Three Martyrs in Turkey

Just received this e-mail from a pastor in Turkey (a former Muslim actually). Tertullian said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

I think of people like Saint Polycarp who praised God at his martyrdom, that he had been deemed worthy by God's grace to die for the sake of the Gospel.

I think of Saint Peter who told the Romans to crucify him upside down,
since he was not worthy to die in the same fashion as his Lord.

I think of the Holy Innocents who died though they did not know their right hand from their left.

I think of Saint Ahmad (an Orthodox saint), a Turk who bought a Christian slave woman at the market. Over time he was so taken by her compassion and serenity that
he asked her how she, a slave, had obtained what he, a powerful Ottoman
ruler, did not have. She told him. He accepted the Gospel and believed
in the Lord. He told his superior who applied Ottoman law which said
that Muslim apostates must die, and so he died.

Here is his e-mail:

Urgent..

This afternoon in Malatya, Turkey five or six young
people killed 3 Christian brothers. These brothers
were working in a Christian publishing company where
we also get New Testaments and Christian books and CD
etc. They were evangelising in Malatya and the
surrounding area. They first bound their hands and
feet and then knifed them. They cut their throats and
knifed them many times. Two of them were Turkish and
one brother was German.

Please pray for their families. Today and tomorrow
morning many Christians are going to Malatya. We think
funerals will be held in Istanbul or Izmir.

We will let you know more when we hear any news.

They will be welcomed to the feast of the lamb by angels and archangels and
all the company of heaven. Let all mortal flesh remain silent. We were not worthy of them when they were alive, and they are a crown for us, the glory of the Church.