The Stifled Cry of a Lost Nation

Currently, this nation's government upholds separation of church and state and freedom of religion, in writing. However, the politically right majority (strict non-Christian religion) desires to choke out the minority, which is more prevalent in the west of the country, in cities, and especially in many of the people of the city where we lived. Surrounded by the enemy's hold, the blindness of post-modern acceptance versus the chains of strict religion, materialism, sexuality, and laziness--all these distractions would seemingly war against one another, but Satan is using these things to lull the people into a deep sleep, unaware of the deception going on as they are hypnotized by the evil eye (double meaning here for Satan and Izmir's evil eye; native people believe one can bring evil on another through their eyes, so many wear eye jewelry or have an eye at the door of their home to reflect the evil sent to them.).

With 99% of the population is this religion, there is a huge need for God. As our team spent more time there, we could feel the spiritual oppression of Satan. We were led to spend much of our time, especially in the first month, praying that spiritual strongholds would be broken. We also felt that reading the Word of God would be an act of spiritual warfare as we read and studied Acts and Ephesians and read the Bible aloud. One day we traveled to a fortress built by Alexander the Great with the San Francisco DTS and prayed and worshiped on top of the fortress, which overlooks the city. It was really powerful to be lifting up the name of Jesus Christ even as the call to prayer reverberated throughout the city. Another impacting week, we partnered with the South Africa DTS to pray around the city for 7 days (as the Israelites marched around Jericho). We went to different areas of the city each day, and walked and prayed in groups. On the seventh day we prayed as we completed a circle throughout the city, by bus, walking, ferry, walking, and bus. We concluded with praise and worship at the church, thanking God for what He was doing.