A Church from the Rubble!
02 December 2024
Antakya Christian Church's new building
Through our ministry partner Kanal Hayat, we supported Antakya Christian Church, following the devastating earthquake in Turkey in 2023. We provided them with financial and prayer support as they served their local community through a time of great hardship, reaching out with practical relief, such as warm clothing, along with the hope of the Gospel. The church family, who had been renting a space to meet in, had begun to construct their own building when the earthquake extensively damaged it (see photo below).
Official Opening
Praise God! On Saturday 16th November, Antakya Christian Church officially opened their newly rebuilt and refurbished church building! With well over 200 hundred believers gathered from the local church family and across the globe, they celebrated what God has done and commended the building and the leadership to Him. At one point, people were praying in their mother tongues, praising and commending it all to the Lord - a beautiful declaration of the unity and global nature of the Church.
They also had a ribbon cutting ceremony (see photo above), where a few of the key people who the Lord used in constructing the new building declared the building open. With prayer, they approached the ribbon cutting, and with prayer, the ribbon was cut. The contractor shared that he never thought he would build a church in Turkey and that after the earthquake, their church was the first building in Antakya to be approved for work to continue. Another person shared how the church building was not the ‘goal’ but a ‘vehicle’ for the living church - a powerful distinction.
Ministry leaders, Richard and Tulin, shared the following:
“You could say the easy part, building the building, is over. Now comes the ongoing challenge of building the living church of God. From Sunday onwards, this is where the church gathers to learn from God, to worship, to pray and to fellowship. God is good - always.”
Please hold Antakya Christian Church in your prayers going forwards:
- Although most of the tasks were completed on time, others remain outstanding. These include the combi boilers, natural gas hookup, security system, emergency power source (generator) and completing the fitting of the lift. Please pray with them that all the outstanding tasks will be accomplished.
- When the building is fully finished, they will need to change its usage to a church. They were advised it was the best way to build the church. Please pray that the Lord would grant them favour in the eyes of the authorities when the time comes for them to make this change.
