Persecuted Church focus for September

1. TURKEY
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

2. Demographics:
 Population: 83 million
 Approximately 173,000 Christians
 Religion: Islam 99.8%, other 0.2%
 Leader: President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

3. Persecution Demographics:
 36th on World Watch List, 26th in
2019
 Persecution Level: Very High
Persecution
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

4. Types of Persecution:
 In 2019, there were 23 known cases
of expatriate Christians given entry
bans or were forced to leave the
country
 Many of these Christians are
Pastors and Christian workers
who have worked in Turkey for
many years
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

5. Types of Persecution:
 There is no law forbidding
conversion to Christianity,
however there are many social
implications resulting from the
conversions.
 Death threats and hate speech
are common towards Christians
as well as vandalization of
property
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

6. Types of Persecution:
 Christians are unable to get any
state jobs and often receive
discrimination in private
employment
 Many Christians have to practice
their beliefs in secrecy
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

7. Types of Persecution:
Though Christians are not directly
targeted by the government in
Turkey, the leaders are made it
very clear that Sunni Islam is the
only religious norm in Turkey
Persecution is subtly being
brought into the country
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

8. Please Pray:
 Pray that the church may grow
strong in the midst of opposition
to Christianity
 Pray that the Lord will raise up
strong new leaders in the church
from Muslim backgrounds
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

9. Please Pray:
 Pray that Christian families will
be able to thrive in the difficult
economic times in Turkey
 Pray that the Lord will protect
the thousands of Christian
refugees
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR

10. Please Pray:
 Pray that in spite of the
government trying to suppress
the voice of Christians, that the
Lord would bring new ways of
having His Word reach the
millions of people in Turkey.
 Pray for the Leaders of Turkey
All information from: Voice of the Martyrs Canda, Open Doors Canada, WWR