By a worker in Turkey
Ever since Emre and Hakan gave their lives to Jesus, they have been under attack.
“You’re At Fault!”
One night, three seemingly random things occurred within a few minutes of time:
- The electricity went out.
- A phone call came through from a “friend,” asking Emre’s location.
- Without warning, a vehicle left the road and drove straight into their store.
On its path through the store, the car destroyed a cooler and a bread display case, but it stopped just before driving through the storefront window. As the vehicle tried to back out after it had failed to do more damage, it got stuck on a planter that was in front of the store.
The policeman told Emre that he was at fault because he “is reading that book.”
Emre managed to get the driver’s information and then called the police. A crowd formed as the police arrived, and Emre relayed the details of the evening.
The policeman decided that the driver of the vehicle was not at fault. After a few minutes of the policeman yelling and being aggressive, the policeman told Emre that he was at fault because he “is reading that book” (the Bible).
Ever since that night, policemen have stopped in his store and “patrolled” the outside.
This hasn’t stopped the brothers from sharing.
“We don’t want to do business with you.”
In addition to all of this, over the past several weeks, many of Emre’s vendors have arrived at his store and removed their products from his shelves with little to no explanation other than, “We don’t want to do business with you.”
Business has taken a dive and they’ve asked me what they should do. I’ve continued to encourage them and we continue to pray.
Eventually, a retired police friend helped the brothers get some vendors to bring their products back to Emre’s shop.
In one day, they went from making 500 Turkish Lira to 3,500 Turkish Lira!
But that same night, at 11 pm, a “customer” came into the shop with a knife and demanded to know why the store was still open and why the brothers were still there.
Their retired police friend said that the police are watching them very closely. Emre was very shaken by all this. I met with Hakan to worship the Lord and pray.
Names have been changed.
This is part 3 of the story series, “Seeking to Suffering: Emre’s Story of Obedience.” Read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 4.
