Fifty years ago there was a sea change in the practice of mission. We only now completed this change in Turkey.

Fifty years ago or so, in the middle of the global de-colonization movement after World War 2, with pieces of the British, French, and other empires becoming independent countries, our church’s international mission also de-colonized. The way we said it was, “The institutions that we’re running in other countries should be owned and operated by the local people themselves.” These were institutions such as schools and hospitals.

Fifty years ago in Turkey, our church owned and operated four schools, a hospital, and a publishing company. So why did it take so long to turn them over to local people?

In most other countries there was a local church denomination that received these church-owned institutions. But in Turkey we couldn’t have church-related schools because of the secular laws. That’s why fifty years ago; there was no one to receive these schools -- other than the Turkish government. And that’s what began happening in the late 1960s, when the Talas middle school was closed and the property given to the government.

The graduates of our schools in Turkey were appalled. To insure such a thing would never happen to the remaining institutions, the graduates joined in organizing a secular foundation, or philanthropy, to take up the ownership. Little did they know how long the process would last.

It was a nightmare just to transfer the land deeds, some details of which reached far back into the dusty corners of time. But our predecessors were patient, taking the advice of our Turkish colleagues about the best ways forward. It took decades. There are still some unresolved questions of land ownership. All throughout those years, the number of missionaries our churches could put into these institutions kept declining.

By the early 1990s, the decline had reached the point where an administrative transfer was imperative. The Foundation was ready to assume management of the schools, hospital, and publishing company. As a result, these institutions began to thrive from the better attention they received, especially in terms of facilities. The Health and Education Foundation has even been able to expand and open more schools. But there was one remaining step to take--the transfer of ownership.

We have now surmounted this last hurdle. It took a decision this past November at the highest level of the Turkish government, the cabinet itself, to close the deal. The Turkish Health and Education Foundation now fully own and operate the three former church high schools in Izmir, Tarsus, and Istanbul, the hospital in Gaziantep, and the former Redhouse Press.

So what’s the balance sheet after these fifty years of transition? Who lost what, and who gained what?

The institutions we’re talking about are more than 130 years old. They’ve witnessed tremendous changes in political, social, and religious history. In all that time they’ve been places where Americans sent by our churches lived and worked with the various peoples of Turkey. This interaction promoted a mutual understanding between people of different religious and cultural backgrounds that has been a blessing in their lives. This has certainly been true in our case. And through us and others, this humbling experience of adjusting one’s life to other national, religious, and cultural perspectives is being interpreted to our church members, as in this letter itself, or in face-to-face encounters when we tour the U.S. The fact is that as our church has withdrawn from ownership and management of institutions in Turkey and elsewhere, and as our U.S. denominations decline in membership and financial capacity, these global opportunities for our congregations have diminished.

On the other hand we have now gained relationships with our Turkish partners that are more like that between independent and mutually respectful parties. On each side we can now make our own decisions as to when and how and where we might need each other. The institutions, with their illustrious histories and achievements, are no longer forcing us into a relationship. The memories of these histories and achievements are instead the light that shows us what can be done when disparate people of good will come together in idealistic enterprises. Our hope is that this light will push us, both Turks and Americans, to further acts of cooperation in an unknown future. We look earnestly for signs of what that cooperation will look like.

Ken and Betty Frank

Istanbul, Turkey

Ken & Betty Frank serve with the American Board in Istanbul, Turkey.  They share the job of General Secretary of the American Board.  They also serve on the board of the Istanbul Interparish Migrant Program (IIMP).