Internet helps to spread Gospel in Turkey

Operation Mobilisation’s Bible Correspondence Course (BCC) in Turkey has seen its 50-year ministry transformed through the internet.

For 30 years, the BCC advertised its course through mail and door-to-door distribution. Then, in the early 1990s, the BCC began advertising in newspapers, which more than quadrupled the number of contacts. After launching the BCC’s first websites in the late 1990s, the number of applicants skyrocketed, especially after using GoogleAds to promote the websites. This past year, more than a quarter of a million unique visitors found BCC websites.

In addition to using the Internet to advertise the course specifically, OM in Turkey has used Facebook to reach people with the Good News. More than 32 million Turks have Facebook profiles, making Turkey the fifth largest user of Facebook internationally. The BCC’s Facebook page, titled kutsalkitap.org, launched in 2010 with just eight fans. But in just a few months, the page had over 6,000 fans, and now the site is approaching 24,000 “likes” in a country where less than 5,000 people profess faith in Christ.

The course provides seekers with an introduction to the life of Christ, a New Testament, literature and a connection with local fellowships. By advertising through both newspaper and the internet, people in rural areas containing no resident witness have access to the connection with Christians and the course.

The goal is not that people complete the course, but that believers are added to existing churches or begin new churches. A survey done several years ago revealed that almost half the believers in Turkey traced their spiritual journey through the Bible Correspondence Course, and many provincial churches outside of the major cities have been planted as a result of BCC contacts.

The BCC in Turkey is one of many means which OM’s 6,000-plus workers are using to proclaim Christ in over 110 countries.