Pastor Kerem's Bio
I am Kerem, from Turkey. I am from the land of the Galatians. I am married to Buse, and we have a son, Josiah. I come from a Muslim background, but I never became a Muslim. Growing up, I didn’t believe in God because Islam teaches that if you don’t fear God, you will go to hell and burn, and you will loose your salvation. I always thought God couldn’t be that bad. If there is a God, he must also be merciful and loving. At this point, I knew nothing about Jesus Christ.
Years ago one day I fell from a cliff when I was climbing a mountain. It was -25 degrees celcius. I hurt myself badly, and my body went into hypothermia. That was the first time in my life that I prayed, and I felt someone help me. Most solo mountain climbers who fell, and whose bodies went into hypothermia, never lived to tell about it. I didn’t know who helped me, but I started to search. I started to read books about religion.
One day I visited the church in Antalya. It is hard to find a church in Turkey because there are only 3500 Christians, and 75 million Muslims. 99.8% of the population of Turkey is Muslim. When I walked into the church, I met a Turkish pastor named Ramazan. I didn’t know such people existed. If you’re a Turk, you must be Muslim! How could a Turk be a Christian?! Nevertheless, Ramazan told me about the good news of Jesus Christ. He told me about salvation and freedom from sin that I can have because of what Jesus accomplished. I never heard before that “Jesus died for our sins”. Islam teaches that Jesus was taken up into heaven before he died. Why would someone die for another person, let alone a sinner! After a couple of days, I confessed my sins and gave my whole life to Christ, and started to follow Him. After I came to Christ, I started to share the news with my family and my girlfriend. A year later, my older sister came to Christ. Not long after that, my girlfriend, who is now my wife, also came to Christ. Finally my hard-hearted Muslim mother also started to follow Christ, and was baptized in winter of 2006.
I’ve been a believer for over 12 years now. Two years after I came to Christ, I began to work in the church as the assistant to the senior pastor, as well as the youth group leader. In the summer of 2006, Mr. Charles McCordic, the Director of Global Ministries at Heritage College and Seminary, led a team of students to Turkey. They worked closely with our church, and I helped them bridge cultural barriers while they served there. Mr. McCordic thought it would be beneficial for me to come to Canada and study at Bible College, to better equip me for ministry in Turkey. We arrived in Canada in September of 2006. We spent three wonderful years there, which the Lord used to prepare us for the ministry which lay ahead. Canada is also very special for us, because our son Josiah was born there.
Upon returning to Turkey, through various circumstances, the Lord made it clear that it was time to plant a church. We were able to find an office space right in the heart of Antalya, and held our first service in February 2010. Since then, the Lord has sustained us, and enabled us to grow. We are so thankful for Carl and Amy Kaiser, our partners in ministry, who have, and continue to play a vital part in this ministry. We praise the Lord for His kindness toward us, for His abundant provisions, and His grace.
Our passion is to see Turkey reached with the Gospel. We long for the day when we may see scores of Muslims in Antalya and beyond, worshipping the true God. For this reason, our church plant, since the beginning, has had the long-term vision of re-planting. For now however, our focus is the strengthening and growth of this young body, only the second Turkish Evangelical Church in this province of 2 million people. We ask for your prayers. Pray for perseverence, encouragement, and continued support for this ministry through prayer, finances and personnel. Pray with us that God would be greatly magnified in this land.
Grace | Peace
Kerem Koç
Years ago one day I fell from a cliff when I was climbing a mountain. It was -25 degrees celcius. I hurt myself badly, and my body went into hypothermia. That was the first time in my life that I prayed, and I felt someone help me. Most solo mountain climbers who fell, and whose bodies went into hypothermia, never lived to tell about it. I didn’t know who helped me, but I started to search. I started to read books about religion.
One day I visited the church in Antalya. It is hard to find a church in Turkey because there are only 3500 Christians, and 75 million Muslims. 99.8% of the population of Turkey is Muslim. When I walked into the church, I met a Turkish pastor named Ramazan. I didn’t know such people existed. If you’re a Turk, you must be Muslim! How could a Turk be a Christian?! Nevertheless, Ramazan told me about the good news of Jesus Christ. He told me about salvation and freedom from sin that I can have because of what Jesus accomplished. I never heard before that “Jesus died for our sins”. Islam teaches that Jesus was taken up into heaven before he died. Why would someone die for another person, let alone a sinner! After a couple of days, I confessed my sins and gave my whole life to Christ, and started to follow Him. After I came to Christ, I started to share the news with my family and my girlfriend. A year later, my older sister came to Christ. Not long after that, my girlfriend, who is now my wife, also came to Christ. Finally my hard-hearted Muslim mother also started to follow Christ, and was baptized in winter of 2006.
I’ve been a believer for over 12 years now. Two years after I came to Christ, I began to work in the church as the assistant to the senior pastor, as well as the youth group leader. In the summer of 2006, Mr. Charles McCordic, the Director of Global Ministries at Heritage College and Seminary, led a team of students to Turkey. They worked closely with our church, and I helped them bridge cultural barriers while they served there. Mr. McCordic thought it would be beneficial for me to come to Canada and study at Bible College, to better equip me for ministry in Turkey. We arrived in Canada in September of 2006. We spent three wonderful years there, which the Lord used to prepare us for the ministry which lay ahead. Canada is also very special for us, because our son Josiah was born there.
Upon returning to Turkey, through various circumstances, the Lord made it clear that it was time to plant a church. We were able to find an office space right in the heart of Antalya, and held our first service in February 2010. Since then, the Lord has sustained us, and enabled us to grow. We are so thankful for Carl and Amy Kaiser, our partners in ministry, who have, and continue to play a vital part in this ministry. We praise the Lord for His kindness toward us, for His abundant provisions, and His grace.
Our passion is to see Turkey reached with the Gospel. We long for the day when we may see scores of Muslims in Antalya and beyond, worshipping the true God. For this reason, our church plant, since the beginning, has had the long-term vision of re-planting. For now however, our focus is the strengthening and growth of this young body, only the second Turkish Evangelical Church in this province of 2 million people. We ask for your prayers. Pray for perseverence, encouragement, and continued support for this ministry through prayer, finances and personnel. Pray with us that God would be greatly magnified in this land.
Grace | Peace
Kerem Koç