Peanut Gallery: The headline is alarming, but the story behind it is heartbreaking.

“Police break up plot to assassinate Turkish pastor in Izmit”

Background: Izmit Protestant Church is located in the northern industrial city of Izmit  (Wikipedia). It is a small church with 20 members all of whom are Turkish nationals and converts from Islam – as is its pastor of four years, Emre Karaali.

“The İzmit Protestant Church was founded as the first church in the city in 1999, the same year a massive earthquake killed 40,000 in Kocaeli, whose administrative center is İzmit.” (Hürriyet Daily News)

And yet, in a city of 300,000 people, in a country that is 99% Muslim, this pastor and this small church were seen as a threat to the community . Why?

“The church was preparing for four days of celebrations between Jan. 17 and 21 and had invited top local officials in the city before the plot was revealed.” Leaflets announcing the event had been handed out around the city and city officials had been invited. (Hürriyet Daily News)

The chuch had previously been accused of “missionary” activity. Pastor Karaali was pushing the envelope in Izmit by openly sharing his faith and publicly announcing the church’s “celebrations.” He had been receiving threats for over a year.

Heartbreak: A conspiracy to commit murder (find details and original story here) began with two women who attended the church for over a year and eventually became members (one of whom was baptized) and were welcomed “as family” into the fellowship.

“These people had infiltrated our church and collected information about me, my family and the church and were preparing an attack against us,” said Karaali, 33, a native Turk and a convert to Christianity. “Two of them attended our church for over a year and they were like family.”

Can you feel this man’s anguish… his sense of betrayal? Trust and good faith have been severely compromised in that small church community… whose offense was sharing the love of Jesus.

Miracle: The miracle in this story is that the Turkish Police actually thwarted the plot and protected the pastor and his family. They could have simply let it play itself out and have been rid of him. Stranger things have happened in Turkey. But they didn’t.

Karaali said his treatment at the hands of the police was “exceptional.” The pastor said he has been working with police since January 2012, when he informed them of a death threat he had received. “I received a threat by phone and that’s when the police started to investigate,” Karaali said.

Motivation: Did these women “infiltrate” the church with sabotage in mind? Or, were they genuine inquirers and new converts who were “found out” by family and friends and “turned” by Islamic radicals to become co-conspirators in this murderous plot.  We will probably never know – both are real possibilities, but I favor the latter.

Muslim converts to Christianity risk bitter and often deadly opposition from their families and friends. It is not uncommon for people outside the family circle to be brought in as enforcers. No wonder Izmit Protestant Church has only 20 members.

Compulsion: Pastor Karaali is a man “under compusion”… he can’t do anything else.

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”
1 Corinthians 9:16 NASB

Please pray that God will use this murderous conspiracy for good… and that many lives would be saved.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Genesis 50.20 NASB

May God bless and protect Pastor Karaali and the Izmit Protestant Church… and strengthen them with the courage of their convictions as this ordeal unfolds.

(See full story below)

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Police break up plot to assassinate Turkish pastor (worldwatchmonitor.org)

Police in Turkey say they thwarted an assassination plot against a Christian pastor Tuesday when they arrested 14 suspects, two of whom had been part of his congregation for more than a year.

Emre Karaali, pastor of Izmit Protestant Church and the target of the alleged plot, said two of the arrested suspects were regular members, feigning interest in Christianity. One of them, he said, participated in a baptism in July.

Some of the other suspects also had visited the church, Karaali told World Watch Monitor. He said three of the suspects are women. “These people had infiltrated our church and collected information about me, my family and the church and were preparing an attack against us,” said Karaali, 33, a native Turk and a convert to Christianity. “Two of them attended our church for over a year and they were like family.”

Accounts of the arrests in Turkish media reported that the suspects were planning to murder Karaali this week during a series of evangelistic outreach meetings. 
Continue reading “Persecuted Church: Izmit, Turkey – murder plot foiled – please pray” →