Ozan's father: “You have to choose between Jesus and me”    

We are sitting in a church hall in Turkey. I'm here with a group of Danish young people from Southwest Jutland's Outreach program, and we've spent the evening with Turkish Christians. The evening has been filled with joy, pizza and curiosity - we share faith and doubts and talk about what it is like to be young and Christian.  

God and Jesus met Ozan in dreams 

“Becoming a Christian in Turkey can cost everything - family, friends, work, identity,” says pastor Ozan, who knows this better than most. His faith journey began with a dream: “In the dream, I was walking with a friend at the university when a blinding light cut down from the sky. Instinctively, we knelt down. I tried to look up, but the light was too bright. When I stood up, my neck hurt. Suddenly a big hand came down from the sky and touched my back and the pain disappeared. In shock I asked: ‘Who is this hand?’ The voice replied, ‘It is a hand of David's descendant.’ I woke up, shaken.” 

He shared the dream with his Christian friend, Ezan, who later became his wife. She said: “It is Jesus who is calling you to his kingdom.” But Ozan rejected it: “I don't want to enter his kingdom.” 

Three weeks later, he had another dream. “Ezan and I were hiking through a flat landscape when a massive mountain rose up in front of us. Ezan said we were going to reach the top, but I doubted it. Then a man descended from heaven and said, ‘I will climb the mountain for you.’ I asked Ezan who he was. She replied, ‘It's Jesus.’ He climbed up and when he reached the top, the mountain disappeared completely. Overwhelmed, I asked Ezan who Jesus was and why he could do that. She laughed with joy-she knew what he had done for us.” 

Even after this dream, Ozan said: “No thanks, I'm not going into any kingdom.” But three days later, he felt an inexplicable joy in his heart, so strong that he woke up in the middle of the night and surrendered to Jesus. 

He thought it would make his life better. But when he told his parents about his new faith, they were furious. “My dad and I argued for four hours in the middle of the night. He said, ‘You have to choose - Jesus or me.’ It was an impossible decision because I love my parents. But I told him, ‘Dad, I choose Jesus.’” 

Ozan was kicked out of his childhood home 

Ozan was kicked out of his childhood home. Lonely and without a place to go, he found a small coin on the street - enough for a bus ride to his Christian friend who gave him shelter for three months. He got a new job and the church became his permanent home. “When you come to faith in Turkey, you can lose everything. But God gives you a new family, new friends, new brothers and sisters. He gives you a future and an identity that comes from him.” 

Years passed, and when Ezan gave birth to their son, things began to change. Ezan's father wanted to meet his grandson. “It's been 18 years since my father kicked me out. Now he has started reading the Bible. He says to me, ‘This book is different. And Jesus is different from the other prophets in the Quran.’” Ozan tells his father that it's because Jesus is the Son of God and continues to pray for his salvation.  

Students from Sydvestjyllands Efterskole reflect after the trip

On the way home in the plane, three young girls from the Reach-Out line reflect on what they have experienced. Esther says: “It impressed me that they have so much faith and are willing to give up everything for Jesus. I have thought about what I would do myself. It's impossible to understand what it must be like to reject the people you love the most.” Lea Elisabeth adds: “I can't believe I'm making excuses not to read the Bible while they risk everything for it.” And for Sarah, meeting Turkish Christians has confirmed her own faith: “All the stories we've heard have removed some of my doubts, which is really cool.”