I am not blaming anyone
because they were ignorant.’ When asked why he chose to be a
missionary instead of following Catholicism, Baydemir said: `All the
churches, including the Catholic Church, are full of rules. I had an
undefined emptiness inside me; I filled it at this church. I have
learned that Christianity is not only a denomination but a lifestyle.’

Baydemir is critical of all churches whether they be Apostolic,
Catholic or Orthodox. `We are praying for them to find the path of the
true God. Unfortunately, they are very far away from grasping the true
meaning of Christianity.’

The Zirve massacre and the death list

Peker, from Diyarbakır, became a Christian at the age of 24. He said
he tries to proselytize at every possible opportunity. He said he was
threatened shortly before the 2007 massacre at the Zirve publishing
house in Malatya, where three missionaries were killed at a Christian
book publisher.

`The Zirve publishing house massacre was not an ordinary incident; it
was planned. My name was on the kill list, too. I told law enforcement
officers but they did not provide me with protection. Even our parents
have abandoned. We have devoted our lives to the way of Jesus Christ.
If the price is our lives, we are ready to pay it,’ he said.

`During my childhood, I was aggressive toward Christian children,
calling them `Haço,’ a demeaning term in Kurdish that means `cross
worshipper,’ because I thought Christians did not believe in Allah,’
he said. `During my adult years, I felt an undefined emptiness in my
inner world. That emptiness was filled with Jesus Christ, the word of
God.’

Peker does not approve of the term `home church’ because he believes
it is contemptuous. He said the church survives on the donations of
the community. `We asked the authorities to assign us land and a
building. That was in 2004 but it still has not happened. We want
churches to be looked after just as mosques are.’

`Our security is entrusted to God’

Yıldırım said the community’s main problem is not land or a building
but security. `We have entrusted our security to God. We have asked
for protection many times but authorities do not grant it. There is a
police station on this street. We have that to trust at least.

`We are different from other churches that belong to the minority
groups. We were from Islam, most of us are Turks and we are a part of
the majority,’ he said.

Yıldırm said being a missionary is misunderstood and therefore feared
in Turkey: `It is believed that we will divide the country, but that
is a misunderstanding. We are leading those who hear the word of Jesus
Christ. That is all. We are not forcing anyone.’

A confusion of terms

Yıldırım said they were forced to call themselves a Protestant church
because of the authorities but said they are against all
denominations. `We are a church of the Bible only.’

Like Baydemir, Yıldırım also criticized the traditions of the
Apostolic, Catholic and Orthodox churches. `They have rituals of the
worshipping kind. They appeal to icons. They have adopted practices of
worship from the time of Moses. When you read the Bible, you see that
these are wrong.’

Ã-zharar, another missionary of Turkish origin, said his wife was from
an Armenian background and that both were atheists before she went to
Italy for schooling. He said their lives were changed after that. `My
wife returned from Italy as if she were blessed. I started to question
the emptiness inside me after I saw the change in her. We started
looking for a church on the Internet and found this place.’

As if by conclusion, Ã-zharar said: `I was looking for friendship and
strong love. I found it here among my siblings and am born again.’