Before the imprisonment of pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey became a political issue, readers of the Danish European Mission magazine, e-news and followers on Instagram and Facebook started praying for him. In addition, hundreds of letters of appeal were sent to the Turkish Ministry of Interior requesting Andrew's release.
In July, Norine and Andrew Brunson visited Denmark. During their visit, Samuel Nymann Eriksen, Secretary General of the Danish European Mission, had lunch with the couple. He recorded a video of Andrew saying:
“We want to thank the partners of the Danish European Mission and everyone else who prayed for us. I definitely needed your prayers to help keep me up in prison, so I am very grateful. I also want you to know that your prayers helped me get out of Turkey, but God did something much bigger than that - he used me as a magnet to attract prayer for this region, so one day you will see that I was involved in something much bigger than getting me out of prison. God will use this to bring a harvest."
Norine continues: "We want you to know how grateful we are. We wish we could thank you all face to face, but this is the best we can do, so if we meet you, tell us you prayed and we will give you a hug and thank you."
Andrew contemplated suicide in prison
Of all places, lunch took place at restaurant Miklagaard in Copenhagen. Miklagaard was the name the Vikings used for Constantinople, as Istanbul was called during its Byzantine (Christian) period.
Over lunch, Samuel interviewed the couple, who spoke very honestly about the challenges of prison, including how Andrew went through a deep crisis of faith that caused him to doubt God and even consider suicide.
The interview will be published in the upcoming issue of the Danish European Mission magazine and then on digital media. If you want to receive the Danish European Mission magazine for free, you can sign up for Here...
Briefly about the case
On October 7, 2016, the couple was imprisoned in Turkey. After two weeks, Norine was released, while Andrew served another 1½ years before being transferred to house arrest on July 25, 2018. On October 12, under pressure from US President Donald Trump, the house arrest was lifted and he was allowed to leave Turkey.
Andrew was imprisoned on false charges of collaborating with Fetullah Gülen, who Turkey considers the mastermind behind the failed military coup in 2016. Furthermore, during the trial, Andrew was accused of 'Christianization', as Turkey called Brunson's evangelizing work among Kurds, which the prosecution claimed was aimed at getting Kurds to rebel against the Turkish state and divide the country into two parts, a Kurdish part and a Fethullah Gülen part.
Prior to his imprisonment, Brunson had worked 23 years in Turkey as a missionary and led Diriliş (Resurrection), a small church in Izmir, with his wife, Norine.
