Empowering a generation

Walking down the cobblestone streets of London, young Turkish teenager Michael* spotted a man strumming a guitar on the sidewalk. He asked if he could borrow the guitar, and when the man consented, Michael began to play worship music on the street for all to hear.

Michael was part of a group of Turkish teenagers in London sharing the good news of Christ. The outreach occurred over five days, and 50 young people and 10 adults participated. The goal was twofold: to share the gospel with Turkish and English speakers in London while also igniting the teenagers with a passion for sharing their faith and equipping them with the skills and experience to do so.

Murat* is an OM worker who was involved in the outreach with his wife and three sons. Murat’s family is part of the 200,000 Turkish speakers currently living in North London who can trace their heritage back to Turkey, Cyprus, the Kurdish lands of the Middle East, Central Asia or, like most of the young participants, Bulgaria. Many Turkish speakers in the UK still hold to their traditional Islamic beliefs and many have never heard the gospel. Murat’s family is from a Muslim background, as were many of the youth and leaders who participated in the outreach. This shared ethnic background made communication with the Turks in the area more meaningful, and led to many conversations.

The responses the group received to their message varied. "Many Turks were angry and scolded us,” said Murat. “Some wanted to debate us. Others wanted us to pray for them. Many people said they didn’t have peace, and they asked us to pray for them." Although not all Turks were immediately receptive to the gospel, they still heard the message of God’s love.

Training grows confidence

Before the outreach, the group participated in a five-day intensive evangelism training, during which they practised sharing their testimonies with strangers, telling Bible stories and answering simple and more difficult questions about their faith.

Murat shared, "The purpose of the training is evangelism — to train the next generation to know how to reach out. We spoke about topics like the trinity, there being only one God, hermeneutics (Bible interpretation) and what the Great Commission is and how it is for all Jesus followers. We showed them how to share their own testimonies with others."

This training sparked great excitement and passion within the Turkish youth while also equipping them with practical outreach skills. When combined with their time meeting and speaking with people on the streets, the teenagers received a full picture of what it looks like to fulfill the Great Commission.

Murat emphasised that there is a great need for teenagers to learn how to share the gospel and be empowered in their faith. "They are the next generation of Jesus followers, and they can share the gospel in ways that are sometimes challenging for older generations, such as through social media," he said.

"For example, my sons have a lot of ideas on how they can share the power of God’s transformational love on YouTube, Instagram and other platforms that reach younger audiences. Paired with in-person evangelical efforts, social media is a powerful way for the good news of Jesus to reach the unreached and encourage those who already know God’s love for them.

"The outreach’s goals, to equip young people with a passion for evangelism and with open hearts ready to serve Jesus will see them shine God’s love to the world in ways only they can."

Join us in prayer for Turks living in north London. Pray for the Easter outreach in 2025 that will empower and equip youths to share the gospel, as well as the Turks who will be reached with the good news of Christ this year.

*name changed