MAKING GOD’S WORD ACCESSIBLE IN TURKEY
“The Word of God is alive. God still speaks through it, changes lives, and saves!” says Tamar Karasu, Executive Secretary of the Bible Society in Turkey. As this vital ministry marks its 200th anniversary, the SAT-7 TÜRK team express their appreciation for a valued partner that shares their goal to make God’s Word accessible to all.
In 2020, the Bible Society in Turkey celebrated 200 years of making the Bible accessible to people of all ethnic and linguistic backgrounds in the region. With its wealth of experience and Christian resources, the Bible Society is one of SAT-7 TÜRK’s longest-standing valued partners.
“The Bible Society is a vital ministry in Turkey,” shares Gulsum I., Deputy Executive Director of SAT-7 TÜRK. “We are grateful to be able to work with a ministry that knows how to engage with people in Turkey in a culturally sensitive way, and which has so much experience in sharing the Gospel.”
Established in 1820 during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the Bible Society has translated scripture into numerous languages and scripts including Greek, Armenian, Turkish, and Kurdish, serving the Christian ethnic minorities who then made-up 20-25 percent of the population. As Christians now make up less than one percent of the Turkish population, making the Bible accessible to all remains crucial.
“Christians in Turkey need encouragement, and they need to be equipped, both spiritually and materially,” shares Tamar Karasu of the Bible Society. “The Bible Societies serve Christians of all denominations, and we are very careful in our sensitivities towards all faiths. In this way, our vision and mission is very similar to that of SAT-7.”
The Bible Society and SAT-7 TÜRK uniquely complement one another, bringing their different strengths to the table to make powerful projects possible. Collaborative projects include the children’s program Bedtime Stories, the program Readings of the Bible, and a current project called Bible Dictionary. By bringing together the expertise and resources of the Bible Society, and the production and broadcast expertise of SAT-7 TÜRK, these projects ensure that viewers across Turkey have access to and can understand God’s Word.
“People are visual learners,” shares Tamar Karasu. “We published the Bible Dictionary, which contains more than 2,000 terms used by pastors, historians, and theologians. But with the help of our SAT-7 TÜRK colleagues, and the creation of short videos for each term, this work will reach a wider population.”
Karasu’s passion for the Word of God, and making it truly present in society, is clear. “The Word of God is alive. God still speaks through it, changes lives, and saves!” She continues, “Sharing the Word with seekers in speech or in writing is very important. But I believe that witnessing to the Word through our acts is the most effective way to present Jesus.”
As we look ahead to the future, and perhaps even the next hundreds of years, of sharing God’s Word together, please join us in praying that however the Bible is encountered, it will change hearts and lives – and that this change will, in turn, witness to others of God’s goodness.