Istanbul Initiative

There is a rich heritage of the early church in Turkey. This is recorded in many of Paul’s epistles to churches throughout Asia Minor (located in modern day Turkey); many of which he established on his missionary journeys. The Antioch church was especially effective in advancing the Gospel and helped catalyze Paul on his journeys. The people of the land that were a foundational part of the early Church have strayed from the Church, and over generations, have hardened their hearts to the Gospel message. Turkey has been known to be a very challenging country for missionaries over the past number of decades as they saw very little visible fruit from their labor. This was in no small part due to the governments attempts to ensure Turkey remains a conservative Muslim nation and making things difficult for the Church and restricting foreigners influence. However, there are hopeful signs of the tide beginning to turn. The trend of the government continues to be more oppressive and conservative Muslim but there are many stories of Turks encountering Jesus and accepting Him as their Savior; and when they do, they want others to step into a growing and thriving relationship with the Lord. Perhaps this is the hour the people of the land that were once integral to the early church and advancing the Gospel return to their early DNA!

Our Partners

The Kings serve with a Y__M team that was sent as an outreach from F&F in Kona and planted a new base in Instanbul, Turkey. They moved there in early 2022 and have been establishing homes, relationships, the team, and ministry since then. Turkey is known to be an extremely challenging country to establish a ministry, perhaps due to being strategically located as a gateway to the 1040 window (unreached people groups) and central Asia. Therefore, their primary focus has been to establish a house of prayer to win the spiritual battle; and see all other efforts flow out of the posture of worship and prayer. The team has a lot of vision for growth including discipleship training schools, a discipleship/house church movement, hosting teams, and serving as a gateway to the 1040 window.

Prayer Room

A message from Leroy and Leslie that captures the heart of starting with a focus on the Prayer Room is below. They have been hosting short-term teams from around the world regularly and each of them invests dedicated time in the Prayer Room as part of their outreach.

“The Prayer Room is a place where we gather as a team to minister to the heart of God, to receive God’s love, to hear God’s voice, and then decree, prophesy, and pray those realities into our city and region.

We believe that one of the key ways to establish ourselves in this nation is through worship and prayer. That as we corporately worship and behold Him, we will be transformed by His Presence and more into His likeness, and from this place, Heaven’s realities grow in our lives, in our city, and the nations. In 2 Chronicles 20:21- 23 we see the Israelites going into battle with the Levite worshippers leading the way. In the same way we believe that the best way to see breakthroughs in the spirit is to first lead the way in worship and prayer. In Psalm 132, King David talks about not finding rest until he has found a resting place for the Lord. In the same way before we get caught up in all of our other tasks we desire to love and host the Presence of Jesus.”

The team began by gathering and praying in their living rooms as that was the space they had. They then opened a dedicated space in early 2024 due to the generous contributions from those that caught the vision. In late 2024, they sensed it is time to move the prayer room to another neighborhood. While they were praying and discerning the move, a new church was planted near their prayer room which indicated to them they had fulfilled their assignment for this original neighborhood. In early 2025, they moved the prayer room to another neighborhood that doesn’t currently have a vibrant local church. This is a milestone marker of the Lords faithfulness and inspires them to continue pursuing the greater vision!

Training

Another core focus in this season is to host discipleship training schools. They already partnered with another team in a city near Ephesus to host and facilitate their first discipleship training school in 2024 and experienced multiple breakthroughs. They had students primarily from the Middle East region which is cause for great celebration as they can be equipped to reach others within their culture, region, and families! There were many milestones to be celebrated; including their first international outreach by the Turkish believers!! They intend to establish a regular rhythm of schools moving forward.

The next step in the long-term vision is to reach a people group in Turkey that has never heard the Gospel. With the current focus on hosting His presence, inviting people to follow Jesus and journeying alongside them, and training/discipling them; we believe this next step will be achieved and perhaps carried out by the Turkish believers. The team is committed to their current mission and trust the Lord will bring the increase and draw many people in this region into a personal relationship with Him!

Multiply

Their 3rd core focus is to invest in new believers to help start and multiply house churches. They start by building relationships with the Turkish people and engage with them in day to day life. Fostering these relationships and inviting them into a home group allows them to be a witness of Christ, share the Gospel, and walk with them as they have questions about what it means to follow Jesus. This is not an easy decision as most have been raised with M__ beliefs and the consequences of following Jesus affect every part of their life, this includes family which will often disown, shun, or in some extreme circumstances even try to take their life for choosing to believe in and follow Jesus. That’s why having a relationship and being willing to walk with them on the journey is critical.

The beauty of the house church model is it empowers these new believers to immediately begin inviting and discipling others which allows it to multiply without needing infrastructure, buildings, or established churches. Some of the regions with the most persecution for believers are seeing a rapid multiplication of new believers and house churches as the Gospel is advanced with this “grassroots” and relational method.

This Kingdom work begins with prayer, continues with training, and multiplies one soul at a time!

We are inviting you to invest in the Istanbul Initiative and the people of Turkey.

100% of the process will be invested in the (3) areas of focus shown above. 

Give Online

Checks
Alliance Network
PO Box 62
Intercourse, PA 17534
Memo: Istanbul Initiative

**NOTE: All checks and online giving are tax-deductible and year end receipts will be issued**

We are grateful for your investment and honored to serve our partners. Thank you so much!