Posts
Susanne Geske and the power of forgiveness
by Scott Gilbreath ~ April 24th, 2009
Two years ago, Susanne Geske appeared on Turkish television shortly after her husband, Tilmann Geske, was brutally murdered with his friends Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, in Malatya, Turkey. They were killed by Muslim fanatics motivated by anti-Christian animus. She forgave her husband’s killers.
She recently spoke about the power of forgiveness at a mission congress in Germany.
Susanne shared what led her to making this powerful statement of forgiveness on Turkish television: “The next day I was asked if I wanted to say something to the media and I thought no I don’t want to do that. But then the pastors there said they always wanted the opportunity to say something to the people of their country so I thought it might be something good to do.
“So I made a quick prayer and the word from the Lord came to my mind when Jesus was on the cross and said ‘Father forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.’ I thought yes that’s it and it was like something from heaven had fallen down and told me this verse and so I stood up and went to these people and said: ‘Okay I’ll do what Jesus did’ and it was just a brave thing first of all to do what Jesus did to forgive them, so I did. Then afterwards the feelings came.”
The impact of one sentence
I asked Susanne how the press responded to her words of forgiveness: “I think one of the press said what missionaries couldn’t do in one thousand years I did in one sentence. There were a lot of good responses.
“I don’t know what the perpetrators thought because I’m not allowed to talk to them but in the first hearing one of the lawyers came to me on behalf of one of the accused and said he was sorry. That was the only thing I heard.”
I take this opportunity to recommend most highly the new documentary about the Malatya martyrs, which I watched yesterday evening. It features interviews with the widows and friends of the martyrs, many photographs of a beautiful country, and some historical background on modern Turkey. Eyewitnesses give accounts of the horrible events of 18 April 2007. Pastors and other Christians who knew the three slain men speak very honestly about their hopes and fears in the wake of the killings.
After seeing the film, I am in awe of the witness of Turkish Christians. Turks are taught from school that Christians are divisive and selfish foreigners who seek to destroy Turkish society. Anti-Christian propaganda appears regularly in the popular media. I thank God that Turkish brothers and sisters remain faithful despite widespread animosity and persecution.
I encourage every Western Christian to see this humbling and inspiring documentary. (Click here or here for purchase information.)
Print This Post
April 25th, 2009 at 06:42 PM
[...] NSCOTT: “Susanne Geske and the power of forgiveness” …. [...]