Istanbul, Turkey - 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 Özharar and Aden Baydemir, who all come from different backgrounds. Peker is Kurdish, Yıldırım and Özharar 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.”
Özharar, 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, Özharar said: “I was looking for friendship and strong love. I found it here among my siblings and am born again.”