Since the release of our Temel Türkçe Tercüme (Basic Turkish Translation) last year, 74,000 copies of the New Testament have been printed directly in Turkey — and 50,000 of them have already been distributed.

Before the launch, Mahmud*, coordinator of Global Nomads’ work in Turkey, reached out to many churches and invited them to the official release event. The response was overwhelming: respected pastors and church leaders came and spoke highly of the new translation. The spiritual hunger in the country is immense — and especially since the devastating earthquakes, more and more people have been asking for an İncil, a Bible.

Together with Stefan* and Baran*, Mahmud traveled across the country, visiting pastors and personally handing out copies. Now, more and more churches are contacting us with one simple message: “We need more Bibles!”

Baran*, who leads our earthquake relief center in Antakya, reports that spiritual conversations often arise there. When people express a desire to learn more about Jesus, he and his team gladly give them Bibles. Mahmud* — who has his own remarkable Saul-to-Paul story — shares:

“The question, ‘Who do I hear the Gospel from?’ really matters. Whether it’s from Yusuf or Bilmez, it reaches me differently. But when I read the Bible myself — that’s something completely different. God Himself is the best at explaining His Word and speaking to me personally.”

And indeed, we’re receiving many stories of lives transformed through Scripture. One couple from Turkey recently wrote to thank us for the Bible they received just two months earlier:

“We read Luke and John. This translation is easy to read and understand. What surprised us most was how different it was from what we had always believed about Christianity — that it was impure or only about the Crusades. But here, especially in John, we discovered that God is love. We were deeply moved to realize that God came to earth in human form, as the Word, that He died for our sins and rose again. This love touched us deeply. Soon after we began to pray sincerely, we felt peace in our hearts — and decided to follow Jesus.”

We’re deeply grateful to see how God’s Word is reaching hearts across Turkey — and how people are rediscovering the Gospel for themselves.And there’s more good news: the translation of the Old Testament has been completed and is and entering the final editing phase. This means the full Turkish Bible could be published as early as 2026 — a full year ahead of schedule!

To learn more about the translation process, check out our interview with project leader George.

Please continue to pray for steady progress, strength, peace, protection — and pray for the health of our two main translators. Both have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses and are already in their eighties, yet their deepest desire remains to finish this work.

* Name changed for security reasons.