By Charles Gardner
A Turkish Muslim who made a pilgrimage to Mecca in a desperate attempt to get his life back on track returned as a Christian to the great astonishment of his family.
Ali Pektash speaks at the Crossroads Conference at Christ Church in Jerusalem, Israel, on May 14, 2014.
Now a pastor, Ali Pektash has been addressing a conference in Jerusalem called At the Crossroads and sees it as part of his mission to help re-unite the sons of Abraham.
Ali, a Kurd, suffered from alcohol addiction when friends persuaded him to make Hajj (pilgrimage) to Islam’s holy city. It was in Saudi Arabia, where liquor is banned, the religious ritual might cure him, they suggested.
When he got there, he cried out to God for help (if indeed He was there) and fell asleep.
Jesus then appeared to him in a dream and touched him, saying: “You believe in me now; leave this place.”
After taking a shower next morning, he discovered what he thought was dust on the part of his chest Jesus had touched, but in fact the hair on his chest had turned white in the shape of a hand!
At the traditional celebration marking his return from Hajj, he announced to his incredulous family that he had seen Jesus in Mecca and had come back a Christian.
He burst out crying in front of his wife and asked forgiveness for the way he had treated her, clearly demonstrating a dramatic change in his life.
But for three years he had no access to a Bible and it was seven years before he met another Turkish Christian.
He eventually started a church in Ankara, the capital, which he has recently handed over to trusted elders in order to begin a new work in Eastern Turkey, where he was raised.
At the Crossroads, hosted at Christ Church in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, is aimed at deepening the bonds of reconciliation between Arab Christians and Jewish followers of Jesus and is being attended by delegates from a number of Middle East countries including Iran, Egypt, Cyprus and Jordan.
Speaking in Turkish (translated through headsets for those who needed it), Ali spoke of how Abraham was also his ancestor, and how he saw it as part of his mission to help re-unite the children of Isaac and Ishmael (Abraham’s children by different wives).
Illustrating how family division can cause lasting conflict among the children affected, he said it was no different for the descendants of Abraham who continue to be embroiled in much strife and contention with each other.
But now it was time for reconciliation. “We have a very important ministry – to reconcile the world,” he said.
But it could only be done through Jesus. “Everybody in Turkey says they believe in God,” he said, “but people are persecuting me!”
Israelis and others pray for a Palestinian brother originally from Hebron. Faces have been obscured for the safety of those who minister in the Muslim world.
In a further example of reconciliation, a Palestinian delegate from Hebron (where Abraham is buried) said: “I was one of those who hated the Jews, but Jesus changed my life.”
A number of Israeli pastors responded by laying hands on him in prayer and offering words of encouragement.
Speaking for myself, I was profoundly moved when during a communion service the previous night I was surrounded by a Turk, Egyptian, Iranian, Armenian and an Israeli originally from South Africa.
Although there was a language barrier in some cases, we embraced each other without words during the traditional ‘peace’ greeting that immediately precedes the sharing of bread and wine.
Charles Gardner is a Cape Town-born journalist who has worked in the newspaper industry for 40 years. Part-Jewish, he grew up in South Africa and became a fully committed Christian as a young man living in London before moving to Yorkshire more than 33 years ago. He is the author of “Israel the Chosen: Why the Jews are special” and is currently working on plans to launch a new UK national newspaper reporting and interpreting the news from a biblical perspective.