![]() Over 4,000 people benefit daily from FHA hygiene trucks.īut echoing TeK concerns about Bibles, FHA board chairman Demokan Kileci described his anger at how many Christian organizations are fundraising off the disaster. Over 10 tractor trailers have been dispatched to deliver 55 generators, 150 beds, 200 heaters, 3,000 blankets, and 12,000 cans of food. But to spare overburdened local volunteers from playing tour guide, TeK suggested three hubs for communication and collection of donations.įirst Hope Association (FHA), a disaster relief agency founded by Turkish Protestants, has long cooperated closely with the official authorities. ![]() Perhaps they will return home and help raise funds. They filmed and took pictures and then asked for church assistance to move onward to Kahramanmaras. A Christian group from Italy came to Diyarbakir to offer help, Uyar said. These included basic requests to coordinate aid, as well as the avoidance of political commentary and unauthorized photos.īut permission is not the only issue. Last week, after expressing a “debt of gratitude” to all who have prayed and given to support relief efforts, it issued six directives.Īlongside the prohibition of Bibles and evangelistic materials was a basic request to work with the local church to navigate Turkish sensitivities. The Protestant Association of Turkey (TeK) has been hard at work to establish guidelines. “We say we are Christians all the time, but it is disgusting to connect this to aid.” “This is not the way of Jesus it is opportunistic, and doesn’t work,” said Ilyas Uyar, an elder in the Protestant Church Foundation of Diyarbakir. When Bibles were distributed in Kahramanmaras, between the epicenters of the 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude quakes that killed 47,000 people along the Turkey-Syria border, local authorities responded by saying they did not want help from the church. While his religion is unstated, Turkish Christians warned of similar earthquake exploitation from their brothers and sisters in faith. And contrary to his expectations, comments of derision poured in from across the country. The man filmed the whole episode on Facebook Live. Finally, he located a little girl he could help, removed the surrounding debris, and gently pulled her from the clutches of death. The stench from rotting corpses filled his nostrils the cries from trapped survivors pierced his ears. An unnamed Turkish man dug through the rubble.
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