Testimony

Ender

I was born in 1981 in Diyarbakir. I’m a Kurd. I was raised in a complex setting of Islam on one side and Kurdish nationalism on the other. Our family as most others was muslim only in name however we were very actively involved in the Kurdish cause. Even as a teenager I was involved in protesting the government. Later I took to the mountains to join the guerrilla movement fighting Turkish forces. It was there that I had my first opportunity to read the Bible. It was deeply impacted. After many years of fighting in the mountains I became increasingly disillusioned with our political cause to the point that I decided to turn myself in. After that I served my jail sentence. Even while in jail my greatest wish was to go to a church as soon as I was freed. After much searching I found the Diyarbakir Evangelical Church and was soon deep in Bible study. I had lots of questions but they were all being answered one at a time. Right about the time I believed, I received notice of my mandatory military service. While in the military I felt that my life was threatened because of my previous guerrilla involvement so I ran away to Russia for some time. Some years later I found my way back to the Diyarbakir Church. This time I purposed to become fully rooted in my faith before returning to the military. During this time I finished a year of Bible school in the church and I was also married to Rojda a Christian lady. Then I went to finish my military service. Now we have two daughters and I’m serving with Zirve a Christian Distribution Company.

Can

I am 20 years  old, I was born and raised in Diyarbakir. My family lives in Diyarbakir. Coming to know the Lord was a great adventure for me. First of all I was a trouble-maker as a child. My family quickly grew tired of me. However I continued misbehaving as always. During this time I was seeking God  by being a good muslim but it wasn’t helping. My father drank a lot and made our family suffer for it. I sought a way to vent my stress and anger. Then I started doing kickboxing and Taekwondo which I continued for 7 years. I love the sport and was very committed to it. Sport became my God. Then one day my father and I were out walking and he took me to visit a church where we talked some. They invited my father to the service and he started attending, he also started reading the Bible. I was very against this from the beginning, then my mother started attending. They later became believers and even my sister professed faith.  My father began to change and stopped drinking. I began to wonder what the source of these changes were. Later my family was invited to a Christian camp and we went. It was there that I saw the loving service of the Christians and I started reading the Bible. I left Islam and became a believer in Christ. When I returned to Diyarbakir I left sports and my life started to change. Now I serve the children in our church and I’m part of the worship team.  I feel like I’ve truly found God and can feel his hand in my life. His grace continues to change me. I’ve put my life in his hands.