OLDENBURG, GERMANY (ANS) -- Two years after Susanne Geske went on Turkish television and forgave those that killed her husband Tilmann Geske, her testimony continues to impact many lives today. After this humble missionary shared her story of the power of forgiveness recently at the mission-net congress in Oldenburg, Germany, the 3,000 delegates were so inspired and moved by her story they all stood to their feet and applauded her in a powerful display of solidarity.

Tilmann & Susanne Geske & family

Three evangelical Christians were brutally murdered, April 18, 2007 in Malatya in South East Turkey, where 45-year old Tilmann Geske worked as an interpreter in the Christian Publishing House Zirve.

Two other Turkish Christians - Necati Aydin (35) and Ugur Yuksel (32) - were also found tied up and their throats slit. According to Turkish press reports the victims were brutally tortured. Geske’s body showed 156 knife wounds.

Prayers from around the world carried her through

Earlier that evening at the mission-net congress during the Easter weekend Susanne told me about her challenging story and how God had brought her through the last two years: “I live in Malatya, Turkey and two years ago my husband and two of his friends were killed in their office by five nationalists and it was a really shocking moment, a really shocking day.

“During those first few days I was just in a foggy world and I was so shocked and knocked out. But after a while I realized that I’m single again but I clung to the word of God and started reading it like crazy and I just held onto Him. I never asked the question ‘why’ but I said ‘he put all the stuff on my shoulders so now we have to carry it so it’s my responsibility.’ He took my husband out of my life and gave me this burden and now God was helping me carry that. So sometimes I was arguing with God but I could also feel His grace. All of the prayers of people around the world really helped us and carried us through.”

Father forgive them…

In the midst of this turmoil the German mother of three was interviewed by Turkish television channel ATV when she quoted Christ’s words on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

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.”

Thoughts on second anniversary

“Actually for me it’s not a special day because it comes back every day because we live everyday without a husband and a father,” explained Susanne as she considered the second anniversary of her husband’s death.

She added: “I look back over the past two years and the Lord was really great to us and merciful. We’ve had a good time in spite of all the deep hurts and feelings. We’ve coped quite well and I think it’s all because of prayers. This is the one thing that carried us through.”

As Susanne continues to raise her children and rebuild her life and her church while attending her husband’s murder trial she asked Christians around the world to carry on standing with her: “Pray that we can carry on and that we can be lights in situations, that we have the opportunity to share the Gospel and that we can be open and share about forgiveness which sometimes helps to start up conversations. For other people working as missionaries in Turkey I would say to you ‘the Lord is with you wherever you are so don’t be afraid to share the word if someone asks you about your beliefs you should share it.”

Peter Wooding is a freelance TV, radio and print journalist and media consultant. He is married to Sharon and they live in North Wales, UK with their three children. He has traveled extensively reporting from countries including Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Dubai, South Korea, Zambia, Gambia, Mozambique, Croatia, Israel and India. He was news editor for UCB radio in the UK for more than 10 years. Having previously been a missionary for five years with Youth With A Mission, Peter still has a real heart for missions work and in the past few years has led short-term mission trips to Zambia, Beslan, Russia and Ukraine. He is also the director of ASSIST Europe which is involved in helping children's projects in Eastern Europe including the Hearts of Love Centre in Konotop, Ukraine. Peter is available for freelance and media consultancy work. To contact him email: woodingpeter@hotmail.com, tel. +44 1244 549167/+44 7500 903067.