A Turkish Christmas
by Annamaria, Executive Assistant at SAT-7 TÜRK
Christmas in Turkey is celebrated like any other country where Christian worship is allowed by the government. There is a huge celebration on Christmas night where churches are pretty much full. It is a beautiful sight. Of course, on important days like this there are always police positioned at the church gates for security.
My church is very famous, and each year it holds a televised ceremony where two people who are engaged dress up as Mary and Joseph. Last year it was me and my fiancé! Some people are hateful towards Christianity, and occasionally posters are put up saying, “Do not celebrate Christmas, put up trees or befriend a Christian, as this will take you straight to hell”. But people usually don’t take any notice of them.
I attend a Catholic church and our Christmas programme is very full. We have a special day of services called the Catechesis, with prayers and sung gospels, to remind us what it really means to
celebrate the birth of Christ. On Christmas Day, after the mass, Christians celebrate with their families. They have to ask their bosses for the day off, as it isn’t a holiday, but mostly the bosses agree.
Every mass we make sure to pray for our government and our country. We pray that the government is shown the wisdom of the Lord. We pray that we are left unharmed from negative attitudes towards Christianity. Our hopes are that the people of this country are well informed about what Christianity is, who we are and who Christ is, to challenge their prejudices. This is exactly what we try to do on SAT-7 TÜRK. We pray that one day they will come to see the love of Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us all.
Pray for Turkey
Our reflections for the third week of Advent have a special focus on Turkey, with daily Bible verses and ways to pray for the country. Click here or below to read more and pray.
https://www.sat7uk.org/pages/advent-2018-turkey/