Our National Messiah Mission to Turkey

My wife and I are deeply gratefu I to God and True Parents for the privilege of representing them to the people of Turkey, whotn we have grown to love deeply. As representatives of Christianity to this Musl.i m nation, the course of overcom ing historical resentment of both Muslims and Christians has been painful and difficult. Jn my case T have an ancestor .vho fought against Turkey’s Ottoman Empire in an irnportant naval battle. The King of Spain decorated him for bravery. Saint Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in what was then the Ro1nan province of Asia, now present-day Turkey. The land is drenched \-Vith the blood and tears of many martyrs. l n1ade a pilgri1nage to the seven churches 1uentioned in Revelations, all localed in Turkey. Paul, who \-vas born in present day Turkey, preached to n1any of the early Christian com111unities. I visited churches secreted away in caves, escaping Rornan persecution, and stadiun1s \vhere they \-Vere 111artyred. I could not help shedding tears for these brave souls, and wonder to this day if I could endure what they did. And yet, today Turkey has few Christians (close to 99 percent are Muslim). Every n1orning on my way to teach English, I ,vou ld pass the great do111ed cathedra l ofHaghia Sophia, ,vhich was for centuries the largest Christian ~-…

Ow Nat~M&s.suJ’ Mw~t~~- church ( until St. Peter’s in Rome \’las built). I could not help feeling the deep historical pain of the Christians who “lost” I-Iaghia Sophia to the Musli m invaders. To this day, they refuse to use the Turkish name for the city, preferring to call it Constantine’s city-Constantinople. The Christians of tl1is great cathedral prayed for deliverance fro1n the Turkish invaders, but they were all slaughtered in the very pews in which they prayed. As National Messiah’s we have been chosen to bear this historical resentment, and not be overcorne by it. If we cannot do this, we condemn those who dwell in the hell of historical bitterness and hatred with no hope of liberation. Divine Principle teaches us that Islan1 ca1ne about to correct the mistakes of Christianity, such as the deification of Jesus. But the Church refused to refor1n, and Heavenly Father allowed them to be struck by the Muslin1s. On ly through the Principle can we understand this. My Turkish students were shocked to learn that we teach that Jesus ,vas a man, and not God. The Principle explanation of the “Trinity;’ and the “Four Position Foundation” showing that God is one, resonates easily with Muslims.