On February 6, 2023, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria. Tragically, 57,000 died in Turkey, and another 7,000 died in Syria. Immediately, the world came together with search teams, rescue dogs, and many NGO’s volunteering to look through the rubble trying to save lives. Youth With A Mission (YWAM) also had teams going in to serve the people in both nations in whatever capacity they could.
Turkey is predominately Muslim, but in recent years people there (as well as Muslims around the world) have been having dreams and visions of “a man dressed all in white” visiting them and sometimes speaking with them. As the rescue in Turkey was going on, 4 people were rescued on a day in February. One of them was a 5-year-old boy. When asked how he was able to survive, the child answered that “a man dressed in white came and fed me while he was under all that concrete”. Another lady said an angel opened a door and a man came in through it and fed her. Then the man went back out and the angel closed the door.
One YWAM team was working in partnership with a group from another Muslim nation that was doing food distribution and had set up a 24/7 tea station across from where the rescue workers were and where many bodies were being recovered. The YWAMers hosted nightly prayer and worship times where they sat around a fire and told stories of Jesus. Rescue workers, survivors, Turkish police officers, and army guys all showed up, and the YWAMers said that while it was a “surreal experience”, they could see God moving powerfully.
God is reaching out to draw people unto Himself in some really amazing ways…even in the midst of tragedy! Pray for more of these visitations to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and animists.
In case you haven’t seen it, here is a link to the video we produced for The Waiting World about the people of Turkey:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n1yv0rek1jpl1py/Turk%20WW%20copy.mp4?dl=0
You can find more unreached people group videos at thewaitingworld.net