by Leigh Ann Dilley on November 05, 2025
Many of you have asked about my recent trip to Turkey to work with the people Timberline Church has on the ground, known as “workers”. This will give you a micro view of all we did and saw. Parts of this overview are intentionally vague as we are committed to protecting the workers we have in the field.
Prior to the trip our team spent time studying what God’s word says about spreading the news to the ends of the earth! The verse that really spoke to me was Romans 10: 13 -15 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent. That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” This verse became very real in the places we visited in Turkey; one a large city and the other a small village.
We spent several days working with students who attended an English-speaking school, where Timberline’s workers are teachers. The school is in a city of 1.5 million people. There is only 1 church in this city with about 30 attendees. To put that into perspective, US cities of the same population size have 2000+ churches. This ratio makes these people an “unreached people group”.
After being trained on how to talk about the Gospel, as well as what not to say to this population, we were sent to a park to practice. Our job was to connect with people and create curiosity about Christianity. Challenging when you consider the language barrier, but God worked it out. We all had inspiring stories to share.
From the city, we traveled to a small village concerned about losing their young people due to poor economic opportunities. Some of their young were recruited by al-Qaeda to become soldiers. Timberline’s workers in this village promoted tourism. As a result, money began changing the village. We saw renovated homes, beautiful park spaces, and of course, tourist shops. We got to participate in tourist attractions like zip lines, a boat ride on the Euphrates River, and a ride on the historic “dirt road”. We also heard moving testimonies from young people.
Since tourism is rebuilding their village, the officials recognize the village’s need for English speakers. God formed a connection between the two cities over their need for English speakers to work with tourists. In addition, one of our team members plans to bring a bicycle group back, once bike paths are mapped and constructed.
Final thoughts:
- God is working; pulling these cities together, connecting the businesses our workers represent with the needs of the communities.
- Young people do not seem to embrace Islam. The women do not dress in traditional Islam dress. The young men do not stop to pray 5 times a day.
- The Turkish culture loves to engage in relationship which means the soil is ripe for workers in the field.
- All Christians are called to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Some may encourage and mobilize, others pray or provide finances, still others are sent; but all must become familiar and comfortable in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
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