Malatya

Every spring Christianity Today magazine announces what they deem the ten top religion stories from the previous year. One of the top stories they chose for the year 2007 was about the torture and martyrdom of three Christians in eastern Turkey. Some months later during missions week at DTS, students gained a behind-the-scenes perspective from the school’s first-ever Turkish student.

Yuce Kabakci told of how three employees of a publishing house that distributes Bibles were murdered in an attack that targeted Turkey’s Christian minority. (Turkey has a 98% Muslim population.) The three victims, a German and two Turkish citizens, were bound to their chairs and had their throats slit open. One of those Turkish citizens was Yuce’s mentor. After describing the tragedy to fellow students, Yuce left them with a challenge: “When you preach the gospel, do not say ‘God has a wonderful plan for your life.’ Tell people, ‘Jesus is worth dying for.’”

“Malatya” is the name of a town in eastern Turkey where the men were martyred. And “Malatya” is also the name of a 2009 documentary about the murders. Viewers watch news footage and hear from the martyrs’ wives, friends, and ministry partners about the tragedy and its aftermath.

The film challenges comfortable disciples to get uncomfortable and live courageously, forgiving their enemies and showing love in the face of despicable injustice. I highly recommend the film for personal reflection as well as group discussion. It comes with some extras including a visual prayer guide and extended scenes worth watching. You can watch the trailer below. For more information, including how to order, go to www.malatyafilm.com.

Also, here’s a good story about the initial news:

CBN filmed a follow-up three years later about how the martyrdoms have affected the Turkish church: