In 1987, after watching the Jesus Film, Soner became a Christian. At that time, there were maybe only fifty Christians in the entire country of Türkiye.

Right after Soner became a Christian, he told his family. They were all angry. His brother was the most angry, and he responded by hitting Soner in the face and breaking his nose. They also took his Bible. They didn’t let him go to church.

But Soner’s faith sustained him in the middle of persecution.

A year later, Soner’s brother said that he was going to come to Soner’s church and kill everyone. Soner told his brother to first come to church with him and listened to the message. He believed that God would work a miracle. His brother brought his knife and was ready to do it, but he was convicted of his sins and repented and was saved.

After that, many people in his family came to faith, and there are now over 7,000 believers in the country.

It’s not easy to be a Christian in Türkiye. There are very few church buildings. There’s no Christian school. Amazingly, he was able to to establish a Christian ministry broadcasting several Christian radio stations.

He receives threats often. He says it’s especially difficult when they mention his family – his wife and his son and threaten to slit their throats and cut off their heads.

Over the past thirteen years, Soner has been an ongoing part of our MEDIA Alliance family, attending several MEDIA Alliance Summits and staying engaged with the ministry.

Learn more about Petra Media Group and the challenges of being a Christian in Türkiye by watching here.